and slithered in
all directions, continually upsetting the sleds. This became such a
common occurrence that, after a couple of days, we took it as a matter
of course, and I would often awaken from a nap inside the hood to find
myself proceeding face downwards, the sled having overturned. But the
driver would merely halt the team and replace the _narta_, with its
helpless inmate, on its runners, with the indifference of a child
playing with a toy horse and cart. Luckily the deer never attempted to
bolt on these occasions, but waited patiently until their burthen was
placed "right side up."

To-day the wind became more boisterous, and the cold consequently more
piercing every mile we travelled. We had left Tandinskaya about ten at
night, and towards morning Stepan calculated that we had covered twenty
miles in seven hours. The stars had now disappeared, and snow was
falling fast, also the wind had risen to a gale, which percolated the
felt hoods and furs like a stream of iced water. At daybreak the weather
turned to a blizzard, which raged for twenty-four hours and nearly
buried us in snow; but when the storm lulled a bit we struggled
painfully on for about fifteen miles, and hailed the sight of a
_povarnia_ with delight, for it meant, at any rate, shelter and a fire.
_Povarnias_ are merely mud-huts erected at intervals along the track,
when the _stancias_ are long distances apart. They are dark, uninhabited
hovels, generally half full of snow, and open to the winds, and yet
these crazy shelters have saved many a traveller from death by cold and
exposure on this lonely road. A _povarnia_ contains no furniture
whatever; merely a clay hearth and some firewood which previous
travellers have left there, perhaps weeks before. For on leaving these
places every one is expected to cut fuel ready for those who come after.
Sanga-Ali was the _povarnia_ we had now reached, and it was almost
blocked by snow which had drifted in through the open doorway. But we
set to with a will, and were soon crouching over a good fire on which a
pot of deer-meat was fragrantly simmering. Here we remained until early
next morning, taking it in turns to pile on fresh logs, for when the
flame waned for an instant the cold became so intense that to sleep in
it without a fire might have had unpleasant results.

Sordonnakia, the second _povarnia_, was reached after a journey of nine
hours, by which time the weather had again become still and clear.
For