336 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



Immediately upon arising the morning after our arrival 

 we were served with tea and sweet bread ; this is an estab- 

 lished Russian custom, with which I subsequently became 

 familiar. Samovars were in use here, superseding the little 

 copper chyniks of the Tunguses further north. The samo- 

 vars are the famous tea-urns of Russia. And here I will say 

 that in no part of the world have I tasted tea so delicious in 

 flavor as that found in Russia ; and I quite believe, what has 

 often been said, that tea transported by ship loses much of 

 its aroma. 



This village is inhabited largely by exiles, and it consists 

 of some sixty or seventy scattered dwellings and other build- 

 ings, including a school-house and a church. The ispravnik, 

 or local governor, is a civil officer. A number of Cossack 

 soldiers quartered here are under the control of another 

 officer who is called the commandant. I met a number of 

 political exiles living in the village, and they were fine, in- 

 telligent men, in the prime of life. One of them read and 

 spoke French fluently, and some English, and several others 

 spoke French. I have since found these exiles to be among 

 the better classes of the people living in Siberia to-day in- 

 telligent and capable men and women. 



The country on our last day's ride toward this place look- 

 ed more settled than further north, and numerous hay-stacks 

 showed the presence of cattle, of which I saw some twenty 

 or thirty ; but tillage was not yet seen. In the village, 

 chunky, long-haired horses and funny little wooden sleighs 

 were in use ; but bells are not allowed on the horses except- 

 ing on the roads outside the limits of the town. 



On Wednesday, November 30th, between 9 and 10 o'clock, 

 we left Werchoiansk for Yakutsk, with one Cossack, two 

 Tunguses, and horses and sleds. Just before leaving, I 

 was invited to the houses of the doctor and the ispravnik, 

 where I had ice-cream, cigarettes, port wine and champagne ; 

 also a cigar, which was something to be remembered as one 

 of the events of my life, for it was a long time before I got 

 another. 



