But, instead of setting a good example, and showing the
mass of the people that the laws and regulations must be observed,
it is precisely these people who set all laws at defiance. They
send a servant forward or borrow one from their fellow-travellers,
to the station to announce that on such a day they shall arrive, and
will require eight or twelve horses. If any hindrance occurs during
this time--a hunt or a dinner--or if the wife of the traveller has a
headache or the cramp, they postpone the journey without any ado to
another day or two; the horses stand constantly ready, and the
postmaster dare not venture to give them to private travellers.
{308} It may so happen that travellers have in such a case to wait
one or even two days at a station, and do not get through their
journey quicker by the post than by a caravan. In the course of my
journey by the Russian post, I several times went only a single
stage during a whole long day. When I saw an uniform I was always
in dread, and made up my mind that I should have no horses.
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