Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-23

direction, even after offering them presents
which they considered of great value.
III only succeeded in measuring a single
Individual, a man of imposing stature and
creature. but after a few measurements
had been taken he fell PROSTATE on the
floor the picture of despair, and groaned:
Now l am going to die tomorrow
A Bear Festival.
"When I visited one Of the Gilyak VIII
lagos the people were celebrating their
hear festival For five days / assisted in
the ceremonial, ana was even permitted to
witness the sacrifice of the dog, which Is
kept secret from the Russians.
while among the Gilyaks l took phono-
graphic records of songs, which created
the greatest sensation among the Russians
as we'll as among the natives. A young
Gilyak woman who sang into the instru-
ment said:
ut took me SO long to learn this song,
and this thing has learned 1t at once, with
out making any mistake. There Is surely
a man or spirit in the box which imi-
IAN the time she was crying and laugh
ing with excitement
Dr. Laufers diary contains the follow
"2d january started by dog sledge
northward. This journey was exceedingly
difficult and sometimes even dangerous. At
when crossing the ice at the foot of a
steep promontory. 1 broke through the
Ice. which was much weakened by the ac-
ton of the waves. Fortunately, my guide
happened to upset his sledge at the same
moment when 1 broke through Thus it
was that he saw my situation and extri-
Gated me with his staff,
A Siberian Trip.
One of the most remarkable expeditions
undertaken by a museum collector in re-
cent years was that of Waldemar Jochel-
son in Siberia. from the sea of Okhotsk
westward over the Stanovoi Mountains to
Irkutsk
This journey amounted to nearly 5000
mics. and Mr.. Jochelson was accompanied
all the way by his wife, herself a noted
scientist and a doctor of medicine of the
University of Zurich.
They had just got well started when the
party lost six horses in q terrific snow
storm, and six more died soon afterward
from exhaustion. while two of the native
guides almost persisted from cold and hun
ger. Cndismayed by the misadventures
Mr.. and Mrs. Jochelson pushed on, and
lived for some time among the native Kor-
yaks. Their diary contains the following
entry:
While among the maritime Koryak we
lived most Of the time in their underground
dwellings, which are reached by a ladder
leading down through the smokehole. 1t is
OF these dwellings. The smoke which fills
the hut makes the eyes smart. 1t Is par
ucuiariy dense in the upper part of the hut,
SO that work that has to be done in an up
rlght position becomes almost impossible.
Walls, ladders and household utensils are
covered with greasy SCOT so that contact
with them leaves shining black spots on
hands and clothing.
Unpleasant Quarters.
THE dim light which falls through the
smokehole is hardly sufficient for writing
and reading. The odor of blubber and of
refuse Is almost intolerable; and the in
mates, intoxicated with fly agaric. all to
me discomfort of the situation. The ma
tlVes are infested with vermin AS long as
we remained In these dwellings, we could
not escape these insects, which we dreaded
more than any of the privations Of our
journey.
THE winter tents of the reindeer Koryaks
are SO cold that we could not work in them
therefore We had to put up tent of our
own. 1t was furnished with a small iron
stove, and there we carried on our ethno-
logical and anthropometrical work. At
night, however, the tent was very cold, and
we slept In bags made of wolf skins. While
on the way we spent the nights on the
snow, covered with fur blankets. Several
times we were exposed to snow storms and
had to wait under our blankets covered
with snow until the gale was over
Later on. the party proceeded on a dan
SSious uodt ana were driven by
storms into the bay of Atykyna, where
they We're penned in by the weather for
i've days, almost without any provisions
On the fourth day of their stay they were
lucky enough to kill two seals and thus
escaped death from starvation.
Still worse hardships were in store for
them when they had to cross over the Stan
ovoi mountains.
The First Whites.
I'VE were the first whites to cross the
Stanovoi mountains at this point" said Mr.
Jochelson. I'm winter, nomadic Fungus Wis
1t this country but in summer it is deserted
by all human beings.
This journey was the most difficult one
that II was ever my fate to undertake
Boys, mountain torrents, rocky passes and
thick forests combined to hinder our pro-
gress. Part of our provisions consisted of
bread and dried fish. A heavy rain which
fell during the first few days of our journey
soaked the loads of the pack horses and
caused the provisions to rot Therefore, We
had to cut down our rations from the very
beginning.
After crossing the passes of the Stano-
vol mountains we reached the upper course
of the korkodon river, BY this time our