EXPEDITION TO THE ALTAI 169 



horse the poor animal was dead. Shortly afterwards 

 our own man upset us into a stream that was just 

 breaking up and my interpreter got wet through, 

 while the driver was treated to some heated Russian 

 language that I had never heard before. To add 

 insult to injury he said " nichevo " (no matter), at 

 which my interpreter absolutely lost control of 

 himself and threatened to knock him off the sledge, 

 but the moujik did not appear to be discomposed 

 by the threat. My interpreter found, on referring 

 to his notebook, that we had paid our last driver 

 to take us a distance of 60 versts, which meant 

 that he should have brought us to the next station, 

 and that although we had watched him carefully he 

 had got the best of us at the finish. It is well, 

 therefore, in order to avoid extra expense, to pee 

 that your driver does not drop you half way, as they 

 all insist on being paid before they start. We 

 reached Tavourack at 5 p.m. The man at the post 

 station had to send for the owner of the sledge 

 and team, an operation which occupied half an hour. 

 However, when he did arrive he refused to take us 

 that night, as one half the journey was uphill and 

 there was a very dangerous mountain tidge with 

 heavy snow-drifts to be crossed. A doctor, he told 

 us, had been out all night the previous week owing 

 to the sledge sticking fast in the snow, while he 

 had returned for fresh horses. He promised faith- 

 fully to be in readiness at four o'clock next morning, 

 so we dismissed him. The post house at Tavourack 

 actually contained a bed, but as I thought it would 

 be too much trouble to use the insect powder to 

 the extent that would be necessary, I decided in 

 favour of the accustomed hard boards of the floor, 

 only removing my boots. 1 



We started at five o'clock the next morning for 

 Chorni-Anni, a distance of 24 miles, with a pre- 



