mail. They
carry passengers and private freight at fixed rates, but do not give
insurance against fire or accidents of navigation. Passengers contract
with the captain or steward for subsistence while on board. Deck
passengers generally support themselves, but can buy provisions on the
boat if they wish. The steward may keep wines and other beverages for
sale by the bottle, but he cannot maintain a bar. He has various
little speculations of his own and does not feed his customers
liberally. On the Ingodah the steward purchased eggs at every village,
and expected to sell them at a large profit in Nicolayevsk. When we
left him he had at least ten bushels on hand, but he never furnished
eggs to us unless we paid extra for them.

One cabin was assigned to Borasdine and myself, save at meal times,
when two other passengers were present. One end of it was filled with
the mail, of which there were eight bags, each as large as a Saratoga
trunk and as difficult to handle. The Russian government performs an
'express' service and transports freight by mail; it receives parcels
in any part of the empire and agrees to deliver them in any other part
desired. From Nicolayevsk to St. Petersburg the charges are
twenty-five copecks (cents) a pound, the distance being seven thousand
miles. It gives receipts for the articles, and will insure them at a
charge of two per cent. on their value.

Goods of any kind can be sent by post through Russia just as by
express in America. Captain Lund sent a package containing fifty sable
skins to his brother in Cronstadt, and another with a silk dress
pattern to a lady in St. Petersburg. In the mail on the Ingodah there
were twelve hundred pounds of sable fur sent by Mr. Chase to his agent
in St. Petersburg. Money to any amount can be remitted, and its
delivery insured. I have known twenty thousand roubles sent on a
single order.

Parcels for transportation by post must be carefully and securely
packed. Furs, silks, clothing, and all things of that class are
enveloped in repeated layers of oil cloth and canvas to exclude water
and guard against abrasion. Light articles, like bonnets, must be
packed with abundance of paper filling them to their proper shape, and
very securely boxed. A Siberian lady once told me that a friend in St.
Petersburg sent her a lot of bonnets, laces, and other finery
purchased at great expense. She waited a long time with feminine
anxiety, and was delighted when told her bo