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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Russia, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Russia
+       As Seen and Described by Famous Writers
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Esther Singleton
+
+Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19534]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUSSIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert J. Hall
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MOSCOW.]
+
+
+
+
+RUSSIA
+
+As _Seen_ and _Described_ by Famous Writers
+
+
+_Edited and Translated by_
+
+ESTHER SINGLETON
+
+_Author of_ "Turrets, Towers and Temples," "Great Pictures," and
+"A Guide to the Opera," and _translator of_ "The Music Dramas of
+Richard Wagner."
+
+
+WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+New York
+
+Dodd, Mead and Company
+
+1909
+
+
+
+
+_PREFACE_
+
+This is intended to be a companion volume to _Japan_, and therefore
+follows the same general plan and arrangement. It aims to present in
+small compass a somewhat comprehensive view of the great Muscovite
+power. After a short description of the country and race, we pass
+to a brief review of the history and religion including ritual and
+ceremonial observances of the Greek Church. Next come descriptions
+of regions, cities and architectural marvels; and then follow articles
+on the various manners and customs of rural and town life. The
+arts of the nation are treated comprehensively; and a chapter of
+the latest statistics concludes the rapid survey. The material is
+all selected from the writings of those who speak with authority
+on the subjects with which they deal.
+
+The Russian Empire is so vast that it would be impossible to give
+detailed descriptions of all its parts in a work of this size:
+therefore I have been forced to be content with more general
+descriptions of provinces with an occasional addition of a typical
+city.
+
+E. S.
+
+_New York, April 21, 1904._
+
+
+
+
+_CONTENTS_
+
+
+PART I
+
+THE COUNTRY AND RACE
+
+The Russian Empire
+  _Prince Kropotkine._
+
+Siberia
+  _Jean Jacques �lis�e Reclus._
+
+The Russian Races
+  _W. R. Morfill._
+
+
+PART II
+
+HISTORY AND RELIGION
+
+The History of Russia
+  _W. R. Morfill._
+
+Church Service
+  _Alfred Maskell._
+
+The Creeds of Russia
+  _Ernest W. Lowry._
+
+
+PART III
+
+DESCRIPTIONS
+
+St. Petersburg
+  _J. Beavington Atkinson._
+
+Finland
+  _Harry De Windt._
+
+Lapland
+  _Alexander Platonovich Engelhardt._
+
+Moscow (The Kremlin and its treasuries--The Ancient Regalia--The
+Romanoff House)
+  _Alfred Maskell._
+
+Vassili-Blagennoi (St. Basil the Blessed)
+  _Th�ophile Gautier._
+
+Poland
+  _Thomas Michell._
+
+Kief, the City of Pilgrimage
+  _J. Beavington Atkinson._
+
+Nijni-Novgorod
+  _Antonio Gallenga._
+
+The Volga Basin. (The Great River--Kasan--Tsaritzin--Astrakhan)
+  _Antonio Gallenga._
+
+Odessa
+  _Antonio Gallenga._
+
+The Don Cossacks
+  _Thomas Michell._
+
+In the Caucasus
+  _J. Buchan Teller._
+
+Khiva
+  _Fred Burnaby._
+
+The Trans-Siberian Railway
+  _William Durban._
+
+
+PART IV
+
+MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
+
+High Life in Russia
+  _The Countess of Galloway._
+
+Rural Life in Russia
+  _Lady Verney_
+
+Food and Drink
+  _H. Sutherland Edwards._
+
+Carnival-Time and Easter
+  _A. Nicol Simpson._
+
+Russian Tea and Tea-Houses
+  _H. Sutherland Edwards._
+
+How Russia Amuses Itself
+  _Fred Whishaw._
+
+The Kirghiz and their Horses
+  _Fred Burnaby._
+
+Winter in Moscow
+  _H. Sutherland Edwards._
+
+A Journey by Sleigh
+  _Fred Burnaby._
+
+
+PART V
+
+ART AND LITERATURE
+
+Russian Architecture
+  _Eug�ne Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc._
+
+Sculpture and Painting
+  _Philippe Berthelot._
+
+Russian Music
+  _A. E. Keeton._
+
+Russian Literature
+  _W. R. Morfill._
+
+
+PART VI
+
+STATISTICS
+
+Present Conditions
+  _E. S._
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  MOSCOW
+  ARCHANGEL
+  REVEL
+  SIBERIAN NATIVES
+  SAMOJEDES OF NOVA ZEMBLA
+  ROOM OF THE TSAR MICHAILOWITCH, MOSCOW
+  CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION
+  A RELIGIOUS PROCESSION, KOLA
+  SHRINE IN THE CONVENT SOLOVETSKII, KOLA
+  ST. PETERSBURG
+  THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG
+  HELSINGFORS, FINLAND
+  REINDEER TRAVELLING
+  MOSCOW
+  THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW
+  VASSILI--BLAGENNOI (ST. BASIL THE BLESSED), MOSCOW
+  NOWO ZJAZD STREET, WARSAW
+  HOTEL DEVILLE, WARSAW
+  THE DNIEPER AT KIEF
+  LA LAVRA, KIEF
+  NIJNI--NOVGOROD (BRIDGE OF THE FAIR)
+  FROM THE RAMPARTS OF THE KREMLIN, NIJNI--NOVGOROD
+  PLACE TUREMNAJA, ODESSA
+  SEBASTOPOL
+  KHARKOFF
+  TIFLIS
+  THE WINTER PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG
+  RUSSIAN FARM SCENE
+  THE TSAR'S DINING-ROOM, MOSCOW
+  ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL, ST. PETERSBURG
+  ST. ANNE RESTAURANT, WIBORG
+  THE RED SQUARE, MOSCOW
+  CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER, MOSCOW
+  STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT AND THE ADMIRALTY PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG
+  THE THEATRE, ODESSA
+  THE LIBRARY, ODESSA
+  THE TSAR NICHOLAS
+  THE TSARINA
+  KALKSTRASSE AND PROMENADE, RIGA
+
+
+
+
+_THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE_
+
+_PRINCE KROPOTKINE_
+
+The Russian Empire is a very extensive territory in eastern Europe
+and northern Asia, with an area exceeding 8,500,000 square miles,
+or one-sixth of the land surface of the globe (one twenty-third
+of its whole superficies). It is, however, but thinly peopled on
+the average, including only one-fourteenth of the inhabitants of
+the earth. It is almost entirely confined to the cold and temperate
+zones. In Nova Zembla (Novaya Zemlya) and the Taimir peninsula, it
+projects within the Arctic Circle as far as 77� 2' and 77� 40' N.
+latitude; while its southern extremities reach 38� 50' in Armenia,
+about 35� on the Afghan frontier, and 42� 30' on the coasts of the
+Pacific. To the West it advances as far as 20� 40' E. longitude
+in Lapland, 18� 32' in Poland, and 29� 42' on the Black Sea; and
+its eastern limit--East Cape in the Bering Strait--extends to 191�
+E. longitude.
+
+The Arctic Ocean--comprising the White, Barents, and Kara Seas--and
+the northern Pacific, that is the Seas of Bering, Okhotsk, and
+Japan, bound it on the north and east. The Baltic, with its two
+deep indentations, the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland, limits it
+on the north-west; and two sinuous lines of frontier separate it
+respectively from Sweden and Norway on the north-west, and from
+Prussia, Austria and Roumania on the west. The southern frontier is
+still unsettled. In Asia beyond the Caspian, the southern boundary
+of the empire remains vague; the advance into the Turcoman Steppes
+and Afghan Turkestan, and on the Pamir plateau is still in progress.
+Bokhara and Khiva, though represented as vassal khanates, are in
+reality mere dependencies of Russia. An approximately settled
+frontier-line begins only farther east, where the Russian and Chinese
+empires meet on the borders of eastern Turkestan, Mongolia and
+Manchuria.
+
+Russia has no oceanic possessions, and has abandoned those she
+owned in the last century; her islands are mere appendages of the
+mainland to which they belong. Such are the Aland archipelago,
+Hochland, T�tters, Dag� and Osel in the Baltic Sea; Nova Zembla,
+with Kolgueff and Vaigatch, in the Barents Sea; the Solovetsky
+Islands in the White Sea; the New Siberian archipelago and the
+small group of the Medvyezhii Islands off the Siberian coast; the
+Commandor Islands off Kamchatka; the Shantar Islands and Saghalin
+in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Aleutian archipelago was sold to the
+United States in 1867, together with Alaska, and in 1874 the Kurile
+Islands were ceded to Japan.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: ARCHANGEL.]
+
+A vast variety of physical features is obviously to be expected in
+a territory like this, which comprises on the one side the cotton
+and silk regions of Turkestan and Trans-caucasia, and on the other
+the moss and lichen-clothed Arctic _tundras_ and the Verkhoyansk
+Siberian pole of cold--the dry Transcaspian deserts and the regions
+watered by the monsoons on the coasts of the Sea of Japan. Still,
+if the border regions, that is, two narrow belts in the north and
+south, be left out of account, a striking uniformity of physical
+feature prevails. High plateaus, like those of Pamir (the "Roof
+of the World") or of Armenia, and high mountain chains like the
+snow-clad summits of the Caucasus, the Alay, the Thian-Shan, the
+Sayan, are met with only on the outskirts of the empire.
+
+Viewed broadly by the physical geographer, it appears as occupying
+the territories to the north-west of that great plateau-belt of the
+old continent--the backbone of Asia--which spreads with decreasing
+height and width from the high table-land of Tibet and Pamir to the
+lower plateaus of Mongolia, and thence north-eastwards through the
+Vitim region to the furthest extremity of Asia. It may be said to
+consist of the immense plains and flat-lands which extend between
+the plateau-belt and the Arctic Ocean, including all the series of
+parallel chains and hilly spurs which skirt the plateau-belt on
+the north-west. It extends over the plateau itself, and crosses
+it beyond Lake Baikal only.
+
+A broad belt of hilly tracts--in every respect Alpine in character,
+and displaying the same variety of climate and organic life as
+Alpine tracts usually do--skirts the plateau-belt throughout its
+length on the north and north-west, forming an intermediate region
+between the plateaus and the plains. The Caucasus, the Elburz, the
+Kopetdagh, and Paropamisus, the intricate and imperfectly known
+network of mountains west of the Pamir, the Thian-Shan and Ala-tau
+mountain regions, and farther north-east the Altai, the still unnamed
+complex of Minusinsk mountains, the intricate mountain-chains of
+Sayan, with those of the Olekma, Vitim, and Aldan, all of which
+are ranged _en �chelon_,--the former from north-west to south-east,
+and the others from south-west to north-east--all these belong
+to one immense Alpine belt bordering that of the plateaus. These
+have long been known to Russian colonists, who, seeking to escape
+religious persecutions and exactions by the state, early penetrated
+into and rapidly pushed their small settlements up the better valleys
+of these tracts, and continued to spread everywhere as long as
+they found no obstacles in the shape of a former population or in
+unfavourable climatic conditions.
+
+As for the flat-lands which extend from the Alpine hill-foots to
+the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and assume the character either of
+dry deserts in the Aral-Caspian depression, or of low table-lands
+in central Russia and eastern Siberia, of lake-regions in north-west
+Russia and Finland, or of marshy prairies in western Siberia, and of
+_tundras_ in the north,--their monotonous surfaces are diversified
+by only a few, and these for the most part low, hilly tracts.
+
+As to the picturesque Bureya mountains on the Amur, the forest-clothed
+Sikhota-alin on the Pacific, and the volcanic chains of Kamchatka,
+they belong to quite another orographical world; they are the
+border-ridges of the terraces by which the great plateau-belt descends
+to the depths of the Pacific Ocean. It is owing to these leading
+orographical features--divined by Carl Ritter, but only within
+the present day revealed by geographical research--that so many
+of the great rivers of the old continent are comprised within the
+limits of the Russian empire. Taking rise on the plateau-belt, or
+in its Alpine outskirts, they flow first, like the upper Rhone
+and Rhine, along high longitudinal valleys formerly filled up with
+great lakes; next they find their way through the rocky walls;
+and finally they enter the lowlands, where they become navigable,
+and, describing great curves to avoid here and there the minor
+plateaus and hilly tracts, they bring into water-communication
+with one another places thousands of miles apart. The double
+river-systems of the Volga and Kama, the Obi and Irtish, the Angara
+and Yenisei, the Lena and Vitim on the Arctic slope, the Amur and
+Sungari on the Pacific slope, are instances. They were the true
+channels of Russian colonization.
+
+A broad depression--the Aral-Caspian desert--has arisen where the
+plateau-belt has reached its greatest height and suddenly changes
+its direction from a north-western into a north-eastern one; this
+desert is now filled only to a small extent by the salt waters of
+the Caspian, Aral and Balkash inland seas; but it bears unmistakable
+traces of having been during Post-Pliocene times an immense inland
+basin. There the Volga, the Ural, the Sir Daria, and the Oxus discharge
+their waters without reaching the ocean, but continue to bring
+life to the rapidly drying Transcaspian Steppes, or connect by
+their river network, as the Volga does, the most remote parts of
+European Russia.
+
+The above-described features of the physical geography of the empire
+explain the relative uniformity of this wide territory, in conjunction
+with the variety of physical features on the outskirts. They explain
+also the rapidity of the expansion of Sclavonic colonization over
+these thinly-peopled regions; and they also throw light upon the
+internal cohesion of the empire, which cannot fail to strike the
+traveller as he crosses this immense territory, and finds everywhere
+the same dominating race, the same features of life. In fact, as
+their advance from the basins of the Volkhoff and Dnieper to the foot
+of the Altai and Sayan mountains, that is, along nearly a quarter
+of the earth's circumference, the Russian colonizers could always
+find the same physical conditions, the same forest and prairies as
+they had left at home, the same facilities for agriculture, only
+modified somewhat by minor topographical features. New conditions of
+climate and soil, and consequently new cultures and civilizations,
+the Russians met with, in their expansion towards the south and
+east, only beyond the Caucasus in the Aral-Caspian region, and
+in the basin of the Usuri on the Pacific coast. Favoured by these
+conditions, the Russians not only conquered northern Asia--they
+colonized it.
+
+The Russian Empire falls into two great subdivisions, the European
+and the Asiatic, the latter of which, representing an aggregate of
+nearly 6,500,000 square miles, with a population of only sixteen
+million inhabitants may be considered as held by colonies. The
+European dominions comprise European Russia, Finland, which is, in
+fact, a separate nationality treated to some extent as an allied
+state, and Poland, whose very name has been erased from official
+documents, but which nevertheless continues to pursue its own
+development. The Asiatic dominions comprise the following great
+subdivisions:--Caucasia, under a separate governor-general; the
+Transcaspian region, which is under the governor-general of Caucasus;
+the Kirghiz Steppes; Turkestan under separate governors-general,
+Western Siberia and Eastern Siberia; and the Amur region, which
+last comprises also the Pacific coast region and Kamchatka.
+
+_Climate of Russia in Europe_.--Notwithstanding the fact that Russia
+extends from north to south through twenty-six degrees of latitude,
+the climate of its different portions, apart from the Crimea and the
+Caucasus, presents a striking uniformity. The aerial currents--cyclones,
+anti-cyclones and dry south-east winds--extend over wide surfaces
+and cross the flat plains freely. Everywhere we find a cold winter
+and a hot summer, both varying in their duration, but differing
+little in the extremes of temperature recorded.
+
+Throughout Russia the winter is of long continuance. The last days
+of frost are experienced for the most part in April, but also in
+May to the north of fifty-five degrees. The spring is exceptionally
+beautiful in central Russia; late as it usually is, it sets in with
+vigour and develops with a rapidity which gives to this season in
+Russia a special charm, unknown in warmer climates; and the rapid
+melting of snow at the same time raises the rivers, and renders
+a great many minor streams navigable for a few weeks. But a return
+of cold weather, injurious to vegetation, is observed throughout
+central and eastern Russia between May 18 and 24, so that it is only
+in June that warm weather sets in definitely, reaching its maximum
+in the first half of July (or of August on the Black Sea coast). The
+summer is much warmer than might be supposed; in south-eastern
+Russia it is much warmer than in the corresponding latitudes of
+France, and really hot weather is experienced everywhere. It does
+not, however, prevail for long, and in the first half of September
+the first frosts begin to be experienced on the middle Urals; they
+reach western and southern Russia in the first days of October,
+and are felt on the Caucasus about the middle of November. The
+temperature descends so rapidly that a month later, about October 10
+on the middle Urals and November 15 throughout Russia the thermometer
+ceases to rise above the freezing-point. The rivers rapidly freeze;
+towards November 20 all the streams of the White Sea basin are
+covered with ice, and so remain for an average of 167 days; those
+of the Baltic, Black Sea, and Caspian basins freeze later, but
+about December 20 nearly all the rivers of the country are highways
+for sledges. The Volga remains frozen for a period varying between
+150 days in the north and 90 days at Astrakhan, the Don for 100
+to 110 days, and the Dneiper for 83 to 122 days. On the Dwina ice
+prevents navigation for 125 days and even the Vistula at Warsaw
+remains frozen for 77 days. The lowest temperatures are experienced
+in January, in which month the average is as low as 20� to 5� Fahr.
