| CHAPTER | PAGE |
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| I. OUTFIT AND SUPPLIES |
| Rumor of gold in northeastern Asia—Plan to prospect through Kamchatka and north to Bering Strait—Steamer Cosmopolite—Russian law in the matter of liquor traffic—I make up my party and buy supplies—Korean habits of dress—Linguistic difficulties | 3 |
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| II. SAGHALIEN AND THE CONVICT STATION AT KORSAKOVSK |
| Departure of the expedition—Arrival at Korsakovsk—Condition of convict station—Freedom allowed prisoners, most of whom are murderers—Wreck of the steamer and loss of outfit—Gold lace and life-preservers—Return to Korsakovsk—Russian table manners—The Russian's naÏve attitude toward bathing—Some results of the intermarriage of criminals—How Yankee shrewdness saved some confiscated photographs—Pleasant sensations on being shaved by a murderer—Predominance of American goods | 20 |
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| III. PETROPAULOVSK AND SOUTHERN KAMCHATKA |
| Volcanoes of Kamchatka and the superstitious natives—The first prospecting trip—Copper found, but no gold—Mosquitos cause an evacuation of the land—The typical Chinese peddler | 43 |
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| IV. SALMON-FISHING IN THE FAR NORTH |
| Tide that rises twenty-five feet—Wholesale suicide of salmon—Fish-eyes as a delicacy for sea-gulls—How the natives store fish for the sledge-dogs—The three varieties of salmon—An Arcadian land for the birds | 51 |
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| V. THE TOWN OF GHIJIGA |
| The sacred icon and the sewing-machine both in evidence—The native "process of getting married"—Mrs. Braggin's piano—American pack-saddles and Russian obstinacy—Theodosia Chrisoffsky and his sixty descendants | 64 |
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| VI. OFF FOR THE TUNDRA—A NATIVE FAMILY |
| Hard traveling—The native women—A mongrel race—Chrisoffsky's home and family and their ideas of domestic economy—Boiled fish-eyes a native delicacy—Prospecting along the Ghijiga | 79 |
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| VII. TUNGUSE AND KORAK HOSPITALITY |
| My Korak host—"Bear!"—I shoot my first arctic fox—My Tunguse guide—Twenty-two persons sleep in a twelve-foot tent—Tunguse family prayers—The advent of Howka—Chrisoffsky once more | 92 |
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| VIII. DOG-SLEDGING AND THE FUR TRADE |
| Description of the sledge and its seven pairs of dogs—The harness—The useful polka—The start-off a gymnastic performance for the driver—Methods of steering and avoiding obstructions while going at full speed—Dog-trading en route—Dog-fights are plentiful—Prices of sable and other skins in the native market—The four grades of sables—How they live and what they live on—A Russian writer on sable hunting—Days when a native would barter eighteen sable skins for an ax | 116 |
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| IX. OFF FOR THE NORTH—A RUNAWAY |
| My winter wardrobe of deerskin—Shoes that keep the feet warm when it is sixty degrees below zero—Plemania, a curious native food in tabloid form—Other provisions—Outline of proposed exploration about the sources of the Ghijiga River—Four hours of sun a day—When dog meets deer—A race for life and a ludicrous dÉnouement—More queer native dishes—Curious habits of the sledge-dog | 139 |
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| X. THROUGH THE DRIFTS |
| Sledging over snow four feet deep—Making a camp in the snow—Finding traces of gold—A grand slide down a snow-covered hill—My polka breaks with disastrous results—Prospecting over the Stanovoi range | 155 |
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| XI. BURIED IN A BLIZZARD |
| A trip to the northern side of the Stanovoi range of mountains—Nijni Kolymsk, the most-feared convict station—Sledging by light of the aurora—Lost in a blizzard on the vast tundra—Five days in a snow dug-out—I earn a reputation as a wizard—Back at Chrisoffsky's | 167 |
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| XII. CHRISTMAS—THE "DEER KORAKS" |
| I celebrate Christmas day with the over-kind assistance of two hundred natives—Koraks as sharp-shooters—Comic features of a Russian dance—Off for Kaminaw—Another runaway—Slaughtering deer—A curious provision of nature—Eight families in one yourta—Korak method of washing dishes—A herd of ten thousand deer | 177 |
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| XIII. HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE KORAKS |
| The hour-glass houses—Their curious construction—The natives prove to be both hospitable and filthy—Dialects of Dog Koraks and Deer Koraks—Some unpleasant habits—How they reckon time—Making liquor out of mushrooms—Curious marriage customs—Clothes of the natives—Queer notions of a deity—Jealousy of the wandering Koraks—Thieving a virtue and childbirth a social function | 205 |
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| XIV. OFF FOR BERING SEA—THE TCHUKTCHES |
| The Tchuktches are the Apaches of Siberia—Their hospitality to Americans and their hostility to Russians—Wherein my experiences differ from those of Mr. Harry DeWindt—Result of licking a piece of stone with the thermometer at 45° below zero—Konikly—Power of moral suasion in dealing with a rebellious Korak—The cure of a dying woman and the disgust of her husband—Poll-tax and the Tchuktches | 224 |
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| XV. A PERILOUS SUMMER TRIP |
| The tundra in summer—Crossing the swift Paran River—Literally billions of mosquitos—Unique measures of protection against t
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