212 SIBERIA 



hunters swam the horses across. After the Kalmuck 

 had pa:ddled us over, he offered us a duck he had 

 just shot, for which we gave him 20 kopecks (sd.) 

 When we joined the hunters and told them we had 

 paid this small sum for the duck, they said we ought 

 to get two ducks for the money, as 10 kopecks— 

 2|^d. each — was the usual price. 



We noticed piles of bark on each side of the river, 

 which had been cut off the trees in winter by the 

 Kalmucks, who would take it up the river in a canoe 

 as soon as the spring had returned. We waited for 

 the hunters and horses and rode them up a steep bank 

 and down through a' wood, and soon entered the 

 village of Katunda, where a crowd gathered in the 

 post station. 



The journey from Katunda, which had taken Pro- 

 fessor Sapozhnikoff three days each way, only took 

 us two. The hunters would have taken three days 

 if I had not been very: firm with them. So far as 

 the hunters are concerned, it is not possible to get 

 men who are either able or willing to climb, and, 

 if serious mountain exploration is thought of, a good 

 Swiss guide or porter is quite necessary. The 

 traveller would also feel safer^ and would not run 

 the risk of being left in the mountains. 



One thing that my hunters complained of very 

 badly was that the camping arrangements were bad. 

 Professor Sapozhnikoff, they said, had taken two 

 large tents, one for the hunters and one for himself, 

 and had not hurried or wanted to climb sq often. 

 Whatever may be said for the hunters, I should re- 

 commend any future explorer to be quite independent 

 of their aid in the mountains, and only to take them 

 to look after the horses ; while an interpreter khow- 

 ing English and Russian (probably some butter 

 merchant who would like a holiday) could be found 

 at Omsk, Novo-Nicolaevsk, or Barnaul. 



