CHAPTER XV.

IRKUTSK.

In sight of Irkutsk--Handsome town--Wrong hotel--Bad accommodation--Suffocation--Bad attendance--The cuisine-- Venerable eggs--Billiards--Meet a friend--Beauties of Irkutsk--Milliners--Bakers--Tobacconists--Prison-- Convicts--Benevolence of old ladies--Equipages--Libraries-- Theatre--Population--Governor--Generalship--The levée-- Governing responsibilities--Importance of commerce-- Manufactures insignificant--Education--Attractions of Siberia--Society--Polish exiles--The Decembrists--The sentence of banishment--Its hereditary effect--Low standing of merchants--Discomforts of travelling--Engage a servant--The prodigal--A mistake--Early winter--The Angara--Floating-bridge--Parting view of Irkutsk 246