"Our steamboat turned into the Shilka, and, after making a few unimportant landings, finished its voyage at Stratensk, twenty-three hundred miles above Nicolayevsk. The river voyage was at an end, and from this point to St. Petersburg was a land journey of five thousand miles. Horse-power was to be my mode of conveyance for more than four thousand miles—a prospect by no means pleasant.
"It was about the middle of October when I arrived at Stratensk, and bade farewell to river navigation in Siberia. By the advice of Russian friends I planned to go to Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia, before the snows fell, and there wait for the winter roads to become good enough for sledging.
"Irkutsk is about fourteen hundred miles from Stratensk, and there is a good wagon-road—at least it is called good in Siberia—connecting the two points. The road makes a detour around the southern end of Lake Baikal, and quite a distance is saved by crossing the lake on a steamer. I was told that I might have to wait a day or two to connect with the steamer, as it is not very regular in its movements.
"I had made the acquaintance of a Russian officer while ascending the Amoor, and long before reaching Stratensk it was arranged that we would travel together to the first provincial capital, where I intended stopping a few days. There I hoped to find some one else who was going in my direction, and thus would have the advantages of the companionship of some one who knew the language, and also to share the expense. It costs no more for two persons than for one, as the hire of horses and carriages is just the same, exactly as when you hire a cab in London or New York.
SCENE IN A POSTING STATION.
"From one end of Siberia to the other there is a post-road, with stations from ten to twenty miles apart, and there are similar roads leading from the great route to the towns north and south. A traveller must have a paderojnia, or road-pass, which he obtains from the Chief of Police at his starting-point. He pays at the rate of half a cent a mile for this road-pass, and it entitles him to the number of horses named in the document. For these horses he pays a rate fixed by law, usually two cents a mile for each horse. Ordinarily a traveller can get along comfortably with two horses, but if the roads are bad, three, and sometimes more, are necessary."
Frank asked if the horses must be paid for at the time the paderojnia is taken.