26 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chap. iv. 



a dense wood. Perhaps the most picturesque part of the 

 journey was whilst we were ascending the Pinega river and 

 descending the Kuloi, which we repeatedly enjoyed for some 

 versts at a time. The Pinega river is very broad, with what 

 looked like cliffs of oolite on each side, surmounted by pine 

 forests. The Kuloi river is narrower, and there are no cliffs 

 of any importance, the trees coming down to the edge of the 

 ice. When we passed the Kuloi near its source, soon after 

 leaving Pinega, the river was flowing through a strip of 

 open country. In several places it was free from ice, and on 

 two occasions we saw ducks swimming upon the open water. 

 About thirty versts before reaching Mezeu we crossed an 

 immense plain of snow, as flat as a lake, extending east and 

 west as far as the eye could reach. In almost every instance 

 the flat plains were destitute of trees, being no doubt swamps 

 or marshes, too wet for timber to grow in, whilst the hills 

 were invariably covered with forests. We found that the 

 roads were always deep in the forests. Our horses had firm 

 footing, but the outriggers of the sledge "scrunched" un- 

 pleasantly. In the open plains the sides of the road were 

 low, any deep tracks which might have been made being no 

 doubt soon filled up again by the drifting snow, and we got 

 on at a rapid pace so long as the snow did not give way 

 under the horses' feet. The forests were principally spruce 

 fir, and very spruce these fir-trees looked, as if they had just 

 been combed and brushed, in striking contrast to the haggard 

 larches, whose leafless branches were clothed with black and 

 grey lichen like a suit of rags, and were torn and twisted 

 by the winds into wild fantastic shapes, reminding one of a 



