An hour after dropping the Danzig we stopped our engines and prepared to run under sail.  The whole crew was called on deck to hoist out the screw, a mass of copper weighing twenty-five thousand pounds, and set in a frame raised or lowered like a window sash.  With strong ropes and the power of three hundred men, the frame and its contents were lifted out of water, and the Variag became a sailing ship.  The Russian government is more economical than our own in running ships of war.  Whenever possible, sails are used instead of steam.  A few years ago a Russian Admiral was transferred from active to retired service because he burned too much coal.

The Variag was 2100 tons burthen, and carried seventeen guns, with a crew of 306 men.  She was of the fleet that visited New York in 1863, and her officers recounted many pleasant reminiscences of their stay in the United States.  While wintering in Japanese waters she was assigned to assist the telegraph enterprise, and reported as soon as possible at Petropavlovsk; but the only service demanded was to proceed to the mouth of the Amoor by way of Ghijiga and Ohotsk.

The officers of the Variag were, a captain, a commander, four lieutenants, six sub-lieutenants, an officer of marines with a cadet, a lieutenant of naval artillery, two sailing masters, two engineers, a surgeon, a paymaster, and a priest.  As near as I could ascertain, their pay, including allowances, was about three-fourths that of American officers of similar grades.  They received three times as much at sea as when awaiting orders, and this fact led them to seek constant service.  In the ward room they read, wrote, talked, smoked, and could play any games of amusement except cards.  Card playing is strictly forbidden by the Russian naval regulations.

The sailors on the corvette were robust and powerful fellows, with appetites to frighten a hotel keeper.  Russian sailors from the interior of the empire are very liable to scurvy.  Those from Finland are the best for long voyages.  Captain Lund once told me the experience of a Russian expedition of five ships upon a long cruise.  One ship was manned by Finlanders, and the others carried sailors from the interior.  The Finlanders were not attacked with scurvy, but the rest suffered severely.

“All the Russians,” said the captain, “make good sailors, but those from the maritime provinces are the best seamen.”

Early in the voyage it was interesting to see the men at dinner.  Their table utensils were wooden spoons and tubs, at the rate of ten spoons and one tub to every ten men.  A piece of canvas upon the deck received the tub, which generally contained soup.  With their hats off, the men dined leisurely and amicably.  Soup and bread were the staple articles of food.  Cabbage soup (schee) is the national diet of Russia, from the peasant up to the autocrat.  Several times on the voyage we had soup on the captain’s table from the supply prepared for the crew, and I