+throughout Russia; in the west only does it rise above 22�.
+
+_The flora and fauna of Russia_.--The flora of Russia, which represents
+an intermediate link between those of Germany and Siberia, is strikingly
+uniform over a very large area. Though not poor at any given place,
+it appears so if the space occupied by Russia be taken into account,
+only 3,300 species of phanerogams and ferns being known. Four great
+regions may be distinguished:--the Arctic, the Forest, the Steppe,
+and the Circum-Mediterranean.
+
+The _Arctic Region_ comprises the _tundras_ of the Arctic littoral
+beyond the northern limit of forests, which last closely follows
+the coast-line with bends towards the north in the river valleys
+(70� N. lat. in Finland, on the Arctic Circle about Archangel, 68�
+N. on the Urals, 71� on West Siberia). The shortness of summer,
+the deficiency of drainage and the thickness of the layer of soil
+which is frozen through in winter are the elements which go to
+the making of the characteristic features of the _tundras_. Their
+flora is far nearer those of northern Siberia and North America
+than that of central Europe. Mosses and lichens cover them, as
+also the birch, the dwarf willow, and a variety of shrubs; but
+where the soil is drier, and humus has been able to accumulate, a
+variety of herbaceous flowering plants, some of which are familiar
+also in western Europe, make their appearance.
+
+The _Forest Region_ of the Russian botanists occupies the greater
+part of the country, from the Arctic _tundras_ to the Steppes, and
+it maintains over this immense surface a remarkable uniformity
+of character. Viewed as a whole, the flora of the forest region
+must be regarded as European-Siberian; and though certain species
+disappear towards the east, while new ones make their appearance,
+it maintains, on the whole, the same characters throughout from
+Poland to Kamchatka. Thus the beech, a characteristic tree of western
+Europe, is unable to face the continental climate of Russia, and
+does not penetrate beyond Poland and the south-western provinces,
+reappearing again in the Crimea. The silver fir does not extend
+over Russia, and the oak does not cross the Urals. On the other
+hand, several Asiatic species (Siberian pine, larch, cedar) grow
+freely in the north-east, while several shrubs and herbaceous plants,
+originally from the Asiatic Steppes, have spread into the south-east.
+But all these do not greatly alter the general character of the
+vegetation.
+
+The _Region of the Steppes_, which covers all Southern Russia,
+may be subdivided into two zones--an intermediate zone and that
+of the Steppes proper. The Ante-Steppe of the preceding region and
+the intermediate zone of the Steppes include those tracts where
+the West-European climate struggles with the Asiatic, and where a
+struggle is being carried on between the forest and the Steppe.
+
+The Steppes proper are very fertile elevated plains, slightly undulated,
+and intersected by numerous ravines which are dry in summer. The
+undulations are scarcely apparent to the eye as it takes in a wide
+prospect under a blazing sun and with a deep-blue sky overhead.
+Not a tree is to be seen, the few woods and thickets being hidden
+in the depressions and deep valleys of the rivers. On the thick
+sheet of black earth by which the Steppe is covered a luxuriant
+vegetation develops in spring; after the old grass has been burned
+a bright green covers immense stretches, but this rapidly disappears
+under the burning rays of the sun and the hot easterly winds. The
+colouring of the Steppe changes as if by magic, and only the silvery
+plumes of the _kovyl_ (_Stipa pennata_) wave under the wind, giving
+the Steppe the aspect of a bright, yellow sea. For days together the
+traveller sees no other vegetation; even this, however, disappears
+as he nears the regions recently left dry from the Caspian, where
+salted clays covered with a few _Salsolace�_, or mere sands, take
+the place of the black earth. Here begins the Aral-Caspian desert.
+The Steppe, however, is not so devoid of trees as at first sight
+appears. Innumerable clusters of wild cherries, wild apricots, and
+other deep-rooted shrubs grow in the depressions of the surface,
+and on the slopes of the ravines, giving the Steppe that charm which
+manifests itself in popular poetry. Unfortunately, the spread of
+cultivation is fatal to these oases (they are often called "islands"
+by the inhabitants); the axe and the plough ruthlessly destroy
+them. The vegetation of the _poimy_ and _zaimischas_ in the marshy
+bottoms of the ravines, and in the valleys of streams and rivers,
+is totally different. The moist soil gives free development to
+thickets of various willows, bordered with dense walls of worm-wood
+and needle-bearing _Composita_, and interspersed with rich but
+not extensive prairies harbouring a great variety of herbaceous
+plants; while in the deltas of the Black Sea rivers impenetrable
+masses of rush shelter a forest fauna. But cultivation rapidly
+changes the physiognomy of the Steppe. The prairies are superseded
+by wheat-fields, and flocks of sheep destroy the true steppe-grass
+(_Stipa-pennata_), which retires farther east.
+
+The _Circum-Mediterranean Region_ is represented by a narrow strip
+of land on the south coast of the Crimea, where a climate similar
+to that of the Mediterranean coast has permitted the development
+of a flora closely resembling that of the valley of the Arno.
+
+[Illustration: REVEL]
+
+The fauna of European Russia does not very materially differ from
+that of western Europe. In the forests not many animals which have
+disappeared from western Europe have held their ground; while in
+the Urals only a few--now Siberian, but formerly also European--are
+met with. On the whole, Russia belongs to the same zoo-geographical
+region as central Europe and northern Asia, the same fauna extending
+in Siberia as far as the Yenisei and Lena. In south-eastern Russia,
+however, towards the Caspian, we find a notable admixture of Asiatic
+species, the deserts of that part of Russia belonging in reality
+rather to the Aral-Caspian depression than to Europe.
+
+For the zoo-geographer only three separate sub-regions appear on the
+East-European plains--the _tundras_, including the Arctic islands,
+the forest region, especially the coniferous part of it, and the
+Ante-Steppe and Steppes of the black-earth region. The Ural mountains
+might be distinguished as a fourth sub-region, while the south-coast
+of the Crimea and Caucasus, as well as the Caspian deserts, have
+their own individuality.
+
+As for the adjoining seas, the fauna of the Arctic Ocean off the
+Norwegian coast corresponds, in its western parts at least, to that
+of the North Atlantic Gulf Stream. The White Sea and the Arctic
+Ocean to the east of Svyatoi Nos belong to a separate zoological
+region connected with, and hardly separable from, that part of
+the Arctic Ocean which extends along the Siberian coast as far as
+to about the Lena. The Black Sea, of which the fauna was formerly
+little known but now appears to be very rich, belongs to the
+Mediterranean region, slightly modified, while the Caspian partakes
+of the characteristic fauna inhabiting the lakes and seas of the
+Aral-Caspian depression.
+
+In the region of the _tundras_ life has to contend with such
+unfavourable conditions that it cannot be abundant. Still the reindeer
+frequents it for its lichens, and on the drier slopes of the moraine
+deposits four species of lemming, hunted by the _Canis lagopus_,
+find quarters. Two species of the white partridge, the lark, one
+_Plectrophanes_, two or three species of _Sylvia_, one _Phylloscopus_,
+and the _Motacilla_ must be added. Numberless aquatic birds, however,
+visit it for breeding purposes. Ducks, divers, geese, gulls, all the
+Russian species of snipes and sandpipers, etc., cover the marshes
+of the _tundras_, or the crags of the Lapland coast.
+
+The forest region, and especially its coniferous portion, though
+it has lost some of its representatives within historic times, is
+still rich. The reindeer, rapidly disappearing, is now met with only
+in Olonetz and Vologda; the _Cervus pygargus_ is found everywhere, and
+reaches Novgorod. The weasel, the fox and the hare are exceedingly
+common, as also the wolf and the bear in the north; but the glutton,
+the lynx, and even the elk are rapidly disappearing. The wild boar
+is confined to the basin of the Dwina, and the _Bison eropea_ to
+the Bielovyezha forests. The sable has quite disappeared, being
+found only on the Urals; the beaver is found at a few places in
+Minsk, and the otter is very rare. On the other hand, the hare and
+also the grey partridge, the hedgehog, the quail, the lark, the
+rook, and the stork find their way into the coniferous region as
+the forests are cleared. The avifauna is very rich; it includes all
+the forest and garden birds which are known in western Europe, as
+well as a very great variety of aquatic birds. Hunting and shooting
+give occupation to a great number of persons. The reptiles are
+few. As for fishes, all those of western Europe, except the carp,
+are met with in the lakes and rivers in immense quantities, the
+characteristic feature of the region being its wealth in _Coregoni_
+and in _Salmonid�_ generally.
+
+In the Ante-Steppe the forest species proper, such as _Pteromys
+volans_ and _Tamias striatus_, disappear, but the common squirrel,
+the weasel, and the bear are still met with in the forests. The
+hare is increasing rapidly, as well as the fox. The avifauna, of
+course, becomes poorer; nevertheless the woods of the Steppe, and
+still more the forests of the Ante-Steppe, give refuge to many
+birds, even to the hazel-hen, the woodcock and the black-grouse.
+The fauna of the thickets at the bottom of the river-valleys is
+decidedly, rich and includes aquatic birds. The destruction of
+the forests and the advance of wheat into the prairies are rapidly
+impoverishing the Steppe fauna. The various species of rapacious
+animals are disappearing, together with the colonies of marmots; the
+insectivores are also becoming scarce in consequence of the destruction
+of insects, while vermin, such as the suslik (_Spermophilus_),
+become a real plague, as also the destructive insects which have
+been a scourge to agriculture during recent years. The absence of
+_Coregoni_ is a characteristic feature of the fish-fauna of the
+Steppes; the carp, on the contrary, reappears, and the rivers are
+rich in sturgeons. On the Volga below Nijni Novgorod the sturgeon,
+and others of the same family, as also a very great variety of
+ganoids and _Teleostei_, appear in such quantities that they give
+occupation to nearly 100,000 people. The mouths of the Caspian
+rivers are especially celebrated for their wealth of fish.
+
+
+
+
+_SIBERIA_
+
+_JEAN JACQUES �LIS�E RECLUS_
+
+Siberia is emphatically the "Land of the North." Its name has by
+some etymologists been identified with "Severia," a term formerly
+applied to various northern regions of European Russia. The city
+of Sibir, which has given its name to the whole of North Asia,
+was so called only by the Russians, its native name being Isker.
+The Cossacks, coming from the south and centre of Russia, may have
+naturally regarded as pre-eminently the "Northern Land" those cold
+regions of the Ob basin lying beyond the snowy mountains which
+form the "girdle of the world."
+
+Long before the conquest of Sibir by the Cossacks, this region was
+known to the Arab traders and missionaries. The Tatars of Sibir were
+Mahommedans and this town was the centre of the great fur trade. The
+Russians themselves had constant relations with the inhabitants of
+the Asiatic slopes of the Urals, and the Novgorodians were acquainted
+with the regions stretching "beyond the portages." Early in the
+Sixteenth Century the Moscow Tsars, heirs of the Novgorod power,
+called themselves lords of Obdoria and Kondina; that is of all the
+Lower Ob basin between the Konda and the Irtish confluence, and the
+station of Obdorsk, under the Arctic Circle. Their possessions--that
+is, the hunting grounds visited by the Russian agents of the Strogonov
+family--consequently skirted the great river for a distance of 600
+miles. But the Slav power was destined soon to be consolidated
+by conquest, and such is the respect inspired by force that the
+successful expedition of a Cossack brigand, on whose head a price
+had been set, was supposed to have led to the discovery of Siberia,
+although really preceded by many visits of a peaceful character.
+Even still the conquering Yermak is often regarded as a sort of
+explorer of the lands beyond the Urals. But he merely establishes
+himself as a master where the Strogonov traders had been received
+as guests. Maps of the Ob and of the Ostiak country had already
+been published by Sebastian Munster and by Herberstein a generation
+before the Cossacks entered Sibir. The very name of this town is
+marked on Munster's map.
+
+In 1579, Yermak began the second plundering expedition, which in
+two years resulted in the capture of the Tatar kingdom. When the
+conquerors entered Sibir they had been reduced from over 800 to
+about 400 men. But this handful represented the power of the Tsars
+and Yermak could sue for pardon, with the offer of a kingdom as
+his ransom. Before the close of the Sixteenth Century the land had
+been finally subdued. Sibir itself, which stood on a high bluff on
+the right bank of the Irtish, exists no more, having probably been
+swept away by the erosions of the stream. But ten miles farther down
+another capital, Tobolsk, arose, also on the right bank, and the
+whole of the north was gradually added to the Tsar's dominions. The
+fur trappers, more even than the soldiers, were the real conquerors
+of Siberia. Nevertheless, many battles had to be fought down to
+the middle of the Seventeenth Century. The Buriats of the Angora
+basin, the Koriaks, and other tribes long held out; but most of
+the land was peacefully acquired, and permanently secured by the
+forts erected by the Cossacks at the junction of the rivers, at
+the entrance of the mountain passes, and other strategic points.
+History records no other instance of such a vast dominion so rapidly
+acquired, and with such slender means, by a handful of men acting
+mostly on their own impulse, without chiefs or instructions from
+the centre of authority.
+
+Even China allowed the Cossacks to settle on the banks of the Amur,
+though the treaty of Nerchinsk required the Russians to withdraw
+from that basin in 1689. But during the present century they have
+been again attracted to this region, and the Government of St.
+Petersburg is now fully alive to the advantages of a free access
+by a large navigable stream to the Pacific seaboard. Hence, in
+1851, Muraviov established the factory of Nikolaievsk, near the
+mouth of the Amur, and those of Mariinsk and Alexandrovsk at either
+end of the portage connecting that river with the Bay of Castries.
+During the Crimean war its left bank was definitely secured by a
+line of fortified posts, and in 1859 a ukase confirmed the possession
+of a territory torn from China in time of peace. Lastly, in 1860,
+while the Anglo-French forces were entering Pekin, Russia obtained
+without a blow the cession of the region south of the Amur and east
+of the Ussuri, stretching along the coast to the Corean frontier.
+
+And thus was completed the reduction of the whole of North Asia,
+a territory of itself alone far more extensive than the European
+continent. In other respects there is, of course, no point of comparison
+between these two regions. This Siberian world, where vast wildernesses
+still remain to be explored, has a foreign trade surpassed by that
+of many a third-rate European seaport, such as Dover or Boulogne.
+Embracing a thirteenth part of the dry land on the surface of the
+globe, its population falls short of that of London alone; it is
+even more sparsely peopled than Caucasia and Turkestan, having
+little over one inhabitant to 1,000 acres.
+
+Accurate surveys of the physical features and frontier-lines are
+still far from complete. Only quite recently the first circumnavigation
+of the Old World round the northern shores of Siberia has been
+accomplished by the Swedish explorer, Nordenskj�ld. The early attempts
+made by Willoughby, Chancellor, and Burrough failed even to reach
+the Siberian coast. Hoping later on to reach China by ascending
+the Ob to the imaginary Lake Kita�--that is, Kathay, or China--the
+English renewed their efforts to discover the "north-east passage,"
+and in 1580 two vessels, commanded by Arthur Ket and Charles Jackman,
+sailed for the Arctic Ocean; but they never got beyond the Kara
+Sea. The Dutch succeeded no better, none of the voyages undertaken
+by Barents and others between 1594 and 1597 reaching farther than
+the Spitzbergen and Novaya Zembla waters. Nor were these limits
+exceeded by Hendrick Hudson in 1608. This was the last attempt
+made by the navigators of West Europe; but the Russian traders
+and fishers of the White Sea were familiar with the routes to the
+Ob and Yenisei Gulfs, as is evident from a map published in 1600
+by Boris Godunov. However, sixteen years afterwards the navigation
+of these waters was interdicted under pain of death, lest foreigners
+should discover the way to the Siberian coast.
+
+[Illustration: SIBERIAN NATIVES.]
+
+The exploration of this seaboard had thus to be prosecuted in Siberia
+itself by means of vessels built for the river navigation. In 1648,
+the Cossack Dejnev sailed with a flotilla of small craft from the
+Kol�ma round the north-east extremity of Asia, passing long before
+the birth of Bering through the strait which now bears the name
+of that navigator. Stadukhin also explored these eastern seas in
+search of the islands full of fossil ivory, of which he had heard
+from the natives. In 1735, Pronchishchev and Lasinius embarked
+at Yakutsk and sailed down the Lena, exploring its delta and
+neighbouring coasts. Pronchishchev reached a point east of the
+Taimir peninsula, but failed to double the headlands between the
+Lena and the Yenisei estuaries. The expedition begun by Laptiev in
+1739, after suffering shipwreck, was continued overland, resulting
+in the exploration of the Taimir peninsula and the discovery of the
+North Cape of the Old World, Pliny's Tabin, and the Cheluskin of
+modern maps, so named from the pilot who accompanied Pronchishchev
+and Laptiev. The western seaboard between the Yenisei and Ob estuaries
+had already been surveyed by Ovtzin and Minin in 1737-9.
