GENERAL ASPECTS OF MAI-MAI-CHIN.—DINNER WITH A CHINESE GOVERNOR.—A THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE.—LAKE BAIKAL: ITS REMARKABLE FEATURES.—A WONDERFUL RIDE.—IRKUTSK.—ITS POPULATION, SIZE, AND PECULIARITIES.—SOCIAL GAYETIES.—PREPARATIONS FOR A LONG SLEIGH-RIDE.—LIST OF GARMENTS.—VARIETIES OF SLEIGHS.—FAREWELL TO IRKUTSK.—SLEIGHING INCIDENTS.—FOOD ON THE ROAD.—SIBERIAN MAILS.—ADVANTAGES OF WINTER TRAVELLING.—SLEIGHING ON BARE GROUND.—A SNOWLESS REGION.—KRASNOYARSK.  
"You have been in China, I believe," said Mr. Hegeman, during the pause that followed the story of how the Russian and Chinese merchants circumvented the stipulations of the treaty.
 SCENE IN A CHINESE TEMPLE.
"Oh yes," Frank responded. "We were at Peking, which is, I think, only eight hundred miles from Kiachta. We went from Peking to the Great Wall of China, so that we were less than seven hundred miles from the point where you called on the Sargootchay. You can learn about our journey in 'The Boy Travellers in Japan and China.'"
[Pg 355]
"I shall read the book with great pleasure," was the reply, "now that I have met the youths whose travels are described in it. As you have seen the Chinese at home, and know their manners and customs, I won't take your time by telling you what I saw in Mai-mai-chin, which is just like any other Chinese city in nearly every respect.
"I may add that it is said to be the cleanest town in all China. It is only half a mile square, carefully laid out, and its streets are swept daily. Only the merchants and their employés, with a small garrison of soldiers, are allowed to live there, and consequently there is no poor population such as you always find in the other cities of the Empire."
"That must be a great relief," Fred remarked. "Wherever we went in China we saw so much degradation and suffering that it destroyed a great deal of the pleasure of the journey."
"I didn't see a beggar in Mai-mai-chin," continued Mr. Hegeman,[Pg 356] "nor anybody who looked like one. There were plenty of laborers employed in handling the tea and other merchandise, but they all appeared to be well cared for. Outside the town there was quite a camp of Mongolians with their camel-trains, which are employed in the transportation of goods across the great desert of Gobi.
"The Sargootchay invited me to dinner, and I went there with the Governor of Kiachta and some of his officers. The Sargootchay was polite, and we tried to talk, but had a good deal of difficulty in doing so on account of the numerous translations.
"What I thought in my own language I said in French to one of my Russian friends. He spoke in Russian to his Russian-Mongol interpreter, who spoke in Mongol to the Mongol-Chinese interpreter of the Sargootchay. Remarks and responses thus had to pass through four tongues to reach their destination.
 THEATRE AT MAI-MAI-CHIN.
"The dinner was probably like what you had at Peking or Canton, and so I will not take the time to describe it. After dinner we went to the theatre, where we sat under a canopy and witnessed a performance which included, among other things, a procession of fictitious wild beasts. That they were very fictitious was shown by the accident of the tiger's mask falling off and revealing the head of an astonished man.
 THE TIGER.
"The thermometer was below the freezing-point, and as the theatre was in the open air, I was very glad that the performance was short.
"From Kiachta I returned to Verckne Udinsk, and then proceeded to Irkutsk by way of Lake Baikal. This lake is said to be the largest body of fresh water in Asia. It is four hundred miles long by about fifty broad, and is fourteen hundred feet above the level of the sea. The quantity of water flowing into it is said to be ten times as much as passes from it by its outlet, the Angara River. What becomes of the other nine-tenths is a mystery that has puzzled many scientific men; none of them have been able to establish a theory which the others have not completely upset.
"I crossed the lake in a steamboat, and during the voyage listened eagerly to the description of the winter passage which is made on the ice.[Pg 357] I will give it as nearly as I can remember in the words of my informant, a gentleman who filled the position of Superintendent of Public Instruction in Eastern Siberia:
 A NATURAL ARCH ON LAKE BAIKAL.
"'The lake does not freeze over until quite late in the autumn, and when it does the whole surface is congealed in a single night. In a few days the ice is from three to six feet thick, and perfectly transparent. The first time I crossed it was from the western to the eastern shore. The former is mountainous, while the latter is low and flat. As we began our ride the land on the other side was quite invisible, and it seemed to me very much like setting out in a sleigh for a voyage from Queenstown to New York. When I leaned over and looked downward, it was like gazing into the depths of the ocean. It was not until I alighted and stood on the firm ice that I could dispel the illusion that we were gliding over the unfrozen surface of the lake, as the natives believe its guardian spirit walks upon the waters without sinking beneath them.
