extensive; he providing the Americans with
whalebone, walrus tusks and furs, in exchange for cotton goods, canned
provisions and rubbish of all kinds "made in Germany." The chief would
take no payment for his hospitality, and this was perhaps fortunate, as
I had very little to give him. So many of our dogs had died or been
bartered that only thirty-one were now left, and these, with four sleds,
about fifteen pounds of Circassian tobacco and under a gallon of
_vodka_, represented the entire assets of the expedition. Poverty is a
serious crime in a civilised country, but in some savage lands it means
absolute starvation, and the problem of tiding over perhaps a couple of
months at East Cape without means of paying for food now caused me
considerable anxiety. A credit was awaiting me at Nome City in Alaska,
but the Tchuktchi scarcely understands banking transactions. Everything
depended upon the charity or otherwise of the chief at East Cape; and,
as the reader may imagine, I left Koliutchin in a very perplexed state
of mind.

Koliutchin Bay was negotiated in beautiful weather, much to my relief,
for I had experienced misgivings after our terrible experiences in
Tchaun Bay. But a blue sky and perfect stillness enabled our now
exhausted dogs to carry us across in under seven hours, and I was glad
to reach the eastern shore, for great lakes of open water on every side
showed that we were not a day too soon. The sun had now become so
powerful that most of our travelling was done by night, for during the
daytime the ice was often inch-deep in water, and the runners were
imbedded in the soft and yielding snow. The coast from here on to Bering
Straits is said to be rich in minerals; but although coal was frequently
seen cropping out from the cliffs and mica is plentiful, we saw no gold,
and only heard on one occasion of the precious metal. This was at
Inchaun, about a day's journey from East Cape, where one Jim, an
English-speaking Tchuktchi informed me that he knew of "a mountain of
gold" about ten miles away. The lad offered to walk to the place (now
almost inaccessible on account of melting snow), and to bring me
specimens of the ore, which I agreed to, undertaking to repay him with
one of our much-battered sleds on arrival at East Cape. The next day Jim
returned with several attractive bits of rock, which, however, when
tested by an expert at Nome City, were found to be absolutely worthless.
I had heard of this mountain of g