Accompanying Borasdine I called upon the officer in command.  We were ushered through two or three small rooms into the principal apartment, which contained a piano of French manufacture.  Three or four officers and as many ladies enabled us to pass an hour very pleasantly till the steam whistle recalled us, but we did not leave until two hours after going on board.  Two or three men had been allowed on shore and were making themselves comfortable in a lafka.  Two others went for them, but as they did not return within an hour the police went to search for both parties.  When all were brought to the steamer it was difficult to say it the last were not first—­in intoxication.

Several passengers left us at Habarofka, among them the black eyed girl that attracted the eyes of one or two passengers in the cabin; as we departed she stood on the bank and waved us an adieu.  In the freight taken at this point there were fifteen chairs of local manufacture; they were piled in the cabin and did not leave us much space, when we considered the number and size of the fleas.  On my first night on the Ingodah the fleas did not disturb me as I came after visiting hours and was not introduced.  On all subsequent nights they were persevering and relentless; I was bitten until portions of my body appeared as if recovering from a Polynesian tattoo.  They used to get inside my under clothing by some mysterious way and when there they walked up and down like sentries on duty and bit at every other step.  It was impossible to flee from them, and they appointed their breakfasts and lunches at times most inconvenient to myself.

If I were Emperor of Russia I would issue a special edict expelling fleas from my dominions and ordering that the labor expended in scratching should be devoted to agriculture or the mechanic arts.  I suggested that the engines should be removed from the Ingodah and a treadmill erected for the fleas to propel the boat.  There have been exhibitions where fleas were trained to draw microscopic coaches and perform other fantastic tricks; but whatever their ability I would wager that the insects on that steamboat could not be outdone in industry by any other fleas in the world.

One of my standard amusements was to have a grand hunt for these lively insects just before going to bed, and I have no doubt that the exercise assisted to keep me in good health.  I used to remove my clothing, which I turned inside out and shook very carefully.  Then I bathed from head to foot in some villainous brandy that no respectable flea would or could endure; after this ablution was ended, I donned my garments, wrapped in my blanket, and proceeded to dream that I was a hen with thirteen chickens, and doomed to tear up an acre of ground for their support.

[Illustration:  TAIL PIECE—­SCENE ON THE RIVER]

CHAPTER XV.