156 SIBERIA 



left a hole quite half an inch in depth. The summit 

 of the pass is consecrated by a small chapel contain- 

 ing a sacred ikon, but I did not notice that our 

 driver paid it any special reverence. From this point 

 we obtained our first good view of the Altai Moun- 

 tains. The descent from the highest point of the 

 pass was a very gradual one, and shortly before 

 reaching Barancha we came upon a small creamery 

 situated on the slope of a mountain in a truly ideal 

 spot for that purpose ; but the drainage is very 

 bad and the separator and other implements used 

 are cheap and primitive. Unlike the dairies in the 

 vicinity of the Siberian line, however, this one had 

 been erected near a running stream of pure water, in- 

 valuable for washing purposes. It only needed about 

 20 feet of drain pipes to render the sanitation of the 

 place exemplary, but the idea had evidently never 

 occurred to the proprietor, and the creamery was too 

 remote for the supervision of the Government 

 Inspector to be exercised over it. W.e obtained from 

 the people in charge about five pounds of butter 

 of very fine quality, and were told that the weekly 

 output of the "place is about 5 cwts . The butter 

 was purchased by the representatives at Bysk of 

 a Moscow firm, and judging by the prices the peasant 

 told us he was receiving for it they must have been 

 making a very fair profit on the business. The 

 separator, although inexpensive, was a new one, the 

 old one having been destroyed during the popular 

 demonstrations against these machines, which the 

 superstitious peasantry denominated " devils." We 

 reached Barancha at about noon, having enjoyed the 

 journey immensely. Our way had been through 

 warm, sheltered valleys, and we would certainly have 

 journeyed in a more leisurely manner had such a. 

 course not been sternly vetoed by our driver, who 

 threatened to turn back if we did not proceed, as he 



