204 ACROSS THE STEPPES OF TURKESTAN. 



but, like everything else, to get used to it is merely a 

 matter of time. I frequently travelled day and night, 

 and found that with a little practice I was even able 

 to sleep tolerably well. 



The recognised method of travelling is with the 

 troika — three horses abreast — and the charge is 3 

 kopecks per horse per verst (a fraction over a penny 

 a mile) in Turkestan and 1|- kopecks in Siberia, with 

 an additional payment of 10 kopecks per horse per 

 stage, as government dues. The post-houses exist at 

 intervals of from 15 to 30 versts — say 10 to 20 miles — 

 and are quite innocent of any attraction. A room with 

 a screen or partition, behind which will be found a 

 hard couch, or sometimes, at the larger stations, two 

 rooms with bare whitewashed walls, form the accom- 

 modation which awaits the traveller. A huge stove 

 built into the wall is the feature of the furniture, the 

 remainder being made up of a table, bench — sofa is too 

 euphemistic a term — and two or three chairs. The 

 bareness of the whitewashed walls is in every case 

 accentuated by coloured prints of the Tsar and Tsarina, 

 a photograph of the governor -general of the province, 

 a few sets of rules and regulations in black wooden 

 frames, and the inevitable ikon. Occasionally to these 

 adornments was added an advertisement proclaiming 

 the excellence of the MacCormick reaper and other 

 agricultural implements manufactured by that company. 

 In the rooms which form the remainder of the house 

 live the postmaster and his wife and family. Nothing 

 is obtainable except eggs, milk, and hot water — the 

 samovar is found everywhere — and, unless you happen 

 to arrive at a post-house when the postmaster is taking 

 his daily meal of broth, you must live on tea and eggs, 

 supplemented by such provisions as your forethought 

 may have prompted you to bring with you. 



