g chain to one of the scaffolds;
he was supposed to keep other birds away and was a pet of his owner.
There were many dogs walking or lying around loose, while others were
tied to the posts that supported the scaffolds.

The dogs of the Goldees are very intelligent. One morning Mr. Maack
missed his pots which he had left the night before full of meat. After
some search they were found in the woods near the village, overturned
and empty. Several dogs were prowling about and had evidently
committed the theft. Fearing to be interrupted at their meal they
carried the pots where they could eat at leisure.

While steaming up the river I frequently saw temporary dwellings of
poles and bark like our Indian wigwams. These were at the fishing
stations upon sand bars or low islands. The afternoon following our
departure from Gorin I counted about thirty huts, or _yourts_, on one
island, and more than fifty boats on the river.

For half a mile the scene was animated and interesting. Some boats
were near the shore, their inmates hauling seines or paddling up or
down the stream. In one heavily laden boat there was one man steering
with a paddle. Four men towed the craft against the current, and
behind it was another drawn by six dogs. Out in the river were small
skiffs and canoes in couples, engaged in holding nets across the
direction of the current. The paddles wore struck regularly and slowly
to prevent drifting down the stream.

[Illustration: TEN MILES AN HOUR.]

One boat with two men rowing and another steering attempted a race
with the steamer and fairly passed us, though we were making ten miles
an hour. All these natives are very skillful in managing their boats.

When we passed near a boat we were greeted with '_Mendow, mendow,'_
the Mongol word of welcome. Sometimes we were hailed with the Russian
salutation of '_sdrastveteh_.' In one boat I saw a Goldee belle
dressed with considerable taste and wearing a ring in the cartilage of
her nose. How powerful are the mandates of Fashion! This damsel would
scorn to wear her pendants after the manner of Paris and New York,
while the ladies of Broadway and the Boulevards would equally reject
the Goldee custom.

The natives of this part of the Amoor have a three-pronged spear like
a Neptune's trident, and handle it with much dexterity. The spear-head
is attached to a long line, and when a fish is struck the handle is
withdrawn. The fish runs out the line, which is either held