The novella tells about a campaign to Siberia (1483) undertaken by voivodes Saltyk Travin and Fyodor Kurbsky. The author shows the heroism and steadfastness of the first Russian land explorers, who managed to cross the Stone (the Ural Mountains) with their ships, travel thousands of miles along Siberian rivers Tobol, Irtysh, and Ob, and defend the indigenous population of Western Siberia—Mansi and Khanty—from the aggressive Tümen Khanate.