THE VALLEY OF THE ANGARA. 



15T 



channel to the sea. The hike is very deep, and in some 

 places no bottom has been found at a depth of 2,000 feet. 



Shortly after leaving Irkutsk, the eastward-bound traveler 

 enters a wooded part of the Angara Valley, and as the road 

 winds along it many points are passed presenting magnifi- 

 cent views. Afterwards the valley becomes more rugged, 

 with dee]) ravines running up into the mountains. Beyond 

 this the road has been cut along the edge of a cliff at a con- 

 siderable height above the river, and about five miles before 

 reaching the Baikal a scene is presented which will cause 

 the traveler to pause and admire. 



VIEW IN IRKUTSK. 



The valley becomes wider, and the mountains rise abruptly 

 to a much greater elevation. The Angara is here more than 

 a mile wide, and its great volume of water is seen rolling 

 down a steep incline, forming a rapid nearly four miles in 

 length. At the head of this, in the center of the stream, a 

 great mass of rock rises, held sacred by the followers of 

 Shamanism, and where its victims used to be sacrificed by 

 tossing them into the torrent below. Beyond is the broad 

 expanse of the Baikal, extending about 50 miles to where 

 its waves wash the foot of Amar Daban, whose summit, 

 even in June, is usually covered with snow. The mighty 

 torrent throwing up its jets of spray, the rugged rocks with 



