Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - VI. The Upper Lena
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magnificent. Now and again the road runs near the river at
the foot of overhanging crags, while at other places it leads
over heights whence one looks over wide stretches of a
forest-clad mountainous country. On the 28th of May we
reached Schigàlova. The steamer by which we had
expected to go from here part of the way to Yakutsk not having
yet arrived, we were obliged to wait and see whether by any
chance some other vessel would turn up, for if not we should
be compelled to make the voyage in a lodka, a sort of
open wherry, though sometimes partly covered in aft.
After some delay it was discovered that the steamer we
were waiting for had run aground some 80 miles north of
Schigàlova. Happily, however, after a few days, another
steamer turned up, and in her we thankfully started on
our way northwards.
Schigàlova is a remarkably busy place in the spring, being
the main starting-point of the navigation down the Lena.
At present there are about 20 steamers on the river, of
which the largest number run between Schigàlova and the
gold-fields of Vitim and Olekma. Three or four go to
the city of Yakutsk, but only one—namely, the
above-mentioned Lena, is strong enough to stand the storms
which make navigation on the river below Yakutsk so
dangerous, and every summer she makes two or three
trips between Yakutsk and the Lena delta—a distance of
about 1250 miles. In addition to the steamers, a large
number of various craft are used for transporting goods or
prisoners down the river. Most of these are the so-called
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