LAKE ARAL TO TASHKEND 63 
to spend the night in the snowdrifts, and wait till the 
storm abates or day breaks. 
The Aris is quite a respectable river. It was formerly 
crossed on high-wheeled arbas ; but a few weeks before 
my arrival a ferry had been started. The equipage with 
its patyorka was placed on long boats lashed together, and 
was hauled across the river by the ferrymen pulling at a 
thick rope stretched from bank to bank. 
Beyond Buru-jar numerous ravines and steep slopes 
were encountered. Going downhill the yamshtchik held 
in the middle or shaft-horse as hard as he could, for on 
CROSSING THE RIVER ARIS. 
that animal rested the entire weight of the carriage ; but 
as soon as it became too much for him, he let him go, and 
the momentum carried down the tarantass at a terrific 
pace, so that it was as much as ever the horses could 
do to keep their feet. The other two horses, which were 
harnessed in front of the troika with loose traces, had 
to keep a sharp look-out so as not to be run into by the 
shafts ; if the near horse, with its rider, had gone down he 
would almost certainly have been run over by the heavy 
tarantass. All went well however, although our lives 
often seemed to be in jeopardy ; the horses were sure- 
footed, and the men reliable and careful. At one of the 
stations one of the side horses of the troika became 
unmanageable, kicked and reared, and would on no 
