particularly pleasant, but it
soon became so strong and disagreeable that I, who had my place in front
of the audience, was like to choke, though the ceremony was performed in
the open air. Soon the clerk was completely concealed in a dense cloud
of smoke, and it was now observed that his skin cloak had been set fire
to at the same time as the incense. The service, however, was not
interrupted by this incident, but the fire was merely extinguished by a
bucket of water being thrown, to the amusement of all, over the clerk.

At nine in the morning the _Lena_ continued her voyage up the river with
the priest and the Crown officials on board, but they had soon to be
landed, because in their joy they had become dead drunk. On the 13th
September Schigansk was reached, and samples of the coal found there
were taken on board, but these proved unserviceable,[208] and on the
21st September the _Lena_ reached Yakutsk. The first vessel which,
coming from the ocean, reached the heart of Siberia was received with
great goodwill and hospitality, both by the authorities and the common
people. But when Johannesen did not find here Sibiriakoff's
representative, Kolesoff, he continued his voyage up the river, until,
on the 8th October, he came to the village Njaskaja, 220 versts from
Vitim, in about 60 deg. N.L. Here he turned back to Yakutsk and laid up the
steamer in winter quarters a little to the south of that town.

[Illustration: YAKUTSK IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. (After Witsen.) ]

Both the _Fraser_ and _Express_ and the _Lena_ had thus fully
answered the purposes intended before the departure of the
expedition, and their voyages will always form an important
link in the chain of the attempts through which navigation in
the Siberian Polar Sea has been opened.

In order to give an idea of the influence which this sea-route
may have on the commerce of the world, and the new source of
fortune and prosperity which thereby maybe rendered accessible
to millions, I shall in a few words give an account of the nature
of the territory which by means of this sea-communication
will be brought into contact with the old civilised countries
of Europe.

[Illustration: YAKUTSK IN OUR DAYS. (After a recent Russian drawing.) ]

If we take Siberia in its widest sense, that is to say, if we
include under that name not only Siberia proper, but also the parts
of High Asia which lie round the sources of the great Siberian
rivers, this land may ver