Map of Turkestan, showing Route of Trans-Caspian Railway 476 Crossing a River in Central Asia 478 A Native Traveller 479 Looking down on the Steppe 481 View of Tiflis 483 The Pass of Dariel, Caucasus 485 Governor-general of the Caucasus 486 Ruined Fortress in the Caucasus 487 Ruined Church near Batoum 488 Quarantine Harbor, Trebizond 489 View of Erzeroom 490 Turkish Authority 492 View of Sebastopol 495 Ruins of the Malakoff, Sebastopol 496 Russian Carpenters at Work 498 Cossacks and Chasseurs 499 British Soldiers in Camp 501 Alfred Tennyson 502 A Broken Tarantasse 503 The Bosporus 504 Map to accompany the Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire _Front Cover._ Map showing the Russian Empire Routes as Described by the Boy Travellers _Back Cover._ THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. CHAPTER I. DEPARTURE FROM VIENNA.--FRANK'S LETTER.--A FAREWELL PROMENADE.--FROM VIENNA TO CRACOW.--THE GREAT SALT-MINE OF WIELICZKA, AND WHAT WAS SEEN THERE.--CHURCHES AND PALACES UNDERGROUND.--VOYAGE ON A SUBTERRANEAN LAKE. "Here are the passports at last." "Are you sure they are quite in order for our journey?" "Yes, entirely so," was the reply; "the Secretary of Legation examined them carefully, and said we should have no trouble at the frontier." "Well, then," a cheery voice responded, "we have nothing more to do until the departure of the train. Five minutes will complete the packing of our baggage, and the hotel bill is all settled. I am going for a walk through the Graben, and will be back in an hour." So saying, our old acquaintance, Doctor Bronson, left his room in the Grand Hotel in Vienna and disappeared down the stairway. He was followed, a few minutes later, by his nephew, Fred Bronson, who had just returned from a promenade, during which he had visited the American Legation to obtain the passports which were the subject of the dialogue just recorded.