uld not wish it inferred that no one can find lodgings until
provided by the police. On the contrary, it is rarely necessary to
obtain them through this channel. Travelers are not numerous, and the
few strangers visiting Siberia are most cordially welcomed. Officers
are greeted and find homes with their fellow officers, while merchants
enjoy the hospitalities of men of their class.

We ordered the samovar, and being within Parrott-gun range of China we
had excellent tea. I passed the night on a sofa so narrow that I found
it difficult to turn over, and fairly rolled to the floor while
endeavoring to bestow myself properly. While finishing my morning
toilet I received a visit from Major Boroslofski, Master of Police,
who came to acknowledge General Ditmar's letter of introduction. He
tendered the hospitalities of the place, and desired me to command his
services while I remained.

We had two rooms with a bedstead and sofa, besides lots of chairs,
mirrors, tables, and flower pots. Then we had an apartment nearly
thirty feet square, that contained more chairs, tables, and flower
pots. In one corner there was a huge barrel-organ that enabled me to
develop my musical abilities. I spent half an hour the morning after
our arrival in turning out the national airs of Russia. Molostoff
amused himself by circulating his cap before an invisible audience and
collecting imperceptible coin. While dancing to one of my liveliest
airs he upset a flower pot, and the crash that followed brought our
concert to a close. Two sides of the large room were entirely
bordered with horticultural productions, some of them six or eight
feet high.

[Illustration: AMATEUR CONCERT IN SIBERIA.]

Troitskosavsk and Kiachta have a sort of husband and wife singleness
and duality. They are about two miles apart, the former having five or
six thousand inhabitants and the latter about twelve hundred. In
government, business, and interest the two places are one, the Master
of Police having jurisdiction over both, and the merchants living
indifferently in one or the other. Many persons familiar with the name
of Kiachta never heard of the other town. It may surprise London
merchants who send Shanghai telegrams "via Kiachta" to learn that the
wires terminate at Troitskosavsk, and do not reach Kiachta at all.

The treaty which established trade between Russia and China at Kiachta
provided that no one should reside there except merchants engaged in
traffic. No