An Ice-bound Land. 



was an undulating sandy stretch covered with stunted bush and 

 a few trees. 



Four miles beyond camp I crossed the Irtisli River again 

 on to an open grass-covered plain which continued uninterrupted 

 until a range of low hills was reached at about 19 miles, truly 

 a bare and desolate land. Some three miles through these hills 

 I debouched on to the plain once more, where I hoped to find 

 some auls in which to camp the night, as the wind was blowing 



KAZAK WOMEN AND CHILD IN MONGOLIA. 



with great force, while the dense clouds of driven snow pre- 

 vented our seeing more than a few yards ahead. These " burans," 

 or storms, for which the steppes are noted, spring up with 

 appalling suddenness, and often travellers, overtaken by them 

 and unable to find shelter, are frozen to death. Fortunately 

 the Kazak guides with me knew the correct route, a good point 

 in their favour, so we held on our course, until the wind dropped 

 considerably with the approach of darkness, and by 6 o'clock 



393 



