Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

camp, whieh extends on the banks of the two rivers to the point of land where they meet. The tea eomes from China by Kiatka, which is in the back part of Asia. At this first depot it is exchanged for merchandise, and from thence transported in packages, whieh resemble small ehests, in the shape of dice, about two feet deep every way. These packages are frames, covered with skins ; the buyers thrust into them a kind of probe, by withdrawing which they ascertain the quality of the article. From Kiatka the tea travels by land to Tomsk; it is there placed in boats, and sails along several rivers, of whieh the Irtish and the Tobol are the principal, till it arrives at Tourmine, from whence it is again transported by land to Perm, in Siberia, where it is re-shipped on the Kama, which carries it into the Volga, and up that river it ascends to Xijni. Russia receives yearly 75,000 or 80,000 ehests of tea, one half of whieh remains in Siberia, to be transported to Moscow during the winter, by sledges, and the other half arrives at this fair.

The principal tea-merehant in Russia is the individual who wrote for me the above itinerary. I do not answer for either the orthography or the geography of that opulent man ; but a millionnaire is generally correct, for he buys the science of others.

It will be seen that this famous tea of the caravans, so delicate, as is said, beeause it eomes over-land, travels nearly always by water: to be sure, it is fresh water; and the mists of rivers do not produce such efteets as the ocean fogs.

Forty thousand ehests of tea is an amount easily named ; but the reader can have no idea of the time it