CRASNOf LAIS. 17 



arrangement, and within an hour from the time 

 when K. first proposed the trip, he and I Were hard 

 at work in the hazaar purchasing stores for the 

 journey. There is of course a post-road from 

 Taman to Ekaterinodar, but badly indeed will those 

 fare who trust to the resources of a Russian post 

 station for their bodily comfort. This we well 

 knew, and in consequence a large stock of German 

 sausages, caviare, vodki, and other portable eatables 

 and drinkables were stowed away in the body of 

 our sledge. 



For many days previous to the time of which 

 I write, the over-sea route from Yenikale to 

 Taman had been open to carts and sledges, while 

 vans, laden with corn, had been continually cross- 

 ing with only an aggregate of two accidents in the 

 last four days. It was then with but few mis- 

 givings that we embarked in our sledge with a 

 really good ' troika ' (team of three) in front, 

 coached by the noisiest rascal of a yemstchik that 

 ever swore at horses. Our road for the first 

 twenty-two versts lay over the bosom of the Azov, 

 and as we passed through regular streets of mos- 

 quito shipping, and now and then under the hull 

 of some big steamer caught in the ice, the sensa- 

 tion was strangely novel. For the first ten versts 

 the road was good, the pace exhilarating, and buried 

 in our warm rugs we hugged to ourselves the con- 

 viction that we were in for a really good thing. 



C 



