Morning scene at Pasoilské--Better late than never-- Victimised--Russian junks--Primitive navigators--Storms on the Baikal--Scene at the shipping port--Religious ceremony--A polite officer--Inconvenience of the Baikal route--Engineering enterprise--More delay--Fares by the Baikal steamer--Crowing and crouching--The embarkation--The General Karsakof--A naval curiosity--The lake--Its depth-- And area--The "Holy Sea"--The passage--Terra firma-- Custom-house delay--Fine country--Good roads--Hotels Amoor and Metzgyr 234 CHAPTER XV. IRKUTSK. In sight of Irkutsk--Handsome town--Wrong hotel--Bad accommodation--Suffocation--Bad attendance--The cuisine-- Venerable eggs--Billiards--Meet a friend--Beauties of Irkutsk--Milliners--Bakers--Tobacconists--Prison-- Convicts--Benevolence of old ladies--Equipages--Libraries-- Theatre--Population--Governor--Generalship--The levée-- Governing responsibilities--Importance of commerce-- Manufactures insignificant--Education--Attractions of Siberia--Society--Polish exiles--The Decembrists--The sentence of banishment--Its hereditary effect--Low standing of merchants--Discomforts of travelling--Engage a servant--The prodigal--A mistake--Early winter--The Angara--Floating-bridge--Parting view of Irkutsk 246 CHAPTER XVI. IRKUTSK TO KRASNOYARSK. Leave Irkutsk--Roads and rivers--Capacity for sleep-- Bridges--Break-neck travelling--Endurance of Russian ponies--Verst-posts--Appalling distances--Irregular feeding--Tea _versus_ grog--River Birusa--Boundary of Irkutsk and Yenisei--Stoppage--The telegraph wires-- Improved roads--River Kan--The ferrymen--Kansk--A new companion--Prisoner of war--Advantages and disadvantages of travelling in company--Improved cultivation--A snow-storm--Cold wind--Absurd arrangement of stations-- The river Yenisei--Mishap at the ferry--The approach to Krasnoyarsk--The town--Population--Hotel--Travellers' accounts--Confusion at the station--The black-book--The courier service 262 CHAPTER XVII. KRASNOYARSK TO TOMSK.