. 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 There is a great rock in the streamI at this point which is regarded with5 superstition by the aboriginal inhab-§ itants. They perform religious cere- 1 monies when passing it, and formerlyJ it was a place of sacrifice. Hundreds,3 if not thousands, of men, women, and? children have been tossed from this 2 rock to be drowned in the swift cur-i, rent flowino- below It had been my original plan to^ reach Irkutsk on wheels, and remain ther
. 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 There is a great rock in the streamI at this point which is regarded with5 superstition by the aboriginal inhab-§ itants. They perform religious cere- 1 monies when passing it, and formerlyJ it was a place of sacrifice. Hundreds,3 if not thousands, of men, women, and? children have been tossed from this 2 rock to be drowned in the swift cur-i, rent flowino- below It had been my original plan to^ reach Irkutsk on wheels, and remain there till the winter roads were form-ed, so that I could continue from thatcity in a sleigh. A snow-storm beganan hour before I reached the city, andindicated that I had made a very goodcalculation; it cleared up soon afterwe passed the gate-way, and for sev-eral days thereafter the weather wasdelightful. My reception was mostcordial; Americans were rare visitorsin the capital of Eastern Siberia, andI was the first that many of the peo-ple had ever of the youths remarked that he believed Irkutsk was a city ofconsiderable size and LIFE AT IRKUTSK. 361 It is the largest city in Siberia, said Mr. Hegeman, and lias a pop-ulation of about thirty-five thousand. The Governoi-general of EasternSiberia lives there. lie has many ofiicers attached to his staff. There aremany 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 Lentenseason. Every family keeps open house through the winter, and it iscustomary to drop in whenever one chooses, and take tea at eight is no formality about the matter. One of the ladies of the housepresides at the samovar, and the others of the party are scattered aroundthe parlors wherever it is most convenient or agreeable to be. My recol-lection
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