returning into his shell, but with all his efforts he did not sleep. I
was wakeful and found that time dragged slowly. The light-house had no
light and needed none, as the darkness was far from profound. In
approaching the mouth of the river we discovered a cluster of
buildings, and close at hand two beacons, like crosses, marking the
direction of the channel.

There was a little surf breaking along the beach as our keel touched
the ground. Our blankets came dripping from the bottom of the boat,
and my satchel had taken water enough to spoil my paper collars and a
dozen cigars. My greatest calamity on that night was the sudden and
persistent stoppage of my watch. An occurrence of little moment in New
York or London was decidedly unpleasant when no trusty watchmaker
lived within four thousand miles.

Major Abasa and the Ispravnik of Ghijiga escorted us from the landing
to their quarters, where we soon warmed ourselves with hot tea, and I
took opportunity and a couple of bearskins and went to sleep. Late in
the day we had a dinner of soup, pork and peas, reindeer meat, and
berry pudding. The deer's flesh was sweet and tender, with a flavor
like that of the American elk.

In this part of Siberia there are many wide plains (_tundras_) covered
with moss and destitute of trees. The blueberry grows there, but is
less abundant than the "maroska," a berry that I never saw in America.
It is yellow when ripe, has an acid flavor, and resembles the
raspberry in shape and size. We ate the maroska in as many forms as it
could be prepared, and they told us that it grew in Scotland,
Scandinavia, and Northern Russia.