KATUNDA 223 



rivers to relieve the traffic. A weekly collection of 

 the butter from' all the villages would be quite suffi- 

 cient under such circumstances, as I believe that 

 all the Altai rivers are navigable, or would take very 

 little to make them so. I am well aware that, in the 

 hot summer months, the level of the rivers falls very 

 considerably; at the same time, the rivers I crossed 

 in different parts of the country, and even at Koks^, 

 Ouemon, and Katunda, could easily be made navig- 

 able and used for the transport of dairy produce, or 

 even cereals. This would encourage farming on a 

 considerable scale where at present "the rich soil of 

 the district is almost entirely neglected. 



I am equally convinced that the numerous small 

 tributaries of the larger rivers could be utilised jn 

 this manner, and might, if properly managed, develop 

 a not inconsiderable passenger traffic. There is, for 

 instance, no reason whatever, that I can see, why 

 pleasure-steamers should not extend their trips from 

 Bysk, into the very heart of Mongolia and the Altai 

 range, like the steamer that runs up the Irtish from 

 Omsk. 



We very much enjoyed our friendly call on the 

 hunter and his house-wife. As we were coming away 

 we met the Inspector of Forests, who, having heard 

 of pur being at Katunda, had come a distance of 

 20 miles to speak to us. It seemed a pity to me for 

 the man to have come those 20 miles for nothing, so, 

 in order that that should not be the case, and being 

 determined to make as much as I could of a man who 

 knew something about the great country I was so 

 interested in, I began to ply him' with questions. 



Of the extent of the forests in Siberia he could 

 tell me very little — they had never been properly 

 •measured or explored — all he knew was that it is 

 enormous. The Inspector of Forests is an official 

 who is responsible to the Ministry of Agriculture and 



