Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/300

294 that it requires much experience to drive a dog-team; that the man who is to drive must feed his own dogs and make them know he is their master; that they will run away whenever they have the opportunity; and they have a treacherous, thieving disposition. They are brave in large numbers, but always cowardly when alone. Epidemics among them are frequent, and sometimes whole tribes of natives are thus deprived of their dogs and unable to move about.

"For further canine particulars," said Frank, "we refer you to 'The Voyage of the Vivian to the North Pole and Beyond.' The youths who

made that remarkable journey had considerable practical experience with dogs, and they personally visited Kamtchatka on their way to the Pole.

"Kamtchatka has about seven thousand inhabitants altogether, said Mr. Hegeman. "Twelve or fifteen hundred are Russians, and the rest belong to aboriginal tribes. They are chiefly engaged in hunting and fishing; there is very little agriculture in the country, as the climate is too cold to permit the cultivation of grain or garden vegetables. Kamtchatka is chiefly useful for its fur products. Five or six thousand sables are killed there every year, and considerable numbers of ermine, foxes, and other fur-bearing animals. Bears are numerous and dangerous, and so are wolves, which are very fierce in winter, though not at all troublesome in the summer-time. Earthquakes are not unfrequent in Kamtchatka, but they do little damage, and are looked upon more as amusements than anything else.

"From Kamtchatka I went in a ship to Ghijigha, on the Okhotsk Sea," continued Mr. Hegemau. "Ghijigha is very much like Petropavlovsk, and has the same sort of population—a mixture of Cossacks, peasants, and natives. It is at the head of a narrow bay, and its light-house is nothing