INTRODUCTION. 11 



away in the air as if it were a thing polluted. Thanks to 

 my experience at the Russian station-house, I have never 

 perished of hunger from want of a knife and a silver fork, 

 though I may equal the most fastidious in the enjoyment 

 of all the amenities of life. 



We stopped an hour or two at Dorpat, that I might 

 visit some of the professors there with whom I was 

 acquainted, and just as we were nearing Konigsberg the 

 English courier overtook us. With him I travelled to 

 Berlin, rejoicing in the well-made and well-kept roads of 

 Prussia, which contrasted greatly with those of Russia, 

 excepting where these were covered with snow, on which 

 I found it pleasant to glide along in the sledge, travelling 

 night and day, sleeping when, and only when, so inclined ; 

 and though sometimes upset, always falling soft on the 

 uncrushed snow lining the track our fur shoobs and 

 wadded caps helping to make the upset more harmless and 

 rather pleasurable than otherwise from the excitement. 



How different is travelling now ! In less than three 

 days one may travel k from St. Petersburg to London. 

 From St. Petersburg to Berlin one may travel with every 

 comfort without once leaving the carriage, every conven- 

 ience being provided. From Vienna to St. Petersburg I 

 once travelled thus, changing carriages only at Warsaw, and 

 at Wilna, where we joined the train from Berlin. During a 

 year which my wife spent in Scotland, while I returned and 

 remained in St. Petersburg, every interchange of letters 

 cost 13s 6d, and occupied more than a fortnight, nearly 

 three weeks in transmission. Now the postage of a letter 

 is 2|d, and it is conveyed in four days, while a post card 

 is transmitted and delivered for a penny ! 



