Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/402

396 but the distance is a thousand miles, and we were a week in making it. We were caught in a bouran, or storm, analagous to the Texas norther or the bora of Trieste. The wind blew violently, the snow whirled in blinding masses; the road was so buried that several times we lost our way, and finally concluded it safest to wait at a station till the storm was over. Happily we were not long delayed.

"In summer these bourans or ouragans (a word which is probably of the same origin as hurricane) are sometimes so severe that they sweep dry the bed of a small river in a few minutes, and create large clouds of dust as they pass over the land. The one we encountered was from the south, and therefore warm. A northern bouran in winter is something terrific, as the thermometer goes very low and the intense cold added to the wind is destructive to animal life. Men and horses have been lost in these bourans, and I was cautioned not to venture to face them if I could avoid doing so.

"Many Tartars live on the Baraba Steppe, but we saw few of them, as we changed horses at the houses of the Russian peasants. There was formerly a very small population of Russians on the steppe between Tumen and Tomsk; the Governor-general of Siberia persuaded Catherine the Great to give him all the conscripts of a levy instead of sending them to the army. He settled them with their families in villages along the route across the steppe, and the present population consists of the descendants of these people, together with exiles and voluntary emigrants of the present century.

"Grain is produced in abundance on the steppe. Wheat, rye, and oats are often as low as ten or twenty cents a bushel, as there is no market for produce beyond what can be sold to travellers. A railway is one of the hopes of the future, and when it comes the steppe will be prosperous. A great deal of hemp and flax is raised there; I bought about sixty feet of half-inch rope for thirty cents at one station, and afterwards learned that I paid too much. Our harness was constantly breaking, and every few days it was necessary to buy a quantity of rope for purposes of repair. A Russian mujik will perform wonders of harness-mending if you give him plenty of rope.

"I will not weary you with describing in detail the rest of the long sleigh-ride. Through Tumen we went without delay, and from that place to Ekaterineburg we had no incident of consequence. At Ekaterineburg we stopped a day, and passed several hours among the shops devoted to the sale of semi-precious stones, which are cut into all sorts of fantastic shapes. The town is as famous for these things as is Cologne for the