+
+But the problem was already being attacked from the side of the
+Pacific Ocean. In 1728, the Danish navigator, Bering, in the service
+of Russia, crossed Siberia overland to the Pacific, whence he sailed
+through the strait now named from him, and by him first revealed
+to the West, though known to the Siberian Cossacks eighty years
+previously. Even Bering himself, hugging the Asiatic coast, had
+not descried the opposite shores of America, and was uncertain as
+to the exact position of the strait. This point was not cleared
+up till Cook's voyage of 1778, and even after that the Sakhalin,
+Yezo and Kurile waters still remained to be explored. The shores
+of the mainland and islands were first traced by La P�rouse, who
+determined the insular character of Sakhalin, and ascertained the
+existence of a strait connecting the Japanese Sea with that of
+Okhotsk. This completed the general survey of the whole Siberian
+seaboard.
+
+The scientific exploration of the interior began in the Eighteenth
+Century with Messerschmidt, followed by Gmelin, M�ller, and Delisle
+de la Croy�re, who determined many important physical points between
+the years 1733 and 1742. The region stretching beyond Lake Baikal was
+explored by Pallas and his associates in 1770-3. The expeditions,
+interrupted by the great wars following on the French Revolution,
+were resumed in 1828 by the Norwegian Hansteen, whose memorable
+expedition in company with Erman had such important results for
+the study of terrestrial magnetism. While Hansteen and Erman were
+still prosecuting their labours in every branch of natural science,
+Alexander von Humboldt, Ehrenberg, and Gustav Rose made a short
+visit to Siberia, which, however, remained one of the most important
+in the history of science. Middendorff's journeys to North and
+East Siberia had also some very valuable results, and were soon
+followed, in 1854, by the "expedition to Siberia" undertaken by
+Schwartz, Schmidt, Glehn, Usoltzev, and associates, extending over
+the whole region of the Trans-baikal to the Lena and northern
+tributaries of the Amur. Thus began the uninterrupted series of
+modern journeys, which are now being systematically continued in
+every part of Siberia, and which promise soon to leave no blanks
+on the chart of that region.
+
+The work of geographical discovery, properly so called, may be said
+to have been brought to a close by Nordenskj�ld's recent determination
+of the north-east passage, vainly attempted by Willoughby, Barents,
+and so many other illustrious navigators.
+
+Such a vast region as Siberia, affected in the west by Atlantic,
+in the east by Pacific influences, and stretching north and south
+across 29� of latitude, must obviously present great diversities
+of climate. Even this bleak land has its temperate zones, which the
+Slav colonists are fond of calling their "Italies." Nevertheless
+as compared with Europe, Siberia may, on the whole, be regarded as
+a country of extreme temperatures--relatively great heats, and,
+above all, intense colds. The very term "Siberian" has justly become
+synonymous with a land of winds, frosts, and snows. The mean annual
+temperature in this region comprised between the rivers Anabara
+and Indigirka is 20� Fahr. below freezing point. The pole of cold,
+oscillating diversely with the force of the lateral pressure from
+Yakutsk to the Lena estuary, is the meteorological centre round
+which the atmosphere revolves. Here are to a large extent prepared
+the elements of the climate of West Europe.
+
+Travellers speak of the Siberian winters with mingled feelings of
+terror and rapture. An infinite silence broods over the land--all
+is buried in deep sleep. The animals hibernate in their dens, the
+streams have ceased to flow, disappearing beneath the ice and snow;
+the earth, of a dazzling whiteness in the centre of the landscape,
+but grey in the distance, nowhere offers a single object to arrest
+the gaze. The monotony of endless space is broken by no abrupt
+lines or vivid tints. The only contrast with the dull expanse of
+land is the everlasting azure sky, along which the sun creeps at a
+few degrees only above the horizon. In these intensely cold latitudes
+it rises and sets with hard outlines, unsoftened by the ruddy haze
+elsewhere encircling it on the edge of the horizon. Yet such is the
+strength of its rays that the snow melts on the housetop exposed
+to its glare, while in the shade the temperature is 40� to 50�
+below freezing point. At night, when the firmament is not aglow
+with the many-tinted lights and silent coruscations of the aurora
+borealis, the zodiacal light and the stars still shine with intense
+brightness.
+
+To this severe winter, which fissures the surface and rends the
+rocks of the rivers into regular basalt-like columns, there succeeds
+a sudden and delightful spring. So instantaneous is the change that
+nature seems as if taken by surprise and rudely awakened. The delicate
+green of the opening leaf, the fragrance of the budding flowers,
+the intoxicating balm of the atmosphere, the radiant brightness of
+the heavens, all combine to impart to mere existence a voluptuous
+gladness. To Siberians visiting the temperate climes of Western
+Europe, spring seems to be unknown beyond their lands. But these
+first days of new life are followed by a chill, gusty and changeful
+interval, arising from the atmospheric disturbances caused by the
+thawing of the vast snowy wastes. A relapse is then experienced
+analogous to that too often produced in England by late east winds.
+The apple blossom is now nipped by the night frosts falling in the
+latter part of May. Hence no apples can be had in East Siberia,
+although the summer heats are otherwise amply sufficient for the
+ripening of fruit. After the fleeting summer, winter weather again
+sets in. It will often freeze at night in the middle of July; and
+after the 10th of August the sear leaf begins to fall, and in a
+few days all are gone, except perhaps the foliage of the larch.
+The snow will even sometimes settle early in August on the still
+leafy branches, bending and breaking them with its weight. Below
+the surface of the ground, winter reigns uninterrupted even by
+the hottest summers.
+
+With its vast extent and varied climate, Siberia naturally embraces
+several vegetable zones, differing more from each other even than
+those of Europe. The southern Steppes have a characteristic and
+well-marked flora, forming a continuation of that of the Aral,
+Caspian and Volga plains. The treeless northern _tundras_ also
+constitute a vegetable domain as sharply defined as the desert
+itself, while between these two zones of Steppe and _tundra_ the
+forest region of Europe stretches, with many subdivisions, west
+and east right across the continent. Of these subdivisions the
+chief are those of the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, and Amur basins.
+
+Beyond the northern _tundras_ and southern Steppes by far the greatest
+space is occupied by the forest zone. From the Urals to Kamchatka
+the dense _taiga_, or woodlands are interrupted only by the streams,
+a few natural glades and some tracts under cultivation. The term
+_taiga_ is used in a general way for all lands under timber, but
+east of the Altai it is applied more especially to the moist and
+spongy region overgrown with tangled roots and thickets, where the
+_mari_, or peat bogs, and marshes alternate with the _padi_, or
+narrow ravines. The miners call by this name the wooded mountains
+where they go in search of auriferous sands. But everywhere the
+_taiga_ is the same dreary forest, without grass, birds, or insects,
+gloomy and lifeless, and noiseless but for the soughing of the
+wind and crackling of the branches.
+
+The most common tree in the _taiga_ is the larch, which best resists
+the winter frost and summer chills. But the Siberian woodlands also
+include most of the trees common to temperate Europe--the linden,
+alder, juniper, service, willow, aspen, poplar, birch, cherry,
+apricot--whose areas are regulated according to the nature of the
+soil, the elevation or aspect of the land. Towards the south-east,
+on the Chinese frontier, the birch is encroaching on the indigenous
+species, and the natives regard this as a sure prognostic of the
+approaching rule of the "White Tsar."
+
+Conflagrations are very frequent in the Siberian forests, caused
+either by lightning, the woodmen, or hunters, and sometimes spreading
+over vast spaces till arrested by rivers, lakes or morasses. One
+of the pleasures of Siberian travelling is the faint odour of the
+woods burning in the distance.
+
+The native flora is extremely rich in berries of every kind, supplying
+food for men and animals.
+
+The extreme eastern regions of the Amur basin and Russian Manchuria,
+being warmer, more humid and fertile, also abound more in animal
+life than the other parts of Asiatic Russia. On the other hand,
+the Siberian bear, deer, roebuck, hare, squirrel, marmot and mole
+are about one-third larger, and often half as heavy again as their
+European congeners. This is doubtless due partly to the greater
+abundance of nourishment along the rivers and shores of Siberia,
+and partly to the fact that for ages the western species have been
+more preyed upon by man, living in a constant state of fear, and
+mostly perishing before attaining their full development.
+
+The Arctic Seas abound probably as much as the Pacific Ocean with
+marine animals. Nordenskj�ld found the Siberian waters very rich
+in molluscs and other lower organisms, implying a corresponding
+abundance of larger animals. Hence fishing, perhaps more than
+navigation, will be the future industry of the Siberian coast
+populations. Cetacea, fishes, molluscs, and other marine organisms
+are cast up in such quantities along both sides of Bering Strait
+that the bears and other omnivorous creatures have here become
+very choice as to their food. But on some parts of the coast in the
+Chukchi country whales are never stranded, and since the arrival
+of the Russians certain species threaten to disappear altogether.
+The _Rhytina stelleri_, a species of walrus formerly frequenting
+Bering Strait in millions, was completely exterminated between the
+years 1741-68. Many of the fur-bearing animals, which attracted
+the Cossacks from the Urals to the Sea of Okhotsk, and which were
+the true cause of the conquest of Siberia, have become extremely
+rare. Their skins are distinguished, above all others, for their
+great softness, warmth, lightness, and bright colours. The more
+Alpine or continental the climate, the more beautiful and highly
+prized become the furs, which diminish in gloss towards the coast
+and in West Siberia, where the south-west winds prevail. The sables
+of the North Urals are of small value, while those of the Upper
+Lena, fifteen degrees farther south, are worth a king's ransom. Many
+species assume a white coat in winter, whereby they are difficult
+to be distinguished from the surrounding snows. Amongst these are
+the polar hare and fox, the ermine, the campagnol, often even the
+wolf and reindeer, besides the owl, yellow-hammer, and some other
+birds. Those which retain their brown or black colour are mostly
+such as do not show themselves in winter. The fur of the squirrels
+also varies with the surrounding foliage, those of the pine forests
+being ruddy, those of the cedar, _taiga_, and firs inclining to
+brown, and all varying in intensity of colour with that of the
+vegetation.
+
+Other species besides the peltry-bearing animals have diminished
+in numbers since the arrival of the Russian hunters. The reindeer,
+which frequented the South Siberian highlands, and whose domain
+encroached on that of the camel, is now found only in the domestic
+state amongst the Soyotes of the Upper Yenisei and is met with
+in the wild state only in the dwarf forests and _tundras_ of the
+far north. The argali has withdrawn to Mongolia from the Siberian
+mountains and plains, where he was still very common at the end of
+the last century. On the other hand, cold and want of food yearly
+drive great numbers of antelopes and wild horses from the Gobi
+Steppes towards the Siberian lowlands, tigers, wolves and other
+beasts of prey following in their track, and returning with them in
+the early spring. Several new species of animals have been introduced
+by man and modified by crossings in the domestic state. In the
+north, the Samoyeds, Chukchis, and Kamchadales have the reindeer
+and dog, while the horse and ox are everywhere the companions of
+man in the peopled regions of Siberia. The yak has been tamed by the
+Soyotes of the Upper Yenisei, and the camel, typical of a distinctly
+Eastern civilization, follows the nomads of the Kirghiz and Mongolian
+Steppes. All these domesticated animals seem to have acquired special
+qualities and habits from the various indigenous or Russian peoples
+of Siberia.
+
+
+
+
+_THE RUSSIAN RACES_
+
+_W. R. MORFILL_
+
+The vast Empire of Russia, as may be readily imagined, is peopled
+by many different races. These may ethnologically be catalogued
+as follows:
+
+I. Sclavonic races, the most important in numbers and culture. Under
+this head may be classified:--
+
+(1) The Great Russians, or Russians properly so called, especially
+occupying the Governments round about Moscow, and from thence scattered
+in the north to Novgorod and Vologda, on the south to Kiev and to
+Voronezh, on the east to Penza, Simbirsk, and Viatka, and on the
+west to the Baltic provinces. Moreover, the Great Russians, as
+the ruling race, are to be found in small numbers in all quarters
+of the Empire. They amount to about 40,000,000.
+
+(2) Little Russians (Malorossiani), dwelling south of the Russians,
+upon the shores of the Black Sea. These, together with the Rusniaks,
+amount to 16,370,000.
+
+The Cossacks come under these two races.
+
+To the great Russians belong the Don Cossacks, with those sprung
+from them--the Kouban, Stavropol, Khoperski, Volga, Mosdok, Kizlarski
+and Grebenski.
+
+[Illustration: SAMOYEDES OF NOVA ZEMBLA.]
+
+To the Little Russian: the Malorossiiski, with those sprung from
+them--the Zaporoghian, Black Sea (Chernomorski), and those of Azov
+and of the Danube.
+
+(3) The White Russians, inhabiting the Western Governments. Their
+number amounts to 4,000,000.
+
+(4) Poles, living in the former Kingdom of Poland and the Western
+Governments of the Empire. Their number amounts to 5,000,000.
+
+(5) Servians, Bulgarians, and other Slavs, inhabiting especially
+Bessarabia and the country called New Russia. Their number reaches
+150,000.
+
+II. The Non-Sclavonic races comprise either original inhabitants
+of the country who have been subdued by the Russians, or later
+comers. Among races originally inhabiting the country, and subjugated
+by the Russians, are included--the Lithuanians and Letts, the Finns,
+the Samoyeds, the Mongol-Manzhurians, the races of eastern Siberia,
+the Turko-Tartar, the Caucasian, the German, and the Hebrew.
+
+1. The Lithu-Lettish race inhabits the country between the western
+Dwina and the Nieman. In numbers they do not amount to more than
+3,000,000. The Lithu-Lettish population is divided into the two
+following branches:--
+
+(a) The Lithuanians properly so called (including the Samogitans
+or Zhmudes), who inhabit the Governments of Vilno, Kovno, Courland,
+and the northern parts of those of Augustovo and Grodno (1,900,000).
+
+(b) The Letts, who inhabit the Governments of Courland, Vitebsk,
+Livonia, Kovno, Pskov, and St. Petersburg (1,100,000).
+
+2. The Finnish race--known in the old Sclavonic chronicles under
+the name of Chouds--at one time inhabited all the north-eastern part
+of Russia. The Finns, according to the place of their habitation,
+are divided into four groups:--the Baltic Finns, the Finns in the
+Governments of the Volga, the Cis-Oural and the Trans-Oural Finns.
+
+(a) The Baltic Finns: the Chouds (in the Governments of Novgorod
+and Olonetz); the Livonians (in Courland); the Esthonians (in the
+Governments of Esthonia, Livonia, Vitebsk, Pskov, and St. Petersburg);
+the Lopari (in northern Finland and in the Government of Archangel);
+the Corelians (in the Government of Archangel, Novgorod, Olonetz,
+St. Petersburg, Tver, and Jaroslav); Evremeiseti (in the Governments
+of Novgorod and St. Petersburg), Savakoti, Vod, and Izhora.
+
+(b) To the Finns of the Governments of the Volga, who have become
+almost lost in the Russians, belong the Cheremisians (in the Governments
+of Kazan, Viatka, Kostroma, Nijni-Novgorod, Orenburg and Perm).
+
+(c) To the Cis-Uralian Finns, who occupy the country from the borders
+of Finland to the Oural, belong the Permiaks (in the Governments
+of Viatka and Perm); Z�ranians (in the Governments of Archangel
+and Vologda); Votiaks (in the Governments of Viatka and Kazan);
+and Vogoulichi (in the Governments of Perm).
+
+(d) Among the Trans-Oural Finns are also to be numbered the Z�ranians
+and Vogoulichi (the first in the Government of Tobolsk, and the
+second in the Governments of Tobolsk and Tomsk); and the Ostiaks,
+who, according to the places of their habitation, are called Obski
+and Berezovski.
+
+The Finns amount altogether to 2,100,000.
+
+3. The Samoyeds, in number 70,000, live in the territory extending
+from the White Sea to the Yenesei; to these belong the Samoyeds
+properly so called, the Nar�mski and the Yenesei Ostiaks, the Olennie
+Choukchi, etc.
+
+4. The Mongolo-Manzhourian race amounting to 400,000. Among this
+race may be remarked the Mongolians properly so called, on the
+Selenga; the Kalmucks, a nomad people in the Government of Astrakhan,
+as also in Tomsk, in the country of the Don Cossacks, and partly
+in the Government of Stavropol. The Kalmucks appeared first on
+the eastern confines of Russia in the year 1630. About a century
+later we find them become the regular subjects of the Tsar. They
+seem, however, to have found the Russian yoke irksome, and resolved
+to return to their original home on the coasts of Lake Balkach,
+and at the foot of the Altai Mountains. Nearly the whole nation,
+amounting to almost 300,000 persons, began their march in the winter
+of 1770-71. The passage of this vast horde lasted for weeks, but the
+rear were prevented from escaping by the Kirghiz and Cossacks, who
+intercepted them. They were compelled to remain in Russia, where their
+territory was more accurately defined than had been done previously.
