The Korsackoff was an iron boat of a hundred horse power, with hull and engines of English make.  Her cabins were very small and as dirty as diminutive.  There was no cabin steward, and I sincerely believe there had never been one.  We were warned of this before leaving Blagoveshchensk, and by way of precaution purchased enough bread, pickles, cheese, mustard, preserves, candles, etc., to stock a modest grocery.  We bought eggs at the landings, and arranged for the samovar every morning.  We engaged a Cossack passenger as our servant for the voyage, and when we wished our eggs boiled we sent him with them to the cook.  Of course we had an arrangement with the latter functionary.  Our next move was to make terms with the captain’s steward for a dinner at the hour when he fed his chief.  Our negotiations required much diplomacy, but our existence depended upon it, and what will not man accomplish when he wants bread and meat?

We spread our table in one of our rooms.  For breakfast we took tea and boiled eggs, and for dinner we had cabbage soup, roast beef or fowl, and cutlets.  The cook succeeded very well, and as our appetites were pretty sharp we voted the dinners a success.  We used our own bread, tea, pickles, and preserves, employing the latter as a concluding dish.  Our Cossack was not very skillful at housework, and made many blunders in serving.  Frequently he brought the soup tureen before arranging the table, and it took him some time to learn the disadvantage of this practice.

Leaving Blagoveshchensk the country continued level near the river, but the mountains gradually approached it and on the south bank they came to the water fifteen or twenty miles above Sakhalin-Oula.  On the north the plain was wider, but it terminated about forty miles above Blagoveshchensk,—­a series of low hills taking its place.  The first day we ran twenty-five or thirty versts before sunset.  The river was less than a mile wide, and the volume of water sensibly diminished above the Zeya.  As the hills approached the river they assumed the form of bluffs or headlands, with plateaus extending back from their summits.  The scenery reminded me of Lake Pepin and the region just above it.  On the northern shore, between these bluffs and the river, there was an occasional strip of meadow that afforded clinging room to a Russian village.  At two or three settlements there was an abundance of hay and grain in stacks, and droves of well fed cattle, that indicated the favorable character of the country.

At most villages along the Amoor I found the crow and magpie abundant and very tame.  At Blagoveshchensk several of these birds amused me in sharing the dinner of some hogs to the great disgust of the latter.  When the meal was finished they lighted on the backs of the hogs and would not dismount until the latter rolled in the dirt.  No one appears to think them worth shooting, and I presume they do no damage.

One day walking on shore I saw a flock of pigeons, and returned to the boat for Borasdine’s gun.  As I took it I remarked that I would shoot a few pigeons for dinner.