I passed the night at Kamokoff, and the next morning I arrived in a few hours at the ostrog of Kamini, or Peter's town, where I took the road to Kartchina. In my way I passed three lakes, the last of which was very large, and not less than five leagues in circumference. I slept at this ostrog, which is forty wersts from the preceding one, and situated upon the river Kartchina[74].
I set off as soon as it was light, and notwithstanding the bad weather, which lasted all the day, I travelled seventy wersts, which brought me to Yelofki. It is upon a river of the same name, and surrounded with mountains.
M. Kasloff was astonished at my expedition. I had vainly flattered myself, that the moment of our meeting would be that of our departure; but his business was not yet finished, and we were obliged to prolong our stay: he hoped also that M. Schmaleff would soon arrive. We had calculated that he would meet us at this ostrog. This expectation, which was fruitless, and the affairs of M. Kasloff, detained us five days longer. At length he complied with my impatience, and agreed to set off the 19, very early in the morning.
We travelled fifty four wersts gently enough; but in the afternoon we were suddenly overtaken by a terrible tempest from the west and north-west. We were in an open country, and the whirlwinds became so violent, that it was impossible to proceed. The snow, which they raised in the air at every blast, formed a thick fog, and our guides, notwithstanding their knowledge of the roads, could no longer be answerable for not misleading us. We could not prevail on them to conduct us any farther: and yet it was dreadful to lie to at the mercy of so impetuous a hurricane. As to myself, I confess that I began to suffer extremely, when our guides proposed to lead us to a wood that was not far off, and where we should at least find some kind of shelter. We hesitated not a moment to avail ourselves of their civility; but before we quitted the road, it was necessary to wait till our sledges could be assembled, or we should otherwise run the risk of being separated from one another, and entirely lost. Having effected this, we gained the wood, which was happily at the distance that we had been informed. Our halt took place about two o'clock in the afternoon.
The first care of our Kamtschadales was to dig a hole in the snow, which was in this place at least six feet deep; others fetched wood, and a fire being quickly lighted, the kettle was set on. A light repast, and a small dram of brandy, soon recovered all our company. As the night approached, we were employed upon the means of passing it in the least uncomfortable manner. Each prepared his own bed: mine was my vezock, where I could lie down at my ease; but except M. Kasloff, there was no other person who had so convenient a carriage. How, said I to myself, will these poor creatures contrive to sleep? I was soon relieved from my anxiety on their account. The manner in which they prepared their beds, deserves to be mentioned, though they did not observe much ceremony on the occasion. Having dug a hole in the snow, they covered it with the branches of trees, the smallest they could get; then wrapping themselves up in a kouklanki, with the hood drawn over their heads, they lay down on their bed as if it were the best in the world. As to our dogs, they were unharnessed, and tied to the trees that were near us, where they passed the night in their usual manner.
The wind having considerably abated, we proceeded on our journey before it was light. We had thirty wersts to Ozernoi, where it had been our intention to have slept the preceding evening. We arrived at ten o'clock in the morning, but our dogs being extremely fatigued, we were obliged to spend the rest of the day, and even the night there, in hopes that the wind, which began to blow still more violently in the afternoon, would subside during the interval.
The ostrog takes its name from a lake that is near it. The river Ozernaïa, which is but small, runs at the bottom of the village. The house of the toyon was the only isba I saw, and I was informed that we should meet with no more of these kind of buildings till we came to the town of Ingiga. There were, however, fifteen balagans and two yourts. I might here describe these subterraneous habitations; but as they are small in comparison with those which I shall soon have an opportunity of examining, I shall defer my description for the present.
We passed also the 21 February at Ozernoi, in fruitless expectation of a serjeant of M. Kasloff's suite, who had been sent to Nijenei-Kamtschatka.
The next day we reached Ouké at a tolerably early hour, which is only twenty six wersts. There we waited again for the serjeant, who had been ordered to join us at this place, But he did not come.