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33

our way and we cannot avoid it if we insist on having a telegraph station in Ajan. It seems to me that a station in Ajan cannot be a question "sine qua non". We can have there a depot for supplies and the line can be built on the west side of the mountains, which are of great elevation round that part. That a telegraph line can be built on the west side of the range is a settled question, I saw it as soon as I had ascended Ourak river towards [[Indari?]] cross, and my principal object became then to shorten the route as much as possible. I found out two routes. 1. Instead of following [[Indari?]] cross, build over a rolling country to head of Mail river, then down the Main to village Nelkon and from this place to Oudskoi village or to mouth of Onda river, emptying into Shantar Bay.

2nd. This route is still shorter and I have just found it, from Okhotsk parallel to the sea coast (crossing Kuktin, Okhota and Ousak rivers, what can be done easily two versts from their mouths) as far as river Oulia. We can build up the Oulia to a point twenty versts farther than mouth of river Kolniksan (a tributary of Oulia river) then turn off to the south west, cross the mountain range on a very easy point and come out on Mail river. The two routes are indicated on the enclosed map. River Oulia is navigable for boats and canoes, the excellent moss pasture

Transcription Notes:
existence of Shantar Bay verified via googlebooks, as was Ajan, Oulia River, "Uda" River, and Amoor River; Shijiga has alternate spelling of "Ghijigha" in some books. Bush, mentioned in this journal, also wrote a book about it, "Reindeer, Dogs and Snowshoes", free ebook on googlebooks.