240 SIBERIA 



Tavourack. For some distance we had a rapid river 

 on our right. The mud on the roads was very thick, 

 and our progress was very slow in consequence. 

 Presently we descended into a valley, and the horses 

 had to swim a stream which had only recently been 

 spanned by a bridge, but the swollen waters had 

 carried it away bodily. We perched on the sides of 

 the drosky in order to escape a wetting, but the 

 water was among our luggage and our feet were wet 

 very soon . At about four in the afternoon we reached 

 Tapoleoni. In the immediate vicinity of this village 

 there is a dome-shaped mountain, snow-capped, iwhich 

 was much higher than any we had seen in the dis- 

 tricts tjirough which we had come, since we left the 

 neighbourhood of Katunda. The peasants informed 

 us, on inquiry, that it was the highest mountain 

 in the district and that no one had ever thoug'ht of 

 climbing it. 



At five o'clock we started on a 20-verst journey to 

 Solonishini. Some three or four miles out of the 

 village our horses and drosky stuck hopelessly in a 

 snow-drift near the top of a mountain pass. The 

 horses had been going very well so far, and it seemed 

 a pity they should have so rough a time of it at 

 this point. The three of us did our utmost to help 

 the poor beasts out, but without avail. There was 

 nothing for it but to give them a rest, aiter which 

 they made a fresh effort, and with a pull that 

 threatened to break the drosky into pieces we got 

 out of the hole. The value of the small wheels of 

 the drosky is apparent when the vehicle gets stuck 

 in a snow-heap. Big wheels are difficult to extricate. 

 The plan adopted of attaching a rope to the front 

 axle of the smaller front wheels is a good one. By 

 this means the drosky is pulled out of the holes, which 

 are so frequent in this practically trackless country, 

 with comparative ease. 



