A JOURNEY IN SIBERIA. 



395 



The pleasant town of Yekaterinburg, with its gold-smelting and 

 gem-cutting industries, could not long detain us in spite of the 

 hospitality of its inhabitants. For the spring was gaining strength, 

 and the bridges of ice on the rivers and streams, which we had to 

 cross on our way to distant Omsk, were melting and crumbling. 

 So we pushed hastily onwards through the Asiatic region of the 



Fig. 53. A Post Station in Siberia. 



Perm government till we reached its boundary and entered Western 

 Siberia. 



Here, at the first post-house, we were met by the district officer 

 of Tiumen, who greeted us in the name of the governor, and offered 

 us escort through his district. In the chief town of the district we 

 found the house of one of the rich inhabitants prepared for our 

 reception. Thenceforth we were to learn what Russian hospitality 

 meant. Hitherto, indeed, we had been everywhere received and 

 treated most hospitably, but now the chief officials of the district 

 or province exerted themselves unsparingly on our behalf, and 

 the best houses were thrown open to us. In fact, we were treated 



