The Kamtschadale idiom appeared to me to be uncouth, guttural, and difficult to be pronounced; the words are broken, and the sounds disagreeable. There are as many different dialects and accents as there are ostrogs. For instance, upon leaving Saint Peter and Saint Paul, we are astonished to hear a different jargon at Paratounka: this is the case with villages the nearest to one another. Notwithstanding these variations of idiom, I considered it as incumbent upon me to procure a vocabulary, which will be found at the end of my journal. I shall add to it the Koriac, the Tchouktchi, and the Lamout languages. My attention to the subject was unremitted, and I received very considerable assistance. I shall finish the article of my abode at Bolcheretsk, with some observations that will tend to prove the impossibility of my leaving it sooner. Towards the end of November the cold became on a sudden so severe, that in a few days the rivers were all frozen, even the Bolchaïa-reka, which seldom happens, because of the extreme rapidity of its current. The next day it got rid of the ice that covered it, and from that time I saw no more stop before Bolcheretsk, lower than the house of the governor. Though frozen in various places, it presents a great number chasms, where the water is seen to flow as usual. On each shore of the peninsula, there is a sensible difference in the atmosphere. During the fine weather, a drought prevailed at Saint Peter and Saint Paul's, whereas at Bolcheretsk they complained of frequent showers; meanwhile autumn had not proved this year more rainy than common. Very heavy rains are injurious in this country, because they occasion floods, which drive the fish from the rivers; a famine most distressing to the poor Kamtschadales is the result, as it happened last year in all the villages along the western coast of the peninsula. This dreadful calamity occurs so frequently in this quarter, that the inhabitants are obliged to abandon their dwellings, and repair with their families to the borders of the Kamtschatka, where they hope to find better resources, fish being more plentiful in this river. M. Kasloff had intended to proceed along the western coast, having already made his visit through the east; but the news of this famine determined him, contrary to his wishes, to return, rather than be driven to the necessity of stopping half way, or perishing with hunger from the difficulty of procuring dogs and provision.