Identifier: orientalwesterns00atki (find matches)
Title: Oriental and western Siberia: a narrative of seven years' explorations and adventures in Siberia, Mongolia the Kirghis steppes, Chinese Tartary, and part of Central Asia
Year: 1858 (1850s)
Authors: Atkinson, Thomas Witlam, 1799-1861
Subjects: Kyrgyz
Publisher: London : Hurst and Blackett
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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r rowing about twohours, we passed a high rocky headland, which shut outthe view of the village. Nor was there any other alongthe shore, which had now become rugged and extremelywild. The evening was calm, with scarcely a ripple on thewater, and the sun went down in a blaze of crimson light,which can only be seen in this part of the world^ or intropical regions. Our steersman proposed that we shouldrun into a deep bay and encamp ; and landed us at themouth of a small river, where we slept on a sandy beach—the boat having been drawn far out of the water. Again we had a fine calm morning, with a prospect of agood day, and the men pulling well, we glided beautifullyover the glassy water. The cliffs along the shore werehigh and rugged, with occasional breaks, where a mountaintorrent found its way to the lake. It was near one ofthese that I sketched the accompanying view, lookingtowards the mountains on the opposite shore, among whichis Amar-daban. I had heard a description of this moun-
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A CUNNING BEAE. 597 tain from a liigli official, who had been sent on a missionto the Trans-Baikal. When relating the perils of hisjourney far away from the district, I will not repeat thenonsense he talked, but merely state that he concluded hismarvellous story by saying it was not decided by geogra-phers whether Amar-daban or Chimborazo possessed thehigher elevation, but his opinion was that nasha gora^(our mountain) had the advantage. In reality, Amar-dabanis rather more than four thousand feet above the sea,—itdoes not reach the line of perpetual snow. Our voyage to-day was a splendid one, and the lake waslike a mirror; indeed, we could see into its depth, and watchthe fish sporting round the rocky points far below the surface.We encamped on the bank of a small river, which flowsthrough a wild glen leading up into the mountains, and isa celebrated hunting-ground for bears. Our steersman, whowas a great Ximrod, related a circumstance which hap-pened to himself on this spot a few

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