It is not my purpose to write a history of the Russian-American telegraph. The success of its rival, the Atlantic cable, has completely overshadowed its early importance, and its own failure has deprived it of all its interest for American readers. Though its history, however, be unimportant, the surveys and explorations which were planned and executed under its auspices have a value and an interest of their own, aside from the object for which they were undertaken. The territory which they covered is little known to the reading world, and its nomadic inhabitants have been rarely visited by civilised man. Only a few adventurous traders and fur-hunters have ever penetrated its almost unbroken solitudes, and it is not probable that civilised men will ever follow in their steps. The country holds out to the ordinary traveller no inducement commensurate with the risk and hardship which its exploration involves. Two of the employees of the Russian-American Telegraph Company, Messrs. Whymper and Dall, have already published accounts of their travels in various parts of British Columbia and Alaska; and believing that a history of the Company's explorations on the other side of Bering Strait will possess equal interest, I have written the following narrative of two years' life in north-eastern Siberia. It makes no pretensions whatever to fulness of scientific information, nor to any very extraordinary researches of any kind. It is intended simply to convey as clear and accurate an idea as possible of the inhabitants, scenery, customs, and general external features of a new and comparatively unknown country. It is essentially a personal narrative of life in Siberia and Kamchatka; and its claim to attention lies rather in the freshness of the subject, than in any special devotion to science or skill of treatment. [Illustration: Head covering used in stalking seals] CONTENTS PREFACE CHAPTER I THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH LINE TO RUSSIA--SAILING OF THE FIRST SIBERIAN EXPLORING PARTY FROM SAN FRANCISCO CHAPTER II CROSSING THE NORTH PACIFIC--SEVEN WEEKS IN A RUSSIAN BRIG CHAPTER III THE PICTURESQUE COAST OF KAMCHATKA--ARRIVAL IN PETROPAVLOVSK CHAPTER IV THINGS RUSSIAN IN KAMCHATKA--A VERDANT AND FLOWERY LAND--THE VILLAGE OF TWO SAINTS CHAPTER V FIRST ATTEMPT TO LEARN RUSSIAN--PLAN OF EXPLORATION--DIVISION OF PARTY CHAPTER VI A COSSACK WEDDING--THE PENINSULA OF KAMCHATKA CHAPTER VII STARTING NORTHWARD--KAMCHATKAN SCENERY, VILLAGES, AND PEOPLE CHAPTER VIII BRIDLE PATHS OF SOUTHERN KAMCHATKA--HOUSES AND FOOD OF THE PEOPLE--REINDEER TONGUES AND WILD-ROSE PETALS--A KAMCHATKAN DRIVER'S CANTICLE CHAPTER IX THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY OF GENAL--WALLS OF LITERATURE--SCARING UP A BEAR--END OF HORSEBACK RIDE CHAPTER X THE KAMCHATKA RIVER--LIFE ON A CANOE RAFT--RECEPTION AT MILKOVA--MISTAKEN FOR THE TSAR CHAPTER XI ARRIVAL AT KLUCHEI--THE KLUCHEFSKOI VOLCANO--A QUESTION OF ROUTE--A RUSSIAN "BLACK BATH" CHAPTER XII