Sledges are used in other European countries and especially in Russia, where the winters are long and hard. The Russian sledges are very picturesque, with their four horses harnessed abreast and their drivers wearing great padded coats and fur gloves to protect them from the intense cold. Sledging in Russia is, however, not without its dangers, and there are many stories of travellers who have been frozen to death, and of others who have been overtaken and killed by wolves as they drove across the snow-covered plains and through the forests. A writer of fifty years ago tells us of an exciting experience which he and a fellow-traveller had when journeying in the Volga district after a heavy snowstorm. It was early morning when they started, and the road was a very lonely one. They had not gone far when six large wolves were seen, and although these animals were frightened away by a handful of burning hay being flung among them--for wolves cannot bear the sight of fire--they soon returned. Others joined them, and before long the sledge was tearing across the snow with a whole pack in close pursuit. The horses were terrified and the position seemed a hopeless one, but fortunately the travellers were armed, and when they had managed to shoot four of the wolves the others dispersed. Sledges are also used in Austria, Germany, and Holland, and in many museums quaint old Dutch sledges can be seen, shaped like armchairs and richly gilded and painted. These dainty sleds were pushed, not drawn, and in them the fair-haired Dutch maidens of former days were taken for merry excursions by their brothers and boy friends along the smooth highways of the frozen canals. [Illustration: ENGLISH SLEDGE.] In England the winters are very seldom cold enough for sledging to be indulged in, but still it is not entirely unknown. An English sledge is, as a rule, more lightly built than those of other countries and is higher from the ground. It is drawn by one or more horses and the harness is hung with little bells. [Illustration: A HAPPY PARTY IN AUSTRALIA.] We most of us think of Australia as a very warm, almost a tropical land, and it is quite a surprise to learn that even our cousins "Down Under" can sometimes enjoy real winter sports. Our illustration, however, shows us that this is the case, for here we see a picture of a sledge at Kosciusko, New South Wales, taken, perhaps, on some cold June mid-winter day. Kosciusko is situated in one of the mountainous districts of Australia, and there ice and snow--as we see in the picture--are by no means unknown. This sledge is low on the ground with two seats, one behind the other, and it is drawn by a pair of sturdy ponies. CHAPTER X STRANGE TRAVEL IN STRANGE LANDS