r unworthy vessel sprung a fresh leak, the water poured in,
and we were forced to run aground on a sand-bank for repairs. These were
speedily effected, with a wad of paper, by Piotr, who, with a towel cast
about his head and shoulders, looked more like an apostle than ever.

It appeared that our fishing-camp had moved away; but we found it, at
last, several miles downstream, on a sand-spit backed with willow
bushes. It was temporarily deserted, save for a man who was repairing a
net, and who assured us that his comrades would soon return from their
trip, for supplies, to the small town which we could discern on the
slope of the hillshore opposite. There was nothing to explore on our
sand-reef except the fishermen's primitive shelter, composed of a bit of
sail-cloth and a few boards, furnished with simple cooking utensils, and
superintended by a couple of frolicsome kittens, who took an unfeline
delight in wading along in the edge of the water. So we spread ourselves
out to dry on the clean sand, in the rays of the now glowing sun, and
watched the merchandise, chiefly fish, stacked like cord wood, being
towed up from Astrakhan in great barges.

At last our fisher hosts arrived, and greeted us with grave courtesy and
lack of surprise. They began their preparations by scouring out their
big camp kettle with beach sand, and building a fire at the water's edge
to facilitate the cleaning of the fish. We followed their proceedings
with deep interest, being curious to learn the secret of the genuine
"amber sterlet soup." This was what we discovered.

The fish must be alive. They remain so after the slight preliminaries,
and are plunged into the simmering water, heads and all, the heads and
the parts adjacent being esteemed a delicacy. No other fish are
necessary, no spices or ingredients except a little salt, the
cookery-books to the contrary notwithstanding. The sterlet is expensive
in regions where the cook-book flourishes, and the other fish are merely
a cheat of town economy. The scum is not removed,--this is the capital
point,--but stirred in as fast as it rises. If the _ukha_ be skimmed,
after the manner of professional cooks, the whole flavor and richness
are lost.

While the soup was boiling and more sterlet were being grilled in their
own fat, as a second course, our men pitched our tent and ran up our
flag, and the butler set the table on our big rug. It was lucky that we
had purchased fish at our breakfast-place,