. The boy travellers in the Russian empire: adventures of two youths in a journey in European and Asiatic Russia, with accounts of a tour across ies were common in Siberia. Less so than you might suppose, was the reply, when there is sucha proportion of criminals among the population. They aie mostly com-mitted in summer, as that is the season when the tramps are in principal victims are merchants, who often carry money in largeamounts; oflicers are rarely attacked, as they usually have only the moneyneeded for their travelling expenses, and are more likely than the mer-
. The boy travellers in the Russian empire: adventures of two youths in a journey in European and Asiatic Russia, with accounts of a tour across ies were common in Siberia. Less so than you might suppose, was the reply, when there is sucha proportion of criminals among the population. They aie mostly com-mitted in summer, as that is the season when the tramps are in principal victims are merchants, who often carry money in largeamounts; oflicers are rarely attacked, as they usually have only the moneyneeded for their travelling expenses, and are more likely than the mer- A PERILOUS JOURNEY. 349 chants to be provided with fire-arms and skilled in their use. My com-panion and myself each had a revolver, and kept it where it could be con-veniently seized in case of trouble. We never had any occasion to useour weapons, and I ^vill say here that not once in all my journey throughSiberia was I molested by highwaymen. When we left Verckne Udinsk we crossed the Selenga, a river wdiiclirises in Chinese Tartary, and after a long and tortuous course falls intoLake Baikal, whence its waters reach the Arctic Ocean. There w^is no. CKOSSING THE SELENGA. bridge, and we traversed the stream on a ferry. The river was full offloating ice, and the huge cakes ground very unpleasantly against the sidesof the craft Avhich bore ourselves and our tarantasse. The river was onthe point of freezing ; there was just a possibility that it would closewdiile we were crossing, and keep us imprisoned until such time as the icewas thick enough to bear us safely. As this would involve a detention ofseveral hours where the accommodations were wretched, the outlook wasnot at all pleasant. Alls well that ends well; we landed on a sand-bank on the otherside, and after a little delay the boatmen succeeded in getting our carriageon shore without accident. About six miles from the river the road divid- 350 THE BOY TKAYELLEUS IN THE KlSSIAN EMPHIE. ed, one branch going to Irkutsk and the
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