THE WAY TO THE ALTAI. 245 



the seven divisions of the Tomsk government, and 

 thence on to Biisk, the chief town of another district, 

 where the river must be left and recourse had to 

 wheeled conveyance. There are good shops at both of 

 these places, where ordinary stores — such as jam, 

 biscuits, and a certain assortment of tinned goods — are 

 obtainable, though, for my own part, I prefer always 

 bringing such goods with me from London. From Biisk 

 there has been a post-road for many years as far as the 

 village of Onguidai, a distance of about 250 versts, and 

 for the last two years the Bussian authorities have been 

 engaged in constructing a road for small light carriages 

 from Onguidai to the frontier at Kosh-Agach, a dis- 

 tance of another 250 versts, which was almost com- 

 pleted when I left the country at the end of August 

 1903. I must warn the traveller, however, that the 

 Biisk -Kosh-Agach post -road differs from other post- 

 roads in Asiatic Bussia in that there is no fixed tariff 

 for the hire of horses, — government horses not being 

 obtainable by the ordinary traveller, — and he will find 

 himself in the unenviable position of having to pay 

 whatever is demanded by the peasants owning horses 

 at the various villages on the way. Between Onguidai 

 and Kosh-Agach the country is inhabited only by 

 Kalmuks, living scattered widely in yurts, and it is 

 advisable to hire horses at Onguidai for the whole of 

 the remainder of the journey. Once at Kosh-Agach 

 there only remains to engage pack-ponies and Kalmuk 

 guides or hunters, and to make a day's journey into 

 the mountains to the south, to find oneself on one's 

 shooting-ground. 



Time occupied by the journey? Well, three days 

 from London to Moscow, a day or two there according 

 to fancy, and five days on to Ob — say from ten days to a 

 fortnight to the end of the railway. Three or four days 



