360 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



team, jumped off, gave chase, and made the hawk drop the 

 teal. Both birds flew off for some 300 yards in different 

 directions, when the hawk turned, overtook and recaptured 

 his prey, and carried it away to devour at leisure. 



A good deal of the country just before entering the moun- 

 tains on the western side is about level, or gently undulating, 

 with numerous pond-holes, excellent for both snipe and duck. 

 I saw three Kirghese hunters riding horseback. One of them 

 had some ducks. Two of them had flintlocks, and one had 

 a single-barreled percussion gun. 



In this country I often saw, situated by themselves, and 

 on the outskirts of Cossack villages, some dome-shaped huts. 

 These were either the temporary abodes of Cossacks tending- 

 horses and camels at pasture, or else the homes of Kirghese. 

 They were constructed of light, portable crossed frames, and 

 covered (except a hole at the top for air and smoke) with a 

 thick, heavy felting cloth outside, and with straw matting 

 about the walls inside. They were comfortable dwellings, 

 besides being cheap, and easy to keep in repair and move 

 about. 



On the morning of April 23d we started early, and after 

 a hard, tedious day, over rough roads, winding about through 

 narrow, rocky denies, past some pretty bits of scenery, and 

 others that were bare and inhospitable, we reached, at nine 

 P.M., a stansea which, though yet in the mountains, was only 

 120 versts from the railroad. Yakutsk and Irkutsk had each 

 been at different times the " Mecca " of my hopes ; now it 

 was Orenburg and the iron horse. 



Owing to the scarcity of wood and its value for other pur- 

 poses in this section, a fuel is made from the manure of 

 horses and cattle. It contains much straw, and is pressed, 

 dried, and cut up into pieces like peat. It makes excellent 

 fuel, and burns without any disagreeable odor. 



April 24th opened cold and cloudy, with a light breeze, 

 spits of snow, and rain. The roads were very heavy, and 

 we traveled this day by both runners and wheels. On the 

 next morning, at 8 :45 A.M., we reached Orenburg, and found 



