The iron used in repairing my carriage came from Petrovsky Zavod, about a hundred miles southeast of Verkne Udinsk.  The iron works were established during the reign of Peter the Great, and until quite recently were mostly worked by convicts.  There is plenty of mineral coal in the vicinity, but wood is so cheap and abundant that charcoal is principally used in smelting.  I saw a specimen of the Petrovsky ore, which appeared very good.  The machine shops of these works are quite extensive and well supplied.  The engines for the early steamers on the Amoor were built there by Russian workmen.

There are several private mining enterprises in the region around Yerkne Udinsk.  Most of them have gold as their object, and I heard of two or three lead mines.

During the night of my stay at this town Captain Sideroff insisted so earnestly upon giving up his bed that politeness compelled me to accept it.  My blankets and furs on the floor would have been better suited to my traveling life especially as the captain’s bed was shorter than his guest.  I think travelers will agree with me in denouncing the use of beds and warm rooms while a journey is in progress.  They weaken the system and unfit it for the roughness of the road.  While halting at night the floor or a hard sofa is preferable to a soft bed.  The journey ended, the reign of luxuries can begin.

[Illustration:  TAIL PIECE]

CHAPTER XXVI.

When we left Verkne Udinsk we crossed the Selenga before passing the municipal limits.  Our ferry-boat was like the one at Stratensk, and had barely room on its platform for our tarantass.  A priest and an officer who were passengers on the steamer from Blagoveshchensk arrived while we were getting on board the ferry-boat.  They had been greatly delayed on the way from Stratensk, and waited two days to cross the Nercha.

The Selenga was full of ice, some cakes being larger than the platform of our boat.  The temperature of the air was far below freezing, and it was expected the river would close in a day or two.  It might shut while we were crossing and confine us on the wretched flat-boat ten or twelve hours, until it would be safe to walk ashore.  However, it was not my craft, and as there were six or eight Russians all in the same boat with me, I did not borrow trouble.

The ice-cakes ground unpleasantly against each other and had things pretty much their own way.  One of them grated rather roughly upon our sides.  I do not know there was any danger, but I certainly thought I had seen places of greater safety than that.  When we were in the worst part of the stream two of the ferrymen rested their poles and began crossing themselves.  I could have excused them had they postponed this service until we landed on the opposite bank or were stuck fast in the ice.  The Russian peasants are more dependant on the powers above than were even the old Puritans.  The former abandon efforts in critical moments and take to making the sign of the cross.  The Puritans trusted in God, but were careful to keep their powder dry.