EXPEDITION TO THE ALTAI 169 



changed our horses and sledge nine times, making 

 eleven stages, of which the shortest was 8 and the 

 longest 40 miles. We had started at Bysk at an 

 elevation of 600 feet and had attained the highest 

 pass over the Korgomskie Mountains, 5,000 feet 

 above the level of the sea. We had driven through 

 eight valleys, enclosed on all sides by mountains, 

 which I have called circles, the smallest of which 

 was about 4 miles across and the largest about 40, 

 the breadth varying from i to 8 miles. The tempera- 

 ture of the air depended on the direction of the 

 wind and the situation and height of the valley. 



Rivers and lakes in Siberia freeze to the bottom 

 about October. They break up at different times, 

 and, in the late winter, as on the occasion when I 

 visited the country, will always be uncertain, difficult, 

 and even dangerous to the traveller. They remain 

 frozen to the bottom during six months of the year. 

 An undercurrent begins to form about the end of 

 March, and in April they break up — to freeze again 

 in November. There is much uncertainty as to the 

 condition of the rivers in the spring, as they do not 

 all break up simultaneously, and the peasants in the 

 different villages cannot tell you much about the 

 river beyond their own village, or even, for that 

 matter, about the state of the roads farther than 

 the next post station. Some system of communication 

 which would enable the men in charge of the post 

 stations to supply the traveller with prompt and 

 reliable information as to the state, of the roads and 

 the ice on the rivers would be of the greatest value. 



The rivers near the Arctic Ocean are the first to 

 freeze and the last to thaw. The Katun, which is the 

 principal tributary of the Obi, is a fast-flowing river, 

 which takes its rise in the southern portion of the 

 Belukha glacier. It follows a semi -circular course, 

 passing the valley to the north of the Katunskie-Belki. 



