ABUSES CONNECTED WITH EXPLOITATION. 139 



The following is another illustration of the corrupt prac- 

 tices prevalent extensively, which, though not apparently 

 pertaining to forestry, is indirectly connected with the forest 

 lands of the district : There are in the Ural mountains 

 mines of valuable marble. Of this much is hewn on the 

 spot, not only into blocks for transport but into articles of 

 ornament and luxury in Government works. These pro- 

 ducts are despatched to the capital, under charge of a 

 subaltern commissioned officer, known for the time as the 

 captain of the caravan. An officer of high rank, the 

 father of the bride of the son of my informant, gave to my 

 informant the following account of his early experience and 

 initiation into the mysteries of jobbery. He was favoured 

 with an appointment to the office of captain of the caravan 

 while he was still but a youthful officer. He attended to the 

 charge with commendable care, but in despite of this some 

 little injuries were sustained by the works of art under 

 his charge. These he got repaired at a very moderate 

 charge indeed, and he went with elated spirits to lodge 

 his accounts with the head of the department in the 

 capital. Never had the transport been managed so efficiently 



hurriedly from his office, and behind him his son ; so I just left the vessel to meet him, 

 as I knew them both. In his hurry he passed me, aud remarked, " There is a gentle- 

 man on board whom I wish to see ; please excuse me at present ;" so he passed on. 

 On coming up to his son, I remarked, " Your father is in a hurry ; is there anything 

 wrong, as he scarcely stopped to speak? " He answered, " Oh, yes ! he expects to find 

 a gentleman on board, an inspector we were expecting next week. But he has rather 

 taken us by surprise." I said, " How could he do that?" He answered, "There are 

 certain things to be done before he sees the ship, and he may find fault at this time." 

 In my mind I thought it was rather strange, so I began to ask him where he got the 

 iron he built the ship with. He told me the name. I said, " Was that the best place 

 to get good iron ?" He answered, " No. But, you see, when we are tied to a price we 

 cannot afford to put in so good iron." I said to him, " Is that inferior iron capable of 

 being punched without the iron cracking ?" He said, " No. All, or most every plate, 

 is more or less cracked." I said, " If you bored the plates would they not be better ?" 

 He said, " Yes ; but it's too expensive." Just then his father returned, and remarked 

 what an alarm he had got, as the boy had run to the office and said a man was examining 

 the ship, and finding fault with the iron and cracked bolt holes. This ship, I learned 

 some months after, had left and never was heard of again after sailing supposed to 

 have foundered ; and how could it be otherwise ? The vessel straining would put out 

 the putty, and then the water would come in and sink her. After that I learned three 

 other vessels, built by the same man, never reached their first voyage, and in one was 

 his own son and nephew. I also learned no inspector ever saw the ships till puttied and 

 painted. This is how many valuable lives are lost, and the insurance companies 

 punished. One of the ships, 300 tons, was supposed to capsize having iron masts far 

 too heavy for her to carry without canvas.' If such things be done in Scotland need 

 we wonder at anything I have reported should have been done in Russia, one is 

 reminded of the mote and the beam. 



