believed it, whereupon she begged of me not to disbelieve her statements, as the Domavoi might be offended, which they easily were, and to be revenged they sometimes destroyed the building.

The

On the evening of the 30th of September, we experienced here in Irkoutsk an earthquake. morning had been fine and frosty, with a fog rising from the Angara. About ten minutes past six in the evening, we were sitting taking tea, when we heard a slight noise as if a light carriage was passing, then the windows began to crack, and immediately the house rocked to and fro, giving us a sharp shake in our chairs. The sky was without a cloud, and not a breath of wind stirring. I own to feeling a great dread come over me, much more than anything I experienced in Kopal. There were no stone buildings there, here we were in one; and another thing, my little boy was away from me, asleep in another room. Earthquakes are not at all uncommon in Irkoutsk.

I think I must have worn out your patience with my tedious descriptions. I have merely done your bidding; you were pleased to say you have been interested with my scribbling, if so, I am satisfied, and would do much to please you. My husband bids me say he intends writing to you shortly; I hope he may do so, as his letters are always amusing. I cannot at present tell you what will be our plans for next summer, many have been suggested. When my husband becomes more fully acquainted with the country, I will let you know in what direction we shall go. It will be in a new region, and among scenes of a totally different

CHAP. XI.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SUMMER.

249

character; but I doubt if we shall find them as fine as those we have already passed through. However, you shall have a faithful account on our return, as there will be no means of sending letters from the parts we shall visit. My husband says, should we be taken and marched off to Pekin, as presents to the Brother of the Sun, we must make the best of it when before his shining majesty; he says he does not believe he will treat us unkindly. I cannot say I entertain any fear on the subject; it would be an incident in life, and highly interesting to see the country.

CHAPTER XII.

Christmas at Irkoutsk-Washing a Husband-Presentation of Chinese Ambassadors-Card-playing for a Wife-Mortality among Children.

Irkoutsk, May 1851.

I MUST thank you for your letter, which I have just received. I am glad to have it before leaving Irkoutsk, which we do this month, and I expect our trip will be highly interesting. You reproach me for not having mentioned Christmas. There was really nothing to speak about, except, it might be, to remark the contrast between a right merry English one, and such as we find here. I wish you could have seen how we spent our Christmas in Kopal, I think you would have been diverted. I have become quite a proficient in Russian dances, as well as my husband, who says if we should ever deign to exhibit our acquirements in this way, we shall decidedly produce a most striking effect; when we do you shall be the judge.

I entirely forgot in my former letters to mention a little incident with my landlady, and as you like to know the customs of the country we are passing through, this will give you an idea of one. There is a great luxury attached to every house in Siberia, that is, a bath. The first week of our arrival I enquired whether

CHAP. XII.

WASHING A HUSBAND.

251

we could have it heated, and I then arranged with my husband that he should go first, the great heat of them being to me insupportable. When all was prepared, Madame Sinitzin herself came to tell me, and gave me all the particulars about the management of it. I then asked whether her coachman could go with Mr. Atkinson (this being customary in other parts of the country). She looked aghast when I asked her, and enquired if I was not going with him. 'I!'I repeated, 'go with him to the bath?' The very idea set me off into a fit of laughing, which highly offended the good creature. Quite huffed, she told me that when her husband was living, she allowed no one to perform the office of washing him but herself; and that it was what every good wife ought to do, and what every good Siberian did. I endeavoured to compose my features, and soothe her ruffled temper by telling her it was a thing unheard of with us; that indeed I believed my husband would faint at the bare mention of it; but she still held to her former opinion, that I was the proper person to wash him.

We were invited by the civil governor of the town to witness the ceremony of the presentation of the Chinese ambassadors to him. I was sadly disappointed, there was literally nothing in it; not one tenth part so interesting as our introduction to our Chinese friends at Chougachac; they only seemed exceedingly awkward sitting on chairs; there was neither the noble air nor the intelligent features of our friends. The interview was very short; and they were regaled with sweetmeats which you would have been amused to see them partake of, but at the same time you would not have relished the

It is

sight; and they were then quartered in the town. customary to send them a live sheep daily during their stay. I was greatly entertained by these high officials of his Celestial majesty demanding and receiving money instead of the sheep and candles with which they had been supplied, saying it would be more useful to them, as they wished to purchase a few articles in Irkoutsk. They had more the appearance of brigands than anything else; men who would have made you look to your weapons of defence, had they been met with in the wilds or mountains of Siberia.

I went a few days since with my friend Miss Rosguildaoff to the bazaar, to buy a few articles I wanted for our journey. In one of the magazines was a lady past the heyday of life-she was still good-looking, and must at one time have been very pretty. As she bowed to my friend on entering, I had curiosity enough to enquire who she was, and was told she was a lady who had been lost and won at cards. I asked for an explanation, and learned that she was a Siberian beauty, married young to a gay and rich man, who was, what is very common in Siberia, a great gambler, so that in a few years he ran through the greater part of a large fortune. His wife knew nothing of this; but her eyes were opened when one day a gentleman arrived at their house, which was out of town, and claimed her as his property.

It appeared that the husband and the claimant had been playing the whole night, and the sun had risen high in the heavens before the contest closed; when the former rose a ruined man, having lost every kopeek he was possessed of, besides land, house, furniture, horses, and