DLE HOLES.]

An hour before reaching Kansk one of our horses fell dead and brought
us to a sudden halt. The yemshick tried various expedients to discover
signs of life but to no purpose. Paul and I formed a board of survey,
and sat upon the beast; the other sleighs passed us during our
consultation, and were very soon out of sight. When satisfied that the
animal, as a horse, was of no further use, the yemshick pulled him to
the roadside, stripped off his harness, and proceeded with our reduced
team. I asked who was responsible for the loss, and was told it was no
affair of ours. The government pays for horses killed in the service
of couriers, as these gentlemen compel very high speed. On a second or
third rate padaroshnian the death of a horse is the loss of its owner.
Horses are not expensive in this region, an ordinary roadster being
worth from fifteen to twenty roubles.

Within a mile of Kansk the road was bare of snow, and as we had but
two horses to our sleigh I proposed walking into town. We passed a
long train of sleds on their way to market with loads of wood and
hay. Tea was ready for us when we arrived at the station, and we were
equally ready for it. After my fifth cup I walked through the public
square as it was market day, and the people were in the midst of
traffic. Fish, meat, hay, wood, and a great quantity of miscellaneous
articles were offered for sale. In general terms the market was a sort
of pocket edition of the one at Irkutsk. I practiced my knowledge of
Russian in purchasing a quantity of rope to use in case of accidents.
Foreigners were not often seen there if I may judge of the curiosity
with which I was regarded.

Kansk is a town of about three thousand inhabitants, and stands on the
Kan, a tributary of the Yenesei. We were told there was little snow to
the first station, and were advised to take five horses to each
sleigh. We found the road a combination of thin snow and bare ground,
the latter predominating. We proceeded very well, the yemshicks
maintaining sublime indifference to the character of the track. They
plied their whips vigorously in the probable expectation of
drink-money. The one on my sleigh regaled us with an account of the
perfectly awful condition of the road to Krasnoyarsk.

About sunset we changed horses, thirty versts from Kansk, and found no
cheering prospect ahead. We drowned our sorrows in the flowing
tea-cup, and fortified ourselves with a large amount of heat. T