+The Kalmucks are obliged to serve with the Cossack troops, but
+their duties are mostly confined to looking after the cattle and
+horses which accompany the army. Their religion is Buddhism, and
+a conspicuous object in the aouls, or temporary villages which
+they construct, is the pagoda. Their personal appearance is by no
+means prepossessing--small eyes and high cheekbones, with scanty
+hair of a very coarse texture. In every sense of the word they
+are still strictly nomads; their children and tents are carried
+by camels, and in a few hours their temporary village, or oulous,
+is established. To these also belong the Bouriats, by Lake Baikal;
+the Toungusians from the Yenesei to the Amur; the Lamorets, by the
+Sea of Okhotsk; and the Olentzi, in the Government of Irkutsk.
+
+5. Races of eastern Siberia: the Koriaks, living in the north-eastern
+corner of Siberia; the Youkagirs, in the territory of Yakutsk; the
+Kamchadales, in Kamchatka. Their number amounts to 500,000.
+
+6. The Turko-Tartar race amount in number to 3,000,000. To their
+branch belong the Chouvashes, in the governments of Orenburg, Simbursk,
+Saratov and Samaria; the Mordvinians, in the same governments as the
+Chouvashes,[1] and in those of Tambov, Penza, and Nijni-Novgorod;
+the Tartars of the Crimea and Kazan; the Nagais, on the Kouban
+and Don; the Mestcheriaki, in the governments of Orenburg, Perm,
+Saratov, and Viatka; Koumki, in the Caucasus; Kirghizi, Yakouti,
+on the Lena; Troukhmentzi and Khivintzi; Karakalpaks (lit. Black
+Caps), Teleo�ti, in the government of Tomsk, Siberia.
+
+[Footnote 1: Some writers consider the Chouvashes to belong to the
+Finnish race.]
+
+7. The Caucasian races inhabiting Georgia, the valleys and defiles
+of the Caucasian Mountains have different appellations and different
+origins. Among them may be noticed the Armenians, Georgians,
+Circassians, Abkhasians, Lesghians, Osetintzi, Chechentzi, Kistentzi,
+Toushi, and others. Their number is about 2,000,000.
+
+The languages of the Caucasus must be regarded as a group distinct
+both from the Aryan and Semitic families. They are agglutinative,
+and are divided into two branches.
+
+(a) The Northern Division, extending along the northern slopes
+of the Caucasus, between the Caspian and the northern shores of
+the Black Sea, as far as the Straits of Yenikale; its subdivisions
+are Lesghian, Kistian, and Circassian, each with its dialects.
+Formerly the Circassians numbered about 500,000, but large numbers
+of them emigrated to European Turkey, where they were dexterously
+planted by the government to impede the social progress of their
+Bulgarian and Greek subjects.
+
+(b) The Southern Division, comprising Georgian, Suanian, Mingrelian,
+and Lazian.
+
+8. The German race, in number about 1,000,000. The Germans are
+chiefly in the Baltic provinces, in the government of St. Petersburg,
+in the Grand Duchy of Finland, and the colonies, especially those on
+the lower Volga, the Don, the Crimea, and New Russia. The Germans
+have acquired great influence throughout the country; they are
+represented in the court, in the army, and in the administration.
+Here also may be mentioned the Swedes, amounting to 286,000.
+
+9. The Jews inhabit especially the former Kingdom of Poland, the
+Western Governments, and the Crimea. Their number amounts to 3,000,000.
+Among the Jews the Karaimite are noticeable, living in the governments
+of Vilno, Volinia, Kovno, Kherson, and the Taurida. Among the Europeans
+and Asiatics who have come in later times to settle in Russia, are
+Greeks, amounting to 75,000, in the governments of New Russia and
+Chernigov; French, Italians, and Englishmen, in the capitals and
+chief commercial towns; Wallachians or Moldavians (now generally
+included under the name of Roumanians), in Bessarabia; Albanians;
+Gipsies, especially in the territory of Bessarabia, amounting to
+50,000; Persians, to 10,000, etc.
+
+
+
+
+_THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA_
+
+_W. R. MORFILL_
+
+I shall follow the divisions given in his first volume by Oustrialov.
+He divides Russian history into two great parts, the ancient and
+modern.
+
+I. Ancient history from the commencement of Russia to the time of
+Peter the Great (862-1689).
+
+This first period is subdivided into (_a_) the foundation of Russia
+and the combination of the Sclavonians into a political unity under
+the leadership of the Normans and by means of the Christian Faith
+under Vladimir and the legislation of Yaroslav.
+
+According to the theory commonly received at the present day, the
+foundation of the Russian Empire was laid by Rurik at Novgorod.
+The name Russian seems to be best explained as meaning "the seamen"
+from the Finnish name for the Swedes or Norsemen, Ruotsi, which
+itself is a corruption of a Scandinavian word. It has been shown
+by Thomsen, that all the names mentioned in early Russian history
+admit of a Scandinavian explanation; thus Ingar becomes Igor, and
+Helga, Oleg. In a few generations the Scandinavian origin of the
+settlers was forgotten. The grandson of Rurik, Sviatoslav, has
+a purely Sclavonic name.
+
+Christianity was introduced into the country by Vladimir, and the
+first code of Russian laws was promulgated by Yaroslav, called
+Rousskaia Pravda, of which a transcript was found among the chronicles
+of Novgorod.
+
+(_b_) Breaking up of Russia, under the system of appanages, into
+some confederate principalities, governed by the descendants of
+Rurik. This unfortunate disruption of the country paved the way
+for the invasion of the Mongols, whose domination lasted for nearly
+two centuries.
+
+During their occupation the Russians were ingrafted with many oriental
+habits, which were only partially removed by Peter the Great, and in
+fact many of them have lasted till the present day. The influence
+of the Mongolians upon the national language has been greatly
+exaggerated, as the words introduced are confined almost exclusively
+to articles of dress, money, etc. Had the conquests of the Mongols
+been permanent, Russia would have become definitely attached to
+Asia, to which its geographical position seems to assign it.
+
+(_c_) Division of Russia into eastern and western under the Mongolian
+yoke 1228-1328. This is a very dreary period of the national history.
+
+(_d_) Formation in Eastern Russia of the government of Moscow 1328-1462,
+which by the energy of its princes became the nucleus of the future
+empire; and in Western Russia of the principality of Lithuania,
+and its union with Poland 1320-1569.
+
+(_e_) Consolidation of the Muscovite power under Ivan III., who
+married the daughter of the Greek Emperor, and succeeded in expelling
+the Tartars, and making himself master of their city Kazan. He was
+followed by his son Vasilii, who was succeeded by Ivan IV., who
+has gained a very unenviable reputation on account of his cruelties.
+Already the yoke of the Tartars had begun to have a very deteriorating
+effect upon the Russian character, and the more sanguinary code of
+the Asiatics had effaced the tradition of the laws of Yaroslav.
+Mutilation, flagellation, and the abundant use of the knout prevailed.
+The servile custom of chelobitye, or knocking the head on the ground,
+which was exacted from all subjects on entering the royal presence,
+was certainly of Tartar origin, as also the punishment inflicted
+upon refractory debtors, called the pravezh. They were beaten on
+the shins in a public square every day from eight to eleven o'clock,
+till the money was paid. The custom is fully described by Giles
+Fletcher and Olearius.
+
+Another strange habit, savouring too much of the Tartar servitude,
+was that recorded by Peter Heylin in his _Little Description of
+the Great World_ (Oxford, 1629), who says: "It is the custom over
+all Muscovie, that a maid in time of wooing sends to that suitor
+whom she chooseth for her husband such a whip curiously by herself
+wrought, in token of her subjection unto him." A Russian writer
+also tells us that it was usual for the husband on the wedding
+day to give his bride a gentle stroke over the shoulders with his
+whip, to show his power over her. Herberstein's story of the German
+Jordan and his Russian wife will perhaps occur to some of my readers.
+She complained to her husband that he did not love her; but upon
+his expressing surprise at the doubt, she gave as her reason that
+he had never beaten her! Indeed the position of a woman in Russia
+till the time of Peter was a very melancholy one. Her place in
+society is accurately marked out in the Domostroi, or regulations
+for governing one's household, written at the time of Ivan the
+Terrible. As this book presents us with some very curious pictures
+of Russian family life in the olden time, a few words may be permitted
+describing its contents. It was written by the monk Sylvester,
+who was one of the chief counsellors of Ivan, and at one time in
+great favour with him, but afterwards fell into disgrace and was
+banished by the capricious tyrant to the Solovetzki monastery,
+where he died. The work was primarily addressed by the worthy priest
+to his son Anthemus and his daughter-in-law, Pelagia, but as the
+bulk of it was of a general character it soon became used in all
+households. Nothing escapes this father of the church from the
+duties of religion, down to the minor details of the kitchen and
+the mysteries of cookery. The wife is constantly recommended to
+practise humility, in a way which would probably be repulsive to
+many of our modern ladies. Her industry in weaving and making clothes
+among her domestics is very carefully dwelt upon. She lived in a kind
+of Oriental seclusion, and saw no one except her nearest relatives.
+The bridegroom knew nothing of his bride, she was only allowed to
+be seen a few times before marriage by his female relatives, and
+on these occasions all kinds of tricks were played. A stool was
+placed under her feet that she might seem taller, or a handsome
+female attendant, or a better-looking sister were substituted.
+"Nowhere," says Kotoshikhin, "is there such trickery practised
+with reference to the brides as at Moscow." The innovations of
+Peter the Great broke through the oriental seclusion of the terem,
+as the women's apartments were called. During the minority of Ivan
+IV. the regency was committed to the care of his mother Elena, and
+was at best but a stormy period. When I van came to the throne the
+country was not even yet free from the incursions of the Tartars.
+In Hakluyt's voyages we have a curious account of one of these
+devastations in a "letter of Richard Vscombe to M. Henrie Lane,
+touching the burning of the city of Mosco by the Crimme Tartar,
+written the fifth day of August, 1571." "The Mosco is burnt every
+sticke by the Crimme, the 24th day of May last, and an innumerable
+number of people; and in the English house was smothered Thomas
+Southam, Tosild, Waverley, Green's wife and children, two children
+of Rafe, and more to the number of twenty-five persons were stifled
+in oure beere seller, and yet in the same seller was Rafe, his
+wife, John Browne, and John Clarke preserved, which was wonderful.
+And there went to that seller Master Glover and Master Rowley also;
+but because the heat was so great they came foorth againe with much
+perill, so that a boy at their heeles was taken with the fire,
+yet they escaped blindfold into another seller, and there as God's
+will was they were preserved. The emperor fled out of the field,
+and many of his people were carried away by the Crimme Tartar.
+And so with exceeding much spoile and infinite prisoners, they
+returned home againe. What with the Crimme on the one side and
+his cruelties on the other, he hath but few people left" (Hakluyt,
+I. 402).
+
+[Illustration: ROOM OF THE TSAR MICHAILOWITCH, MOSCOW.]
+
+It is well known that the English first became acquainted with
+Russia in the time of Ivan the Terrible. In the reign of Edward VI.
+a voyage was undertaken by Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor,
+who attempted to reach Russia by way of the North Sea. Willoughby
+and his crew were unfortunately lost, but Chancellor succeeded in
+reaching Moscow, and showing his letters to the Tsar, in reply to
+which an alliance was concluded and an ambassador soon afterwards
+visited the English court. In spite of his brutal tyrannies, for
+which no apologies can be offered, although some of the Russian
+authorities have attempted to gloss them over, the reign of Ivan
+was distinctly progressive for Russia. The introduction of the
+printing-press, the conquest of Siberia, the development of commerce,
+were all in advance of what had been done by his predecessors. He
+also had the leading idea afterwards fully carried out by Peter
+the Great of extending the dominions on the north, and ensuring
+a footing on the Baltic.
+
+The relations of Ivan with England are fully described in the very
+interesting diary of Sir Jerome Horsey, the ambassador from this
+country, the manuscript of which is preserved in the British Museum.
+He was anxious to have an English wife, and Elizabeth selected one
+for him, Lady Mary Hastings, but when the bride-elect had been
+made acquainted with the circumstance that Ivan had been married
+several times before, and was a most truculent and blood-thirsty
+sovereign, she entreated her father with many tears not to send
+her to such a man.
+
+The character given of Ivan by Horsey is very graphic, and is valuable
+as the narration of a person who had frequently been in intimate
+relations with the Tsar. We give it in the original spelling:--
+
+"Thus much to conclude with this Emperor Ivan Vasiliwich. He was a
+goodlie man of person and presence, well favoured, high forehead,
+shrill voice, a right Sithian, full of readie wisdom, cruell, blondye,
+merciless; his own experience mannaged by direction both his state and
+commonwealth affairs; was sumptuously intomed in Michell Archangell
+Church, where he, though guarded daye and night, remaines a fearfull
+spectacle to the memorie of such as pass by or heer his name spoken
+of [who] are contented to cross and bless themselves from his
+resurrection againe."
+
+Passing over his feeble son, we come to the era of Boris Godunov,
+a man in many respects remarkable, but not the least that he saw
+the necessity of western culture. His plans for educating Russia
+were extensive, and several youths were sent abroad for this purpose,
+including some to England. But his reign ended gloomily, and was
+followed by the period of the Pretenders (Samozvantzi), during which
+Russia was rent by opposing factions; and almost ended in receiving
+a foreign sovereign, in the person of Ladislaus (Wladyslaw), the
+son of Sigismund III., the King of Poland. The Romanovs finally
+ascended the throne in the person of Michael in 1613. The son of
+Michael, Alexis, was a thoroughly reforming sovereign, and took
+many foreigners into his pay. With the reign of Ivan V., son of
+Alexis, closes the old period of Russian history.
+
+II. The new history from the days of Peter the Great to the present
+time.
+
+The reforms introduced into Russia by Peter the Great are too well
+known to need recapitulation here. There will be always many different
+opinions about this wonderful man. Some have not hesitated to say
+that he "knouted" Russia into civilization; others can see traces
+of the hero mixed with much clay. One of the darkest pages in the
+annals of his reign, is that upon which is written the fate of his
+unfortunate son, Alexis. All Russia seems but one vast monument
+of his genius. He gave her six new provinces, a footing upon two
+seas, a regular army trained on the European system, a large fleet,
+an admiralty, and a naval academy; besides these, some educational
+establishments, a gallery of painting and sculpture, and a public
+library. Nothing escaped his notice, even to such minuti� as the
+alteration of Russian letters to make them more adapted to printing,
+and changing the dress of his subjects so as to be more in conformity
+with European costume. All this interference savoured of despotism,
+no doubt, but it led to the consolidation of a great nationality.
+The Russians belong to the European family, and must of necessity
+return to fulfil their destiny, although they had been temporarily
+diverted from their bondage under the Mongols. Owing to the mistake
+Peter had committed in allowing the succession to be changed at
+the will of the ruling sovereign, the country was for some time
+after his death in the hands of Russian and German adventurers.
+
+On the death of Peter he was succeeded by his wife Catherine, an
+amiable but illiterate woman, who was wholly under the influence
+of Menshikov, one of Peter's chief favourites. After a short reign
+of two years, she was succeeded by Peter II., son of the unfortunate
+Alexis, in whose time Menshikov and his family were banished to
+Berezov in Siberia. After his banishment, Peter, who was a weak
+prince, and showed every inclination to undo his grandfather's
+work, fell under the influence of the Dolgoroukis.
+
+There is something very touching in the fate of this poor child--he
+was but fifteen years of age when he died--tossed about amidst
+the opposing factions of the intriguing courtiers, each of whom
+cared nothing for the good of the country, but only how to find
+the readiest means to supplant his rival. The last words of the
+boy as he lay on his death-bed were, "Get ready the sledge! I want
+to go to my sister!" alluding to the Princess Natalia, the other
+child of Alexis who had died three years previously.
+
+On his death Anne, Duchess of Courland, and daughter of Ivan, the
+elder brother of Peter, was called to the throne. After her death,
+by a second _r�volution de palais_, Elizabeth, the daughter of
+Peter the Great, was made sovereign. In this reign her alliance
+was concluded with Maria Theresa of Austria, and during the Seven
+Years' War, a large Russian force invaded Prussia; another took
+Berlin in 1760.
+
+During the whole of her reign Elizabeth was under the influence
+of favourites, or _vremenstchiki_, as the Russians call them. She
+appears to have been an indolent, good-tempered woman, and exceedingly
+superstitious. During her reign Russia made considerable progress
+in literature and culture. A national theatre, of which there had
+been a few germs even at so early a period as the youth of Peter
+the Great, was thoroughly developed, and at Yaroslavl, Volkov,
+the son of a merchant, earned such a reputation as an actor, that
+he was summoned to St. Petersburg by Elizabeth, who took him under
+her patronage. Dramatists now sprang up on every side, but at first
+were merely translators of Corneille, Racine, and Moli�re. The
+Russian arms were successful during her reign, and the capture of
+Berlin in 1760, had a great effect upon European politics. Two years
+afterwards Elizabeth died, and her nephew Peter III. succeeded, who
+admired Frederick the Great, and at once made peace with him.
