30 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. CHAP. iv. 



too hospitable ; and he was drinking more champagne than 

 we thought prudent. During the last four-and-twenty hours 

 we had had violent wind and snowstorms, but the morning 

 had cleared up, the sun shone brilliantly and it was not cold. 

 But at night snow came on again and continued till Wednes- 

 day evening, when the weather suddenly cleared up again ; 

 and the thermometer fell from freezing-point to zero. During 

 the three days, about four inches of snow had been added to 

 the couple of feet already on the ground. Travelling during 

 even a slight snowstorm is by no means so pleasant as when 

 the sun shines on a mild day ; but travelling in a sledge with 

 the thermometer at zero is decidedly unpleasant, even with 

 brilliant sunshine and no wind. If you expose your face to 

 the air your nose is in danger, then the icicles that form 

 continually upon your moustache are anything but comfort- 

 able ; and the condensation of your breath upon your neck 

 wrappings is always irritating ; and if you subside altogether 

 into your furs the sense of semi-suffocation is almost as bad. 

 On the whole, however, we did not suffer so much from the 

 cold as we expected. 



The scenery on this journey was more varied than any we 

 had previously met with. We alternated between forest, 

 river, and open plain. The Mezen is a fine river, half a mile 

 or more wide, with steep banks of what looked like red chalk 

 about a hundred feet high, clothed with forest to the edge, 

 which is continually crumbling away and letting the pine- 

 trees slip into the water. At intervals, and often with 

 remarkable regularity, the cliffs were cut away down to 

 the water's edge, probably by small temporary rivulets 



