Hunting at High Altitudes 



camels, often two hundred in a caravan, and the 

 wagons transporting supplies grind the rich soil 

 to the finest powder, which invades everything. 



The post houses are very clean and neat, having 

 two rooms for travelers, a large one with a smaller 

 opening off it; the walls are white-washed and the 

 floors of brick, while in the larger room hangs an 

 ikon, a picture of the Tsar and a calendar in 

 Russian of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. 

 At the post houses one can usually get eggs and 

 the brown bread, together with the ever-present 

 samovar for tea. A tariff, of course in Russian, 

 hangs in each room, stating the prices of the samo- 

 vars, which was usually ten kopecks, and other 

 charges, together with the cost of repairs to tar- 

 antasses. A paper should be procured from the 

 Chief of Posts, either at St. Petersburg or Tash- 

 kent, giving the right of way over everything but 

 the mails. This is important, as the keepers of the 

 post houses have a supreme contempt for everyone 

 but officers. Although it was midsummer, the 

 windows, as a rule, were sealed by strips of paper 

 pasted over them, and I am afraid we were 

 thought mad in having them opened. 



We had intended making Kuldja our starting 

 point, but when in Tashkent were advised to go to 

 Przevalsk, on the eastern end of Issa Kul, a lake 



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