Once while General Monravieff was ascending the river he was passed by a courier who was bringing him important despatches.
[Illustration: NIGHT SCENE--GROUP OF PEASANTS] The pilot steers with a chart of the river before him, and relies partly upon his experience and partly upon the delineated route.
Sometimes channels used at high water are not navigable when the river is low, and some are favorable for descent but not for ascent.

In general the pilotage is far more facile than on the Mississippi, and accidents are not frequent.
The peasants always came to the bank where we stopped, no matter what the hour.

At one place where we took wood at night there was a picturesque group of twenty-five or thirty gathered around a fire; men and women talking, laughing, smoking, and watching the crew at work.
The light, of the fire poured full upon a few figures and brought them into strong relief, while others were half hidden in shadow.

Of the men some wore coats of sheepskin, others Cossack coats of grey cloth; some had caps of faded cloth, and others Tartar caps of black sheepskin.

Red beards, white beards, black beards, and smooth faces were played upon by the dancing flames.