ed interval how changed the mode of travelling! At the time of my first journey there were not even diligences by which the journey from the capital might be made, and railways were unknown and un thought of, while in winter a voyage by sea was impossible.
By enquiry I learned that there was a British courier likely to leave St. Petersburg shortly for London, going by Berlin, who was quite agreeable to allow me to travel with him for a reasonable consideration; but the time of his departure did not depend upon himself; nor did the route he should follow; and time was of importance to me. I then heard of a merchant going to Riga, desirous of some one to share with him the expense of travelling post; and our arrangements were soon made.
A sledge made of plane deal, with wooden runners, and a canvas curtain in front, was purchased, a padorozhnaya, or order for post horses was procured, and off we set. Mr Mackenzie Wallace gives the following account of the posting arrangements of Russia: —
' However enduring and long-winded horses may be, they must be allowed sometimes, during a long journey, to rest and feed. Travelling with one's own horses is therefore necessarily a slow operation, and is already antiquated. People who value their time prefer to make use of the Imperial Post-organisation. On all the principal lines of communication there are regular poststations, at from ten to twenty miles apart, where a certain number of horses and vehicles are kept for the convenience of travellers. To enjoy the privileges of this arrangement, one has to apply to the proper authorities for a " Podorozhnaya " — a large sheet of paper stamped with the Imperial Eagle, and bearing the name of the recipient, the destination, and the number of horses to be supplied. In return for this document a small sum is paid for imaginary road repairs; the rest of the sum is paid by instalments at the respective stations. Armed with this document, you go to the post-station and demand the requisite number of horses. Three is the number generally used, but if you travel lightly, and are indifferent to appearances, you may modestly content yourself with a pair. The vehicle is a kind of Tarantass, but not such as I have elsewhere described. The essentials in both are the same, but those which the Imperial Government provides resemble an enormous cradle on wheels, rather than a phaeton. An armful of hay spread over the bottom of the wooden box is supposed to play the part of cushions. You are expected to sit under the arched covering, and extend your legs so that the feet lie beneath the driver's seat; but you will do well, unless the rain happens to be coming down in torrents, to get this covering unshipped, and travel without it. When used, it painfully curtails the little freedom of movement that you enjoy, and when you are shot upwards by some obstruction on the road, it is apt to arrest your ascent by giving you a violent blow on the top of the head.
1 It is to be hoped that you are in no hurry to start, otherwise your patience may be sorely tried. The horses, when at last produced, may seem to you the most miserable screws that it was ever your misfortune to behold; but you had better refrain from expressing your feelings, for if you use violent, uncomplimentary language, it may turn out that you have been guilty of gross calumny, I have seen many a team composed of animals which a third-class London costermonger would have spurned, and in which it was barely possible to recognise the equine form, do their duty in highly creditable style, and go along at the rate of twelve or fourteen miles an hour, under no stronger incentive than the voice of the Yemstchik. Indeed, the capabilities of these lean, slouching, ungainly quadrupeds are often astounding when they are under the guidance of a man who knows how to drive them. Though such a man commonly carries a little harmless whip, he rarely uses it except by waving it horizontally in the air. His incitements are all oral. He talks to his cattle as he would to animals of his own species — now encouraging them by tender, caressing epithets, and now launching at them expressions of indignant scorn. At one moment they are his "little doves," and at the next they have been transformed into " cursed hounds." How far they understand and appreciate this curious mixture of endearing cajolery and contemptuous abuse it is difficult to say, but there is no doubt that it somehow has upon them a strange and powerful influence.