to take a look at the town and deliver one or two letters of introduction. The town of Nérchinsk, which has about 4000 inhabitants, is situated on the left bank of the Nércha River, two or

three miles above the junction of the latter with the Shílka, and about 4600 miles east of St. Petersburg. In point of culture and material prosperity it seemed to me to compare favorably with most East-Siberian towns of its class. It