160 SIBERIA 



liiflinary ascent of 6 miles up the va;lley. It twas 

 along this road that I made my first inspection of 

 a Russian bath. This was a small hut erected at 

 some distance from the dwelling-house. It contained 

 a roughly-constructed stove, in which wood is burnt 

 until the stones of which it is composed are nearly 

 red hot. Water is then thrown on the stones, the 

 steam thus generated filling the room. In some 

 baths a raised platform" is erected, which is reached 

 by a series of steps and is flanked by wooden 

 benches. This is called the " polka," a,nd, owing 

 to the superheated steam ascending to the top of 

 the room, is a very hot corner. The method of using 

 the bath is to raise some soapsuds in a bucket of 

 hot water. A bundle of birch twigs with the leaves 

 still on, called a " veynik," is dipped in the hot 

 soap and water and the body soundly thrashed with 

 it. The heat of the " polka " is so intense that 

 the Russian peasant frequently thinks nothing of 

 coming outside in nudibus and rolling in the snow. 

 We walked some distance up the Yedtogol Pass, 

 The weather was warm, the thermometer only 

 registering 38 degrees Fahr. The trees pn 

 the summit were all bent over in a southerly 

 direction, giving evidence of heavy northerly 

 winds. The River Chagran takes its source 

 near this point. Although in the valleys we 

 had passed through the ice in the rivers wa:s all 

 breaking up, the Chagran, owing to the valley being 

 more exposed towards the north, was still frozen 

 over. The river grew visibly in expanse as we fol- 

 lowed its current. Almost the whole of the way 

 down the mountain slopes our sledge reposed grace- 

 fully on one side, a most uncomfortable way of 

 travelling. Finally it upset altogether,^ depositing 

 us by the way, and, as we were practically smothered 

 in rflud, we decided to walk. The snow had melted 



