CHAPTER XIX.
FRANK asked what was meant by the word Krasnoyarsk: was it derived from a river, a mountain, or did it belong to an individual?
"Krasnoe," said Mr. Hegeman, "means ’red,' and Krasnoyarsk gets its name from the red cliffs of the Yenisei on which it stands. All around the town the soil is of a reddish hue, and so are the hills that form the horizon in every direction. The Yenisei is a fine river, one of the largest in Siberia, and where it passes Krasnoyarsk it is fully half a mile wide. In summer there are two or three steamboats running to the Arctic Ocean from a point a little below Krasnoyarsk; rapids and shoals prevent their coming up to the town. The tributaries of the river are rich in gold deposits, and many of the residents have grown wealthy by gold-mining.
"Krasnoyarsk has a population of about twelve thousand, and in a general way is a sort of pocket edition of Irkutsk. It is the capital of the province of Yeniseisk, and the centre of trade for a wide extent of country. Markets, churches, and buildings in general are like those of Irkutsk, and there is an appearance of prosperity throughout the place."
Fred asked how it happened that the names of nearly all the towns in Siberia ended in "sk." They had been hearing about Irkutsk, Yeniseisk, Selenginsk, and he didn't know how many others.
Dr. Bronson came to the young man's relief as follows:
"I think you learned in St. Petersburg that the termination 'sk' is equivalent to 'of' in English?"
"Certainly," replied Fred, "I learned that 'vitch' means 'son of.' Paul Ivanovitch, for example, being Paul, son of Ivan. I understand also that Alexandrovsky was named after Alexander, Petrovski after Peter,
