the sixth,
evidently the proprietor, lying at ease on the baggage. Where the
nature of the ground permits the crew walk along the shore and tow the
boat.

The men were in cotton garments and conical hats, and their queues of
hair hung like ships pennants in a dead calm, or the tails of a group
of scared dogs. They seemed to enjoy themselves, and were laughing
merrily as we went past them. They waved their hands up the stream as
if urging us to go ahead and say they were coming. The one reclining
was a venerable personage, with a thin beard fringing a sedate visage,
into which he drew long whiffs and comfort from a Chinese pipe.

These boats were doubtless from Kirin or San-Sin, on their way to
Igoon. The voyage must be a tedious one to any but a Mongol, much like
the navigation of the Mississippi before the days of steam-boats. In
spite of the great advantages to commerce, the Manjours resisted to
the last the introduction of steam on the Amoor just as they now
oppose it on the Songaree.

[Illustration: MANJOUR BOAT.]

In the language of the natives along its banks the Amoor has several
names. The Chinese formerly called the Songaree 'Ku-tong,' and
considered the lower Amoor a part of that stream. Above the Songaree
the Amoor was called 'Sakhalin-Oula,' (black water,) by the Manjours
and Chinese. The Goldees named it 'Mongo,' and the Gilyaks called it
'Mamoo.' The name Amoor was given by the Russians, and is considered a
corruption of the Gilyak word. When Mr. Collins descended, in 1857,
the natives near Igoon did not or would not understand him when he
spoke of the Amoor. They called the river 'Sakhalin,' a name which the
Russians gave to the long island at the mouth of the Amoor. As the
Mongolian maps do not reach the outside world I presume the Russian
names are most likely to endure with geographers. The upper part of
the defile of the Buryea Mountains is wider and has more meadows than
the lower portion. On one of these meadows, where there is a
considerable extent of arable land, we found the village of Raddevski,
named in honor of the naturalist Raddy, who explored this region. The
resources here were excellent, if I may judge by the quantity and
quality of edibles offered to our steward. The people of both sexes
flocked to the landing with vegetables, bread, chickens, butter, and
other good things in much larger quantity than we desired. There was a
liberal supply of pigs and chickens, with many wild geese