work. Some exports of wool, hides, and tallow have been made, but none
of importance. One cargo of ice has been sent to China, but it melted
on the way from improper packing. A Hong Kong merchant once ordered a
cargo of hams from the Amoor, and when he received it and opened the
barrels he found they contained nothing but bones. As the bone market
was low at that time he did not repeat his order.

Flax and hemp will grow here, and might become profitable exports.
There is excellent grazing land and no lack of pasturage, but at
present bears make fearful havoc among the cattle and sheep. In some
localities tigers are numerous, particularly among the Buryea
Mountains, where the Cossacks make a profession of hunting them. The
tiger is not likely to become an article of commerce, but on the
contrary is calculated to retard civilization.

With increased agriculture, pork can be raised and cured, and the
Russians might find it to their advantage to introduce Indian corn,
now almost unknown on the Amoor. At present hogs on the lower Amoor
subsist largely on fish, and the pork has a very unpleasant flavor.
The steward of the Variag told me that in 1865, when at De Castries,
he had two small pigs from Japan. A vessel just from the Amoor had a
large hog which had been purchased at Nicolayevsk.

The captain of the ship offered his hog for the two pigs, on the plea
that he wished to keep them during his voyage. As the hog was three
times the weight of the pigs the steward gladly accepted the proposal,
and wondered how a man who made so absurd a trade could be captain of
a ship. On killing his prize he found the pork so fishy in flavor that
nobody could eat it. The whole hog went literally to the dogs.