KULDJA TO URUMTSI 149 



hills. There were a few Kazaks camped here, and 

 we had one of their tents for the night ; but our 

 rest was somewhat disturbed by the constant 

 attempts of their sheep to come in. One of our 

 hosts had shot a roe deer that morning ; the horn 

 was already full grown and hard, but still covered 

 with velvet which was almost as long as rabbit's fur. 



A good deal of trade comes from China by this 

 road, and here we met a caravan of 250 camels with 

 tea. As they always march in single file, this lot 

 covered a good deal of country ; we passed many 

 more afterwards, but this was the biggest caravan 

 we saw. 



Next day we entered the hills, and soon reached 

 pine-tree level. The road runs up a narrow valley 

 and continually crosses the stream from side to side. 

 There was still a good deal of snow, though, as the 

 path was trodden hard, it was fairly good going. A 

 little later in the year, when the snow in the upper 

 valleys begins really to melt, the road is often im- 

 passable for days at a time, as the stream then 

 becomes a raging torrent, and most of the bridges 

 are washed away. 



Near Atai there are said to be both ibex and 

 bear. Probably there are, but I doubt the latter 

 being plentiful, as their skins have a commercial 

 value. Only one thing prevents their total extinc- 

 tion, and that is their indisposition to submit without 

 resistance. A man here told us a moving story 



