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2 disposed of with considerable profit. For that purpose, I called
3 on one of the principal houses which dealt in sable skins, where I
4 had the opportunity of making the personal acquaintance of
5 the governor of the place, whom I met by accident. I made a
6 bargain in his presence, the merchant engaging to be content
7 with a profit of ten per cent. This induced me to purchase to a
8 considerable amount, which I immediately paid, after having
9 received the goods. During these transactions, the governor
10 asked my interpreter who I was, whence I came, and whither
11 I was going. Having got satisfactory information, and having
12 learned at the same time that I was in possession of a beautiful
13 horse of the finest breed, he requested me to show it to him when
14 it arrived. When I left the merchant, my interpreter told me
15 that the sable-dealer wished that none should be acquainted with
16 our arrangements, and that he would send me, the following
17 morning, a man who knew well how the skins ought to be
18 packed. This circumstance created in my mind a suspicion
19 of his dishonesty. To ascertain the fact, I went early on the
20 following morning to a merchant whom I knew, and com-
21 municated to him my impression. After having examined
22 the skins, he declared there was not a doubt about my
23 having been cheated by the dealer, and he himself offered
24 to supply me with the same quality of article for half the
25 price which I had paid. He advised me to go instantly to
26 the merchant, and propose to him either to add a portion
27 more of sables, or that I would make him a present of the ten
28 per cent., and he should take back his goods, and return me my
29 money. But he was not willing to yield to either one or the
30 other, so I could only follow the advice of my friends, and in-
31 form the police of the fraud, in order to get back my money.
32 Whilst at the police-office, I was, to my surprise, arrested
33 by an order of the governor, and taken before him. The first
34 inquiry he made was about my passport; I produced it, and
35 after a strict examination of its contents, he began to question
36 me, why I had let seven days pass without having presented it
37 to the legal authorities? I simply replied, that living in a public