148 SIBERIA 



from the heat of the stove and the presence of eight 

 or ten weary wayfarers, who, with their boots removed 

 but still wearing the rest of their clothing, lay huddled 

 together in an adjoining roonj. I took a peep at 

 theifl in the interests of science, but imnaediately 

 withdrew. The landlady brought us a " samovar," 

 and shortly afterwards we were enjoying a cup of 

 coffee and a good square Meal. We instructed our 

 driver to be in readiness at 4 a.ffl., as we wished to 

 reach Bysk as early as possible. This allowed us 

 four hours in which to get what slf ep we could. At 

 '4.30 we started. The thermometer registered 15 

 degrees below freezing point. We had evidently 

 started without consulting the convenience of a 

 number of white hares, whom our progress disturbed 

 very considerably, but they were very quick in their 

 movements and difficult to shoot, besides which we 

 had very little tiitte to spare in following them over 

 the snow. They are good sport and adepts in the 

 art of vanishing. We obtained our first view of 

 Bysk at one o'clock on the following day. From; the 

 brow of a hill we had an excellent view of the two 

 rivers Bye and Katun, where, by their confluence 

 below Bysk, they form the Obi. The Bye flows out 

 of Lake Teletskoe, the largest in the Altai district, 

 while the Katun is swelled by a number of tributary 

 strfeaiHs rising in the Katunskie Belki range, and has 

 its source in the Belukha glacier, south of the moun- 

 tain of that name. A descent of 250 feet brought 

 us to Bysk on the banks of the River Bye. The 

 domes of two pretty churches, burning in the sun, 

 lent additional attractiveness to the pretty wooden 

 buildings which constitute the town. The weather 

 was spring-like, notwithstanding the fact that the 

 therfHometer stood at 16 degrees below zero. We 

 noticed, when we had crossed the River Katun, that 

 one half of the vehicles were droskies and the other 



