y this timewe were out of  er thg ing the. B· i      :/
except the beef and pork strewed over the ground.  i imeat was very welcome, but, without bread, tea, or g
rather unpalatable. We kept our horsehair seine
tantly, and would some days succeed in catching enough  t 
jh for two meals, while on others we could catch none at al, and sometimes for days had nothing but the salt meat. .Our party of thirteen healthy eaters soon reduced this
tock, when we were left without resource. Fish were very searce. The salmon, upon which the natives depend chiefly for their livelihood, had not yet begun to ascend the river. Geese were plenty on the tundra lakes, but we had no ammunition, so could not shoot them.
: Finally these birds began to "moult" (shed their wing feathers), and were unable to fly, when another resource was . opened to us. This moulting occurs just after the young are hatched out. During this period the birds congregate on the lakes and ponds, where they can take refuge from foxes. One day one of the men reported having. found about one hun-. dred of these birds on a small lake two or three miles distant, in consequence of which we all turned out in force to go "on, a wild-goose chase." We knew that as soon as we approached they would take to the water, and then it would :be necessary to drive them ashore. Taking, two vetkas, our dogs, and a couple of goose-spears, we armed ourselves with good stout sticks and started out. Aswe approached the lake, the tundra was alive with the birds taking to the water. Having selected the best place to drive them, two of the natives launched their vetkas at the opposite end of the pond, and the rest of us crept up to stations as nearthe landing-point as we could get without frightening the birds back. Our dogs became frantic, and caused us much . delay, but we finally secured them in our arms. |! When all was ready the vetkas advanced, and the geese, rather than take to the shore, allowed them to approach very Then the gopse-spears were launched among them, each
fastening into a bird. Then the natives wouldpaddle
and; after ringing the bird's neck and tossing it into their:: !(
repeat the operation. These'spears are very light
about five feet long, and have three barbed point f4  f
SiF ?   r epeat the operation. 'llhese spearsare very lig.