[Pg 358]
"'At night every star was reflected as in a mirror, and I saw the heavens above me, beneath me, and all around. As the rising moon lighted up the faint horizon of ice and sky, I could half believe I had left the world behind me, and was moving away through the myriads of stars towards the centre of another solar system distinct from our own.'
"The natives have many superstitions concerning the Baikal," Mr. Hegeman continued. "In their language it is the 'Holy Sea,' and they consider it sacrilege to call it a lake. It is very deep, soundings of two thousand feet having been made without finding bottom. It is more like a sea than a lake in some of its peculiarities; gulls and other ocean birds fly over it, and it is the only body of fresh water on the globe where the seal abounds. There are banks of coral in some parts of it, in spite of the high northern latitude and the constant coldness of the water. The natives[Pg 359] say that nobody is ever lost in the lake; any one drowned in its waters is thrown up on the shores."
"It must be a long drive from one side of the lake to the other," one of the youths remarked.
"It is, indeed," was the reply. "Formerly they had a station on the ice in the middle of the lake, which was removed at the approach of spring. One season the ice broke up unexpectedly, and the entire station, with all its men and horses, was swallowed up. Since that time no station has been kept there in winter, and the entire journey across, about fifty-five miles, is made without a change. The horses are carefully selected, and as the road is magnificent they go at great speed, stopping only two or three times for a rest of a few minutes.
 CAVERNS ON LAKE BAIKAL.
"The western shore is mountainous, and in places very picturesque. There are steep cliffs that come down to the water, and in some of these cliffs you find caverns and arches which recall the pictured shores of Lake Superior. Earthquakes are not unfrequent, and many persons believe that the lake occupies the crater of an extinct volcano whose internal fires are determined to keep themselves in remembrance. A village on the shore of the lake was destroyed by one of the shocks. Half of it was carried[Pg 360] below the level of the water, and the other half thrown up to a considerable height above its former position.
"So much for this remarkable lake. From the western shore to Irkutsk (about forty miles) the road follows near the bank of the Angara, which is very swift. The river does not freeze until after the lake has been covered with ice, and for two or three miles below the point where it emerges from the lake it never freezes even in the severest winters. There is a great rock in the stream at this point which is regarded with superstition by the aboriginal inhabitants. They perform religious ceremonies when passing it, and formerly it was a place of sacrifice. Hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women, and children have been tossed from this rock to be drowned in the swift current flowing below it.
"It had been my original plan to reach Irkutsk on wheels, and remain there till the winter roads were formed, so that I could continue from that city in a sleigh. A snow-storm began an hour before I reached the city, and indicated that I had made a very good calculation; it cleared up soon after we passed the gate-way, and for several days thereafter the weather was delightful. My reception was most cordial; Americans were rare visitors in the capital of Eastern Siberia, and I was the first that many of the people had ever seen."
One of the youths remarked that he believed Irkutsk was a city of considerable size and importance.
[Pg 361]
 PART OF IRKUTSK.
"It is the largest city in Siberia," said Mr. Hegeman, "and has a population of about thirty-five thousand. The Governor-general of Eastern Siberia lives there. He has many officers attached to his staff. There are many wealthy citizens. The houses are large, well built, and furnished, and the style of living is liberal.
"The winter opens with a long list of balls, parties, dinners, concerts, and other festivities, which are kept up until the coming of the Lenten season. Every family keeps open house through the winter, and it is customary to drop in whenever one chooses, and take tea at eight o'clock. There is no formality about the matter. One of the ladies of the house presides at the samovar, and the others of the party are scattered around the parlors wherever it is most convenient or agreeable to be. My recollections of Irkutsk are of the most pleasant sort, and I greatly regret the place is so far away that one cannot easily revisit it.
 VIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL SQUARE IN IRKUTSK.
"Since I was there Irkutsk has suffered by a fire that destroyed more than half the buildings, and caused a vast amount of distress. For a time it was thought the city would not be rebuilt, but I hear that it is being restored very rapidly, and in a few years will be more attractive than it was before the conflagration.[5]
 DRESSED FOR THE ROAD.
"When the winter roads were reported in a condition for travelling I began my preparations for leaving Irkutsk on a sleigh-ride of thirty-six hundred miles. The thermometer went to twenty degrees below zero soon after the first fall of snow, and my Russian friends told me to prepare for forty below. Under their advice I employed a tailor who knew his business, and when his work was completed my room resembled a clothing store of modest proportions. Here is what I bought: A sheepskin coat with the wool inside; the garment fell below my knees, was without a collar, and buttoned tight around the neck. It was intended for wearing outside my ordinary suit of clothing. Outside of this was what the Russians call a dehar; it was made of deer-skin, with the hair outward, and as I walked it swept the floor like a lady's ball-dress. The sleeves were six inches longer than my arms, and very inconvenient when[Pg 362] I wished to pick up any small article; the collar was a foot wide, and when turned up and brought around in front completely concealed my head. Then I had a fur cap, circular in shape and with lappets for covering the ears. A lady made, from a piece of sable-skin, a mitten for my nose.
