Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 1.djvu/69

Rh We should probably have shared the fate, as well as the characteristics, of the latter if we had not found shelter in our room before the nearest policeman could get to us. He evidently regarded us as suspicious characters, and walked back and forth under our window striking his triangle impressively, until we put out our light.

At the time when we made our journey to Siberia, the railroad from Ekaterinburg, the last Russian town, to Tiumen, the first Siberian town, had not been completed. There was in operation, however, between the two cities an excellent horse express service, by means of which travelers were conveyed over the intervening two hundred miles of country in the comparatively short time of forty-eight hours. The route was let by the Government to a horse express company, which sold through tickets, provided the traveler with a vehicle, and carried him to his destination with relays of horses stationed along the road at intervals of about eighteen miles. The vehicle furnished for the traveler's use in summer is a large, heavy, four-wheeled carriage called a tárantás, which consists of a boat-shaped body without seats, a heavy leathern top or hood, and a curtain by which the vehicle can be closed in stormy weather. The body of the tárantás is mounted upon two or more long stout poles, which unite the forward with the rear axletree, and serve as rude springs to break the jolting caused by a rough road. The traveler usually stows away his baggage in the bottom of this boat-shaped carriage, covers it with straw, rugs, and blankets, and reclines on it with his back supported by one or more large, soft pillows. The driver sits sidewise on the edge of the vehicle in front of the passenger and drives with four reins a team of three horses harnessed abreast. The rate of speed attained on a good road is about eight miles an hour.

On the evening of June 16, having bought through tickets, selected a tárantás, and stowed away our baggage in it as skilfully as possible, we climbed to our uncomfortable seat