[99] These kibitks are in the shape of a large cradle. They are not hung upon any thing, and though you may lie down in them, you feel every jolt of the carriage. [100] Almost all his children speak French; one of the sons writes it correctly, and possesses, as well as his brother, a thousand amiable qualities. They have a sister married to the vice-governor. [101] During my stay at Okotsk, M. Kokh, at my request, had willingly conferred on him the rank of corporal. This unexpected favour made so strong an impression upon him, that, on his return from the parade, I thought he would have become mad from joy and gratitude. [102] This treaty, which had been drawn up in Latin by these religious negociators, was translated into the Russian and Mantchew languages, and respectively ratified by the two sovereigns. This was the first instance, since the foundation of the Russian empire, of a treaty of peace being entered into by this nation, and foreigners permitted to enter the capital. At this epoch there were a number of Siberian families at Pekin, deserters or prisoners, and who, from the goodness of the emperor Kam-hi resolved to settle there, and even to naturalize themselves. [103] It is in this manner the Russians write and pronounce the word Czar. [104] Individuals soon freed themselves from the tyrannical shackles of the royal monopoly; they carried on a secret intercourse with China, by means of the Mongoul Tartars, who sold their mediation at a high price. [105] The reader will find in Coxe all the details respecting these boundaries. [106] This, I believe, is the place called by the Russians _Naïmatschinn_. [107] When I was at Okotsk, tea was sixteen roubles a pound, and very scarce. I was told that it was sent from Petersburg, and that Russia at present procured this article either from England or Holland. [108] On my arrival in Siberia I was informed, at various times, that the Russian merchants repented of the speculations they had made in consequence of the late adjustment; and as a proof that they considered it as void, many of them, who opened their warehouses to shew me the prodigious quantity of skins which they had buried in them, agreed in saying that they waited impatiently for the time when a new treaty would give them an opportunity of getting rid of their commodities.