about eight o’clock in the morning
The hood was partly raised so as to give as much air as there was in the stifling atmosphere . Michael kept awake all night , mistrusting the iemschiks , who are apt to sleep at their posts . Not an hour was lost at the relays , not an hour on the road . The next day , the 20th of July , at about eight o'clock in the morning , they caught the first glimpse of the Ural Mountains in the east . This important chain which separates Russia from Siberia was still at a great distance , and they could not hope to reach it until the end of the day . The passage of the mountains must necessarily be performed during the next night . The sky was cloudy all day , and the temperature was therefore more bearable , but the weather was very threatening .