A LAND OF WOODS AND MOUNTAINS. 275 



bicycle or revolver ? No, I did not require the former, 

 and was already provided with the latter. I saw 

 machinery, tools, glass-ware, silver- ware, jewellery, 

 hats, clothes, boots, toilet accessories, saddlery, oilman's 

 stores, and confectionery looming large behind gramo- 

 phone, bicycle, and revolver ; but fortunately the maps 

 were produced at this moment, and I was spared 

 further inspection of goods for which I had no possible 

 use. 



Beyond Barnaul, that is to say higher up the river, 

 is Biisk, which is Barnaul on a smaller scale, with 

 electric light and a bishop's house thrown in, and 

 beyond Biisk rise the wooded slopes and snow -clad 

 peaks of the Altai highlands. The face of the country 

 here assumes a complete change. You pass from a 

 level almost treeless plain into a land of woods and 

 mountains, of rushing streams and frost-bound heights, 

 of lovely valleys, where grass and wild-flowers grow in 

 riotous profusion, and where villages nestle snugly in 

 sheltered hollows. Agriculture is less conspicuous here : 

 herds of horses and flocks of sheep form the wealth of 

 the people, and trapping and hunting are among their 

 favourite occupations. The last Russian village of any 

 importance is Onguidai, 250 versts from Biisk, beyond 

 which the population is reduced to wandering Kalmuks, 

 who live scattered widely over the country in round felt 

 tents. After travelling for 500 versts from Biisk, yet 

 another change comes over the land, tree -life ceases 

 abruptly, agriculture becomes quite impossible, and you 

 debouch on to a bare bleak plateau on the Mongolian 

 frontier. 



Kosh-Agach — such is the name of the district we 

 have reached — began with a church, erected upwards of 

 thirty years ago for the benefit of the Kalmuk converts 

 to orthodoxy. Then the prospect of trade with the 



