ABSTRACT
Acouple of hundred yards beyond the head of the pass we rounded a projecting spur of rock, and Kiäkt, the goal of our journey, lay at our feet. We called a halt to smoke a pipe while we enjoyed the magnificent view and the consciousness that we had left all obstacles behind us. We saw a big steppe-like plain between snow-covered, wooded hills. At the edge of the steppe, close to the forest verge, were scattered clusters of dark specks, which suggested human settlements. Through the middle of the steppe flowed the Kiäkt River, its course marked by narrow belts of trees along both banks. The river began at the opposite side of the steppe where it had its source in the conjunction of two smaller streams. These were visible at the foot of the mountains far away to the north-east and north-west. The background was formed by wooded hills, and above them rose rows of snow-clad crests, one behind another, higher and higher the farther the eye looked. These were the outposts of the Sayan Mountains, descending in waves towards us from the mighty Altai. Icy pinnacles gleamed in the sunlight like foam on the petrified surf at whose foot we stood.
