JOUHNEY FROM ST. PETERSBURG. 27 



Menzelinsk district of the Ufa Government, and on the 

 banks of the Kama, a splendid forest was pointed out to 

 me as being in fact the finest collection of timber in the 

 district, and the forest which Prince Lieven returned to 

 the State, on finding that illegal and oppressive measures 

 had been used in giving him the land. Probably you have 

 heard details of the affair, which created some commotion 

 at the time, but which was referred to by my fellow- 

 traveller very sneeringly, as if the existence of pure Chris- 

 tian principles were an impossibility. 



' The Bielaya is well wooded on both banks. As far as I 

 could see there are not many large trees near the river, but 

 there are extensive forests of fine trees — fir, oak, elm, 

 birch, willow, aspen, lime, and some others of which I do 

 not know the English names ; and I have no dictionary 

 with me. 



' The distances travelled by water, according to the 

 time-tables issued by the Steamboat Company, are as 

 follows : 



Left Nijni, Tuesday, 11 a.m. 



Arrived Kazan, Wednesday, 7 a.m., 381 versts. 



Left Kazan, Wednesday, 2 p.m., ( V 1 



Arrived Bogorodsk, Wednesday, 5.30 p.m., 73 versts. ( ° S^- 



Arrived Piavy Bor, Thursday, 9 p.m., 371 ,, Kama. 



Arrived Ufa, Saturday, 11 a.m., 576 ,, Bielaya. 



Total, 934 miles, 1401 versts. 



'The steamers are very comfortable, attendance fair, 

 food good, and the whole trip from Nijni to Ufa inexpen- 

 sive — considerably below your estimate per day or mileage. 



' Before leaving this part of the journey, I must mention 

 that there is much to interest geologists, especially on the 

 Kama, but my knowledge is too limited, and I do not even 

 know what to call a mass of light grey stone I noticed 

 yesterday, very porous— in fact, like the so-called rock- 

 work we sometimes use in gardens. In other places the 

 displacement of the strata by upheaval is very marked, 

 and to the scientist would be highly interesting. I was 

 struck also, both on the Volga and the Kama, to see how 



