Notes

Now for my father's adventure. Shortly after the above transaction, he was travelling between Odessa and Kiow, and stopped at an inn, kept by a married couple of Ormians (Ormianie), an eastern sect of mixed race, deserving separate description. Having held a commission in the Polish legion, and having fought against Souvarof in Italy, under the command of the French general, Championet, my father, who had only two servants with him, was conscious of the danger attending such places; therefore, after taking a complete survey of the premises, he gave the necessary orders to the servants to be on the watch, himself being well prepared for any emergency. The landlord pressed him to seek repose, but as there was something in the man's looks which by no means inspired confidence, my father resolved not to comply with his importunities. He was very submissive, and in answer to several questions, contradicted himself on the main points. He aflSrmed that he did not expect any other guests, and that no one then resided in the house except his wife, his daughter, a girl about fifteen years of age, and a male servant, notwithstanding that my father thought he occasionally heard a low whispering of strange voices; but as, despite his most searching examination, he could not discover any one, he ascribed it only to the working of his imagination. The disappearance, however, of the coachman's dog, which could nowhere be found, re-excited his suspicion. Being well provided with fire-arms, he placed a brace of loaded pistols on the table Why he remained at all was that the badness of the road, the want of provender for his tired horses, and the utter darkness of a November night precluded a removal, at that late hour, from his anything but pleasant quarters. He remarked that the hostess often cast her eyes on the pistols, and, bringing a cup of tea, she let fall the cup, as if by accident on the locks. My father, greatly displeased, began to scold her, and in order to ascertain whether there were really more persons in the house than those mentioned by the landlord, he put fresh powder in the locks, and fired a pistol. At the report some traps were suddenly opened, and several men, with flashing eyes and large knives in their hands, sprang up from beneath. My father, however, was provided with two brace of pocket pistols, which he had kept concealed, and one of the domestics, with pistol in hand, came, conformably to the previous orders which he had received, to my father's assistance, while the other was guarding the carriage and horses. My father threatened to shoot the first who dared to approach, and the warning produced a salutary effect. Soon, however, the welcome daylight afforded him a fair opportunity for quitting this most suspicious house of entertainment. Although the whole affair was reported to the Russian police, and a Russian magistrate (sprawnik) examined the premises, it could not be satisfactorily proved that the landlord actually designed to murder my father, but the latter had certainly no reason to doubt the man's guilty intention in that respect. My mother was also once in great danger, while travelling in the Ukraine mider different circumstances. But a large volume would be filled were I to detail the numerous similar circumstances, of unquestionable authenticity, that have come to my knowledge — not alone intended murders but actual assassinations, as also attacks not always successful. Generally speaking, such crimes are committed on by-roads, on travellers not sufficiently on their guard. The offenders are not so easily to be caught, it not unfrequently happening that the Russian police magistrates, who are badly paid, are indirectly participators in the robbers' plunder. The vast extent of the country forms also another obstacle to the speedy capture of the offenders. The robbers also have their faithful spies abroad, who guide them how to act, even in large towns. The whole country of the Steppes, from the Ukraine to the Tartar boundary, is not safe. It is thinly settled, indeed, from the difficult access to water in dry seasons. The following precautions may be useful in such places: to examine carefully the premises; to have a dog and fire-arms; to be always on the qui vive; not to take any liquid from the landlord, and, by sounding with a hammer or other means, to ascertain whether there is any trap or concealed entrance into the room. The journey in these wilds, notwithstanding all its difficulty, presents, especially in agreeable company, far more charms and attraction than the common and prosaic journey in Western Europe. Mr. Cortazi, member of the Polish Association, who was for some years resident in the Ukraine, and is now in London, can decide as to the correctness of my observations.