people must wait another twelvemonth for their letters. What a nice
residence it would be for a young man whose sweetheart at a distance
writes him every day. He would get three hundred and sixty-five
letters at once, and in the case of a missing mail, seven hundred and
thirty of them.

[Illustration: YEARLY MAIL.]

Bears are quite numerous around Ohotsk, and their dispositions do not
savor of gentleness. Only a few days before our visit a native was
partly devoured within two miles of town.

Many of the dogs are shrewd enough to catch their own fish, but have
not learned how to cure them for winter use. When at Ohotsk I went to
the bank of the river as the tide was coming in, and watched the dogs
at their work. Wading on the sand bars and mud flats till the water
was almost over their backs, they stood like statues for several
minutes. Waiting till a salmon was fairly within reach, a dog would
snap at him with such accuracy of aim that he rarely missed.

I kept my eye on a shaggy brute that stood with little more than his
head out of water. His eyes were in a fixed position, and for twelve
or fifteen minutes he did not move a muscle. Suddenly his head
disappeared, and after a brief struggle he came to shore with a
ten-pound salmon in his jaws. None of the cows are skilled in salmon
catching.

[Illustration: DOGS FISHING.]

Two or three years ago a mail carrier from Ayan to Yakutsk was visited