exposed to
the sun, but it did not cover a twentieth part of the ground. In
several hollows the mud had frozen and presented a rough surface to
our wheels. Our telyaga had no springs, and when we went at a rapid
trot over the worst places the bones of my spinal column seemed
engaged in a struggle for independence. A thousand miles of such
riding would have been too much for me. A dog belonging to Madame
Radstvenny's house-keeper followed me from Krasnoyarsk, but did not
show himself till we were six or eight versts away. Etiquette, to say
nothing of morality, does not sanction stealing the dog of your host,
and so I arranged for the brute's return. In consideration of fifty
copecks the yemshick agreed to take the dog on his homeward trip and
deliver him in good order and condition at Krasnoyarsk.

Just before reaching the first station we passed through a village
nearly four miles long, but only a single street in width. The station
was at the extreme end of the village; our sleighs were waiting for
us, and so were the men who brought them from Krasnoyarsk. There was
no snow for the next twenty versts, and consequently the sleighs
needed further transportation. Schmidt's sleigh was dragged empty over
the bare ground, but mine, being heavier, was mounted upon wheels.

Other difficulties awaited us. There was but one troika to spare and
only one telyaga. We required two vehicles for ourselves and baggage,
but the smotretal could not accommodate us. We ordered the samovar,
and debated over our tea. I urged my friend to try the effect of my
special passport, which had always been successful in Paul's hands. He
did so after our tea-drinking, but the document was powerless, the
smotretal doubtless arguing that if the paper were of consequence we
should have shown it on our arrival. We sent it to the _starost_, or
head man of the village, but that worthy declined to honor it, and we
were left to shift for ourselves. Evidently the power of the Governor
General's passport was on the wane.

The document was a request, not an order, and therefore had no real
force. Paul always displayed it as if it were an Imperial ukase. His
manner of spreading the double page and exhibiting seal and signature
carried authority and produced horses. The amiable naturalist had none
of the quality called 'cheek,' and the adoption of an authoritative
air did not accord with his character. He subsequently presented the
passport as if he thought it