region called Transbaikalia, because it lies on the farther,
that is, the eastern, side of Lake Baikal. Here dwell Buriats, a
Mongolian people--in winter in wooden huts surrounded by enclosures for
domestic animals, in summer in tents. When we awoke on the morning of
New Year's Day the train was passing along the southern shore of Lake
Baikal, and one of the most enchanting scenes in the world was displayed
to the eyes of the passengers. On the eastern shore the mountains stood
clearly defined in the pure morning air, while the ranges to the west
were lit up by the clear sunshine. Here and there the slopes were
covered with northern pine and fir-trees. The line runs all the way
along the lake shore, sometimes only a couple of yards from the water.
This part of the Trans-Siberian railway was the most difficult and
costly to make, and the last to be completed. During its construction
traffic between the extremities of the line was provided for by great
ferry-boats across the lake. The line winds in and out, following all
the promontories and bays of the lake, and the train rolls on through
narrow galleries where columns of rock are left to support a whole roof
of mountain. Sometimes we run along a ledge blasted out of the side of
the mountain, above a precipitous slope which falls headlong to the
lake. We rush through an endless succession of tunnels, and on emerging
from each are surprised by a new view of the mountainous shore.

Baikal, or the "Rich Lake," is the third inland sea of Asia, only the
Caspian and the Sea of Aral being larger. Its height above sea-level is
1560 feet; the water is light-green in colour, sweet, and crystal clear,
and abounds in fish, among them five species of salmon. There is also a
kind of seal, and in general many of the animal forms of Baikal are
allied to those of the salt sea. Baikal is the deepest lake in the
world, soundings having been taken down to 5618 feet. Steamers cross the
lake in various directions, and in winter sleighs are driven over the
ice from shore to shore. At the beginning of January the whole of the
deep lake is so cooled down that ice begins to form, and the lake is
usually frozen over to the middle of April.

We stop an hour at Irkutsk to change trains. Irkutsk is the largest town
in Siberia, and has 100,000 inhabitants; it stands on the bank of the
river Angara, which flows out of Lake Baikal, and thus forms the outlet
of all the rivers and streams which empty them