#lG~;tO knowy  t~  do, when d
l mtred Korakca       me   , : an dmade  *-fme
I    him. We ascended a long pole, in whi      i
ere cut. as stepsno mean feat intself-    I f
1 snlf inthebasi-   apparatus on top qf the ilti: 'Tlhi was decorate4 with sealskins stuffed with putrid seal- a as food, and with snow-shoes, dog-harness, and several U pupsE choked to death with wisps of straw, the latter ala
sacrifices to their pagan gods. In the middle of the si was a dark hole, about two feet square, leading to some terranean den, from which issued clouds of smoke, and a j
villainous combination of all the most disagreeable odors.:
Chekin, my guide, and the proprietor of the yourt,
glancing back to see that I was following, with a smile encouragement stuck his feet in the hole, and, grasping "
other pole like the one we had ascended, rapidly disappea Ifrom sight. I followed as best I could under the cireu
stances, being ignorant of the premises and stifled wi
smoke. Down, down I crept, vainly stretching out my
every few steps with the hope.of touching bottom, andt about concluded that the place must be the entrance to t bottomless pit, when I found myself on solid footing.
The moment I struck, salutations came from the impe
- trable gloom on all sides, to which I replied, in the d
words and tones, "Zda-ro-o-o-va," but I was unable to di
guish a single object for some moments afterward. We
my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, I was en to find my way to where Macrae was sitting, he havin
tered while I was hunting for the door outside; and the
degrees, the nature of the establishment disclosed itself
The apartment was octagonal in form, and about t
five feet in diameter, constructed of drift-logs stan
end, and the whole supported by a heavy frame of blackened, glossy logs. The aperture through which
escended was abouweaty-fiwfieet above t      dirt
r    *twpr1?oe .
a|           abmt* lo .]h bow
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