lt--there was not enough of it. All things considered, our stay here
was by no means the worst part of the journey, for beyond filthy food
and surroundings and the deadly monotony of existence, there was little
to complain of. Every now and then a drunken orgie would necessitate
close concealment, but this was practically the only annoyance to which
we were subjected. Once, however, Stepan ventured out during one of
these outbursts, and was instantly fired at by a band of ruffians who
were reeling about the village. The man who fired the shot was, when
sober, one of our best friends, and, luckily for the Cossack, was too
far gone to shoot straight. This incident was therefore a comparatively
trivial one, although it served to show the unpleasant affinity between
a barrel of whisky and bloodshed, and the undesirability of Whalen as a
sea-side resort for a longer period than was absolutely necessary. But
Teneskin and his sons were always ready to protect us by force if
necessary against the aggression of inebriates. Indeed had it not been
for these three giants I doubt if the Expedition would have got away
from Whalen without personal injury or perhaps loss of life.

Although our host himself did not indulge in alcohol, he was the sole
retailer of it to our neighbours. I only once saw the stuff, which was
religiously kept hidden save when an orgie had been decided upon and
Teneskin, after receiving payment, barricaded himself and prepared for
squalls. When we arrived at Whalen, most of the fiery spirit left by
the whalers the preceding year was exhausted, and Teneskin was issuing
an inferior brand of his own brewing, concocted much in the same way as
the "gun-barrel water" of the Eskimo and even more potent, if possible,
than San Francisco "Tangle-foot." This is made by mixing together one
part each of flour and molasses with four parts of water and then
letting the mixture stand for four days in a warm atmosphere until it
ferments. The distillery consists of a coal oil tin, an old gun-barrel,
and a wooden tub. The mash is put in the coal oil tin, and the
gun-barrel, which serves as the coil, leads from this tin through the
tub, which is kept filled with cracked ice. A fire is then built under
the tin, and as the vapour rises from the heated mess it is condensed in
the gun-barrel by the ice in the tub, and the liquor comes out at the
end of the gun barrel drop by drop, and is caught in a drinking cup.
This process is neces