+
+This unfortunate man, however, only reigned six months, having been
+dethroned and put to death by order of his wife, who became Empress
+of Russia under the title of Catherine II. However unjustifiable the
+means may have been by which Catherine became possessed of the
+throne, and in mere justice to her we must remember that she had
+been brutally treated by her husband, and was in hourly expectation
+of being immured for life in a dungeon by his orders, she exercised
+her power to the advantage of the country.
+
+In 1770, a Russian fleet appeared for the first time in the
+Mediterranean, and the Turkish navy was destroyed at Chesme. By the
+treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji (1774), Turkey was obliged to recognize
+the independence of the Crimea, and cede to Russia a considerable
+amount of territory. In 1783, Russia gained the Crimea, and in
+1793, by the last partition of Poland, a very large portion of that
+country.
+
+The subsequent events of the history are well known. Paul, who
+succeeded Catherine, was assassinated in 1801. The reign of this
+emperor has been made very familiar to Englishmen by the highly
+coloured portrait given by the traveller Clarke, who laboured under
+the most aggravated Russophobia. That Paul did many cruel and capricious
+things does not admit of a doubt, but he was capable of generous
+feelings, and sometimes surprised people as much by his liberality
+as by his despotic conduct. Thus he set Kosciuscko at liberty as
+soon as he had ascended the throne; and there was a fine revenge in
+his compelling Orlov to follow the coffins of Peter and Catherine,
+when by his order they were buried together in the Petropavlovski
+church.
+
+Alexander I., his son, added Finland to the Russian empire, and
+saw his country invaded by Napoleon in 1812. The horrors of this
+campaign have been well described by Segur, Wilson, and Labaume.
+At his death in 1825, his brother Nicholas succeeded, not without
+opposition, which led to bloodshed and the execution of the five
+Dekabrists (conspirators of December). The schemes of these men
+were impracticable; so little did the common people understand the
+very rudiments of liberalism, that when the soldiers were ordered
+to shout for Konstitoutzia (the constitution, a word the foreign
+appearance of which shows how alien it was to the national spirit),
+one of them naively asked, if that was the name of the wife of
+the Grand Duke Constantine.
+
+The policy of the Emperor Nicholas was one of complete isolation of
+the country, and the prevention of his subjects as much as possible
+from holding intercourse with the rest of Europe, hence permission
+to travel was but sparingly given, nor were foreigners encouraged
+to visit Russia. In 1826, war broke out with Persia, the result
+of which was that the latter power was compelled to cede Erivan
+and the country as far as the Araxes (or Aras). Russia also made
+further additions to her territory by the treaty of Adrianople in
+1829, after Diebich had crossed the Balkans. In 1830, the great
+Polish rebellion broke out, which was crushed after much bloodshed
+in Sept. 1831, by the capture of Warsaw. In 1849, the Russians
+assisted Austria in crushing the revolt of her Hungarian subjects.
+In 1853 broke out the Crimean War, the details of which are so well
+known as to require no enumeration. Peace was concluded between
+Russia and the Allies, after the death of the Emperor Nicholas in
+1855, who was succeeded by his son, Alexander II. The two great
+events of the reign of this monarch have been the emancipation of
+the serfs in 1861, by which 22,000,000 received their liberty,
+and the war with Turkey.
+
+
+
+
+_CHURCH SERVICE_
+
+_ALFRED MASKELL_
+
+The history of the introduction and early progress of Christianity
+in Russia is involved in obscurity and overlaid with legendary
+stories. There is little doubt that it came from Constantinople, and
+was not only rapidly spread, but firmly established in the country
+within a short space of time. The date most generally accepted is
+that of the reign of Vladimir, the great prince of Kief, grandson
+of Olga. As Dean Stanley remarks in his _Lectures on the Eastern
+Church_: "It coincides with a great epoch in Europe, the close of
+the Tenth Century, when throughout the West the end of the world
+was fearfully expected, when the Latin Church was overclouded with
+the deepest despondency, when the Papal See had become the prey
+of ruffians and profligates, then it was that the Eastern Church,
+silently and almost unconsciously, bore into the world her mightiest
+offspring."
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION, MOSCOW.]
+
+The Eastern Church was then at the zenith of its splendour. The
+envoys sent by Vladimir to Constantinople to examine and report
+upon the religion which he had almost decided to adopt were dazzled
+with the magnificence of the ceremonial. They were wavering in
+their choice and weighing the merits of the different systems which
+had been brought before them. Rome they had not seen; Mohammedanism
+was foreign to their tastes; Judaism had been found wanting; but
+the Eastern Church appealed strongly to their imaginations and
+barbaric love of splendour. Hers was St. Sophia, magnificent now,
+but how much more gorgeous then! Every effort was made to win them,
+and the victory was easy.
+
+The intercourse of the newly formed empire of Russia with Byzantium
+was at that time great. The change of religion had been very sudden
+and it was necessary to build at once new edifices for the new
+order of things. It was naturally to Byzantium that they turned
+for their form and ornament. Very quickly churches arose. Novgorod,
+the cradle of the Empire and the capital until the removal to Kief,
+was the Metropolitan See, and the first cathedral is said to have
+been built there as early as A. D. 989.
+
+The form of a Russian Church underwent little change up to the
+Seventeenth Century. In the Thirteenth Century the architects imported
+from Lombardy brought to bear on the exterior the style of the
+Lombardic or Romanesque architecture which had so long prevailed
+in their own country. The gilded dome or cupola, of peculiar
+onion-shaped form which is so especially Russian, was added soon
+afterwards. The central cupola, which was adopted from the first,
+was afterwards surrounded by others; their number reached even
+to twenty or thirty, and it was not until the Sixteenth Century
+at the time of the establishment of the patriarchate (1589), that
+these were authoritatively restricted to five, which is now the
+orthodox and obligatory number.
+
+The practice of having two, three, five, seven, nine and thirteen
+cupolas or spires is as early as the Eleventh Century. The numbers
+were figurative; two signifying the two natures of Jesus Christ,
+three, a symbol of the Trinity, five, our Lord and the four evangelists
+or the five wounds, seven, the seven sacraments, the seven gifts
+of the Holy Spirit, or the seven recumenical councils, nine, the
+nine celestial hierarchies, and thirteen, our Lord and the twelve
+apostles.
+
+Within the dimensions are small and the light obscure. Still, the
+simple, nearly square disposition of the building, the enormous
+plain-shafted pillars which support the domes, the mass of gilding,
+the multitude of lamps, produce an undoubtedly grand effect. It
+is strikingly oriental; and as in Russian churches there are no
+seats, but the people stand in a mingled throng, now and then
+prostrating themselves and beating their foreheads on the ground,
+each as his own devotion may dictate, the resemblance is still
+more marked. All the interior is covered with fresco pictures;
+even the pillars have gigantic figures of the saints and doctors
+of the church painted upon them. From the high roof hang immense
+brass chandeliers of a peculiar form with many branches, capable
+of holding hundreds of candles. In the dim distance, seemingly a
+wall of gold, is the iconostas, the solid screen which in every
+church divides the sanctuary from the rest of the sacred edifice.
+
+The iconostas is in all cases decorated with a large number of holy
+pictures or icons, arranged in formal rows one above the other. It
+is a solid erection from side to side, from floor to roof, and in
+the centre are the _royal doors_, through which none may pass but
+the consecrating priest, or the emperor: and the last once only,
+at the time of his coronation. At no time is any woman permitted
+to enter the sanctuary.
+
+The iconostas contains sometimes as many as seven rows of images:
+that of the _Uspenski Sobor_[1] has five. Their arrangement is
+guided by certain rules and restrictions. Our Lord and the blessed
+Virgin must be represented on each side of the royal doors, and on
+the doors themselves the Annunciation and the four evangelists.
+On the side doors angels must be represented. Above must be the
+usual symbol of the Trinity figured by Abraham entertaining the
+three angels.
+
+[Footnote 1: Cathedral of the Assumption, Moscow.]
+
+The whole of the space behind the screen is known as the altar.
+The altar itself is square, or rather a double cube. Above it four
+small columns with a canopy form a baldachino; and the cross is
+laid flat upon it. Here also is placed the tabernacle or _zion_
+which is often an architectural structure in pure gold with figures.
+There are five zions of this kind in the cathedrals of St. Sophia
+at Novgorod and at the Troitsa monastery.
+
+In the apse behind the altar and facing it is the _thronos_, the
+seat of the archbishop, with seats for priests on either side.
+
+Besides the icons and holy pictures on the screen (and in the Cathedral
+of the Assumption the latter contains the most highly venerated
+in Russia) other smaller icons are set apart in various parts of
+the church. As is now the custom, though it is comparatively a
+recent one, the greater part of the picture, with the exception of
+the faces, hands and feet, is covered with an embossed and chased
+plaque in gold or silver-gilt representing the form and garments.
+Glories or nimbuses in high relief set thick with gems surround
+the faces, and sparkle as they reflect the light from the multitude
+of candles burnt in their honour. Some are covered to overloading
+with jewels, necklets, and bracelets; pearls, diamonds, and rubies
+of large size and value adorning them in profusion.
+
+The ceremonial of the Greek church is excessively complex, and the
+symbolical meanings by which it represents the dogmas of religion
+are everywhere made the subjects of minute observance. During the
+greater part of the mass the royal doors are closed: the deacons
+remain for the most part without, now and again entering for a
+short time. From time to time a pope or popes pass throughout the
+church, amongst the crowds, incensing all the holy pictures in
+turn; the voice of the officiating priest is raised within, and
+is answered in deep tones by the deacons without. Now from one
+corner comes a chant of many voices, now for another a single one
+in tones (it may be), the epistle or gospel of the day. Now the
+doors fly open and a fleeting glimpse is gained of the celebrant
+through the thick rolling clouds of incense. Then they are closed
+again suddenly. To a stranger unable to follow and in ignorance
+of the meaning, the effect is bewildering.
+
+In writing, even generally, of the arts in Russia some reference
+to religious music is excusable. That of Russia has a peculiar
+charm of its own, far above the barbarous discords that are to be
+heard in Greek and other churches of the East at the present day.
+There is a sweetness and attractiveness in the unaccompanied chanting
+of the choir, in the deep bass tones of the men mingling with the
+plaintive trebles of younger voices, which is indescribable in its
+harmony. It is unlike any other; yet underneath lies the original
+tinge of orientalism, the wailing semitones of all barbaric music.
+No accompaniment, no instrumental music of any kind is permitted.
+Bass voices of extraordinary depth and power are the most desired.
+It is said that the tones now used in the Russian church are
+comparatively modern.
+
+The principal churches and monasteries in Russia possess rich stores
+of vestments; some of comparatively high antiquity which are preserved
+with scrupulous care and still used on occasions of great ceremony.
+In more modern vestments the ancient ornament is to a great extent
+strictly copied.
+
+The _saccos_, formerly the principal vestment of the patriarchs
+and an emblem of sovereign power, is now common to all Russian
+bishops. It is in the shape of a dalmatic, formed of two square
+pieces of stuff joined together at the neck and open at the sides,
+having wide short sleeves. Many of the finest of these vestments
+are elaborately embroidered in gold and silver and ornamented with
+figures of saints; and in the stuffs themselves sacred subjects are
+often woven. They are also thickly sown with rows of seed-pearls
+which follow the lines and edgings of the vestment and border the
+sacred images. They are besides set with enamelled, nielloed, or
+jewelled plaques of gold or silver. Texts in Greek or Sclavonic
+often border the whole of the edges of the garment. These are
+elaborately worked in gold or silver, or the letters formed completely
+of seed-pearls. The _saccos_ of the Metropolitan Peter (made in
+1322), of Alexis (1364), of Photius (1414), and of Dionysius (made
+in 1583), are remarkable vestments of this character, to be found
+in the patriarchal sacristy at Moscow. The stoles, which usually
+correspond, are long, narrow, and nearly straight-sided to the
+bottom. A peculiar episcopal ornament is the _epigonation_. It is
+a large lozenge-shaped ornament embroidered and worked in a similar
+manner to the other vestments, and by bishops is worn hanging from
+the right side.
+
+The usual form of mitre of a pope of the Russian church is well-known.
+The earlier kind was a sort of low cap with a border of fur, something
+like the cap of a royal crown, and probably not different in type
+from the head-dresses of bishops of the west. Some are sewn thick
+with pearls bordering and heightening the lines of the figures of
+saints, and forming the outlines of the Sclavonic inscriptions.
+Such is that of Joassof, first patriarch of the Russian church
+(1558). Those of later times are often of metal richly set with
+precious stones. Sometimes they assume a more conical form, surmounted
+by a cross, like an imperial crown, as that which is termed the
+Constantinople mitre, said to have been made in the time of Ivan
+the Terrible. The mitre of the celebrated Nikon (1655), who aspired
+to papal prerogatives, is diadem-shaped and remarkable for the
+richness of the precious stones with which it is set. The most
+usual shape recalls to some extent the favourite cupola, spreading
+out from the base to the top.
+
+The form of the chalice used in the Russian church varies considerably,
+as it does also in that of the Latin church. In general characteristics
+the two have much in common. In early times the chalice was made of
+wood or crystal as well as of gold and silver. An ancient chalice
+of crystal is preserved in the Cathedral of the Assumption at Moscow,
+and the wooden ones of SS. Sergius and Nikon are in the sacristy
+at Troitsa. On some old icons our Lord is represented as giving
+the holy communion to the apostles out of narrow-necked vessels
+which appear to be made of alabaster.
+
+The Greek rite for the celebration of the holy eucharist requires
+three things which are not used in the western church. These are
+the knife or spear, the star or asterisk, and the spoon for the
+administration of the chalice as the sacrament is received by the
+laity under both kinds. It may naturally be supposed that such sacred
+objects would be the subjects of high artistic workmanship. The
+paten itself is often elaborately enamelled and otherwise decorated,
+whereas in the western church the rubrics require it to be plain.
+
+The ceremonial of the preparation of the bread (which is leavened
+and in the form of a small loaf) is exceedingly complex. Portions
+are cut out for consecration, and for this purpose a knife called
+a "spear" is used. These portions placed on the paten are covered
+with a veil, and in order to prevent the latter from touching the
+elements a piece of metal is placed over them: two strips crossed,
+and bent so as to have four feet. The tabernacle, or perhaps more
+properly ciborium, is sometimes in the form of a hill or mount of
+gold or silver-gilt, or of a temple, and there are many remarkable
+examples. One at Troitsa is of solid gold with the exception of
+Judas, which is of brass. Another is in the sacristy of the church
+of the Assumption at Moscow. From its inscription we learn that
+it was made for the grand duke Ivan Vassilievitch in 1486, and
+it is a characteristic specimen of Russian art of the period.
+
+A peculiar ornament or sacred vessel of the Russo-Greek church
+is known under the name of _panagia_, and of this there are two
+kinds. One is a jewel or pectoral worn suspended from the neck by
+bishops, and is an object on which much care and rich decoration
+are lavished. In a somewhat altered form it is worn by priests
+in the same way for carrying the holy sacrament on a journey or
+to the sick.
+
+Pectoral crosses for the dignitaries of the church are of course
+not uncommon; not only priests, however, but every Russian man,
+woman or child carries a small cross, more or less ornamental. They
+are various in form and richness of decoration; from the simple
+bronze cross, rudely stamped, of the peasant, to the enamelled and
+jewelled one of the metropolitan or noble. Nearly always the plain
+three-armed cross is set in the centre of another more elaborate
+or conventional. Almost invariably also the sacred monograms and
+invocations in Sclavonic characters are engraved in the field.
+In some cases it is more a medallion than a cross, the form of
+the cross being indicated by cutting four segments in the manner
+of the ancient stone crosses to be seen in many parts of England.
+Besides the inscriptions, emblems such as the spear and nails and
+crown of thorns are often to be distinguished though conventionally
+indicated.
+
+Crosses on church tops are made of silver, wood, lead, and even
+gold. The open-worked designs of many of them, although intended
+to be placed at great height, are extremely elegant. They were
+occasionally ornamented with coins, and those on churches erected
+by the Tsar are surmounted by an imperial crown.
+
+A crescent as a symbol beneath the cross is very frequent. Various
+explanations of this symbol have been given. According to some it
+is in remembrance of the victory of the cross over the crescent
+on the deliverance from the Mongol yoke. Others think it to have
+originated simply in the freak of some goldsmith, afterwards copied
+by others until it came to be accepted as a necessity. It is certain
+that the use of the crescent is anterior to the Mongol invasion,
+and was an old symbol in Byzantium, as appears from coins.
