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THROUGH SIBERIA
and offered up a devout prayer. Then he took the
dead Vasiliy in his arms and set out at once for home.
And with his precious burden he travelled in the keen
winter cold over the wastes of snow, but round about
him he saw nothing but green grass and fragrant
flowers. Without food and without repose he went
more than a thousand versts on foot, and knew neither
hunger nor weariness. The whole journey occupied
no more than a few days, which is a sufficient proof
that Vasiliy had been a holy and righteous man in the
sight of God ; and therefore he is to this day honoured
by the people round about as a real saint, although he
has not been formally canonized.
We also saw a terrific iron coilar there, to be worn
over the shoulders and locked round the chest. It was
of a formidable weight, and was worn during his whole
life by Tikhon, the founder of the monastery ; so he,
too, was a very holy man. That he had the iron coilar
on when he went off to fetch Vasiliy Mangaseiskiy, I
am not prepared to assert. Another precious treasure
was a great Bible, the New Testament. It was bound
in silver, with images of saints and decorations in relief
on the outside. It was a gift from the Empress Anna
Ivanovna (died 1740).
At present there are three or four monks and six or
seven novices in the monastery. They own most of the
land about, and the pastures on the islands in the river ;
and this, as already remarked, is an unfortunate cir
cumstance for the settlers who are now coming here.
There was a priest here on a visit ; he was a missionary
to the Yakuts and Tunguses on Esseiskoye Ozero, a
great lake, which lies a long way off within the tundra, in
the direction of the Lena. He spent every winter there,
but often went away on visits in the summer, and this
summer he was staying here. He did not understand
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