EKATERINBURG 261 



For several hundred versts we sledged up one hill and 

 down another, occasionally following the valleys between. 

 In the lowlands we frequently passed villages, and a 

 considerable part of the country was cultivated. For 

 miles together the road passed between avenues of 

 birches. The hills were covered with forests, principally 

 Scotch and spruce fir, with a few birches and larches. 

 During this part of our journey we had magnificent 

 weather ; hard frost but warm sunshine. Birds were 

 more abundant, one of the commonest being the large 

 bullfinch with a brick-red breast. Hooded crows were, 

 perhaps, less frequent, but on the other hand ravens 

 and magpies were much commoner, and jackdaws 

 remained as numerous as ever. I noticed several small 

 birds which I had not seen before — greenfinches, yellow- 

 hammers, marsh tits, and one or two jays. 



A few stages before reaching Ekaterinburg we left 

 the last hill of the Urals behind us, and an easy slope 

 brought us out of the forests to a more cultivated and 

 level country, in which the villages were more plentiful. 

 As we passed the granite pillar which marks the boundary 

 line between the two continents, we hoped that we had 

 left the mists and fogs of Europe behind us to enter the 

 pure and dry climate of Asia. We reached Ekaterinburg 

 on the morning of Sunday the 1 8th of March, having been 

 123 hours sledging 628 miles, about five miles an hour, 

 including stoppages. We changed horses sixty-five times. 

 Ekaterinburg has about 30,000 inhabitants. We were 

 most hospitably entertained by M. George On^sime 

 Clerc, the head of the Observatory, to whom I had a 

 letter of introduction from M. Bogdanoff, of St. Peters- 

 burg ; we also visited M. Vinebourg, an official of the 

 telegraph-office and an excellent amateur ornithologist, 

 who went with us to the museum. 



