about a hundred roubles a year. The sum is not munificent, but
probably the Muscovite mariner is no more economical than the American
one. In his liberty on shore he will get as drunk as the oft quoted
'boiled owl.' _En passant_ I protest against the comparison, as it is
a slander upon the owl.

At Petropavlovsk there was an amusing fraternization between the crews
of the Variag and the Wright. The American sailors were scattered
among the Russians in the proportion of one to six. Neither understood
a word of the other's language, and the mouth and eye were obliged to
perform the duties of the ear. The flowing bowl was the manual of
conversation between the Russians and their new friends. The Americans
attempted to drink against fearful odds, and the result was
unfortunate. They returned sadly intoxicated and were unfit for social
or nautical duties until the next day.

When the Variag was at New York in 1863, many of her sailors were
entrapped by bounty-brokers. When sailors were missing after liberty
on shore, a search through the proper channels revealed them converted
into American soldiers, much against their will. Usually they were
found at New York, but occasionally a man reached the front before he
was rescued. Some returned to the ship dressed as zouaves, others as
artillerists; some in the yellow of cavalry, and so on through our
various uniforms. Of course they were greatly jeered by their
comrades.

Everyone conversant with Russian history knows that Peter the Great
went to England, and afterward to Holland, to study ship building. He
introduced naval construction from those countries, and brought from
Holland the men to manage his first ships and teach his subjects the