SPRING THAW DIFFICULTIES 233 



of that part of the country through which I passed, 

 that is, from Belukha to Chorni-Anni, and it is only 

 the rich who can afford the luxury of millet, pro- 

 cured from' the Russian peasants at Chorni-Anni. 

 Although they use oxen instead of horses, we never 

 saw them' eat beef ; but they consume enormous quan- 

 tities of mutton, four or five Kalmucks being quite 

 equal to finishing a whole sheep at a sitting. Our 

 Kalmlick friend, in fact, accounted satisfactorily for 

 half a sheep himself at one meal, while camping with 

 us in the mountains. The animal was killed and 

 hacked into pieces, the meat was put into an enormous 

 caldron full of melted snow, without salt or seasoning 

 of any kind. The Kalmuck seated himself at the fire, 

 drew a knife from its sheath at his belt, and took 

 each piece of meat out of the pot with his fingers as 

 he wanted it. For beverage he took tea boiled with 

 milk. 



The Kalmlick rides from the cradle to the grave. 

 One very rarely sees him on foot, and even to visit 

 a tent only a few yards away the horse is requi- 

 sitioned. When dismounted, their gait is clumsy and 

 ridiculous, but their horsemanship is magnificent, and 

 there are few things better worth looking at than 

 a Kalmuck on horseback. 



The drosky having overtaken us, we took our seats 

 once more. The horses, tired as they were, struggled 

 heroically, but it was quite evident to us that they 

 would never be able to reach the next stage. We did 

 not neglect to acquaint the driver with our views on 

 the subject and to remind him of our request for a 

 troika. The climax came when, with a thud, the 

 wheels stuck fast near a wood, and, although the 

 driver plied his whip lustily, further progress became 

 out of the question. We held a council of war and 

 decided that the moujik was to rest the horses and 

 then return with them and bring fresh ones. 



