says that stones fell at Petropavlovsk, twenty-five miles away, and
the ashes covered the deck of his ship. Mr. Pierce, an old resident of
Kamchatka, gave me a graphic description of an eruption in 1861. It
was preceded by an earthquake, which overturned crockery on the
tables, and demolished several ovens. For a week or more earthquakes
of a less violent character occurred hourly.

Besides the Variag we found in port the Russian brig Poorga and the
Prussian brig Danzig, the latter having an American captain, crew,
hull, masts, and rigging. Two old hulks were rotting in the mud, and
an unseaworthy schooner lay on the beach with one side turned upward
as if in agony. "There be land rats and water rats," according to
Shakspeare. Some of the latter dwelt in this bluff-bowed schooner and
peered curiously from the crevices in her sides.

[Illustration: BREACH OF ETIQUETTE.]

The majority of our visitors made their calls very brief. After their
departure, I went on shore with Mr. Hunter, an American resident of
Petropavlovsk. In every house I visited I was pressed to take
_petnatzet copla_ (fifteen drops,) the universal name there for
something stimulating. The drops might be American whisky, French
brandy, Dutch gin, or Russian vodka. David Crockett said a true
gentleman is one who turns his back while you pour whisky into your
tumbler. The etiquette of Kamchatka does not permit the host to count
the drops taken by his guest.

Take a log village in the backwoods of Michigan or Minnesota, and
transport it to a quiet spot by a well sheltered harbor of
Lilliputian size. Cover the roofs of some buildings with iron,