th of the middle Yenisei and constantly came across
these putrifying and terrifying reminders of the work of the Bolsheviki.
In one place at a turn of the river I saw a great heap of horses, which
had been cast up by the ice and current, in number not less than three
hundred. A verst below there I was sickened beyond endurance by the
discovery of a grove of willows along the bank which had raked from the
polluted stream and held in their finger-like drooping branches human
bodies in all shapes and attitudes with a semblance of naturalness
which made an everlasting picture on my distraught mind. Of this pitiful
gruesome company I counted seventy.

At last the mountain of ice passed by, followed by the muddy freshets
that carried down the trunks of fallen trees, logs and bodies, bodies,
bodies. The fisherman and his son put me and my luggage into their
dugout made from an aspen tree and poled upstream along the bank.
Poling in a swift current is very hard work. At the sharp curves we were
compelled to row, struggling against the force of the stream and even in
places hugging the cliffs and making headway only by clutching the rocks
with our hands and dragging along slowly. Sometimes it took us a long
while to do five or six metres through these rapid holes. In two days we
reached the goal of our journey. I spent several days in this gold mine,
where the watchman and his family were living. As they were short of
food, they had nothing to spare for me and consequently my rifle again
served to nourish me, as well as contributing something to my hosts.
One day there appeared here a trained agriculturalist. I did not hide
because during my winter in the woods I had raised a heavy beard, so
that probably my own mother could not have recognized me. However, our
guest was very shrewd and at once deciphered me. I did not fear him
because I saw that he was not a Bolshevik and later had confirmation of
this. We found common acquaintances and a common viewpoint on current
events. He lived close to the gold mine in a small village where he
superintended public works. We determined to escape together from
Russia. For a long time I had puzzled over this matter and now my plan
was ready. Knowing the position in Siberia and its geography, I decided
that the best way to safety was through Urianhai, the northern part of
Mongolia on the head waters of the Yenisei, then through Mongolia and
out to the Far East and the Pacific. Before the overt