Note 1 — Chapter XXXV · FROM STRETINSK TO UST-KARA.

The Russian Government, when sending officers overland from Petersburg to the Amur province, say, for instance, to Nikolaefsk, grants them money according to their rank, and the number of horses they are supposed to drive. Thus, a lieutenant is allowed 2 horses, a captain of the third rank 3, captain of the second rank 4, captain of first rank 5, rear-admiral 6, vice-admiral 7, full admiral 8; and the sum for horses in each case is doubled; in addition to which, for outfit, single officers receive on the outgoing journey half a year’s pay, and married officers a year’s; but when they are returning, three-fourths of a year’s pay is allowed to married and single alike. The distance from Petersburg to Nikolaefsk is 9,848 versts, and the cost of a horse for this distance, at the time of my visit, was 277 roubles—say £28. An officer, therefore, going to this privileged part, or returning on furlough, might multiply £28 by the number of horses to which his rank entitled him, double the product, and add 6, 9, or 12 months’ pay, and so realize a heavy purse. Out of this he might save considerably by hiring less horses than his dignity was supposed to require, by sharing expenses with another traveller, or, lastly, in the case of one already in the Amur province, and entitled to leave on furlough, by giving up his holiday and pocketing the travelling expenses, which last, I found, was not unfrequently done at Nikolaefsk, by officers who had got into debt, and looked forward to furlough money as the means of getting them out of their difficulties.