Instead of 2 horses we now had 7 swimming in a bunch by the bow of the ferry and dragging it along. We were carried downstream at a furious pace, but got across safely.
The road continued in a SW direction at first over the land of the Sibo Manchurians. We rode through their 2nd summun, a scattered and badly built village, enclosed by rather a dilapidated clay wall. Neither cattle, nor even dogs were to be seen. The people looked poor and dissolute, though some were far from ill-favoured. Just S of the village we crossed an enormous ariq, Tchaptchal üstang, that waters all the fields of the Sibo summuns for about 7o miles. About 7 miles further S we saw a couple of shady, attractive Tarantchi villages, the E one being Kainak, a prosperous village of about 250 houses. Close to the village and just S of it there is a considerable mound of earth which is pointed out by the local people as the ruins of a Kalmuk building. About 2 miles further S we came upon the ruins of a square building, ESE of it the ruins of a round building and SE of the latter the remains of a wall that extended in a slight curve for a distance of almost 2/3 of a mile first in a W—E and finally in a NE direction something like this:
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