.

The men wore long blue coats of cotton or silk, generally the former,
loose linen trousers, fastened at the knee or made into leggings, and
Chinese shoes or boots of skin. The women dress in pantaletts and blue
cotton gowns with short, loose sleeves, above which they wear at times
a silk cape or mantle. They have ear rings, bracelets, and finger
rings in profusion, and frequently display considerable taste in their
adornment. It was nearly sunset when we landed at Igoon, and when we
finished our visit to the Tartar family the stars were out. The delay
of the boat was entirely to give me a view of a Chinese-Manjour city.
Darkness put an end to sight-seeing, and so we hastened to the
steamer, followed by a large crowd of natives.

[Illustration: A CHINESE FAMILY PICTURE.]

We took three or four Manjour merchants as passengers to
Blagoveshchensk. One of them spent the evening in our cabin, but would
neither drink alcoholic beverages nor smoke. This appeared rather odd
among a people who smoke persistently and continually. Men, women, and
children are addicted to the practice, and the amount of tobacco they
burn is enormous.

CHAPTER XVIII.

At daylight on the morning after leaving Igoon, we were passing the
mouth of the Zeya, a river half a mile wide, flowing with a strong
current. It was along this river that the first white men who saw the
Amoor found their way. It is said to be practicable for steam
navigation three or four hundred miles from its mouth. At present four
or five thousand peasants are settled along the Zeya, with excellent
agricultural prospects. As I came on deck rubbing my half-opened eyes,
I saw a well-built town on the Russian shore.

"Blagoveshchensk," said the steward, as he waved his arm in that
direction.

I well knew that the capital of the Province of the Amoor was just
above the mouth of the Zeya. It stands on a prairie fifteen or twenty
feet above the river, and when approached from the south its
appearance is pleasing. The houses are large and well built, and each
has plenty of space around it. Some of them have flower gardens in
front, and a public park was well advanced toward completion at the
time of my arrival.

A wharf extended into the river at an angle of forty degrees with the
shore. The steamer Korsackoff was moored at this wharf, with a barge
nearly her own size. The Ingodah tied to the bank just below the
wharf, and was welcomed by the usual crowd of soldiers