a log line and a junk bottle carefully sealed. Casting our bottle on
the waters, we allowed it to drift along side the Danzig, where it
could be fished up and opened. Answers were returned in the same mail
pouch. One response was in liquid form, and savored of gin cocktail,
fabricated by the American captain.

An hour after dropping the Danzig we stopped our engines and prepared
to run under sail. The whole crew was called on deck to hoist out the
screw, a mass of copper weighing twenty-five thousand pounds, and set
in a frame raised or lowered like a window sash. With strong ropes and
the power of three hundred men, the frame and its contents were lifted
out of water, and the Variag became a sailing ship. The Russian
government is more economical than our own in running ships of war.
Whenever possible, sails are used instead of steam. A few years ago a
Russian Admiral was transferred from active to retired service because
he burned too much coal.

The Variag was 2100 tons burthen, and carried seventeen guns, with a
crew of 306 men. She was of the fleet that visited New York in 1863,
and her officers recounted many pleasant reminiscences of their stay
in the United States. While wintering in Japanese waters she was
assigned to assist the telegraph enterprise, and reported as soon as
possible at Petropavlovsk; but the only service demanded was to
proceed to the mouth of the Amoor by way of Ghijiga and Ohotsk.

The officers of the Variag were, a captain, a commander, four
lieutenants, six sub-lieutenants, an officer of marines with a cadet,
a lieutenant of naval artillery, two sailing masters, two engineers, a
surgeon, a paymaster, and a priest. As near as I could ascertain,
their pay, including allowances, was about three-fourths that of
American officers of similar grades. They received three times as much
at sea as when awaiting orders, and this fact led them to seek
constant service. In the ward room they read, wrote, talked, smoked,
and could play any games of amusement except cards. Card playing is
strictly forbidden by the Russian naval regulations.

The sailors on the corvette were robust and powerful fellows, with
appetites to frighten a hotel keeper. Russian sailors from the
interior of the empire are very liable to scurvy. Those from Finland
are the best for long voyages. Captain Lund once told me the
experience of a Russian expedition of five ships upon a long cruise.
One ship was manned by Finlanders, a