ARRIVAL AT KOSH-AGATCH. 



CHAPTER II. 



From Barnaoul through Bisk and Ongudai to Kosh-Agatch (Siberian 

 frontier) — Tarantass — Bad Roads — Bisk — First sight of the Altai 

 Mountains — The " Maralnik," or Deer Park at Shebalina — Kalmuks 

 — Ongudai — Russian Police Official, M. Meyer — Preparations at 

 Ongudai — Tchouia Valley — Singular Performance of Native Priest 

 — Kosh-Agatch— Customs Official — Zaissan Semion — Taba — Duck 

 Shooting. 



The distance between Barnaoul and Bisk is 150 

 versts, or about 120 miles. The country presents 

 the aspect of low, rolling, grassy steppes, through 

 which wind the two great tributaries of the Ob, 

 the Bia and the Katoun, the former flowing out 

 of Lake Teletzkoie (the largest lake in the Altai 

 district), the latter drawing its sources from the 

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