ished the hill and crossed
the hollow below it at a trot. One after another passed in this manner
without guidance, exactly as if controlled by a driver.

I noticed that the horses were quite skillful in selecting the best
parts of the road. I have occasionally seen a horse pause when there
were three or four tracks through the snow, and make his choice with
apparent deliberation. I recollect a school boy composition that
declared in its first sentence, 'the horse is a noble animal,' but I
never knew until I traveled in Siberia how much he is entitled to a
patent of nobility.

In the daytime we had little trouble with these caravans, as they
generally gave us the road on hearing our bells. If the way was wide
the horses usually turned aside of their own accord; where it was
narrow they were unwilling to step in the snow, and did not until
directed by their drivers. If the latter were dilatory our yemshicks
turned aside and revenged themselves by lashing some of the sled
horses and all the drivers they could reach. In the night we found
more difficulty as the caravan horses desired to keep the road, and
their drivers were generally asleep. We were bumped against
innumerable sleds in the hours of darkness. The outriggers alone
prevented our sleighs going to pieces. The trains going eastward
carried assorted cargoes of merchandise for Siberia and China. Those
traveling westward were generally loaded with tea in chests, covered
with cowhide. The amount of traffic over the principal road through
Siberia is very large.

When we halted for dinner I brought a bottle of champagne from, my
sleigh. It was the best of the 'Cliquot' brand and frozen as solid as
a block of ice. It stood half an hour in a warm room before thawing
enough to drip slowly into our glasses and was the most perfect
_champagne frappe_ I ever saw. A bottle of cognac was a great deal
colder than ordinary ice, and when we brought it into the station the
moisture in the warm room congealed upon it to the thickness of
card-board. After this display I doubted the existence of latent heat
in alcohol.

Just as we finished dinner the post with five vehicles was announced.
We hastened to put on our furs and sprang into the sleighs with the
least possible delay. There was no fear that we should lose the first
and second set of horses, but the last one might be taken for the post
as the ladies had only a third-class padaroshnia. The yemshicks were
as anxious to es