"For my foot-gear I discarded my leather boots. Outside of my ordinary socks I had a pair of squirrel-skin socks with the fur inside, sheepskin stockings with the wool inside and reaching to the knee, and outside of these were deer-skin boots, with the hair outside, and reaching up nearly to the junction of my lower limbs. Added to these garments for excluding cold was a robe of sheepskins with the wool on, and backed with[Pg 363] heavy cloth. It was seven feet square, and something like a dozen skins were required for making it. At one end it was shaped into a sort of bag for receiving the feet."
Fred suggested that such a costume must be very inconvenient for walking, and it must be no easy matter to enter and leave a sleigh when thus wrapped for a cold night.
"You are quite right," said Mr. Hegeman; "it is the work of a minute or more to turn over at night and change one's position, excepting, of course, when the sleigh turns over first."
"Did that happen often?"
"Fortunately not," was the reply, "but the few experiences of this kind that I had were quite sufficient. One night we were upset while going at full speed down a hill. I was asleep at the time, and without the least warning found myself in a mass of baggage, hay, furs, and snow. My first thought was that an earthquake had hit us, and it was several seconds before I realized what had happened. One of the horses broke loose and ran away; the driver mounted the other and went after the fugitive, and for half an hour my companion and myself were left alone with the sleigh and its contents. We kept ourselves busy trying to get things to rights, and as we had only the light of the stars to work by, we did not get along rapidly.
"We found one of the shafts and also a fender broken; otherwise the vehicle had suffered no material damage. But I'm getting ahead of the story.
[Pg 364]
"I arranged to leave Irkutsk with some Russian friends who were going to Krasnoyarsk, the next provincial capital. After getting my furs, the next thing was to buy a sleigh, and again I took advice.
 A VASHOK.
"There is a sleigh called a vashok, which is much like a small omnibus. It has doors at the side and is very capacious, but it has the disadvantage that you are completely enclosed in it, and can see nothing of the country you are passing through. A better vehicle is the kibitka, a sort of tarantasse on runners, and suggestive of the American chaise in the arrangement of its front. There is a hood which can be lowered and fastened to an apron rising from the wooden box, in which your feet are pushed when you enter the vehicle. By day you can see the country and enjoy the fresh air, and at night or in storms you close the hood and are very well protected from the weather. Ladies and invalids prefer the vashok, while healthy men have a decided liking for the kibitka.
 MY KIBITKA.
"At the rear of the kibitka there is usually a frame of poles, covered with a net of half inch rope. It is a convenient receptacle for extra baggage, and also serves to break the force of horses running against the sleigh from behind.
"The driver of the vashok sits on a seat much like that of an ordinary carriage, while on the kibitka he is seated on the boxed front, with his feet hanging over the side. The position is one that requires constant vigilance to prevent falling off. The driver of a vashok might possibly sleep a little without danger, but not so the driver of a kibitka.
"My kibitka was made in European Russia, and was said to have travelled[Pg 365] six thousand miles before I owned it. In my possession it went thirty-six hundred miles, and was certainly good for several thousand more. In the whole ride it cost me about five dollars for repairs, principally to the shafts and fenders. I gave eighty roubles for the sleigh in Irkutsk, and sold it at Nijni Novgorod for ten.
 FAREWELL TO IRKUTSK.
"The day of my departure was spent in making farewell calls and getting the baggage in readiness. A Russian gentleman was to accompany me in my sleigh; two ladies, mother and daughter, were to be in another; and two servants of the ladies, a man and a maid, were to be in a third. The ladies lived in Irkutsk, and we were to dine at their house and start from it. At the appointed time we went there.
"There was a gay party at the dinner, and when it was over the starting signal was given. All present seated themselves around the parlor, and a few moments were given to silent prayer, the travellers asking, and the others wishing for them, a safe journey. On rising, all who professed the religion of the Eastern Church made the sign of the cross before the ikon, or holy picture, and bowed towards it. Every true Russian scrupulously[Pg 366] observes this ceremony before starting on a journey, whether by land or water.
"The Angara sweeps gracefully around two sides of Irkutsk, and many of the houses are on the bank. There is a swinging ferry to connect the opposite shores; the boat is at the end of a strong cable, anchored nearly a mile up the stream, and it is swung across through the force of the current against its sides. Starting for Moscow it is necessary to cross the river, and I was told there would be some friends at the ferry to see me off. We had a good deal of seeing off, as nearly a dozen sleighs, filled with friends of my companions, were to accompany us to the first station.
"When we reached the bank it was the close of the day; in fact, dusk was about coming on. The ferry-boat was coming from the other shore. I looked, and saw it was dressed in flags and Chinese lanterns; I looked again, and there were American flags!—four American flags and one Russian. It was the first time my national standard had ever............