26 FORESTRY IN EASTERN RUSSIA. 



then back to the first shore. All this was to avoid running 

 aground ; and this frequently caused no little excitement, as 

 three other steamers were in close company, and we had 

 a captain on his first trip, dependent on his steersman for 

 everything, and yet of course on his dignity, as master of 

 the vessel, and naval officer into the bargain. 



1 We have also experienced this, one of the disagree- 

 ables of Volga travelling in autumn when water is low, 

 having, in a narrow and very shallow channel, run aground 

 in trying to pass another steamer already in that predica- 

 ment. Tugs refused to help us on the plea that their own 

 barges were aground, and they ended by driving these barges 

 firmer on the shallows to save smashing us, of which 

 the danger was not small ; and the tug also ran aground 

 so near us that we were nicely fixed, and had to wait till 

 all obstructions were cleared away before we could attempt 

 to move. In the end the same tug pulled us off, as he could 

 not get at his barges while we were in the way. 



' The next morning found us safely at Kazan, and having 

 six or seven hours to wait we climbed the steep bank, 

 waded about half a verst ankle deep in fine sand under a 

 tropical sun, and then took train into the town, a distance 

 of seven versts. This proved too much for my wife, 

 caused an illness from which she has not yet fully 

 recovered, and resulted in her coming home without having 

 seen anything beyond what was seen in a daily ride taken 

 towards the end of her visit. 



' Having changed vessels at Kazan, we proceeded one 

 station down the Volga, as far as Bogorodsk, and then 

 soon turned into the Kama, up which we proceeded as far 

 as Piavy Bor, and a few versts beyond that pier directed 

 our course eastward, along the Bielaya. Of the three 

 rivers I consider, from observation made, but more from 

 communications by fellow passengers, the Kama by far 

 the most important, and also the finest river. As on the 

 Volga, the banks are frequently overgrown with willows of 

 small size ; but for many versts in extent there were forests 

 of pine, fir, birch, and other trees. Among others, in the 



