PEAK-BAGGING IN THE ALTAI 191 



in its winter sleep beneath me, the lakes in their 

 ice -sheets slept peacefully beyond. In the distance 

 were the pure white snow-fields ; around me scores 

 of glaciers clothed the slopes and precipices. The 

 summits dreamt in the glow of the closing day. The 

 sky was clear and of a beautiful blue tint. I felt 

 that my journey had not been in vain. 



Ere long, I hope, others will visit those mountain 

 scenes and record their impressions of them, and who 

 knows but that some day, after the pioneers have 

 broken the ancient solitude of these moimtain regions, 

 organised excursions will be led to them for the 

 benefit of the Kalmuck, and Kalmuck hotel pro- 

 prietors will make their little fortunes, as their Swiss 

 precursors have done before them. 



From the peak on which I was standing the 

 Belukha mountain was visible in its complete and 

 majestic proportions. I placed my aneroid baro- 

 meter on a sheltered ledge of rock and estimated 

 the altitude of the mountain to be 17,850 feet, or 

 after deducting 50 feet for the known error, 17,800 

 feet. My aneroid had been officially tested by the 

 best authorities before I left England, and found to 

 be correct. Mr. Edward Wlhymper has also very 

 kindly examined ajid tested it since my return to 

 England, and has declared it to be a very good and 

 Tellable instrument, and it was also tested by the 

 Kew authorities. I mention these facts merely be- 

 cause aneroid barometers occasionally get out of 

 order, and therefore require to be very carefully 

 tested both before and after use. I took a number 

 of photographs and several prismatic bearings. I 

 also conceived the idea of photographing myself on 

 the summit by attaching my camera to a screw on 

 the Jiead of my ice-axe and pushing ~the stock of 

 the axe into the snow. An india-rubber ball attached 

 to a long tube of the same material served to take 



