OUR LUGGAGE 23 



pony loads, and leaving articles of luxury behind. 

 The house was in a state of great confusion ; every 

 single thing was taken out, and the floor resembled 

 a London grocery shop. A box containing two gross 

 of safety matches had been detained, for some reason, 

 by the Russian Customs, who promised to forward it 

 after examination to Barnaoul. We found it there 

 on our return journey ! The next day was devoted to 

 similar occupation, and on the morning of May 24th, 

 everything being ready, we left Taguil at 1 1 a.m. 

 The weather was quite settled, and we soon found 

 it warmer than we liked. Four hours brought us 

 to Ekaterinburg, from which place we branched off 

 due south through the most important mining dis- 

 tricts of the Ural Mountains, reaching Tcheliabinsk 

 early next morning. From this place the Western 

 Siberian Railway starts, and here begins the dreary, 

 monotonous view of Siberian steppes and marshes, 

 which we had to contemplate for three long days. 

 The sun was scorching- hot as we crawled along at 

 the rate of twelve miles an hour through these 

 immense fiat plains. We found villages very scarce ; 

 Kourgan, Petnopavloosk, Omak, and Kainsk were 

 the only large towns en route. At the stations 

 hardly any provisions were to be got, and we had 

 to rely entirely upon our own stores. Now and 



