50 POfiESTRY IN EASTERN EUSSlA. 



named thereon, but the Government makes every post- 

 master take out a victualler's license, and named there- 

 upon are the prices which he would charge for the 

 delicacies if he had them ! No — bed and board are 

 the rub of Siberian travel. You may safely rely upon 

 getting at any station a supply of boiling water, and 

 probably some black bread ; but beyond this all is 

 uncertainty. In Western Siberia milk and eggs are 

 plentiful and cheap — the latter a farthing each ; and 

 everywhere, if you arrive at dinner-time, there is a chance 

 of getting some meat, which you may or may not be able 

 to eat. The fact is, you must take your own provisions, 

 and for this winter is better than summer, because then 

 you have simply to freeze your meat and chop off a piece 

 with your hatchet when required. It is easy, moreover, 

 to start with a stock of frozen meat pies, one of which, 

 thrown in hot water, is eatable in a few minutes ; and so 

 with lumps of frozen cream. Tea and sugar are carried, 

 of course, by every traveller in Russia ; and to these were 

 added a small quantity of tinned meat, fresh butter, 

 anchovy paste, and marmalade — the last two as qualifiers 

 in case we were reduced to black bread. These things, 

 with a stock of white bread taken from the larger towns, 

 formed a base, for which we were thankful. If anything 

 better fell in the way, it was so much to the good ; if 

 white bread and butter failed, then we hoped for improved 

 circumstances. These remarks apply, of course, to the 

 hundreds of miles of country between the towns. In the 

 towns we fared comparatively well. Such are some of 

 the features of tarantass travel for which we prepared 

 ourselves at Tomsk.' 



