In each post-house, there are one or two rooms for travellers, and a
married Cossack in charge, who, together with his wife, attends to
strangers, and cooks for them. No charge is made for the room, the
first comer is entitled to it. These attendants are as obliging as
the stable people, and it is often difficult to procure with money a
few eggs, milk, or anything of the kind.
The journey through Persia was dangerous; that through Asiatic
Russia, however, was so troublesome, that I would prefer the former
under any circumstances.
From Pipis the country again diminishes in beauty: the valleys
expand, the mountains become lower, and both are frequently without
trees, and barren.
I met, today, several nomadic parties of Tartars. The people sat
upon oxen and horses, and others were loaded with their tents and
household utensils; the cows and sheep, of which there were always a
great number, were driven by the side. The Tartar women were mostly
richly clothed, and also very ragged. Their dress consisted almost
entirely of deep red silk, which was often even embroidered with
gold.
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