154 SIBERIA 



high in conversation. .We shouted, and discharged 

 our revolvers, but failed to attract attention, although 

 the speakers seemed to be quite near us. The sound 

 of the vi^ater was disquieting, as there was the danger 

 of driving into it, although hitherto all the streams 

 we had crossed were frozen hard. Eventually we 

 crossed the hill, and, after twice losing our way and 

 several times sticking fast in a drift, did the rest of 

 the distance with but little to complain of, except 

 the intense cold and the want of something to eat. 



It was two o'clock in the morning when we reached 

 Altaiskoe. The people in charge of the post stations 

 are always very willing to get up and accommodate 

 a traveller, whatever the hour of the night, if only 

 he is endowed with the muscular strength necessary 

 to rouse them out of their sleep. Then the 

 " samovar " is lighted and soon boils, and the weary 

 traveller can dispose himself among the tarakans and 

 enjoy his tea and collaterals. The peasants are a 

 serious people, but they are friendly and do their 

 best to make a stranger feel at home. We would 

 gladly have stayed longer, had it not been for the 

 excessive heat in the house, which, to an Sj^ishman, 

 was almost unbearable. 



Our peasant host asked us what he could do with 

 asbestos, as he had discovered a large deposit. My 

 companion advised him to state his claim to the 

 Government and endeavour to obtain assistance to 

 work it. There is, however, very little likelihood 

 of the discovery being worked to a profit, owing 

 to the lack of available capital. It is for this reason 

 that many similar discoveries are profitless to the 

 persons who make them. 



The road to Onguadi and Mongolia, the route 

 which one or two expeditions in quest of the wild 

 goat have taken, branches away to the south-east 

 from Altaiskoe, while our road lay to the south-west. 



