n the bathing place the thermometer stood at 100 deg., or
blood heat; but in the spring, after being immersed two minutes, it was 1 deg.
above boiling spirits. The thermometer in the air, at this time was 34 deg.; in
the river 40 deg.; and in the _Toion's_ house 64 deg.. The ground where these
springs break out is on a gentle ascent; behind which there is a green hill
of a moderate size. I am sorry I was not sufficiently skilled in botany to
examine the plants, which seemed to thrive here with great luxuriance; the
wild garlic, indeed, forced itself on our notice, and was at this time
springing up very vigorously.

The next morning we embarked on the Bolchoireka in canoes; and having the
stream with us, expected to be at our journey's end the day following. The
town of Bolcheretsk is about eighty miles from Natcheekin; and we were
informed, that, in the summer season, when the river has been full and
rapid, from the melting of snow on the mountains, the canoes had often gone
down in a single day; but that, in its present state, we should probably be
much longer, as the ice had broken up only three days before we arrived;
and that ours would be the first boat that had attempted to pass. This
intelligence proved but too true. We found ourselves greatly impeded by the
shallows; and though the stream in many places ran with great rapidity, yet
in every half mile we had ripplings and shoals, over which we had to haul
the boats.[18] The country on each side was very romantic, but unvaried;
the river running between mountains of the most craggy and barren aspect,
where there was nothing to diversify the scene but now and then the sight
of a bear, and the flights of wild fowl. So uninteresting a passage leaves
me nothing farther to say, than that this, and the following night, we
slept on the banks of the river, under our _marquee_, and suffered very
much from the severity of the weather, and the snow, which still remained
on the ground.

At day-light, on the 12th, we found we had got clear of the mountains, and
were entering a low extensive plain, covered with shrubby trees. About nine
in the forenoon, we arrived at an _ostrog_, called Opatchin, which is
computed to be fifty miles from Natcheekin, and is nearly of the same size
as Karatchin. We found here a serjeant, with four Russian soldiers, who had
been two days waiting for our arrival, and who immediately dispatched a
light boat to Bolcheretsk, with intelligence of our app