most showy. The weather became rapidly warmer in the shelter of the hills, Scattered larches now appeared, but many of them dead or dying; and the forest generally in the neighbourhood of the villages was rapidly disappearing. A German forester said of the Russians what would be almost as true of Americans up till recent times, that they were “ always and everywhere true wasters and destroyers of forest and as the con¬ sumption of firewood is very large, the time is not far distant when the settlement of these steppes and foothills will be checked by want of fuel. At present, however, the older villages seem very prosperous, and the houses where we slept were as a rule clean and comfortable. The people have much more freedom from Government interference in Siberia than in most parts of Russia, We saw nothing either of the mining districts or of political exiles.
Gradually ascending through grassy valleys with a luxuriant vegetation, we reached a low pass of about 4,000 feet, and among the flowers seen were quantities of a handsome Peony in bud, and beds of a variety of dog’s-tooth violet (Erythronium denscanis), which is twice as tall, and with flowers twice as large, as the European one.
Having spent the night at Tchirga, we started at 6 a.m. on June 8th, and drove up a fairly level valley with the mountains gradually getting higher and more wooded. In two or three hours spruce began to show in the wet bottoms of the valley. When we had gone twenty versts, we found a small deer park by the side of the road with seven Maral stags in it, which are kept for their horns. They were now about half-grown, and, the owner said, would be cut off in a few days. Their value is from six to ten roubles a pound; and one very fine stag, which he said he had had ten years, would have horns weighing twenty pounds when cut, or ten pounds dry. They were in good condition, and well-fed during winter to make their horns large. The cutting does not seem to injure them at all, and, though they lose flesh during the rut, they live many years under these conditions. Some of them are caught alive during the deep snow, and some are bred in captivity.
The size of these deer is much greater than our red deer, but the colour much the same, though perhaps not so red; and the head very long and thin with large open ears. When moving, they carry their heads with the nose quite horizontal. The growth of the horns was very open, and the brow, bay and tray, are always better developed than the upper points, which are sometimes four or five on each side. I should certainly say that this animal was intermediate between the wapiti and our deer.
The next day we drove on over a low pass where the road was bad and very muddy. We had some Kalmucks—or rather Altaisk Tartars, for though of very Chinese appearance, dress and habit, they speak a language allied to Turkish—to help us up the hill; which they did by fastening their horsehair halters to our shafts, and pulling us on whilst mounted.
From this point we passed into the Tartar country; all the Russians were comparatively new settlers, and there were only two or three small villages before us. Many of these Tartars are very rich in horses; one man alone was said to have over 4,000. I also saw some yaks, which seemed much the same as the tame Himalayan yak.
