Works of A.P. Chekhov, Vol. 10: Sakhalin Island

its tow rope; the barge was carried by the current across the roadstead and headed straight for the anchor chain of a sailing vessel anchored not far from us. We waited with bated breath, thinking that in another moment the barge would be sliced through by the chain, but, fortunately, good people intercepted the rope in time, and the soldiers escaped with nothing more than a fright.

II.

A Brief Geography.—Arrival in Northern Sakhalin.—Fire.—The Wharf.—In the Settlement.—Dinner at Mr. L.'s.—Acquaintances.—Gen. Kononovich.—Arrival of the Governor-General.—Dinner and Illumination.

Sakhalin lies in the Sea of Okhotsk, blocking off almost a thousand versts a Russian unit of distance, roughly 1.06 km or 0.66 miles of the eastern coast of Siberia and the entrance to the mouth of the Amur from the ocean. It has an elongated shape from north to south, and in its form, according to one author, it resembles a sterlet. Its geographical position is defined as follows: from 45° 54' to 54° 53' north latitude and from 141° 40' to 144° 53' east longitude. The northern part of Sakhalin, through which the line of permafrost passes, corresponds in its position to the Ryazan Governorate, while the southern part corresponds to the Crimea. The length of the island is 900 versts; its greatest width is 125, and its least is 25 versts. It is twice the size of Greece and one and a half times the size of Denmark.

Its former division into northern, middle, and southern is inconvenient in a practical sense, and now it is divided only into northern and southern. The upper third of the island, due to its climatic and soil conditions, is completely unsuitable for settlement and is therefore not counted; the middle third is called Northern Sakhalin, and the lower one—Southern; there is no strictly defined border between the two. Exiles currently live in the North, along the Duika River and the Tym River; the Duika flows into the Tatar Strait, and the Tym into the Sea of Okhotsk, and both rivers meet at their headwaters on the map.