SLEDGE-TRAVELLING 1 1 



means "Three horses immediately." We then produced 

 some rouble notes, and asked, " Skolko " — " How much ? " 

 The station-master would again begin to talk Russ. We 

 offered the amount due as appeared from the list of 

 stations which had been provided for us by M. Verakin 

 at Vologda. This proving satisfactory, we proceeded to 

 pay the yemschik his pourboire. The station-master 

 once more began to talk volubly in Russ. We waited 

 until he had done, and then asked innocently, '' Fameelye?" 

 The station-master nodded his head and said, " Da, da " — 

 ' ' Yes. " We then said, ' ' Brown Seebohm A ngliski Vologda 

 na Archangelsk." After the changes had been rung upon 

 our names, it generally ended in our having to copy them 

 upon a piece of paper for the station-master to write in 

 his book ; and the new yemschik having by this time 

 got his team in order, we settled ourselves down again, 

 cried " Kharasho !" —'' All right ! " and started off. With 

 slight variations this course was repeated at each station. 

 Our horses were harnessed in divers ways. Of course 

 one was always in the shafts, but the other two were 

 sometimes put one at each side of the shaft-horse ; some- 

 times one on the near side, and the other in front ; 

 sometimes side by side in front of the shaft-horse ; and 

 sometimes all three were in single file. The roads in 

 the Archangel province, where the snow-plough was 

 used regularly, were generally very good. In the 

 province of Vologda, where the snow-plough seemed to 

 be unknown, the roads were at least twice as bad as the 

 imagination of an Englishman can conceive. On the 

 good roads the sensation of travelling was very pleasant, 

 not unlike that in a railway carriage ; on the bad roads 

 our sensations were something like what Sancho Panza's 

 must have been when he was tossed in the blanket. Our 

 luggage was tightly packed with hay, and ourselves in 



