208 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK 



lusted after ; so the steamer was ordered to Kuya, and 

 we gladly accepted berths in her. On the way we met 

 one of the rafts coming down from Kuya. We drove on 

 to Mekitza to visit the prahms ; queer-looking vessels, 

 something like canal-boats, carrying a gigantic mast in 

 the centre, and an arched roof above. Each vessel is 

 a shop, where miscellaneous merchandise is sold or 

 bartered, and the owners who come down every summer 

 from Tcherdin, near Perm, are sometimes very wealthy 

 men. The goods fetch high prices on board. We paid 

 elevenpence per pound for sugar, and six shillings for 

 tea. The merchant from whom we bought our provisions 

 was reputed to be worth a million sterling. Nor was 

 it extraordinary, considering the amount of trade he 

 managed to secure. He had come down to Mekitza 

 with three prahms, had cleared the cargo of two, and 

 sold the vessels, and very few goods now remained in 

 the one in which he intended to make his journey home- 

 ward. In the villages the prices were much lower than 

 those asked on the prahms. Thus we paid only \\d. 

 per Ib. for excellent fresh beef. 



At Kuya several timber- rafts passed us, proceeding to 

 Alexievka ; these we waylaid. They were carrying a batch 

 of letters for us, up to June 7th. Having secured this wel- 

 come prize, we set our faces towards our headquarters. 



The five versts between Kuya to Mekitza and back 

 we travelled in a rosposki, a machine composed of 

 four wheels, about two feet in diameter, the axle-trees 

 of which are connected by three parallel poles, upon 

 which we sat. This vehicle is, without exception, the 

 most uncomfortable carriage it has ever been my ill-luck 

 'to travel in. There is no support for the back, nothing 

 to hold on by at the sides ; only three bare poles to sit 

 on, and not height enough from the ground to swing one's 



