2i6 THE DAY'S ROUTINE. 



argols, break ice for water, and then we had to wait, 

 hungry and tired, till the water boiled. How we 

 used to relish the nasty compound of butter and 

 barley-meal, glad enough even to get that ! 



After this meal my companion and I would start 

 off on a shooting expedition, weather of course per- 

 mitting, or I would write up my diary while the 

 Cossacks cooked the dinner. Now the axe was 

 again required to break the ice and chop the frozen 

 meat before putting them into the pot, whilst that 

 again had to be tinkered with raw hide and barley- 

 meal paste. This utensil, which served the double 

 purpose of saucepan and tea-kettle, had, from con- 

 stant use, worn into holes, and these had to be 

 mended every day. It was not till afterwards that 

 we succeeded in patching it more effectually with 

 the copper cartridge cases of our Berdan rifle. 



Dinner was ready at six or seven p.m., and was 

 a sumptuous repast, for we had now enough meat 

 and to spare ; indeed we might have supplied a regi- 

 ment with the game we killed. Unfortunately, it 

 was often frozen so hard that we could scarcely thaw 

 enough for our soup. Moreover, the argols burnt so 

 badly and gave out so little heat at this great eleva- 

 tion, and water boiled at such a low temperature 

 (185° Fahr.),^ that It was difficult to cook the meat 

 properly. 



After this meal, which was dinner and supper 

 combined, we had more work to do : the marshes 

 and streams being all, with a few exceptions, ice to 



' The boiling point of water at sca-levcl is ixz"" Fahr. — M. 



