“I have now written my sheet nearly full, yet I have not told you a hundredth part of what I think and feel. Oh that I could see you, dear, dear Alexis! I never loved you so well as now, in your absence. I am not content with this cold way of speaking to you. I want to pour out my soul with the lips to your own ear, and in your real presence. Yet I must not be impatient. I would not recall you, for I believe you are in the path of duty. Let the confidence that an arm more powerful, protects you, nerve your heart for your hardy enterprise. Write me a long letter. I shall write again in four months, so that on your return to Yakoutsk, after your hunting excursion upon the banks of the Lena, you will get news from us once more. Father sends his blessing, and a thousand kind prayers and wishes for your safety. Suwarrow wishes to be kindly mentioned to you. Farewell! farewell! KATHINKA.” We need hardly say that this tender epistle drew many tears from Alexis. For a time he was almost overcome with a yearning for home, but this feeling subsided, and he was able to direct his attention to other matters. The streets of Yakoutsk presented many objects of curiosity. There were parties of Kamtschadales, in the town, muffled in skins, and drawn on sledges by dogs; and there were Samoiedes--short copper-colored fellows, dressed in sealskins, and drawn by reindeer. These, and hunters and trappers of many other tribes, were to be seen in the streets, all of them seeking a market for their furs. And there were merchants here to buy them from Russia, and Tartary, and Japan, and other countries. Nothing could be more curious than the contrasts furnished by these different people. Linsk had been here before, and understood the manners and business of the place. He was a good judge of furs, and having some spare cash, he bought a few skins, remarkable for their fineness, knowing that he could make a large profit on them on his return to Tobolsk. These he deposited, for safekeeping, in the hands of a merchant. After a few days, having made provision for their wants, the hunters left Yakoutsk, and taking a northern course along the banks of the Lena, pursued their way to the hunting-ground, where they hoped to gather a rich harvest of sable-skins. It was now mid-winter, and it is hardly possible to conceive of anything more dreary than the country through which they passed. It was a rolling plain, covered deep with snow, over which the wind was driving in its swift and unbroken career. Not a house or hut was visible for leagues; there was no path; and the travellers were obliged to guide themselves, as they proceeded on the hard snow-crust, like the voyager upon the sea, by the heavenly bodies, or occasional landmarks.