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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;IvaPan, post: 5168437, member: 78949&quot;]On the question about the Russian passport - I don&#039;t know what the Library of Congress says but it is actually an order to give the British subject O&#039;Donovan a pair of horses with a coachman without delay at each post station from Tbilisi to Baku, based on the decree of the Russian Emperor Alexander II (Nikolaevich), for which 5 Rubles and 55 Kopeek were paid by the traveler for the distance 525 versti&nbsp; (about 530 km, the handwriting is awful), dated 2 Feb. 1879 and signed by a bookkeeper and a tax officer.</p><p>In the Russian empire that&#039;s how the state servants or messengers travelled - each post station had a person responsible to keep horses in good condition at any time and if such state servant arrived and presented his credentials, he was immediately given fresh horses&nbsp; to change his tired ones and continue travelling.&nbsp; So O&#039;Donovan was given such credentials by the Emperor with this document.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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