INTRODUCTION. , 9 



' Between the alternate reigns of winter and summer 

 there is always a short interregnum, during which travel- 

 ling in Russia by road is almost impossible. Woe to the 

 ill-fated mortal who has to make a long road journey 

 immediately after the winter snow has melted ; or, worse 

 still, at the beginning of winter, when the autumn mud 

 has been petrified by the frost, and not yet levelled by 

 the snow ! ' 



My journey was made in winter, and therefore we had 

 a sledge a covered sledge, but covered with bass-matting, 

 and all the appointments of the most unpretending char- 

 acter, for it had to be sold at the end of the journey, when 

 it would not fetch a high price. It cost little; but it 

 would sell for less : and a reduction of 50 per cent, on 

 twenty shillings is a good deal less than a like reduction 

 on twenty pounds ; we would also be more likely to find 

 a purchaser for our vehicle if it were of little value ; and it 

 suited the convenience of both of us to travel cheaply, 

 taking two horses instead of three. On arriving at the 

 first station-house we had to exercise the patience of 

 which Mr Wallace speaks. All the horses were out ; and 

 we had to wait till some had returned and rested. It was 

 dark. I strolled about the station-house. Feeling hungry, 

 I looked about for my fellow-traveller to get him to order 

 supper for me, as I was but a novice in travelling there. 

 I could find him nowhere ; so I went to lie down in the 

 sledge for a change. Lifting the curtain, I found him 

 there busy making his supper on provisions he had 

 brought with him. I said more to myself than to him, 

 laughing as I said it : ' Holloa, my lad ! if you can do 

 that, I can do that too/ And I got out a basket filled 

 with provisions with which some of my friends in St. 

 Petersburg had supplied me. The mention of this recalls 

 the scene of our starting, and one kind face among others 

 now no more. The owner of that face, caring for me as a 

 mother for her son, brought bread, a cake, two tongues, 

 salt an article most valuable at an al fresco meal, but 



