"So, my youngsters!" said the baron, directing his glance upon them,
"you have a desire to to travel? You wish to see the world, do you?"
"True, papa!" modestly answered Alexis; "our tutor tells us that we are
sufficiently educated to go abroad; and, if you have no objection, we
should very much like to make a tour."
"What! before going to the University!"
"Why, papa! I thought you were not going to send us to the University
for some time to come? Did you not say, that a year of travelling was
worth ten at a University?"
"Perhaps I may have said so; but that depends upon _how_ one travels.
If you travel merely to amuse yourselves, you may go over all the world,
and come back no wiser than when you started! I have known many a man
return from a circumnavigation of the globe, without bringing with him
the knowledge of a single fact that he might not have obtained at home.
You would expect to travel in snug railway-carriages, and comfortable
steam-ships, and sleep in splendid hotels--is that your expectation?"
"Oh no, papa! whatever way you may direct, that will be agreeable to
me," said Alexis.
"As for me," rejoined Ivan, "I'm not particular. I can rough it, I'm
sure."
There was a little flavour of _bravado_ in the manner of Ivan's speech,
that showed he was scarce inclined to the roughing system, and that he
merely assumed the swaggering air, because he had no belief that he
would be called upon to make trial of it.
"If I permit you to travel," continued the baron, "where would you like
to go? You, Alexis! to what part of the world would your inclination
lead you?"
"I should like to see the new world of America--its noble rivers, and
forests, and mountains. I should certainly visit America, if it were
left to my choice; but I shall be guided by you, papa, and do as you
direct."
"You, Ivan?"
"Paris, for me, of all places in the world!" replied Ivan, without any
suspicion that the answer would be displeasing to the father.
"I might have known so," muttered the baron, with a slight frown
clouding his forehead.
"O papa!" added Ivan, noticing the shade of displeasure which his answer
had produced; "I don't care particularly about Paris. I'll go
anywhere--to America, if Alexis likes it best--_all round the world_ for
that matter."
"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the baron; "that sounds better, Ivan; and, since
you offer no objection to it, _all round the world you shall go_."
"Indeed? I'm glad to hear it," said Alexis.
"What! visit all the great cities of the world?" exclaimed Ivan, whose
mind was evidently occupied with the delights of great cities.
"_So_" replied his father; "it is just that which I do not intend you
shall do. There is a great deal to be learnt in cities, but much that
would be better not learnt at all. I have no objection to your passing
through cities--for you must needs do so on your journey--but one of the
conditions which I shall prescribe is, that you make stay in no city,
longer than you can arrange for getting out of it. It is through
_countries_ I wish you to travel--amidst the scenes of nature--and not
in towns and cities, where you would see very little more than you can
in Saint Petersburg itself. It is Nature I wish you to become
acquainted with, and you must see it in its most primitive forms. There
only can you appreciate Nature in all its sublimity and grandeur."
"Agreed, papa!" exclaimed both the boys at once. "Which way do you wish
us to go?"
"All round the world, as Ivan has suggested."
"Oh, what a long voyage! I suppose we shall cross the Atlantic, and
then by the isthmus of Panama to the Pacific; or shall we go as Magellan
went, around Cape Horn?"
"Neither way--I wish you to make great journeys by land, rather than
voyages by sea. The former will be more instructive, though they may
cost more time and toil. Remember, my sons! I do not send you forth to
risk your lives without a purpose. I have more than one purpose.
First, I wish you to complete your studies of natural science, of which
I have taught you the elements. The best school for this is the field
of Nature herself, which you shall explore in your travels. Secondly,
as you both know, I am fond of all natural objects, but especially those
that have life--the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; these
you must observe in their native haunts, with their habits and modes of
existence. You will keep a journal of all facts and events that may be
worth noting down, and write out in detail such adventures as may occur
to you upon your route, and you think may prove interesting to me to
read on your return. I shall provide you with ample means to accomplish
your journey; but no money is to be wasted by idly sojourning in large
cities: it must be used only for the necessary expenses of your travels.
The emperor has been kind enough to give you a circular letter, which
will get you funds and such other assistance as you may require from his
agents in all parts of the world."
"We promise, dear father, strictly to adhere to your instructions. But
whither do you desire us to go?" Alexis asked the question.
The baron paused for some time before making reply. Then, drawing from
his desk a sealed paper, which showed signs of having been but recently
folded, he gravely said as he held it towards them--
"In this document you will find the conditions upon which I give you
permission to travel. I do not ask you to agree to them, until you have
carefully examined and reflected upon them. You will therefore retire
to your room, read this document over, and, having given its contents
due consideration, return, and signify whether you accept the terms; for
if not, there is to be no travelling."
"_By the Great Peter_!" whispered Ivan to Alexis, "they will be hard
indeed if we don't accept them."
Alexis took the paper, and both, bowing to their father, retired to
their own apartment.
The seal was immediately broken and not without some surprise did they
peruse the contents of the document. It was in the form of an epistle,
and ran thus:--
"My sons Alexis and Ivan!--You have expressed a desire to travel, and
have requested me to give you my permission. I accede to your request,
but only upon the following conditions: You must procure for me a skin
of every variety of bear known upon the earth. I do not mean such
varieties as are termed `accidental,' arising from albinism or like
circumstances, but every species or variety known to naturalists and
acknowledged as `permanent.' The bears from which these skins are to be
taken must be killed in their native haunts, and by your own hands--with
no other assistance than that of an attendant whom I shall appoint to
accompany you. In order to accomplish the task which I have imposed
upon you, it will be necessary for you to go `round the world;' but I
add the further condition, that you are to go _only once round it_. In
_latitude_, I leave you free to range--from pole to pole, if it so
please you [this was a stretch of liberty at which both boys laughed];
but _longitudinally_, no. You must not cross the same meridian twice
before returning to Saint Petersburg. I do not intend this condition to
apply to such traverses as you may be compelled to make, while actually
engaged in the chase of a bear, or in tracking the animal to his den:
only when you are _en route_ upon your journey. You will take your
departure from Saint Petersburg, and go east or west, which you please.
From the conditions I have imposed upon you, I hope you will have skill
enough to discover that a route is traced out for you, and, that, on
starting, you _can_ follow it either eastward or westward. This, with
all matters relating to your means and mode of travelling, I leave to
your own choice; and I trust that the practical education you have
received will enable you to make your tour with proper judgment.
[`Tour, indeed!' exclaimed Ivan.] Once out of my palace, I take no
farther charge of you. You may be some years older before I see you
again; but I trust the time will not be mis-spent; and that upon your
return you may be able to give a proper account of yourselves, is the
earnest hope and wish of your affectionate father, Michael Grodonoff."