+
+The pastoral staff of Russian bishops is tau-shaped; and there
+are many good old examples, a few in ivory, but for the most part
+in silver-gilt. Processional crosses are also used.
+
+The censer is a piece of church furniture in constant use in the
+Russo-Greek church, and we find several examples very characteristic
+of Russian art. As in the west, the application of architectural forms
+is very frequent, and it is not surprising that the peculiarities of
+Russian ecclesiastical ornament should be prominent and especially
+the dome which naturally suggests itself.
+
+Amongst the objects kept in the sacristy of the patriarchs in the
+Cathedral of the Assumption, in Moscow, is one which is held in
+special veneration. This is the vase in which is preserved the
+deposit of holy chrism used in the annual preparation of holy oils
+for distribution to the various churches of the empire.
+
+The preparation of this oil is an occasion of great ceremony in
+Holy Week. From the fourth week in Lent the preliminary mixings of
+oil, wine, herbs, and a variety of different ingredients begin. In
+the Holy Week these ingredient are prepared in a public ceremony:
+two large boilers, several bowls and sixteen vases together with
+other vessels being used. All of these are of great size of massive
+silver, and, presented by Catherine II. in 1767, are specimens of
+silver work of that time.
+
+
+
+
+_THE CREEDS OF RUSSIA_
+
+_ERNEST W. LOWRY_
+
+A report was brought to Basil, the Metropolitan of Moscow, in the
+year 1340, by merchants of Novgorod, who asserted that they had
+beheld a glimpse of Paradise from the shores of the White Sea.
+Whether their vision were merely the dazzling reflection of some
+sunlit iceberg, or only the glow of poetic imagination, it so fired
+the ardour of the medi�val prelate that he longed to set sail for
+this golden gleam. Be the old legend true or false, it is certain that
+to this day the northern Mujik shows an even more marked religious
+enthusiasm than his brother of the central governments. Fanaticism,
+mysticism, and fatalism go ever hand in hand in Northern Russia.
+The Empire of the Tsars being so vast in area and so embracive of
+races affords space for all forms of belief, or want of belief,
+within her boundaries. All creeds are represented, from the pagan
+Samoyede of the _tundras_ to the Mohammedan Tartar of the Steppes.
+Our concern is with but one of these--the Old Believers. But to
+understand their doctrine, we must glance at the clergy of the
+State Church from which they dissent.
+
+[Illustration: A RELIGIOUS PROCESSION, LOKA.]
+
+The clergy of the Orthodox Russian Church are divided into Black
+or monks of St. Basil, and the White or parish priests. The latter
+must be married before they are ordained, and may not marry again
+(which has led to the saying, "A priest takes good care of his
+wife, for he cannot get another"), while the monasteries, of course,
+require celibacy. From the latter the bishops are elected, so that
+they--in contradistinction to the priests--must be single. This
+system is much condemned by the lower clergy, who ask pertinently,
+"How can the bishop know the hardships of our lives? for he is
+single and well paid, we poor and married." The rule, observed
+elsewhere, holds good in Russia, the poorer the priest, the larger
+the family. Few village priests receive any regular stipend, but
+are allowed a plot of land in the commune wherein they minister.
+This allowance is generally from thirty to forty dessiatines (eighty
+to one hundred and eight acres), and can only be converted into
+money, or food products, by the labour of the parson and his family
+upon it--very literally must they put their hand to the plough.
+Priests are paid for special services, such as christenings or
+weddings, at no fixed tariff, but at a sliding rate, according
+to the means of the payer, the price being arrived at by means of
+prolonged bargaining between the shepherd and his flock. Would-be
+couples often wait for months until a sum can be fixed upon with
+his reverence for tying the knot; and sometimes, by means of daily
+haggling, the amount first asked can be reduced by one-half, for
+the cost of the ceremony varies--according to the social status of
+the happy pair--from ten to one hundred roubles. Funerals, too, are
+at times postponed for most unhealthy periods during this process.
+Generally, however, the White Clergy[1] are so miserably poor that
+they cannot be blamed for making the best market they can for their
+priestly offices. Whether the system or the salary be at fault
+it is hard to say, but from whatever cause the fact remains that
+the parish clergy of the villages are not always all they might
+be; there are many among them who lead upright lives and gain the
+respect of their parishioners, but it would be idle to deny that
+there are many whose thoughts turn more to _vodka_ than piety,
+the _kabak_ than the Church. Such shepherds have little in common
+with the best elements of their flocks, and much with the worst,
+in whose company they are generally seen.
+
+[Footnote 1: The White Clergy wear any colour but that from which
+they take their name--a deer-skin cap and long felt boots.]
+
+The poor "Pope" spends much of his time going from _izba_ to _izba_,
+giving his blessing and receiving in return drink and a few copecks;
+from this come, all too easily, the proverbs of his parishioners,
+"Am I a priest, that I should sup twice?" etc. Count Tolstoi makes
+his hero remark in the trial scene of the _Resurrection_, when his
+fellow jurymen are more friendly than he would wish, "The son of
+a priest will speak to me next." But most of them have a side to
+their natures which, though not always to be seen, is, nevertheless,
+latent--the hour of need often lifts them to the lofty plane of
+their sublime functions; the labouring--often hungry--peasant of
+the weekdays becomes on Sunday exalted above the petty surroundings
+of Mujik life, and becomes indeed the "little father" of his people.
+
+From the Established Church of the State, the Church of the few in
+the North, let us turn to the old faith, the Church of the many.
+The Old Believers, Raskolniks, or dissenters, are indeed a numerous,
+although officially an uncounted, body in the North; half the trade
+of Moscow, most of that which is Russian at all, in the Port of
+Archangel, all the Pomor shipping lies in their hands.
+
+The word Raskolnik means, literally, one who splits asunder, and
+that is just what the Old Believer is--one who has split off from
+the Orthodox Church.
+
+Two hundred and fifty years ago Nikon, a friar of Solovetsk, an
+island monastery in the White Sea, having quarrelled alike with
+equal and superior, was set adrift in an open boat; he reached
+the mainland at Ki, a small cape in Onega Bay, wandered southward
+to Olonets, where he got together a band of followers, proceeded
+to Moscow, obtained the notice of the throne, got preferment, was
+soon made Patriarch. He ruled with an iron hand, made many enemies,
+and when at last he obtained from Mount Santo, in Roumelia, authentic
+Greek Church-service books, and, having had them translated into
+Sclavonic, forced their use upon the Church, with the aid of the
+Tsar Alexis, in the place of those previously in use, the revolt
+began in earnest. In addition to the altered service book, Nikon
+introduced a cross with but two beams, a new stamp for the holy
+wafer, a different way of holding the fingers in pronouncing the
+blessing, and a new way of spelling the name Jesus, to which the
+Church was unaccustomed. In each of these changes Nikon and his
+party really wished to go back to older and purer forms of Greek
+ritual, but many resisted the alterations, believing them to be
+innovations.
+
+Such was the beginning of Raskol; the end is not yet. Those who
+could not accept these reforms, or returns to older forms, took
+up the name of "Staro-obriadtsi," or Old Believers, holding that
+theirs was indeed the true old faith of their fathers. For them
+began, in very truth a hard time; a time which has left its mark
+most clearly upon their descendants to-day. Excommunicated and
+persecuted under Alexis and Peter I., they were driven in thousands
+from their village homes to seek refuge where they could, in forest,
+mountain or island; a party reaching in the year 1767, even to
+Kolgueff Island, where, as might be expected, they perished during
+the following year from scurvy. To these brave bands of Old Believers,
+setting forth under their banner of the "Eight-ended Cross," to
+find new homes beyond the reach of persecution, is, in large part,
+due the colonization of the huge province of Archangel and the
+northern portion of Siberia. That it was not always easy for the
+Raskolnik to get beyond the range of official persecutions is shown
+by many an old "_ukas_," and by many an old entry in the books of
+far-distant communes. Farther north and farther east, from forest
+to _tundra_ and Steppe were they driven, spreading as they went
+their Russian nationality over regions Asiatic; as exiles they
+settled among Polish Romanists, Baltic Protestants, and Caucasian
+Mussulmans, and with the heathen Lapp and Samoyede, and Ostiac, on
+the Murman coast of Russian Lapland, in the bleak Northern _tundra_,
+on the Petchora, and away beyond the Ural Spur, they found at last
+the rest they sought.
+
+Their most dangerous enemy was not, however, the persecution of the
+dominant Church; they had placed themselves geographically beyond the
+reach of that: far more dangerous was further Raskol--splitting--among
+themselves, and it was not long before this overtook them. Cut off
+by their own faith, as well by excommunication, from the Orthodox
+Church, the supply of consecrated priests soon gave out; they had
+lost their apostolic succession and could not renew it, for the one
+Bishop--Paul of Kalomna--who had joined them, had died in prison,
+without appointing a successor. Without an episcopate they were soon
+without a priesthood; and the vital question, "How shall we get
+priests and through them Sacraments?" was answered in two ways,
+and according to the answer, so were the Old Believers divided into
+two main sects. One sect declared that, as there were no longer
+faithful priests, they were cut off from all the Sacraments except
+Baptism, which could be administered by laymen. These "Bespopoftsi,"
+or priestless people, were unable to marry; and to this--in a land
+where the economic unit, is not man, but man and wife, where the
+ties of family life are so strong--was due their further splitting.
+
+In 1846, however, they persuaded an outcast bishop to join their
+ranks, and founded a See at Bielokrinitzkaga, in Austrian Bukovina,
+beyond the Russian Empire; from thence the succession was handed
+down, and now after long decades of waiting, they have bishops
+and priests of their own.
+
+The practice of hiring a priest from the Orthodox Church, to conduct
+a service for the Old Believers, is still very common in the far
+North, where all villages have not the means to keep a "Pope" of
+their own; and many an Orthodox clergyman thus adds considerably
+to his precarious income by officiating for those whom his
+great-grandfathers excommunicated as heretics; indeed, the Government
+now encourages this practice, and has made some attempt to heal up
+the schism by allowing its priests to adopt, to a slight extent,
+the old customs in villages where all the inhabitants are Raskolniks.
+This can the more readily be understood when it is remembered that
+the Old Believers hold in all essential points the same creed as
+the Orthodox; they are--and their name implies--believers in the
+old faith of the Russian branch of the Greek Church, as expressed
+since the day of St. Vladimir until the Seventeenth Century, but
+not in the so-called innovations of Nikon. The points of difference
+are so small that it seems impossible a Church should by them have
+been cleft in twain. The Orthodox sign the Cross with three fingers
+extended, the dissenters with two, holding that the two raised
+fingers indicate the dual nature of Christ, while the three bent
+ones represent the Trinity. It does not seem to have occurred to
+either party that the reverse holds true as well. The Orthodox
+Cross has but two beams, while that of the Raskolnik has four,
+and is made of four woods--cypress, cedar, palm, and olive; the
+latter, too, repeats his Allelujah thrice, the Orthodox but twice.
+Such are the points to which in all probability, the peopling of
+the outlying portions of the Empire of the Tsars is due.
+
+The Raskolniks have set a far higher value upon education than the
+Orthodox; the instruction given in their settlements often sheds
+a strong light upon the darkness of Orthodox ignorance around, and
+with the spread of education so does the sect extend and multiply.
+Their house can generally be distinguished by cleanliness, the
+presence of many Eicons, brass and silver crosses, and ancient
+books; its mistress by her greater thoughtfulness and capability.
+Old Believers are always glad to seize the opportunity, given so
+well by the long northern winter, with its almost endless night,
+of reading, and on their shelves are seen translations of our best
+authors, from whom, perhaps, it is that they have taken their advanced
+political views, and the outcome of whose perusal is that the hunter
+and fisherman will often propound to one questions which show a
+mind well trained in logical thought. The Raskolnik is generally
+fairly well to do, for, like the Quaker and the Puritan, he finds
+a turn for business not incompatible with religious exercise, and
+to this is in part due the superiority and comfort of their homes.
+Most of them in the far North are fishers and hunters, sealers and
+sailors, and in these and kindred trades they make use of better
+and more modern appliances than their neighbours, and so generally
+realize more for their commodities.
+
+Far from civilization, in the impenetrable forests of the great
+lone land of Archangel, the fugitive Raskolniks were able to found
+retreats for themselves, untroubled and unobserved; these refuges
+still exist, and are called "Obitel" or cells. In the district of
+Mezen there are many such establishments, both for men and women;
+among the former the Anuphief Hermitage, or cells of Koida, stand
+in a splendid position, on the banks of both lake and river Koida,
+some 100 versts in summer by river, and 50 in winter, over ice,
+from the town of that name.
+
+On Nonconformist, as on Orthodox, is laid the burden of severe
+fasting; as Master Chancellour tells us, in 1553, "This people
+hath four Lents,"--indeed, the eating working year is reduced to
+some 130 days. In the North, where vegetables and berries are few
+and fruit non-existent, the Mujik is left to fast on "_treska_,"
+rotten codfish--and the condition of the man who begins Lent underfed
+is indeed pitiable when he ends it. The endurance of the Old Believer
+is marvellous; no offer of food will tempt him from what he considers
+his duty.
+
+Let us turn our attention from the Raskolniks, or Old Believers
+of the far North, who, as we have seen, so literally "forsook all"
+for their ancient Faith, to some few of the many new, or lately
+developed creeds whose followers are seeking after truth with equal
+earnestness and vigour, but along very different lines. Sect begets
+sect in the world of theology, much as cell begets cell in the
+economy of life. Change seems the active principle of all dissent;
+new cults are forever springing up in the mystic childlike minds of
+the Tsar's great peasant family, nor could one expect uniformity
+of confession, when the size and neighbours of that family are
+considered, for Mohammedan, Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, and
+Shamanist surround it, are made subject to it, and eventually become
+a part thereof. A Mosque stands opposite the Orthodox church in
+the great square which forms the centre of Nijni-Novgorod, a Roman
+Catholic and a German Lutheran church almost face the magnificent
+Kazan Cathedral, in the Nevski-Prospekt of St. Petersburg. The
+waiters of nearly all restaurants, from Archangel to Baku, are
+Mohammedan Tartars, the Jew is in every market-place, the native
+heathen races, Lapp, Samoyede, Ostiac, Yakout, and a score of others,
+are closely connected by the bonds of commerce: can it be wondered
+at if the ideas of the peasant become tinted by his surroundings?
+
+It cannot be gainsaid that the lifelessness and emptiness of the
+State Church, with its hireling and often ignorant priesthood,
+fails to satisfy the great mind of Russia--the peasant mind--but
+now awakening from its long infant slumber, as did the mind of
+Western Europe three centuries ago. Next perhaps to the extreme
+literalness with which the Mujik interprets Holy Writ, this
+dissatisfaction with the official Church is the greatest cause of
+the grip which the chameleon-like "dissent" has taken hold of the
+popular mind. With very few exceptions--notably the Skoptsy--the
+150 sects which are stated to exist within the pale of Christianity
+and the borders of the Empire of the Tsar, begin and end with the
+Mujik; the official world is of necessity Orthodox, the wealthy
+world careless, and this fact, of the peasant origin and development
+of the denominations, must be carefully borne in mind when attempting
+to form any idea of the widely different meanings and shades of
+meaning which have been put upon the one Bible story.
+
+Of the strictly rational, and more or less Protestant, portion
+of Russian dissent, the Dukhobortsy, or "Wrestlers with the Holy
+Spirit," and their descendants in the faith, the Molokans, or "Milk
+Drinkers," are perhaps the best known to us, from the fact of their
+having emigrated to English-speaking lands, and from the valiant
+championing of their cause by Count L. D. Tolstoi. They form the
+antithesis of the Old Believers, as is well set forth in the
+conversation between A. Leroy-Beauleau (in the _Empire of the Tsars_)
+and a fisherman of the persuasion, who said, "The Raskolniks would
+go to the block for the sign of the Cross with two fingers. As
+for us, we don't cross ourselves at all, either with two fingers
+or with three, but we strive to gain a better knowledge of God";
+and, indeed, his words may stand for a declaration of the simple
+faith of his people, for their worship is marked by a deep contempt
+for tradition, dogma, and ceremony. They have even done away with
+the church, and, as a rule, use the house of their elders as a
+meeting-place. Communion has been simplified away, marriage reduced
+to a simple declaration, and invocation of God's blessing, the
+priesthood question, the rock which first split the Old Faith,
+solved by making every man a priest in his own family: surely their
+motto, "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life," has been
+well acted up to. Indeed, the whole theology of the Dukhobortsy
+may be summed up as a bold attempt to depart from the empty Greek
+formalism and arrive at a spiritual and unconventional worship,
+an enlargement of the outline given in the shortest and grandest
+of sermons.
