8 SIBERIA IN EUROPE. chap. n. 



snow, and sledges were the only conveyances to be seen at 

 the stations. As far as Cologne the railway carriages were 

 heated by the ordinary hot-water foot-warmer, and very com- 

 fortable they were, with a temperatm-e outside of about 40°. 

 From Hanover to Berlin the carriages were heated with 

 charcoal fires under the seats, and the sense of oppression 

 from foul air was so intolerable, that we were only too glad 

 to shiver with the windows open and tlie thermometer down 

 to 20°. From Berlin to the frontier the carriages were heated 

 by steam pipes, with an arrangement for regulating the heat, 

 and although the temperature outside continued the same, 

 we were able to keep a comfortable temperature of 60° 

 without any sense of suffocation. In Eussia the carriages 

 were heated with wood fires, and we kept up about the same 

 temperature without any sense of discomfort, although the 

 thermometer had fallen to 5° outside. At Wirballen our 

 letters of introduction saved us from an immensity of trouble 

 and formality, thanks to the courtesy of M. de Pisanko and 

 the other officials. 



We spent four days at St. Petersburg, sight-seeing and 

 completing the preparations for our journey. The morning 

 after our arrival was tlie last day of the " butter fair," and 

 we were very much amused and interested, especially with 

 the ice slide, which is one of its great features. A most 

 interesting sight to us was the frozen market. Here, one 

 stall would be full of frozen pigs, there another, laden almost 

 mountain high with frozen sides of oxen and deer. Part of 

 the market was occupied by rows of stalls, on which the frozen 

 fish lay, piled up in stacks. Another portion devoted to 



