5 ° 
THROUGH ASIA 
bay was frozen over, and at a distance of some miles from 
the shore I saw a caravan crossing the glassy ice. The 
same passage is also used in summer, for the water is then 
extremely shallow, not more than seven feet at its deepest, 
and in most places only two or three feet. IDuring the 
warm season of the year, when the sand is dry, it is blown 
by the wind in the direction of the lake, continually chang- 
ing the coast-line, filling up the creeks and forming sand- 
spits, islets, and sand-banks. The coast is bordered by 
MY TARANTASS DRAWN BY THREE CAMELS 
a number of salt lagoons, called by the Russians solonets, 
which however are generally dry in summer. They are 
former creeks or bays which have been cut off from the 
great lake by the drift-sand. The fishing in these lagoons 
is first-rate; the Ural Co.ssacks, who engage in it, lay their 
nets at a distance of ten or a dozen miles from the shore. 
When the water is frozen they use sledges or camels to 
reach their fishing-holes in the ice ; at other times they 
row out in boats of a moderate size. 
The climate in these tracts is good. The summer 
heat is tempered by the proximity to Lake Aral, while 