+
+The Molokani are said to have obtained this name from taking milk
+and butter during fast times when they are forbidden to the Orthodox,
+but more probably from the fact of their having colonies on either
+bank of the river Molochnaia, so called from the whiteness of its
+waters, due to potassium salts. They are very closely akin to the
+Dukhobortsy, of which sect they are an offshoot. They hope for a
+millennium, and to this end tend all their communistic experiments;
+for each of their village settlements is striving to manufacture
+its own earthly Paradise and run it on its own lines.
+
+[Illustration: SHRINE IN THE CONVENT SOLOVETSKII, KOLA.]
+
+The Stunda is perhaps the largest and most rapidly developing faction
+of nonconformity, for it has ramified from Odessa--its starting
+point--throughout Tsarland, save in the extreme north and north-east.
+This faith can be traced directly to the influence of certain Lutherans
+who emigrated from W�rtemberg and settled in the fruitful
+"_tchenoziom_," or black earth lands, some half-century ago. The
+Stundist organization is much like that of the "Low Church" division
+of Protestantism, save that it has no ordained clergy, a body whom
+it regards as a somewhat expensive luxury, and replaces by elected
+elders, who lead the very simple services, at which any man or
+woman who feels called upon to do so may say what he or she will.
+These gatherings are more prayer-meetings than services, for there
+is no "Form of Prayer" to be used, but simply informal prayer,
+praise and song in the best room of a farmhouse, though, now that
+the Government are not so strict in their search after heretics,
+regular wooden "meeting-houses" have appeared in some of the Stundist
+villages.
+
+If few of the rational sects have committed their history and their
+views, or indeed their creeds, to writing, lest they should fall
+into the hands of spies and be used in evidence against them, much
+more is this the case with those whose search after truth has led
+them to forsake the lines of rationalism and enter the land of
+mysticism and spiritualism. But two of these mystic schisms need
+we touch upon in this article, in order to show to what lengths
+the Mujik will go in his efforts to escape from the trammels of
+Orthodoxy, and with what logic he will follow up any given line of
+thought. Most of the irrational sects are older than those already
+mentioned, and do not seem to have their roots in other lands,
+but to be the expression of the Mujik's own mind in its waking
+moments: thus the "Khlystsy"--the name is a nickname taken from
+the word "Khlyst" (a whip)--date back to the early days of the
+Seventeenth Century. They hold that Christ has made and still makes
+repeated appearances on earth and in Russia, and indeed they are
+seldom without an incarnate God present with them in flesh and
+blood.
+
+The Khlystsy meet by night, with the utmost secrecy, and are reported
+to dance, after the manner of the Dervishes, with ever-increasing
+rapidity, until their feelings are worked up to such a pitch that
+they are able to receive messages of inspiration, which they shout
+out to their fellows. If one of their number has a fit--not an
+uncommon event in some communes where close intermarriage among
+relations has been the practice for generations--he is safe to be
+regarded as an inspired messenger and duly honoured as such. Charges
+of every kind of vice have been laid at the door of the Khlystsy;
+their secret services have been called cloaks for immorality, and
+doubtless on occasion have been used as such; but, as the character
+of their congregation stands for high honesty and industry, it
+is surely more charitable to assume that their worst feature is
+their extreme secrecy, and that this, when added to the hatred of
+orthodox marriage which the sect shows, lies at the base of most
+of the accusations. Closely connected with these dancing Khlystsy
+are the jumping Shakuny, whose jumps are said to increase in height
+as do the circular movements of the former, until the proper state
+of mind for inspired prophecy is reached.
+
+Among the stockbrokers and money-changers of Russian cities, as
+well as among peasants, may be seen the pale and almost hairless
+face, wavering voice, and mild manner of the "Skopets" who has put
+in practice upon himself the strange doctrine of self-mutilation.
+These "White Doves" as they call themselves, base their self-sacrifice
+upon the literal rendering of such texts as, "If thy right eye
+offend thee, pluck it out," "Except a man become as a little child,
+he shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven," and argue that in
+order to be pleasing to God, man--and in some instances woman--must
+become like the angels, whom they assert to be sexless, on the
+ground that "they neither marry nor are given in marriage."
+
+We notice the hold which religion, in its vast variety of forms,
+has over the popular mind of Russia. No one who has visited, however
+casually, a Russian city can doubt this; the icon hangs in the
+station office, and men bow to it, the cabman crosses himself ere
+he drives over a bridge; shrines are interposed between shops, many
+of which latter are devoted to the sale of crucifixes, swinging
+lamps and sacred pictures; green cupolas and golden crosses gleam
+against the sky, look which way you will. So it is in the village,
+the white wooden church stands out in front of the black wooden
+houses, crosses are placed in the cattle pastures to ward off evil
+spirits, the folk cross themselves if they yawn, lest "chort,"
+the devil jump in at their mouth, and the drunkard, at the tavern
+door, kneels and uncovers as the procession passes on its way, may
+be to bless the waters but now released from the winter grip of
+ice, or may be to leave some neighbour in the communal graveyard.
+We notice, too, the stern logic with which the peasant theologian
+follows up the ideas of his sect, how he works out his own salvation
+along lines which he himself lays down, and in so doing invents
+some new creed almost daily; for a Russian newspaper can hardly
+ever be taken up without seeing the discovery of such in one corner
+or other of the vast Empire. That he has the full courage of his
+opinions, that he will suffer for conscience' sake--Russian officials
+only know how bitterly--that he will lay down his life, or--almost
+equal sacrifice for him--forsake his land and "_izba_," and face
+the future among the wild native races which bound European Tsarland
+on its north and east--not so very long ago--he suffered the knout
+and the stake rather than recant one iota of what he thinks to be
+the only true rendering of the Biblical text, all this must in
+common fairness be allowed to the poor Russian.
+
+
+
+
+_ST. PETERSBURG_
+
+_J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON_
+
+Cronstadt, the strong fortress which stopped the advance of the
+English squadron in the last Russian war, is as the water-gate of
+St. Petersburg. A bright July sun made no unpleasing picture of
+the huge hulks of the men-of-war, and of the many-masted merchant
+ships which lay within the harbour, or behind the fortifications.
+Passing Cronstadt the capital soon comes in sight; the water is so
+smooth and shallow, and the banks are so low, that I was actually
+reminded of the lagoons of Venice. Far away in the distance glittered
+in the sunlight cupola beyond cupola, covered with burnished gold or
+sparkling with bright stars on a blue ground. The river, stretching
+wide as an estuary, was thronged with merchandise as the Tagus or the
+Thames: yachts were flying before the wind and steam-tugs laboured
+slowly against the stream, dragging behind the heavily-laden lighter.
+Warehouses and wharfs and timber-yards now begin to line either bank;
+yet the materials for a sketch-book are scanty and uninviting: an
+artist who, like Mr. Whistler, has etched at Battersea and Blackwell,
+would find by comparison on the Neva the forms without character,
+the surface without texture, the masses without light, shade, or
+colour. As the boat advances the imperial city grows in scale and
+pomp. The river view becomes imposing, the banks are lined on either
+side by granite quays, which for solidity, strength, and area, have
+no parallel in Europe. Beneath the bridges the unruly river rushes,
+bearing along rafts and merchandise, and in the broad-laid streets
+people hurry to and fro, as if the day were too short for the press
+of business: only in great commercial capitals, the centres of large
+populations, is life thus rapid and overburdened. Throughout Russia
+generally time hangs heavily, but here at the seat of empire, the
+focus of commerce, life under high pressure moves at full speed. I
+know of no European capital, excepting perhaps London and Vienna,
+which leaves on the mind so strong an impression of power, wealth,
+and ostentation, as the city of St. Petersburg.
+
+Possibly the first idea which may strike the stranger on driving
+from the steamer to the hotel, is the large scale on which the
+city has been planned; the area of squares and streets seems
+proportioned to the vast dimensions of the Russian empire: indeed
+the silent solitudes of the city may be said to symbolize the desert
+tracks of central Russia and Siberia. Only on the continent of
+America is so much land at command, so large a sweep of territory
+brought within the circuit of city life. In the old world, Munich
+offers the closest analogy to St. Petersburg, and that not only
+by wide and half-occupied areas, but by a certain pretentious and
+pseudo-classic architecture, common to the two cities alike: the
+design of the Hermitage in fact came from Munich. St. Petersburg,
+like Munich too, has been forced into rapid growth; indeed while
+looking at the works raised by successive Tsars, I was reminded
+of the boast of Augustus that he found Rome of brick and left her
+of marble.
+
+St. Petersburg, though sometimes decried as a city of shams, is
+certainly not surpassed in the way of show by any capital in Europe.
+As to natural situation she may be said to be at once fortunate and
+infelicitous: the flatness of the land is not redeemed by fertility,
+the monotony of the panorama is not broken by mountains; the city
+rides as a raft upon the waters, so heavily freighted as to run the
+risk of sinking. And yet I know of no capital more imposing when
+taken from the strong points of view. Almost beyond parallel is the
+array of palaces and public buildings which meets the traveller's eye
+in a walk or sail from the English quay up to the Gardens of the
+Summer Palace. The structures it is true tend a little too much
+of what may be termed buckram and fustian styles; indeed there
+is scarcely a form or a detail which an architect would care to
+jot down in his note-book. And yet the general effect is grand:
+a big river rushing with large volume of water through the arches
+of bridges, along granite quays and before marble palaces, is a
+noble and living presence in the midst of city life. The waters of
+"the great Neva" and of "the little Neva" appear as an omnipresence;
+the rivers are in the streets, and great buildings, such as the
+Admiralty, the Fortress, and the Cathedral of St. Peter and St.
+Paul, ride as at anchor on a swelling flood. The views from the
+three chief bridges--Nicholas Bridge, Palace Bridge, and Troitska
+Bridge--are eminently palatial and imperial. The Academy of Arts,
+the Academy of Sciences, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Admiralty,
+the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, and the fortress and cathedral
+of St. Peter and St. Paul, give to the stranger an overpowering
+impression of the wealth and the strength of the empire. The Englishman,
+while standing on these bridges, will naturally recall analogous
+positions on the river Thames; such comparison is not wholly to the
+disadvantage of the northern capital, yet on the banks of the Neva
+rise no structures which in architectural design equal St. Paul's
+Cathedral, Somerset House, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of
+Parliament. Indeed, with the exception of the spire of the Admiralty,
+I did not find in St. Petersburg a single new idea.
+
+[Illustration: ST. PETERSBURG.]
+
+Of the famous Nevski-Prospekt, the chief street in St. Petersburg,
+it may be said as of our London Regent Street, that it can stand
+neither weather nor criticism. As to style of architecture, strictly
+speaking the Nevski-Prospekt has none: the buildings, consisting
+of shops, interspersed with a few churches and public edifices,
+so much partake of the modern and mongrel Italian manner, that
+the traveller might easily fancy himself in Paris, Brussels, or
+Turin. Few cities are so pretentious in outside appearances as
+St. Petersburg, and yet the show she makes is that of the whited
+sepulchre: false construction and rottenness of material, fa�ades
+of empty parade, and plaster which feigns to be stone, constitute
+an accumulative dishonesty which has few parallels in the history
+of architecture. Classic pillars and porticos, which have been
+thrust in everywhere on slightest pretext, are often built up of
+brick covered with cement and coloured yellow. Columns, here the
+common and constant expedient, are mostly mismanaged; they are as
+it were gratuitous intrusions, they seem to be stuck on, they fail
+to compose with the rest of the building. Neither do the architects
+of St. Petersburg understand mouldings or the value of shadow, there
+is scarcely a moulding in the city which casts a deep, broad or
+delicate shadow: hence the fa�ades look flat and thin as if built
+of cards. In the same way the details are poor and treated without
+knowledge; it thus happens that conceptions bold and grand are
+carried out incompletely. The great mistake is that the architects
+have made no attempt to gather together the scattered elements of a
+national style. With the noteworthy exception of the use of fine,
+fanciful and fantastic domes, often gilt or brightly coloured, the
+architecture of Russian capitals is either Classic or Renaissance
+of the most commonplace description.
+
+I shall not think it worth while to dwell on the very many churches
+which adorn the northern capital, because, with few exceptions,
+there is nothing in point of art which merits to be recorded. Yet
+I can scarcely refrain from again referring to the fine fantasy
+played by many-coloured domes against the blue sky. The forms are
+beautiful, the colours decorative. The city in its sky outline
+presents a succession of strange pictures, at one point the eye
+might seem to range across a garden of gourds, at other positions
+peer above house-tops groups which might be mistaken for turbaned
+Turks; and when the sun shines vividly, and throws glittering light
+on the "patens of bright gold," over these many-domed churches,
+a stranger might almost fancy that above the city floated fire
+balloons or bright-coloured lanterns. The large cupola of St. Isaac,
+covered with copper overlaid with gold, has been said to burn on
+a bright day like the sun when rising on a mountain top. I can
+never forget the sight when I returned to St. Petersburg from the
+most brilliant civic and military spectacle I ever witnessed, the
+f�te of the Empress at Tsarsko� S�lo. It was still dark, but before
+I reached my hotel for the short repose of a night which already
+brightened into morning, every cupola on the way was awakening
+into daylight; the sun, hesitating for a moment on the horizon,
+announced his coming as by electric light on the golden stars which
+shone on domes more blue than the grey sky of morning. In Moscow
+church cupolas playa part in the city panorama still more conspicuous
+than in St. Petersburg.
+
+The Cathedral of St. Isaac is the most costly and pretentious of
+Russian churches. The noble edifice has the advantage of a commanding
+situation; not, it is true, as to elevation--for that is impossible
+in a city set throughout on a dead level--but the surface area in
+its wide sweeping circuit at all events contrasts strikingly with
+that cribbed and cabined church-yard of St. Paul's in London, which
+the Englishman may have just left behind him. Yet St. Isaac's can
+scarcely venture on comparison with St. Paul's, though the style of
+the two buildings is similar. The great Cathedral of St. Petersburg
+has, however, the advantage of that concentration which belongs to
+the Greek as distinguished from the Latin Cross, a distinction
+which has always been to the disadvantage of St. Peter's in Rome.
+A cross of four equal arms, with columned porticos mounted nobly
+on steps at the four extremities, the whole composition crowned by
+central and surrounding cupolas, is assuredly an imposing conception,
+of which the French artist M. Montferrand has known how to make
+the most. I may here, by way of parenthesis, remark that the two
+works which do most honour to St. Petersburg, the Cathedral of
+St. Isaac and the adjacent equestrian statue of Peter the Great,
+are severally due not to Russian but to French artists. This is
+one example among many of the foreign origin of the arts in Russia.
+But at all events let it be admitted that the materials used, as
+well as the ideas often brought to bear, are local or national. For
+example, the grandest of all architectural conceptions, the idea
+of a dome, is here glorified in true Russian or Oriental manner,
+not so much by magnitude of proportion as by decorative splendour,
+heightened to the utmost by a surface of burnished gold. Then the
+four porticos which terminate each end of the Greek cross with
+stately columns and entablatures of granite from Finland, albeit
+in design mere commonplace complications, are wholly national in
+the material used. I do not now stop to mention the large and bold
+reliefs in bronze, which though French in design were, I believe,
+cast in St. Petersburg: indeed here, as in Munich, the government
+makes that liberal provision which only governments can make, for
+noble but unremunerative art. The great dome is said to be sustained
+by iron; indeed the science of construction brought to bear is great,
+yet again it must be acknowledged that whether the material be
+iron, bronze, or stone, the art, the skill, and even the commercial
+capital, are not Russian but foreign, and often English. Russian
+workmen, however, are employed as mechanics or machines, partly
+because in copyism and mechanism Russian artisans cannot throughout
+Europe be surpassed. When I got to St. Petersburg I could scarcely
+believe the statement to be true that the "English Magazine" and
+not any Russian factory had executed the eight stupendous malachite
+pillars within the church, weighing about 34,000 pounds and costing
+�2,500 sterling. Yet while the organization might be English, the
+operatives were Russians. The unsurpassed malachite pillars combine
+in the grand altar-screen with columns of lapis-lazuli: the latter
+are said to have cost per pair �12,000 sterling. I need scarcely
+observe that this parade of precious metals partakes more of barbaric
+magnificence than of artistic taste; indeed these columns of malachite
+and lapis-lazuli, which to the eye present themselves as solid and
+honest, have been built up as incrustations on hollow cast-iron
+tubes. Thus hollow are the most precious arts of Russia. Justice,
+however, demands that I should speak hereafter in fair appreciation
+of the interiors of Russian churches, whereof the Cathedral of
+St. Isaac is among the chief. Nevertheless, material rather than
+mind, money rather than art, is the governing power; malachite,
+lapis-lazuli, gold, and other precious substances are heaped together
+profusely, yet no architect in Europe of the slightest intellectual
+pretensions, would care to look a second time at the constructive
+or decorative conceptions which the churches of St. Petersburg
+display. St. Isaac's in fact is miraculous only in its monoliths.
+I could scarcely believe my eyes when first I stood beneath the
+stately porticos and looked from top to bottom of the very many
+columns, seven feet in diameter and sixty feet high, all polished
+granite monoliths from Finland. Already I had made the assertion
+that there was nothing new in St. Petersburg when these granite
+monoliths at once compelled a recantation.
