PEAK-BAGGING IN THE ALTAI 179 



account of the severe cold and the quantity of snow. 

 He was quite sure no horse could stand on the ice- 

 glazed slopes of the mountains, and that it was quite 

 possible the horses would slip down and fall upon 

 the River Akkem, and be killed with their riders. 



The river winds its way through the mountains. 

 One bank is precipitous, while the other is a gentle 

 slope of 45 degrees clothed with a forest gro^wth as 

 dense as an Indian jimgle. The sound of our voices 

 was re-echoed as in some vast cavern, and the scenery 

 was wild and impressive. At first we had a rough 

 road and one or two frozen streams to cross, but 

 afterwards we came to the ice -glazed slopes. The 

 pack horses managed to shake their burdens into 

 such a position that it was necessary to dismount and 

 re -adjust the lugga;ge about every half mile. 



JWe found the forest slopes frozen for about 

 20 miles. Before we had travelled half the distance 

 we had been through all the antics and positions 

 possible on horseback, from sliding down the slope 

 on the horse's back to dragging the helpless animal 

 up some very steep slope. It is surprising what 

 one can grow accustomed to, even to tumbling and 

 getting the horse up again without losing the stirrups, 

 by merely jerking him up by the aid of the bridle, 

 with one leg pushing against the slope ; and scraping 

 between thin trees by using all one's strength to push 

 them apart. 



The snow was usually deep and soft at the bottom 

 of the slope, with ice-glazed groimd underneath, but 

 on the higher slopes it had all slipped down, leaving 

 the ice-glazed slope, and making it much more 

 difficult for a horse to stand. iWith the exceptions 

 of halts to extricate a fallen horse or to re -arrange 

 the baggage, we were in our saddles for nine hours, 

 there being no convenient spot at which to call a 

 halt. There was no track, and our horses had fre- 



