CROSSING THE OB 31 



Mongolia, we entered the so-called Central Siberian 

 Railway, and some two hundred versts beyond, close 

 to the station of Taiga, found ourselves in the midst 

 of dense woods, which in Siberia bear the name of 

 laioa. I need hardly say we quitted without regret 



TYPE OF EN(;iNE OX THE TRANS-SI BEKIAX RAILWAY. 



those endless steppes of the west. The forests con- 

 sisted chiefly of huge larches, birch, fir, and occasional 

 cedars. At first sight they strongly reminded one of 

 the scenery round St. Petersburg. Numbers of trees 

 lay rotting and moss-covered on the marshy ground, 

 others half uprooted by gales leant against their 

 neighbours in a state of desolation, the underwood 



