278 DOWN RIVER TO THE KAMIN PASS 



of ice-slabs lying scattered about in every direction. 

 After the winter snow had fallen we could see nothing 

 of all this, except the tops of the trees. Everything was 

 buried to a depth of six feet. Our horses got well over 

 the ground, and for two-thirds of the way we averaged 

 a hundred and fifty versts in the twenty-four hours ; but 

 on the sixth, seventh, and eighth days of our journey 

 from Yeneseisk to Turukansk we passed through a 

 district where an epidemic had prevailed amongst the 

 horses. Here we were obliged to travel slowly, and 

 frequently had to wait for horses at the stations, so we 

 consequently only scored about half our previous average. 

 These epidemics amongst the cattle occur with some 

 regularity every spring, or, to speak more correctly, 

 during the last month or two of winter, for in these 

 latitudes there is no spring. The cause is not very 

 far to seek. It is unquestionably insufficient food. The 

 corn has been finished long ago, and the hot sun and 

 occasional thaws have caused the hay to foul. 



On this journey we had the same variable weather 

 as heretofore. Since leaving Krasnoyarsk we had been 

 racing the south wind. A couple of days after leaving 

 that town we thought we had fairly beaten it, but we 

 had not been two days in Yeneseisk before it again 

 overtook us. We had no absolute rain, however, until 

 we reached the entrance to the Kamin Pass, not far from 

 the point where the Kamina Tungusk joins the Yenesei. 

 This pass is twenty versts in length, and is extremely 

 picturesque. The river here flows through a comparatively 

 narrow defile, between perpendicular walls of what looked 

 like mountain limestone rock. This is considered the 

 only dangerous part of the journey. The channel is 

 deep and tortuous, and the current so rapid that open 

 water is visible in places even in the hardest winters. 



