rnment lines, every despatch
over the wires being paid for by somebody. If on government business
the sender pays the regular tariff and is reimbursed from the
treasury. I was told that the officers of the telegraph paid for their
own family messages, but had the privilege of conversing on the lines
free of charge. High position does not confer immunity. When the
Czarevitch was married, General Korsackoff sent his congratulations by
telegraph, and received a response from the Emperor. Both messages
were paid for by the sender without reduction or trust.

I found the general features of Krasnoyarsk much like those of
Irkutsk. Official and civilian inhabitants dressed, lived, walked,
breathed, drank, and gambled like their kindred nearer the east. It
happened to be market day, and the public square was densely crowded.
I was interested in observing the character and abundance of the fish
offered for sale. Among those with a familiar appearance were the
sturgeon, perch, and pike, and a small fish resembling our alewife.
There was a fish unknown to me, with a long snout like a duck's bill,
and a body on the extreme clipper model. All these fish are from the
Yenesei, some dwelling there permanently while others ascend annually
from the Arctic Ocean. All in the market were frozen solid, and the
larger ones were piled up like cord-wood.

From the bank overlooking the river there is a fine view of the valley
of the Yenesei. There are several islands in the vicinity, and I was
told that in the season of floods the stream has a very swift current.
It is no easy work to ferry across it, and the boats generally descend
a mile or two while paddling over. A few years ago a resident of
Krasnoyarsk made a remarkable voyage on this river. He had been
attending a wedding several miles away on the other bank, and started
to return late at night so as to reach the ferry about daybreak. His
equipage was a wooden telyaga drawn by two powerful horses. Having
partaken of the cup that inebriates, the man fell asleep and allowed
his horses to take their own course. Knowing the way perfectly they
came without accident to the ferry landing, their owner still wrapped
in his drunken slumber.

[Illustration: VALLEY OF THE YENESEI.]

The boat was on the other side, and the horses, no doubt hungry and
impatient, plunged in to swim across. The telyaga filled with water,
but had sufficient buoyancy not to sink. The cold bath waked and
sobered the in