140 SIBERIA 



and the one who took his place, we stopped hirff out- 

 side the yard and went inside to make our bargain. 

 We arranged for the next man to take us 1 2 miles 

 for 3s., and although after he had ppoken to our 

 driver he tried very hard to induce us to pay more, 

 we carried the day. I advise all future travellers 

 to adopt this plan, as we found it worked admirably. 

 The moujiks, knowing we were helpless in their 

 hands, did not scruple to take every advantage of 

 us, and it was only by forestalling them in the manner 

 described that we obtained fair play at their hands. 

 We travelled the greater part of the night, although 

 the cold was very severe, the thermometer register- 

 ing between 16 and 20 degrees below zero. On the 

 next day the sky was again cloudless. We changed 

 our sledge at nine post stations, and found that 

 the 1 5 miles between stages were quite long enough, 

 on account of the cramped position we were obliged 

 to observe while seated on our belongings exposed 

 to the cutting wind caused by the motion of the 

 sledge. At one stage of the journey, while travel- 

 ling through rich pine forests, a distance of jabout 

 28 miles, we varied the monotony by shooting several 

 ryabchiks ' and other game birds. There was no 

 occasion for us to leave the track, as the birds came 

 on the roads to pick up stray morsels of food, the 

 prolonged cold of the winter having rendered their 

 supply of food in the forest sufficiently precarious. 

 At Bamaoul we made a short stay. This town 

 is one of the most prosperous in the Altai region. 

 It is situated about 180 miles from the Siberian 

 railway, contains 70 factories of various kinds, and 

 1,200 workpeople, out of a total population of 

 30,000. It is a pretty town of wooden houses and 

 contains five churches, but the streets are unpaved. 



" Hazel grouse. 



