ARRIVAL AT IRKUTSK 33 



Irkutsk, only seven hours late, on the Monday we 

 were due, May 28. 



Irkutsk, the capital of Siberia, is a large and 

 formerly prosperous town, situated at the junction 

 of the Angara and Irkut rivers. Between the railway 

 station and the town the weary traveller crosses the 



fi'ir^'B<ir^[fiii%ff*11liii^ '^^ ^''^'''^:: 



THE TOWxN' OF IRKUTSK. 



broad Angara on a pontoon bridge, and presently 

 reaches the Metropole Hotel after a severe shaking 

 over unpaved streets. But here his troubles begin. 

 Words cannot depict the filth which has to be en- 

 countered. There is nothing for it but to bear up in 

 stoic silence, and avoid crossing passages, where 

 odours may involve nothing short of typhoid. The 

 Isvolsky family put up at the merchant's house. Two 



