474 FROM TOMSK TO PERM 



large door, it was evidently considered all that was needful 

 for his comfort. A card-table, a sofa, and a couple of 

 chairs was furniture abundant. If he had neglected to 

 bring his bed and bedding he had better not undress, 

 but lie down upon the sofa and sleep as best he could. 

 Russian hotel-keepers apparently labour under the de- 

 lusion that travellers are subject to hydrophobia, and 

 must upon no account be allowed to see more than a pint 

 of water at a time. When we asked to wash after a dusty 

 journey, we were conducted to a brass machine containing 

 when full about a quart of water. This mysterious 

 looking receptacle was fixed against the wall. On lifting 

 a valve at the bottom about a wine-glass full of water 

 would ooze out and fall upon our hands, and this was 

 called washing ! To convert the dust into mud such an 

 arrangement sufficed, but to do anything else than this 

 was out of the question. On other occasions, when we 

 asked that the necessaries for performing our ablutions 

 might be brought to our rooms, a dirty flat-bottomed basin 

 made of brass would be carried in to us, and placed upon 

 the floor ; over this we were expected to stand and wash, 

 whilst the servant from time to time poured water upon 

 our hands from an ancient looking vessel, also brass, and 

 highly ornamented with a long narrow spout like a large 

 coffee-pot. You are expected to have your own soap 

 and your own towel. The only explanation I can suggest 

 for these curious customs is that they may have first 

 originated in the desire to avoid the communication of 

 infectious diseases, brass being popularly supposed in the 

 East to be incapable of conveying contagion. In Athens, 

 Constantinople, or Smyrna, for example, the mouthpiece 

 of your private nargilleh or chibouque is made of amber, 

 but in a public restaurant, if you call for a nargilleh, the 

 mouthpiece of the one handed to you will be of brass. 



