Stepjjc. Willi llic (IwclliiiLis ol l'i;iit()w ;iii(l Mosc.ai. i:\vski, lormcd llu' utiiir,.'-:l liiiiil ol Ihc 

 expedition l)y Ihis loulc. no luillicr progress soulii-caslwurds bciiio made. 



In .silling llicsc slc|)j)c's and wood-sleppes here are said lo i)c- eovcred with a liixu- 

 riaiil ij;rass vet^clalioii, whicli is gradually destroyed by the droiiglil in the course of 

 the sunnncr. In Ihe second half of August these tracts had aheady an antnnmal 

 appearance, the firsl nights of frost having also in a great measure luined liie vegetation. 

 Just in liiis transition zone between the stejjpe and the taiga, the best and liche.st regions 

 of the land, from a cultinai standpoint, are lo l)e found, and it is strange that tiiis rich 

 and beautiful country should be so thinly populated. The area of Ihe I'rjankai land 

 probal)ly exceeds l.^iO.OOO wer.sts', of which, as mentioned aiicadv, at least one third is 



yi]j£^'!ii''il; 



Fig. 50. A view in the noia .Steppe. In some phices tlie steppe is nearly de- 

 stitute of vegetation, and l)eing exposed to tlie erosion ol' tlie violent winds 

 tliercareot'ten formed stretclies of driltsand. In Itie right l)ackground hirches. 



arable, but with a population scarcely amounting to 20.000 individuals, living scattered 

 about in deep valleys and dense woods, where no foreign traveller hitherto has been 

 able to search them out. For this reason it is also, as a matter of course, quite impos- 

 sible to state the exact number of the inhabitants. 



For our homeward journey from the Dora Steppe we had lo choose between two 

 routes, the one lying across the Arayl taiga, followed by us when entering the land, and 

 the other by water down the Bei-kem. In spite of the latter route being the longer, it 

 was chosen as having the charm of novelty. 



The Bei-kem runs here at an average speed of 16 wersts an hour, and in the course of 

 one day we descended in this way from the Dora Steppe to Usl Sisti-kem. The bottom 

 of the valley is situated at a height of betw'een 950 m. and 850 m. above sea-level. At 

 some distance below Ust Sisti-kem the Bei-kem receives an affluent called the Sebi. 



au 



