A "MARALNIK" 49 



horses refused to proceed further. The last jerk 

 aroused us from our pleasant slumber, to find our- 

 selves stuck half-way up a long muddy slope. It 

 was a cold night, and the rain began drizzling down 

 as our driver descended from his box, and told us 

 that unless we had fresh horses it was impossible 

 to advance further. Nothing was to be done but 

 to send him back to the village for men and horses, 

 and to await his return. In this piteous condition 

 we remained Jour hours, until about 3 a.m. we 

 welcomed our liberators, who after many efforts 

 dragged the tarantass out of this awkward hole. 

 Another hour brought us to the top of the pass, 

 where we met about thirty men on horseback sent 

 from Tcherga by the Ispravnik, who could not under- 

 stand what had happened to us. We reached the 

 village at 6 a.m. much exhausted after twenty hours' 

 driving, and took a well-earned rest. We had now 

 fairly penetrated the low Altai country. 



In the afternoon we started for the next village, 

 Shebalina, distant about forty versts. Here the road 

 was infinitely better, the hills slightly higher, and the 

 scenery wilder, though presenting the same features. 

 We were installed in a nice clean house beloncrino- 

 to a Russian merchant trading in maral horns. Close 

 by was a large "maralnik," or enclosure for Maral, 



