46 FORESTKY IN EASTERN RUSSIA. 



down, for which please send on your order in advance, 

 because these must be bought as opportunity oifers. If a 

 housewife has finished the naanufacture of a down pillow 

 she wishes to sell, she will bring it into Ekaterineburg to 

 market, but if you want such a thing on a given day, you 

 may search the town and not get one. 



' You may now get in, cover your legs with a rug, and 

 watch them harness the horses. Siberian post-horses 

 are sorry objects to look at, but splendid creatures to 

 go. A curry-comb probably never touches their coats ; 

 but, under the combined influence of coaxing, scolding, 

 screaming, and whip, they attain a pace which in England 

 would be adjudged as nothing short of " furious driving." 

 They are smaller than English horses, but much hardier, 

 and are driven two, three, four, or even five or more, 

 abreast. The Russian harness is a complicated affair, 

 the most noticeable feature being the douga, or arched 

 bow, over the horse's neck. To the foreigner this 

 looks a needless incumbrance, but the Russian declares 

 that it holds the whole concern together. The 

 rods are fastened to the ends of the bow, and the 

 horse's collar in turn to the shafts, so that the collar 

 remains a fixture, against which the horse is obliged to 

 push. The shafts are supported by a saddle and pad on 

 the back, and do not touch the horse's body. The centre 

 horse only is in rods ; those on either side, how many 

 soever they be, are called a "pair," and are merely 

 attached by ropes. If you have been wise, you have 

 bought at the Gostinnoi Dvor about 20 yards of inch rope 

 to go all round the back of the vehicle, and to which are 

 attached the two outer horses. The post-men are sup- 

 posed to supply such a rope, but theirs are often thin and 

 rotten. It is well, too, to take several fathoms of half- 

 inch rope. Oae of the wheels may become rickety, and 

 threaten to fall to pieces, in which case the rope will be 

 needed to interlace the spokes. A third supply should be 

 laid in of still smaller cord, in case of spraining a pole or 



