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306 rolled orange. The telega is changed, along with the horses, at every station; the traveller and his baggage must be transferred, as the carriage and horses return to the station whence they came."

"It must be very disagreeable to make these changes," remarked one of the youths, "especially at night or in a storm."

"It is, indeed," was the reply; "and to obviate this the Russians have a vehicle called a tarantasse, which is larger, better made, and in every way more comfortable than the telega. A traveller going on a long journey, and able to afford the expense, buys a tarantasse at starting, and sells it at the end of his ride. He thus avoids the necessity of changing at every station; and if he has a servant to attend to the payments and other matters, he can sleep through the night with comparative comfort.

"We started from Stratensk in a telega, as we could not find a tarantasse for sale or hire, and changed at the next station. Luckily for us, the

smotretal had a tarantasse, which we hired as far as Stratensk, about sixty miles from our starting-point. It was old, and somewhat rickety, but it was better than nothing at all, and we gladly engaged it.

"There are three classes of paderojnia for the Russian post-roads. The highest is for Government couriers and great officials; the second for officials not on Government business; and the third for civilian travellers. My companion had a courier's pass, while I had a paderojnia of the second class; consequently his was the best to use.

"A traveller with a courier's pass is never detained for want of horses,