Narrative of a Pedestrian Journey Through Russia and Siberian Tartary: From the Frontiers of China to the Frozen Sea and Kamtchatka; Performed During the Years 1820, 1821, 1822, and 1823, Volume 1 |
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abundance appearance arrived baggage banks beautiful bread Buriats Cape Lopatka Captain cattle chief cold commissary considerable considered Cossack crossed cultivated distance dogs dreary dwellings eight Emperor fatigue feet felt fifteen fish five fortress forty miles four foxes frost frozen governor Governor-general hills horses hospitable hundred and fifty inhabitants Irkutsk Irtish islands journey Kamtchatka Kazan Kiakhta Kirenga Kolyma Kolymsk lakes land late latter merchants morning mountains nartes Nertchinsk night Nishney Novgorod numerous obliged officers Okotsk Olekminsk Omekon Omsk Ostrog passed pasture Peninsula Petersburg poods pounds pounds weight present prince procured quantity reached received rein-deer river road roubles route Russian Russian empire sables scenery seen Selenga Siberia situation snow spirits Tartar Tchuktchi thence thirty miles tion tobacco Tobolsk Tomsk town traveller Udinsk Ural mountains valley Verchney vessels village visited Volga weather wild winter wood Yakuti Yakutsk yasack Yermak yourte
Popular passages
Page 2 - I determined to undertake a journey, varying only the object and the scene to that of the unfortunate Ledyard, viz. — to travel round the globe, as nearly as can be done by land, crossing from northern Asia to America at Behring's Straights. I also determined to perform the journey on foot, for the best of all possible reasons, that my finances allowed of no other.
Page 152 - ... eat. The Yakuti then with their axes proceeded to fell timber, while I and the Cossack with our lopatkas, or wooden spades, cleared away the snow which was generally a couple of feet deep. We then spread branches of the pine tree, to fortify us from the damp or cold earth beneath us: a good fire was now soon made, and each bringing a leathern bag from the baggage, furnished himself with a seat. We then put the kettle on the fire, and soon forgot the sufferings of the day.
Page 35 - Yes, I am."—" You are den," said he, " dat lilly Massa Jonny I know at de same time." It now turned out that this black gentleman, with the two carriages and four horses each, had been my father's and my uncle's servant thirteen years before. Having talked over old matters, he remarked that he could never have recognized me, from the alteration that time had made in my features ; observing that I seemed to have verified the West Indian proverb, " Like the black man's pig, very lilly, but dam old.
Page 157 - As to the statement of what a man can or will eat, either as to quality or quantity, I am afraid it would be quite incredible ; in fact, there is nothing in the way of fish or meat, from whatever animal, however putrid or unwholesome, but they will devour with impunity, and the quantity only varies from what they have, to what they can get. I have repeatedly seen a Yakut or a Tongouse devour forty pounds of meat in a day.
Page 23 - ... weather, was not calculated to last long. My cap I had lost in the icy swamp, and, in default, my head was bound up with a piece of red flannel. My trowsers were literally torn to tatters: my shoes tied to my feet, to prevent their falling off: my shirt, except a flannel one, and waistcoat, both superseded by my outer jacket.
Page 45 - I resumed my route. I had still left me a blue jacket, a flannel waistcoat, and a spare one, which I tied round my waist in such a manner that it reached down to the knees: my empty knapsack was restored to its old place, and I trotted on with even a merry heart.
Page 10 - It ia simply to rub the feet, at going to bed, with spirits mixed with tallow dropped from a lighted candle into the palm of the hand. On the following morning no blisters will exist; the spirit seems to possess the healing power, the tallow serving only to keep the skin soft and pliant.
Page 369 - ... towards the Chinese fortress, for so it is called, distant about two hundred fathoms from the old town of Kiakhta. Of all the celebrated places I have seen, and which have nothing to support their celebrity, Maimatchin is the most eminent. It is a small, ill-built, mud town, with four narrow mud-paved streets, running at right angles ; containing during the fair from twelve to fifteen hundred men and boys, for the female sex are prohibited. The houses are without windows, and there is a total...
Page 309 - Manilla, in ballast, having failed in procuring a cargo of flour. By that vessel I received a most friendly letter from Mr. Urmston, the chief of the British factory, together with a file of English newspapers, magazines, &c. which employed me till the 1st of July, when we were ready to sail. St. Peter and St. Paul's, the chief city of the peninsula of Kamtchatka, contains forty-two dwellings, besides fifteen edifices belonging to the government, an old church, and the foundation of a new one. Among...
Page 50 - ... biscuit and glass of wine. I then wished him a pleasant journey, and resumed mine, light as a lark at the unexpected pleasure of seeing English faces, and hearing my own tongue. Those who have been similarly situated, can readily conceive how happy I was to have met with a countryman in such a manner. My way lay over a country where the Tver is a wandering stream, and where numerous handsome seats and neat villages made their appearance. These, however, but too strongly reminded me of the effects...