Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 2, 1851).djvu/67
Ussa to its mouth is reckoned at more than a thousand versts. The Petchora flows from south to north; and the ascent of this river from the mouths of the Ussa to those of the river Stzuchogora, is a journey of three weeks. They who compiled this itinerary, said that they halted between the mouths of the Stzuchogora and the Potzscheriema, and deposited the provisions they had brought with them from Pussia in the neighbouring fortress of Strupili, which is situated to the right in the mountains on the Russian shore. Beyond the rivers Petchora and Stzuchogora, as far as the mountain Camenipoias, reaching to the sea and its neighbouring islands, and the fortress of Pustoosero, are various innumerable races, who are called by the one common name of Samoged, which implies, "men who eat one another". In this country there is a great abundance of birds, and different kinds of animals, such as sables, martins, beavers, ermins, squirrels, and in the ocean the morse, of which I have spoken above, and also vess;[1] there are likewise white bears, wolves, hares, the equus woduanus,[2] and a fish named semfi,[3] with a great variety of others. These races do not come to Moscow, for they are savage, and avoid communion with other people, and civilized society. From the mouths of the Stzuchogora up to Poiassa, Artavische, Cameni, and the greater Poiassa, is a journey of three weeks. The ascent up the mountain of Camen occupies three days; after descending which, we come to the river Artavishche, then to the river Sibut, and afterwards to the fortress of Lepin on the river Sossa. The dwellers on this river are called Vogolici. Leaving the Sossa on the right, we come to the river Oby, Avhich rises in the lake Kitaisko; the crossing this river occupies nearly a whole day, even with a rapid passage, for its breadth is so vast as