SIGHTS ALONG THE ROAD. 341 



to the deer sleds which we had been using, but broader, and 

 those which the horses dragged were rude apologies for 

 sleighs. These horses were driven with reins, and harnessed 

 very primitively. The shafts were lashed to the runners, 

 and had plenty of room to play, thereby relieving the animal 

 of much jolting over the rough roads. The bulls were har- 

 nessed with a sort of yoke-collar in two parts, one of which 

 went under and the other over the neck, and fastened by 

 lines on the forward ends of the shafts. The driver of these 

 animals sits on the back of one of them, almost over the hind 

 legs, or on a sled ; he carries a stick, but cannot make them 

 travel very fast. 



The next day we got horses for us all, and very good ones 

 they were. As we continued on, the country improved in 

 appearance, and a number of Yakut dwellings or farms were 

 passed. We were fortunate in getting a quantity of frozen 

 milk and some very fair crushed butter at a stansea, and wo 

 met the wife of a trader traveling from Yakutsk to Wcrchoi- 

 ansk with supplies a very agreeable person, who served us 

 nice tea and cigarettes. 



The next day we stopped off at a house where I saw some 

 calico quilts evidences of civilization not before noticed. 

 The roads continued to improve, and the natives we met wore 

 less skin clothing and more of cloth than those farther north. 

 It was evident, also, that the steppes which we were passing 

 over had been tilled between the towns. 



At the stations where we stopped I observed how the cook- 

 ing was done. Thin barley porridge was made in a large 

 kettle, by a woman who used a wooden stick some three 

 feet long, with a button six inches in diameter on the end ; 

 she stirred the porridge by twirling the stick dexterously 

 between her hands. The fire-places were the same as those 

 of the Tunguses and Yakuts, but considerably larger and 

 better made. The habitations of the people were also larger, 

 partitioned off, and the logs were squared up, and in some 

 instances dovetailed very nicely. In one of these houses 

 which we entered I noticed a dead horse on the floor, and 



