370 
The journey to Nisjnij Novgorod was made by railway, and 
thence by steamer along the Volga and Kama to the town of 
Perm. He gives a description of the boat accommodation and 
food which was not luxurious, but fairly comfortable (bedclothes 
had to be taken). There is plenty of communication on this 
route, Russia’s principal commercial highway. The transport of 
goods is carried on almost entirely in barges towed by strong 
tugboats, which are paddle steamers of from 100 to 180 horse- 
power, drawing 34 to 4 feet. On the Volga’s tributaries are over 
500 steamers, mostly built in the country, and nearly all used as 
tugs. The principal traffic is in spring, in summer the water 
falls so much that one year vessels drawing over 3 feet could not 
float, and the loss to Russia was enormous, as the goods for 
Nisjnij fair could not be forwarded. 
The frequent movement of the sandbanks on the Volga is a 
great hindrance, and the pilotage so difficult that vessels have to 
signal to each other to show on which side they are to pass. 
Wood is used principally for fuel, but higher up naphtha. 
They passed Kosmodemjausk, important by its great timber 
fair, and after passing Kasan the Volga joins the Kama, a large 
river whose waters are even more muddy than the Volga, and 
keep distinct for a considerable distance. In 4 days and nights 
they arrived at Perm, and travelled thence by rail to Ekaterinburg, 
distant 468 versts,* which took 20 hours and 45 minutes on 
account of the long stoppages. 
+At Ekaterinburg they bought Tarantasses or 4-wheeled carriages 
for the land journey across Siberia, of which he gives a descrip- 
tion :—Two pair of wheels are placed at about 10 feet apart, and 
their axles are joined by several shaking birch poies of 2 inches 
*A verst is roughly about two-thirds of an English mile, exactly 1,166 
yards 2 feet. 
+ There has been now for some years a railway from Ekaterinburg to 
Tjumen. 
