EXPEDITION TO THE ALTAI 161 



away and the road was exceedingly heavy for the 

 horses. It very often happens that the sledge will 

 run for half a mile or so on one side, the wings, 

 if the driver is skilful, preventing its turning over, 

 while the horses are drawing it along at a very fair 

 speed. The Russian driver is an adept in the art 

 of righting the sledge by alternately jumping on 

 and off while it is going at full speed. He is also 

 very skilful in shifting his seat so as to balance the 

 vehicle, and his nlethod of encouraging the horses, 

 by shouting expletives at thens, enables him to extract' 

 an effort of 30 or 40 miles out of them on nothing 

 more substantial than an unstinted supply of Siberian 

 air. It is currently reported that the Siberian Hfoujik 

 regards it as an absurdity to give the horse food 

 when the air is so good, and that he maintains, 

 moreover, that a horse runs lighter vdthout a good 

 meal than with one. However this may be, it is 

 quite certain that the natives contrive to get an 

 astonishing amount of good work and speed out of 

 the scraggy little animals. 



The mountains in this neighbourhood, if the 

 appearance of hundreds of cattle passed by us on 

 the way can be taken as evidence, furnish ideal 

 grazing, although they are awkward for travellers. 



We reached Chorni-Anni at one o'clock. The 

 village is rather pretty and contains a church. It 

 appeared to be fairly prosperous. It is situated in 

 a basin at the junction of four valleys, and is sub- 

 ject to severe dust-storms. We were unfortunate 

 enough to witness one of these storm's, which broke 

 over us without the slightest warning. The four 

 valleys were swept by strong winds, which ffiet and 

 raised the loose, black soil in dense clouds. Some- 

 times the winds swell into a hurricane, causing 

 danger to life and property. We were told that, 

 owing to the frequency and strength of the storms, 

 the snow could not rest in the village. 



11 



