Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XIII. From Yakutsk to the Lower Lena
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place has now become the administrative and commercial
centre of the district.
The climate of the district of Schigansk is, of course,
very severe, the thermometer not seldom registering 70°
below zero, or even lower, in winter-time. In the summer,
however, the temperature, at least in the southern parts of
the district, may reach 68° Fahr. or more. This was the
case when we stopped at Schigansk. I took a bath in
the river, which showed a surface temperature of 53°
Fahr., while on the shore were still lying immense blocks
of ice. Before we took our departure the priest kindly
held a short service in the quaint little church to pray for
the prosperity of our voyage.
Our next stopping-place was the above-mentioned Bulun
—the “capital of the king”. For although nominally
under the sway of the Tsar, yet in reality this vast district,
like all these distant regions of northern Siberia, has up to
the present time been governed by a merchant. In some
places, however, the rule is shared between two or, maybe,
three “kings”. “God in heaven, the Tsar in St. Petersburg,
and Ivan the merchant in Bulun.” This saying among the
people on the lower Lena no doubt contains a great deal
of truth. In the “capital” of Bulun there is the church
with its priest, there is a civil officer and the “uprava”
or police-court, there are about 40 yurtas with some 200
natives, and in the midst of these towers the palace
of the king, in the shape of a large Russian izba. The
stranger is courteously invited into the palace, and is
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