Condemned as a Nihilist: A Story of Escape from SiberiaHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
Condemned as a Nihilist: A Story of Escape from Siberia
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Escapes -- Fiction; Russia -- History -- Alexander II, 1855-1881 -- Fiction; Siberia (Russia) -- Fiction
Godfrey made the chief another offer: to give him a hatchet, two knives,
and six fish-hooks, if he would supply them with as much seal's flesh as
they might require during the winter, and with blubber for lamps. The
Ostjaks had already killed a good many seals; but the pursuit of them
required time and patience, and Godfrey wanted to ensure a supply for
the winter, although Luka told him they would have plenty of
opportunities of getting seals then. Accordingly, for the next ten days
the shooting was continued at night, Godfrey and Luka sleeping during
the day, and leaving it to the young Ostjaks to collect and bring in the
birds.
The cold daily increased, and Godfrey began to feel much the want of
warmer clothing. However, on the eighth day the Ostjaks brought in two
suits. They were the joint work of the women of the village. As the
Ostjaks were greatly pleased at the quantity of food coming in daily,
which ensured them a sufficiency of meat throughout the winter, in
addition to their own stock of fish, the work was well done. For each a
closely-fitting shirt had been made of the squirrel skins they had
brought down with them, with the fur inside. The trousers were of red
fox-skin, with the hair outside. The upper garment was a long capote of
the same fur, reaching down to the ankles, and furnished with a hood
covering the head and face, with the exception of an opening from the
eyes down to the mouth. In addition to these, was given to each as a
present a pair of Ostjak boots. These were large and loose. They were
made of goat-skins, rendered perfectly supple by grease and rubbing, and
with the hair inside. They came up to the thighs, and had a thick sole
made of layers of elk-hide. There was also for each a pair of socks of
squirrel's skin, with the hair inside, and a pair of fingerless gloves
of double skin, the fur being both inside and out, except in the palm,
which was of single skin, with the fur inside.
"Well, if it is cold enough to require all that," Godfrey said, "it will
be cold indeed; but it will be awful walking about with it. Surely one
can never want all those furs!"
But in time Godfrey found that they were none too many, for at
Turukhansk the thermometer in winter sometimes sinks to 60 degrees below
zero. For a time, however, he found no occasion to use the capote, the
fur shirt trousers and boots being amply sufficient, while the fur cap
with the hanging tails kept his neck and ears perfectly warm. Already
the ice was thick on the still reach of the river beside which the huts
stood, although, beyond the shelter of the point, the Yenesei still
swept along. The lagoon had been frozen over for some days, in spite of
the water being kept almost perpetually in motion by the flocks of
water-fowl, and the ground was as hard as iron. The Ostjaks were now for
some days employed in patching up their huts and preparing them to
withstand the cold of winter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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