“Blagoveshchensk,” said the steward, as he waved his arm in that direction.

I well knew that the capital of the Province of the Amoor was just above the mouth of the Zeya.  It stands on a prairie fifteen or twenty feet above the river, and when approached from the south its appearance is pleasing.  The houses are large and well built, and each has plenty of space around it.  Some of them have flower gardens in front, and a public park was well advanced toward completion at the time of my arrival.

A wharf extended into the river at an angle of forty degrees with the shore.  The steamer Korsackoff was moored at this wharf, with a barge nearly her own size.  The Ingodah tied to the bank just below the wharf, and was welcomed by the usual crowd of soldiers and citizens, with a fair number of Manjours from the other bank.

On landing, I called upon Colonel Pedeshenk, the governor of the Province, and delivered my letters of introduction.  The Colonel invited me to dine with him that day, and stated that several officers of his command would be present.  After this visit and a few others, I went with Captain Borasdine to attend the funeral of the late Major General Bussy.  This gentleman was five years governor of the Province of the Amoor, and resigned in 1866 on account of ill-health.  He died on his way to St. Petersburg, and the news of his death reached Blagoveshchensk three days before my arrival.  I happened to reach the town on the morning appointed for the funeral service.

The church was crowded, everybody standing, according to the custom prevailing in Russia.  Colonel Pedeshenk and his officers were in full uniform, and almost all present held lighted candles.  Five or six priests, with an Archbishop, conducted the ceremonies.  The services consisted of a ritual, read and intoned by the priests, with chanting by the choir of male voices.  The Archbishop was in full robes belonging to his position, and his long gray beard and reverend face gave him a patriarchal appearance.  When the ceremony was finished the congregation opened to the right and left to permit the governor and officers to pass out first.  From beginning to end the service lasted about an hour.

Colonel Pedeshenk had been governor but a few months, and awaited confirmation in his position.  Having served long on the staff of General Bussy, he was disposed to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and carry out his plans for developing the resources of his district.

At the appointed hour I went to dine at the governor’s, where I found eight or ten officers and the young wife of Colonel Pedeshenk.  We spent a half-hour on the balcony, where there was a charming view of the river and the Chinese shore with its background of mountains.  The governor’s house was more like a mansion in a venerable town than in a settlement less than ten years old.  The reception hall would have made a good ball-room anywhere out of the large cities.