PETCHORA 2ts 



charcoal pans, shoved underneath the seats, making the 

 atmosphere most disagreeable and suffocating. After 

 Berlin the heating was by hot-water pipes, which are 

 much better, but not good either. To-night we had a 

 temperature inside the carriage of -I- 15° Keaum., and 

 outside — 4° Eeaum. 



March 5. 



On Friday, the 5th of March, our journey still con- 

 tinued. We found at Warlubien more snow ; and a sledge 

 at the station. The snow had evidently lain a long time. 

 We crossed the Weichsel (Vistula) Eiver, which was 

 frozen hard, with hummocky ice-heaps hurled in grand 

 and wild confusion by some former sudden break-up of 

 the frost, now again consolidated. 



Near Konigsberg the arm of the Baltic was one smooth 

 sheet of snow-covered ice, and people were out upon it, 

 fishing or skating, we could not tell which at the distance. 



At AVirballen — thanks to our powerful letters to the 

 chief, M. de Pisanko, from the Russian Ambassador and 

 from Madame Dieckstahl — we had no trouble with our 

 luggage, not one package being opened, and scarcely a 

 question asked. 



To Vilna we travelled with another of the staff at 

 Wirballen — M. Alexr. Mikailoff — and went first-class in 

 order to secure his company, but found the carriages not 

 so comfortable as the second-class, and awfully stuffy. 

 There was keen frost and much more snow now. 



March 6. 

 At noon on Saturday, the 6th of March, the thermo- 

 meter was at — 12° Eeaum. in the shade. We arrived at 

 St. Petersbourg about 10 p.m., the train being more than 

 an hour late, owing to the tyre of a wheel breaking 

 between Berlin and the frontier. Seebohm's agent met 

 us here, and — leaving our luggage to come in the 



