ond of dogs and had an English pointer in his
baggage. During the day the animal ran near the carriage, and at night
slept at his master's feet. He was well inclined toward me after we
were introduced, and before the journey ended he became my personal
friend. He had an objectionable habit of entering the tarantass just
before me and standing in the way until I was seated. Sometimes when
left alone in the carriage he would not permit the yemshicks to attach
the horses. On two or three occasions of this kind the Captain was
obliged to suspend his tea-drinking and go to pacify his dog. Once as
a yemshick was mounting the box of the tarantass, 'Boika' jumped at
his face and very nearly secured an attachment to a large and ruddy
nose. Spite of his eccentricities, he was a good dog and secured the
admiration of those he did not attempt to bite.

We passed the Yablonoi mountains by a road far from difficult. Had I
not been informed of the fact I could have hardly suspected we were in
a mountain range. The Yablonoi chain forms the dividing ridge between
the head streams of the Amoor and the rivers that flow to the Arctic
Ocean.

On the south we left a little brook winding to reach the Ingodah, and
two hours later crossed the Ouda, which joins the Selenga at Verkne
Udinsk. The two streams flow in opposite directions. One threads its
way to the eastward, where it assists in forming the Amoor; the other
through the Selenga, Lake Baikal, and the Yenesei, is finally
swallowed up among the icebergs and perpetual snows of the far north.

"One to long darkness and the frozen tide;
One to the Peaceful Sea."

CHAPTER XXV.

Beyond the mountains the cold increased, the country was slightly
covered with snow, and the lakes were frozen over. In the mountain
region there is a forest of pines and birches, but farther along much
of the country is flat and destitute of timber. Where the road was
good our tarantass rolled along very well, and the cold, though
considerable, was not uncomfortable. I found the chief inconvenience
was, that the moisture in my breath congealed on my beard and the fur
clothing near it. Two or three times beard and fur were frozen
together, and it was not always easy to separate them.

From the Yablonoi mountains to Verkne Udinsk there are very few houses
between the villages that form the posting stations. The principal
inhabitants are Bouriats, a people of Mongol descent who were
conquered by Genghi