36 A SHOOTING TRIP TO KAMCHATKA 



early hour. The house was considered one of the 

 finest in the town. We found it quite a large building^ 

 the rooms of unusual size and an immense ballroom in 

 one of the wings. The furniture w^as of European 

 make, mostly of crimson plush and anything but fault- 

 less in taste, while in the hall stood a papier-mache 

 negro boy with a broad grin, showing a row of snow- 

 white teeth and holding a brass tray. The house was 

 lighted throughout by electricity, and lamps of every 

 colour shone in each corner, roughly imitating flowers 

 and fruit. The air was stuffy, the windows hermetic- 

 ally closed, notwithstanding the intense heat, and 

 a thick layer of dust covered the bright red sofas 

 and chairs, Madame Isvolsky added that water was so 

 scarce that, when asked for, it was brouoht in drinkinof- 

 cups. The proprietor must have been a very musical 

 man, for under each bed, instead of the customary 

 china, there was concealed, of all things in the world, 

 a musical -box. Such was the noble mansion of the 

 most hospitable of hosts. The dinner was long, with 

 innumerable courses ; the main feature consisted in 

 drinking one another's health. The table was covered 

 with numerous bottles of different shapes and sizes, 

 and the wines differed merely in colour, their flavour 

 being identical and uncommonly sweet. Our host was 

 constantly leaving his seat to fill the glasses of his 



