The diligence in Europe corresponds to the stage-coach in America; like the latter it has seen its sphere diminished by the construction of railways, and like it, too, it reflects the institutions of the countries where it exists. On the American coach there is no distinction; all seats have an equal price, and the first-comer has the choice. On the diligence there are grades and classes, and the seats are numbered and reserved like those of a theatre. The most costly places are in the coupé, which is beneath the driver's seat, and has windows in front above the level of the horses' backs; then comes the banquette, which is behind the driver, and is an excellent spot in fine weather, but disagreeable in a storm. The interieur, as its name implies, is an inside affair, and affords very little view of the road, and the rotonde is at the back of the banquette, and cheapest of all, as it is also the poorest. Particular places may be secured for days ahead; on some of the Swiss diligences you may take your place thirty days in advance by payment at the office, or by enclosing the price of the fare with your card and a memorandum of the day and hour of departure.
Diligences are in use all over Europe to reach towns and villages that are not accessible by rail. Their fares are regulated by government, and the hours of departure and arrival may be relied upon as exactly as those of railway trains. At present the greatest country of diligences is Switzerland; they are to be found on many roads of that mountainous region, and on some routes they have a heavy patronage. Between Geneva and Chamouny, a distance of about fifty miles, there are sometimes a dozen diligences each way daily in summer, all of them filled with passengers. The diligences on this route are a solution of the problem, often declared impossible by American stage-drivers, of making a coach where all the seats are outside ones. The body of the vehicle contains the baggage, and the seats are in rows on the top, over which an awning is spread. The only exceptions to the rule of putting all the seats outside is in the coupé, which commands a higher price than the banquette, but in fair weather is far less desirable. The old-fashioned diligence with coupé, interieur, banquette, and rotonde, is not much used on pleasure-routes, as very few of the seats are desirable for tourists.
For a long journey the coupé is the most comfortable part of the diligence; it contains three and sometimes four seats, but one or two persons may secure it by paying for the whole space. The French in Algeria have introduced the diligence, and the writer has pleasant recollections of some night rides in a capacious coupé, while journeying with a friend to and from the Desert of Sahara. The coupé or any other part of the vehicle, once engaged, it cannot be invaded by any other person, and not even a Prince, Grand Duke, or any other titled individual would dream of taking it from you.
Posting is still in vogue in some parts of Europe, especially in Russia. Where the system exists it is under control of government, and the supervision is usually pretty strict. One may travel by post in many parts of Switzerland; he may have his own carriage or he can hire one from the government or from a private individual. One hour's notice is required for hiring a conveyance of this sort, and the changes at the relay stations generally take from 15 to 30 minutes. As in stage coaching, or any other travel by horse-power, the less baggage you have the better.
The country par excellence of posting is the Asiatic portion of Russia, commonly called Siberia. European Russia was formerly traversed by post routes, but the construction of railways has caused most of them to be discontinued. In Siberia there are as yet no railways, the country is large and the roads are excellent. All these conditions are favorable to the posting system, and by means of it you may travel from the Ural mountains to the Sea of Okhotsk without a break. The writer once journeyed by post from the head of navigation on the Amoor River, in Siberia, to Nijne Novgorod, in European Russia, a distance of nearly five thousand miles. Fourteen hundred miles of this was accomplished in a wheeled carriage (called a tarantass) and 3,600 in a sleigh. A brief account of this journey will describe the Russian posting system.
The first requisite for the road is a Padarojnia, or road pass, which is issued by the government authorities, and without it no one can pass a single station of the route or obtain horses. The document states the name, residence, and destination of the bearer, the number of horses to which he is entitled, and the grade of his pass. There are three grades of road passes, the first for government couriers and high officials, the second for lesser lights in the official firmament, or for distinguished civilians, and the third for the common civilian. Horses are kept waiting for the first, and are generally forthcoming for the second, but the holder of a third class Padarojnia will often wait for hours before he can be supplied, unless he is willing to pay an extra fee to the station master for expeditious service.
Baggage must be in flat and broad valises of soft leather, and all hard boxes and square parcels should be thrown away at the start. These broad valises, or chemidans, are spread on the bottom of the vehicle; straw or hay is laid over them and the whole is covered with a heavy coarse quilt. You sit, recline, or lie at full length on this soft flooring; no seats are in the vehicle, and one very soon learns that he is far better off without them. A couple of thick and strong pillows are necessary to hold you in your corner and save you from the frequent thumps you would otherwise receive.
You can travel in the vehicle (telega) belonging to the government stations, but in this event you must change at every station, a performance that speedily becomes a nuisance, especially in a cold night. It is best to hire a tarantass to be taken through, or, if you cannot hire one, you had better purchase it outright and sell for what you can get at the end of the journey. The tarantass is mounted on a pair of stout and flexible poles that serve as springs, and sometimes they are so long that the two axles are at least twelve feet apart. It has a hood like an old-fashioned chaise, and is equipped with a boot and an apron, so that it can be quite shut in at night or in a storm.
To protect him from the cold the writer had a suit of thick clothing, covered with a sheepskin coat that buttoned tight around the neck and descended to the ankles. Over this he had a deerskin coat with the hair outside; it reached to his heels, trailing like a lady's dress when he walked, and was large enough inside for a man and a boy. The collar was a foot wide, and the sleeves were six inches longer than the wearer's arms; they were very inconvenient when he wanted to pick up anything, and when the collar was turned up and brought around in front it suggested the idea of a man without a head. For wraps he had a robe made of nine sheepskins, sewed together and backed with heavy felting; the robe was about three yards square and as impervious to cold as the side of an ordinary house. Then he had a fur cap fitting close to the head, fur gloves for his hands, and a mitten of sable skin for his nose. He discarded the ordinary boot of civilization and wore, over his ordinary socks, a pair of socks of squirrel skin with the fur inside. Over these he had sheepskin stockings reaching to the knees, with the wool inside, and over these he had deerskin boots that rose to the bifurcation of his legs, and were held in place by thongs. Thus equipped one may bid defiance to the low temperature of a winter journey across Siberia.
At Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia, he remained a month, till the snows fell and the winter roads were good. Then he bought a sleigh (kibitka), constructed after the general pattern of the tarantass, save that it was on runners instead of wheels. With a slight expenditure for repairs he carried this sleigh through to Nijne Novgorod (3,600 miles), or rather was carried by the sleigh. A Siberian journey may begin at any hour of the day the traveler chooses, and is continued day and night till it closes. The usual custom is to order the post horses to be brought around about 10 P.M.; the day and evening have been spent in feasting and farewells, and towards midnight the departing traveler nestles down among his garments and thick wraps, and is ready to go to sleep while the team dashes over the road at a rattling pace. Sometimes he is escorted to the first station by a party of friends, and in this case they set off all together about sunset and make an evening of it.