They did not appear courageous, but I was not altogether certain of their dispositions.

Their owners sought to quiet them, but they refused comfort.
[Illustration: ABOUT FULL.] Those dogs had some peculiarities of those in Kamchatka, but their blood was evidently much debased; they appeared to be a mixture of Kamchadale, greyhound, bull dog, and cur, the latter predominating.
They are used for hunting at all seasons, and for towing boats in summer and dragging sledges in winter.

I was told that since the Russian settlement of the Amoor the Gilyak dogs have degenerated, in consequence of too much familiarity with Muscovite canines.
Nicolayevsk appeared quite cosmopolitan, in the matter of dogs, and it was impossible to say what breed was most numerous.

One day I saw nineteen in a single group and no two alike.
Near the entrance of the village an old man was repairing his nets, which were stretched along a fence.

He did not regard us as we scrutinized his jacket of blue cotton, and he made no response to a question which Borasdine asked.