Siberia and the exile system . sible that I can have come from that to this intwenty-four hours f To my steppe-wearied eyes, thescenery, as we approached the Altai Station, was inde-scribably beautiful. On our left was a range of low moun-tains, the smooth slopes of which were checkered withpurple cloud shadows and tinted here and there by vastareas of flowers; on our right, rising almost from the road,was a splendid chain of bold, grandly sculptured peaksfrom seven thousand to nine thousand feet in height,crowned with one thousand feet of fresh, brilliantly white13 194 SIBERIA snow, aiul hvhv
Siberia and the exile system . sible that I can have come from that to this intwenty-four hours f To my steppe-wearied eyes, thescenery, as we approached the Altai Station, was inde-scribably beautiful. On our left was a range of low moun-tains, the smooth slopes of which were checkered withpurple cloud shadows and tinted here and there by vastareas of flowers; on our right, rising almost from the road,was a splendid chain of bold, grandly sculptured peaksfrom seven thousand to nine thousand feet in height,crowned with one thousand feet of fresh, brilliantly white13 194 SIBERIA snow, aiul hvhvd with u broad zone of evergreen forest;beneath lay a beautiful, park-like valley, through whichran the road, under the shade of scattered larches, acrossclear, rushing mountain streams which came tumblingdown in cascades from the melting snows above, and overgrassy meadows sprinkled with wild pansies, gentians,fringed pinks, and ripening strawberries. After three thou-sand miles of almost unbroken plain, or steppe, this scene. THE ALtIi station. made upon me a profound impression. We reached theAltai Station about six oclock in the cool of a beautiful,calm, midsummer afternoon. I shall never forget the enthu-siastic delight that I felt as I rode up out of a wooded valleyfragrant with wild-flowers, past a picturesque cluster ofcolored Kirghis tents, across two hundred yards of smooth,elevated meadow, and then, stopping at the entrance to thevillage, turned back and looked at the mountains. Never,I thought, had I seen an alpine picture that could for amoment bear comparison with it. I have seen the most BRIDLE PATHS OF THE ALTAI 195 beautiful sceuery iu the mouutaius of the Sierra Nevada,of Nicaragua, of Kamchatka, of the Caucasus, and of theRussian Altai, and it is my deliberate opinion that for variedbeauty, picturesqueness, and effectiveness that mountainlandscape is absolutely unsurpassed. If there exist any-where a more superbly situated village, I am ready to crossthree oc
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectsiberiarussiadescrip
