EXPEDITION TO THE ALTAI 163 



numbers of wild dogs roaming about the country, 

 of which the peasants say that they are more 

 dangerous even than the wolves. At one part of 

 the journey we noticed a horse running in front 

 of our sledge. It had evidently strayed from the 

 last village, which was some ten miles behind us. 

 It would probably wander till it was exhausted and 

 then lie down to die, when it would provide a welcome 

 meal for a pack of wolves . Our driver experienced 

 considerable difificulty in keeping to the track, as the 

 only signs that the moujik goes by, sledge ruts, were 

 not to be seen. The drivers are not remarkable for 

 intelligence, they have no landmarks, and cannot tell 

 you, with anything like certainty, whether they are 

 on the right track or not. If you display any un- 

 seemly anxiety on the subject the driver will 

 endeavour to reassure you with some pregnant 

 remark like " nichevo " (no matter) or " seychas " 

 (presently). ;We were not at all surprised, there- 

 fore, when our man suddenly pulled up and went 

 ahead to look for the track . He came back delighted 

 and drove us up an incline, the snow on which proved 

 so soft that the sledge sank deep and the horses 

 went in up to their collars. There was nothing for 

 it but to get out of the sledge and extricate the 

 horses. He then continued on the level for some 

 distance and made an attempt to ascertain his where- 

 abouts from the inmates of an isolated farmhouse ; 

 but although we could hear that there were people 

 inside they were evidently too frightened to answer, 

 and the only response to our knocking was the weary 

 and monotonous barking of the dogs. We decided 

 to continue our journey. We tried another hill, and 

 were once more compelled to alight and disinter the 

 sledge from a deep drift. We called a halt, and 

 while we were resting became aware of the sound 

 of running water not far away and of voices raised 



