CHAPTER VI 



RETURN TO ST. PETERSBURG 



* 



Hotel d'Angleterre Schotte Tips Wasters The British Trader- 

 Horses and Asses Meat in St. Petersburg. 



I LEFT Hull about the middle of August 1898 by the S.S. 

 Hidalgo > and arrived in St. Petersburg after a pleasant 

 week's voyage with Captain Gordon and his passengers. 

 Although this steamer and her mate the Rinaldo are slow, 

 they are very comfortable ; because the saloon and cabins 

 are well forward out of the vibratory influence of the pro- 

 peller, and the respective masters keep a good table and 

 are cheery companions. 



I put up at my old quarters, the Hotel d'Angleterre, 

 which faces St. Isaac's Cathedral, and is a few doors down 

 the side of the square shown in Fig. 21. Schotte, the manager, 

 is a capital fellow, and always does his best to make his 

 visitors comfortable. He is polyglot, attentive, and however 

 full the hotel may be, he is always able to find room for a 

 fresh arrival before it is time to retire for the night. Schotte, 

 in a manner similar to that in which a perfect barmaid acts, 

 by absolute impartiality in the distribution of civility, makes 

 each customer think that he is the best treated guest in the 

 place. I like the commodious reading and writing room, 

 which is next the salle a manger, and which is amply supplied 

 with English, German and French, as well as Russian daily 

 and weekly newspapers. Consequently it is greatly frequented 



