CHAPTER IX. 



ROE DEER 



I MADE no stay, but next morning, November i8th, 

 started along the foot-hills which here form a high 

 and undulating plateau intersected in places by 

 deep narrow valleys, the sides of some of which are 

 almost perpendicular. As there were pine trees 

 both above and below the route we followed, I 

 suppose its average elevation must have been 

 between seven and eight thousand feet. 



Three short marches took as many days, but we 

 saw no roe deer to speak of, only a few does. The 

 Kazaks had but recently left the neighbourhood, 

 and the whole place was stamped flat by their 

 herds, so the cry was still forward. 



November 2ist was a very bad day. To begin 

 with, it was blowing a full gale of wind, and this 

 nearly decided us to wait, as just in front was a belt 

 of pine forest full of dead trees, and these kept 

 coming down in a most alarming manner. How- 

 ever, we risked it, and got through all right, only two 

 or three trees falling near us, though the constant 

 crash of others was in no way reassuring ; they 



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