JTjjJf Whilfl w e were g a z in g at this un ufua l fight, and admiring
»— ,— i the great civility o f this ftranger, which we imagined had
brou ght h im to our affiftance, the man, a fter v iew in g us
fo r fome time ve ry attentively, turned ihort round, and
went off, with great fpeed, toward the ojirog. We were not
lefs chagrined than difappointed at this abrupt departure, as
w e began to find our jo u rn e y over the ice, attended not only
w ith great difficulty, but even with danger. We fu n k at
every ftep almolt kn ee deep in the fnow, and though w e
found tolerable footing at thé bottom, y e t the w e a k parts
o f the ice not b e in g difcoverable, w e were conftantly ex-
pofed to the r iik o f breaking throu gh it. This accident at
laft actu ally happened to m y fe lf ; for ftepping on q u ick ly
over a fufpicious fpot, in order to prefs with lefs w e igh t
upon it, I came upon a fécond, before I could flop m y felfj
w h ich broke under m e , and in I fell. L u ck ily , I rofe clear
o f the ice, and a man that was a little w a y behind w ith a
boat-hook, throwing it to me, I laid it acrofs fome loofe
pieces near me, and, b y that means, was enabled to g e t
upon firm ice again.
As we approached the fh o re , w e found the ice, contrary to
our expectations, more broken than it had been before*
We were, however, again comforted by the fight o f another
fledge coming toward us, but inftead o f proceeding to our
re lief, the driver ftopt ihort, and began to call out to us. I
immediately held up to him I fm y lo ff’s letters ; upon w h ich
he turned about, and fet o ff ba ck again fu ll fpeed ; fo llowed,
I believe, not with the prayers o f any o f our party*
Be ing at a great lofs what conclufions to draw from this
unaccountable behaviour, w e continued our march toward
the op-og, with great circumfpeClion, and when we had arrived
within a quarter o f a mile o f it, we perceived a body
1 o f
o f armed men m a rch ing toward us. T h a t we migh t giv e j(Ej;
them as little alarm, and have as peaceable an appearance ' S
us poffible, the two men who had boat-hooks in their hands,
w e re ordered into the rear, and Mr. Webber and m y fe lf
inarched in front. T h e Ruffian party, confifting o f about
th ir ty foldiers, was headed b y a decent loo kin g perfon, with
a cane in his hand. He halted with in a few yards o f us,
and drew up his men in a martial and good order. I delivered
to him Ifm y lo ff’s letters, and endeavoured to make
him underftand, as w e ll as I could (though I afterward
foun d in vain), that we were Englilh, and had brought
them papers from Oonalaihka. A fte r ha vin g examined us
attentively, he began to con duit us toward the villa ge , in
great filence and folemnity, frequently ha lting his men, to
form them in different manners, and make them perform
feveral parts o f their manual exercife, probably with a view
to ihew us, that i f we had the temerity to offer any violence»
w e ihould have to deal w ith men who were not ignorant o f
their bufinefs.
T h o u g h I was all this time in my wet clothes, fhivering
w ith cold, and E ffic ien tly inclined to the moft unconditional
fubmiffion, withou t ha vin g m y fears violently alarmed
; yet it was impoffible not to be diverted with this m ilitary
parade, notwithftanding it was attended with the moft
unfeafonable delay. At length, w e arrived at the houfe o f
the Commanding Officer o f the party, into w hich we were
ufhered ; and, after no fmall ftir in g iv in g orders, and dif-
pofing o f the military without doors, our hoft made his appearance,
accompanied b y another perfon, whom w e un-
derftood to be the Secretary o f the port. One o f Ifm y lo ff’s
letters was now opened, and the other fent .off, b y a fpecial
meffenger, to Bolcheretik, a town on the Weft fide o f the
B b 2 peninfula