x and
seven thousand, they were disagreeable to say the least. Among the
five thousand and odd versts, I began to think matters improving, and
when I descended below four thousand, I felt as if in my teens. The
proverb says, "a watched pot never boils." I can testify that these
distance figures diminished very slowly, and sometimes they seemed to
remain nearly the same from day to day.

The snow storm that began when we left Tomsk, continued through the
night and the following day. The air was warm, and there was little
wind, so that our principal inconvenience was from the snow flakes in
our faces, and the gradual filling of the road. Toward sunset a wind
arose. Every hour it increased, and before midnight there was good
prospect of our losing our way or being compelled to halt until
daybreak. The snow whirled in thick masses through the air, and
utterly blinded us when we attempted to look out. The road filled with
drifts, and we had much difficulty in dragging through them. The
greatest personal inconvenience was the sifting of snow through the
crevices of our sleigh cover. At every halt we underwent a vigorous
shaking to remove the superfluous snow from our furs.

A storm with high winds in this region takes the name of _bouran_. It
is analogous to the _poorga_ of Northeastern Siberia and Kamchatka,
and may occur at any season of the year.

Bourans are oftentimes very violent, especially in the open steppe.
Any one who has experienced the norther of Texas, or the _bora_ of
Southern Austria, can form an idea of these Siberian storms. The worst
are when the thermometer sinks to twenty-five degrees or more below
zero, and the snow is dashed about with terrific fury. At such times
they are almost insupportable, and the traveler who ventures to face
them runs great risk of his life. Many persons have been lost in the
winter storms, and all experienced voyagers are reluctant to brave
their violence. In summer the wind spends its force on the earth and
sand which it whirls in large clouds. A gentleman told me he had seen
the dry bed of a river where there were two feet of sand, swept clean
to the rock by the strength of the wind alone. A little past daylight
the sleigh came to a sudden stop despite the efforts of all concerned.
The last hundred versts of our ride we had four horses to each sleigh,
and their united strength was not more than sufficient for our
purpose. The drift where we stopped was at least three feet d