Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/370

364 "I arranged to leave Irkutsk with some Russian friends who were going to Krasnoyarsk, the next provincial capital. After getting my furs, the next thing was to buy a sleigh, and again I took advice.

"There is a sleigh called a vashok, which is much like a small omnibus. It has doors at the side and is very capacious, but it has the disadvantage that you are completely enclosed in it, and can see nothing of the country you are passing through. A better vehicle is the kibitka, a sort of tarantasse on runners, and suggestive of the American chaise in the

of its front. There is a hood which can be lowered and fastened to an apron rising from the wooden box, in which your feet are pushed when you enter the vehicle. By day you can see the country and enjoy the fresh air, and at night or in storms you close the hood and are very well protected from the weather. Ladies and invalids prefer the vashok, while healthy men have a decided liking for the kibitka.

"At the rear of the kibitka there is usually a frame of poles, covered with a net of half-inch rope. It is a convenient receptacle for extra baggage, and also serves to break the force of horses running against the sleigh from behind.

"The driver of the vashok sits on a seat much like that of an ordinary carriage, while on the kibitka he is seated on the boxed front, with his feet hanging over the side. The position is one that requires constant vigilance to prevent falling off. The driver of a vashok might possibly sleep a little without danger, but not so the driver of a kibitka.

"My kibitka was made in European Russia, and was said to have