+
+The monoliths in St. Petersburg are so exceptional in number and
+often so gigantic in dimension as to call for special mention. The
+monolith obelisks of ancient Egypt are scarcely more remarkable.
+In addition to the magnificent columns, each sixty feet high, which
+sustain the four porticos of the Cathedral of St. Isaac, are fifty-six
+monoliths, also of granite from Finland, thirty-five feet high
+in the Kazan Cathedral; likewise the noble entrance-hall of the
+Hermitage is sustained by sixteen monoliths, and the magnificent
+room which receives the treasures from the Cimmerian Bosphorus has
+the support of twenty monoliths. But the greatest single block of
+modern times stands in front of the Winter Palace, as a monument
+to Alexander I. The height is eighty-four feet, and the weight
+nearly four hundred tons. The story goes that the contractor in
+Finland, finding that he had exceeded the required length, actually
+cut off ten or fifteen feet. The vast granite quarries of Finland
+supply the Tsars with these stupendous columns, just as the granite
+quarries of Syene on the Nile furnished the Pharaohs with obelisks.
+These enormous masses are too heavy to be conveyed on wheels, the
+only practicable mode of transit is on rollers. In this way each of
+the sixty-feet columns for St. Isaac's was transported across country
+all the way from Finland. Each column represents so incredible an
+amount of labour as to make it evident that monoliths are luxuries
+in which only emperors can indulge. And even when these heavy weights
+have reached their destination the difficulty next occurs how to
+secure a solid foundation. St. Petersburg was once a swamp, and so
+rotten is the ground that it would be quite possible for a monolith
+to sink out of sight and never more be heard of. To provide against
+such contingencies a forest of piles was driven into the earth at
+the cost of �200,000 as the foundation of St. Isaac, and yet the
+cathedral sinks. Like causes render the roads of St. Petersburg
+the worst in Europe; winter frosts, which penetrate several feet
+below the surface, seize on the imprisoned waters and tear up the
+streets. The surface thus broken is so destructive to wheels that
+I have known an Englishman, who, though he kept four carriages,
+had not one in a condition to use. The jolting on the roads is so
+great as to make it wise for a traveller to hold on fast, and when
+a lady and gentleman ride side by side, it is usual for the gentleman
+to protect the lady by throwing his arm round his companion's waist.
+This delicate attention is so much of a utilitarian necessity as
+in no way to imply further obligations.
+
+St. Petersburg is considerably indebted to the art of sculpture:
+public monuments adorn her squares and gardens. Indeed the art of
+sculpture has, like the sister arts of architecture and painting,
+been forced into preternatural proportions. In the large area within
+sight of the church of St. Isaac and of the Admiralty, stands
+conspicuously one of the few successful equestrian statues in modern
+or ancient times, the colossal bronze to Peter the Great. The huge
+block of granite, which is said to weigh upwards of 15,000 tons, was
+conveyed from a marsh, four miles distance from St. Petersburg, by
+means of ropes, pulleys, and windlasses, worked by men and horses.
+A drummer stationed on the rock itself gave the signal for onward
+movement. It would seem that the methods used in Russia to this
+day for transporting granite monoliths, are curiously similar to
+the appliances of the ancient Egyptians for moving like masses. In
+point of art this equestrian statue, though grand in conception,
+is, after the taste of barbarous nations, colossal in size. Peter
+the Great is eleven feet in stature, the horse is seventeen feet
+high. The nobility lies in the action, the horse rears on his hind
+legs after the favourite manner of Velasquez in well-known equestrian
+portraits of Ferdinand IV. The attitude assumed by the great Emperor
+is triumphant, the fiery steed has dashed up the rock and pauses as
+in mid-air on the brink of the precipice. The idea is that Peter
+the Great surveys from the height the capital of his creation, as
+it may be supposed to rise from the waters. His hand is stretched
+forth for the protection of the city. This work, like many other
+proud achievements in the empire, unfortunately is not Russian.
+The design is due to the Frenchman Falconet; Marie Callot is said
+to have modelled the head, and the casting was done by Martelli,
+an Italian. Falconet, in order to be true to the life, carefully
+studied again and again a fine Arab horse, mounted by a Russian
+general who was famous as a rider; the general day by day made a
+rush up a mound, artificially constructed for the purpose, and when
+just short of the precipice the horse was reined in and thrown on
+its hind legs. The artist watched the action and made his studies;
+the work accordingly has nature, movement, vigour. I may here mention
+that I have nowhere found such large masses of stone conveyed from
+place to place as here in St. Petersburg. It is true I have seen
+marble fresh from the mountains of Carrara tugged along by teams
+of bullocks, but I have nowhere witnessed so much power brought to
+bear as in the transit of the granite used in the immense memorial
+to the Empress Catherine.
+
+The art collections in St. Petersburg may give the traveller pleasant
+occupation for several weeks; indeed if the tourist be an art student
+he will find work for months. The Winter Palace, adjoining the
+Hermitage, on the Neva, is like the palace at Versailles, conspicuous
+for rooms or galleries commemorative of military exploits. Here
+are well-painted battle-pieces by Willewalde and Kotzbue, also
+naval engagements by Aivasovsky, highly coloured as a matter of
+course. Likewise are hung the best battle-pieces I have ever seen,
+by Peter Hess, the renowned Bavarian painter, who appears to less
+credit in Munich than in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg. Also
+may be noted the portrait of Alexander I. by Dawe, the Englishman,
+who worked much in Russia. Here likewise is the imperial gallery
+of portraits of all the sovereigns of the reigning Russian house.
+I pass over these multitudinous works thus briefly, because, though
+the collection is of importance in the history of the empire, it
+has little value in art.
+
+"The Crown Jewels" I shall not attempt to describe; no description
+of jewels can be worth much. I may venture to say, however, that
+after seeing all the royal jewellery in Europe, I found these Russian
+crowns, sceptres, etc., richer in diamonds than any other. Also
+pearls, rubies, Siberian aqua-marines, etc., add colour and splendour
+to the imperial treasure. The comparison on the spot, which I not
+unnaturally instituted, was with the imperial treasury at Vienna.
+Next, a word may be given to the room in which the proud, stern,
+and unrelenting Nicholas died, where all is kept intact as he left
+it. I have seldom been more impressed than with this small, simple,
+and almost penurious apartment, so striking in contrast with the
+splendour of the rest of the palace. Silence, solitude, and solemnity
+all the more attach to the spot from the statement to which credence
+is given that the great emperor, on learning of the reverses in
+the Crimea, here committed suicide. In other words, it is said
+that he directed his physician to prepare a medicine which after
+having taken he died. The sword, helmet, and grey military cloak
+are where he laid them. Here lies a historic tragedy which remains
+to be painted; one of the most dramatic pictorial scenes in Europe,
+the death of Wallenstein in Schiller's drama, painted by Professor
+Piloty and now in the new Pinakothek, Munich, might in the death
+of the great Nicholas find a parallel. The emperor lies buried
+with all the sovereigns of Russia since the foundation of St.
+Petersburg, in the cathedral fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul.
+Nothing in Europe is grander in the simplicity and silence which
+befit a sepulchre--not even the imperial tombs in Vienna--than
+this stately mausoleum of the Tsars. The Emperor Nicholas lies
+opposite to Peter the Great. In the Hermitage, or rather in the
+Winter Palace, is a gallery illustrative of the life and labours of
+Peter the Great. The collection, besides turning-lathes and other
+instruments with which the monarch worked, contains curiosities,
+knickknacks, as well as some works of real art value: the connecting
+point of the whole collection is in Peter himself. An analogous
+collection was some years ago opened in the Louvre as the Museum
+of Napoleon I. Dynasties all the world over thus seek to perpetuate
+their memories.
+
+[Illustration: THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG.]
+
+The Academy of Fine Arts is a noble institution, imposing in its
+architecture, and richly endowed. The Corps des Mines must also
+be visited, the collection of minerals proves the amazing riches
+of European and Asiatic Russia. I wish I had knowledge and space
+to describe this unexampled collection, which though not falling
+within my art province has direct art relations. Nothing beauteous
+or wondrous in nature lies beyond the sphere of art; the forms of
+crystals, the colours of precious stones are specially objects of
+delight to the artist's eye. The Imperial Public Library is one of
+the richest libraries in Europe; its literary treasures can hardly
+be overrated; I regret that I cannot enter into its contents. Private
+collections, though scarcely numerous, are choice; the celebrated
+Leuchtenberg Gallery, formerly in Munich, is the richest. The royal
+residences of Peterhof and Tsarsho� S�lo I also found to contain
+much in the way of art, and yet scarcely of sufficient importance
+to need special description.
+
+The Imperial Hermitage alone repays a journey to St. Petersburg;
+for a whole fortnight I visited almost every day the picture and
+sculpture galleries of this vast and rich museum, and in the end
+I left with the feeling that I had done but inadequate justice
+to these valuable and exhaust-less collections. I am tolerably
+well acquainted with the great museums in the south and west of
+Europe, and I was interested to find that the Hermitage does not
+suffer by comparison with the Vatican, the Museum of Naples, the
+Galleries of Florence, the Louvre in Paris, or the Great Picture
+Gallery in Madrid. In some departments, indeed, St. Petersburg has
+the advantage over other capitals; the collection of gold ornaments
+from Kertch is not surpassed by the gold work in the Etruscan room of
+the Vatican; the coins are not inferior to the numismatic collections
+in Paris, or in the British Museum; the Dutch pictures are not
+to be equalled save in Holland or in Dresden; the Spanish school
+has no competitor save in Madrid and Seville; the portraits by
+Vandyck, and the sketches by Rubens, are only surpassed in England
+and Bavaria. It is thus obvious that the collective strength of
+the assembled collections, is very great. The picture galleries
+contain more than 1,500 works; the number of drawings is upwards
+of 500, the coins and medals amount to 200,000, the painted vases
+are above 1,700, the ancient marbles number 361, and the collection
+of gems is one of the largest in existence. The Hermitage has been
+enriched partly to the prejudice of other cities or palaces. From the
+Tauris Palace came classic sculpture. Tsarsho� S�lo also furnished
+contributions. The policy has been to make one astounding museum,
+which shall represent not a capital but an empire, and stand before
+the world as the exponent of the wealth, the resource, and the
+refined taste of the nation and its rulers.
+
+
+
+
+_FINLAND_
+
+_HARRY DE WINDT_
+
+"What sort of a place is Finland?" asked a friend whom I met, on
+my return from that country, in London. "Very much the same as
+Lapland, I suppose? Snow, sleighs, and bears, and all that kind
+of thing?"
+
+My friend was not singular in his idea, for they are probably those
+of most people in England. At present Finland is a _terra incognita_,
+though fortunately not likely to remain one. Nevertheless, it will
+probably take years to eradicate a notion that one of the most
+attractive and advanced countries in Europe, possessed in summer
+of the finest climate in the world, is not the eternal abode of
+poverty, cold, and darkness. It was just the same before the railway
+opened up Siberia and revealed prosperous cities, fertile plains,
+and boundless mineral resources to an astonished world. A decade
+ago my return from this land of civilization, progress, and, above
+all, humanity was invariably met by the kind of question that heads
+this chapter, with the addition, as a rule, of facetious allusions
+to torture and the knout! My ignorance, however, of Finland as
+she really is was probably unsurpassed before my eyes were opened
+by a personal inspection, so I cannot afford to criticise.
+
+What is Finland, and what are its geographical and climatic
+characteristics? I will try to answer these questions briefly and
+clearly without wearying the reader with statistics. In the first
+place, Finland (in Finnish, "Suomi") is about the size of Great
+Britain, Holland, and Belgium combined, with a population of about
+2,500,000. Its southern and western shores are washed by the Baltic
+Sea, while Lake Ladoga and the Russian frontier form the eastern
+boundary. Finland stretches northward far beyond the head of the
+Gulf of Bothnia, where it joins Norwegian territory. There are
+thirty-seven towns, of which only seven have a population exceeding
+10,000, viz., Helsingfors, Abo, Tammerfors, Viborg, Uleaborg, Vasa
+(Nikolaistad), and Bjorneborg.
+
+Finland is essentially a flat country, slightly mountainous towards
+the north, but even her highest peak (Haldesjock, in Finnish Lapland)
+is under 4,000 feet in height. South of this a hill of 300 feet
+is called a mountain; therefore Alpine climbers have no business
+here. The interior may be described as an undulating plateau largely
+composed of swamp and forest, broken with granite rocks and gravel
+ridges and honeycombed with the inland waters known as "The Thousand
+Lakes" (although ten thousand would be nearer the mark), one of
+which is three times the size of the Lake of Geneva. The rivers
+are small and unimportant, the largest being only about the size
+of the Seine. On the other hand, the numerous falls and rapids on
+even the smallest streams render their ascent in boats extremely
+difficult and often impossible. But lakes and canals are the natural
+highways of the country; rivers are only utilized as a motive power
+for electricity, manufactories, and for conveying millions of logs
+of timber yearly from the inland forests to the sea. A curious fact
+is that, although many parts of the interior are far below the
+level of the Baltic, the latter is gradually but surely receding
+from the coast, and many hitherto submerged islets off the latter
+have been left high and dry by the waves. You may now in places
+walk from one island to another on dry land, which, fifty years ago,
+was many fathoms under water, while signs of primitive navigation
+are constantly being discovered as far as twenty miles inland!
+It is therefore probable that the millions of islands which now
+fringe these shores, formed, at some remote period, one continuous
+strip of land. How vessels ever find their way, say from Hang� to
+Nystad, is a mystery to the uninitiated landsman. At a certain
+place there are no less than 300 islands of various sizes crowded
+into an area of six square miles! Heaven preserve the man who finds
+himself there, in thick weather, with a skipper who does not quite
+know the ropes!
+
+The provinces of which the Grand Duchy is composed are as follows,
+running from north to south: (1) Finnish Lapland, (2) Ostrobothnia,
+(3) Satakunta, (4) Tavastland, (5) Savolax, (6) Karelia, (7) Finland
+proper, (8) Nyland, and (9) the Aland Islands.
+
+Finnish Lapland may be dismissed without comment, for it is a wild,
+barren region, sparsely populated by nomad tribes, and during the
+summer is practically impassable on account of its dense forests,
+pathless swamps, and mosquitoes of unusual size and ferocity. In
+winter-time journeys can be made quickly and pleasantly in sledges
+drawn by reindeer, but at other times the country must be crossed
+in cranky canoes by means of a network of lakes and rivers; and
+the travelling is about as tough as monotony, short rations, and
+dirt can make it. I am told that gold has lately been discovered
+there, but it would need a considerable amount of the precious
+metal to tempt me into Finnish Lapland in summer-time.
+
+Ostrobothnia, which lies immediately south of this undesirable
+district, contains the towns of Tornea and Uleaborg. We will pass
+on to the provinces of Central Finland, viz., Tavastland, Savolax,
+and Karelia. The Finns say that this is the heart of their country,
+while Helsingfors and Tammerfors constitute its brains. So crowded
+and complicated is the lake system in this part of Finland that
+water almost overwhelms dry land, and the district has been likened
+to one huge archipelago. Forests abound, especially in Tavastland,
+whence timber is exported in large quantities, while agriculture
+flourishes in all these provinces. Crops are generally grown in
+the valleys, while in other parts the sides and summits of the
+hills are usually selected for cultivation. Large tracts of country
+about here once laid out for arable are now converted into grazing
+grounds, for the number of cattle is yearly on the increase.
+Dairy-farming is found to be more profitable and less risky than
+the raising of wheat and barley in a land where one night of frost
+sometimes destroys the result of a whole year's patient care and
+labour. The land is cleared for cultivation by felling and burning,
+and it is then ploughed in primitive fashion and sown, but only
+one harvest is generally gathered on one spot. The latter is then
+deserted, and the following year another patch of virgin soil takes
+its place. There is thus a good deal of waste, not only in land,
+but also in trees, which are wantonly cut down for any trifling
+purpose, regardless of their value or the possible scarcity in
+the future of timber. Accidental forest fires also work sad havoc
+at times, destroying thousands of pounds' worth of timber in a
+few hours. Pine resin burns almost as fiercely as petroleum, and
+it sometimes takes days to extinguish a conflagration.
+
+Many of the poorer people in the central provinces live solely
+by fishing in the lakes teeming with salmon, which find a ready
+market both salted and fresh. There is plenty of rough shooting to
+be had for the asking, but no wild animals of any size. In the far
+north bears are still numerous, and elk were formerly obtainable.
+A few of the latter still exist in the wilder parts of the country,
+but it is now forbidden to kill them. Some years ago the forests of
+Tavastland were infested with wolves, and during one fatal season
+a large number of cattle and even some children were devoured,
+but a _battue_ organized by the peasantry cleared the brutes out
+of the country. You may now shoot hares here, and any number of
+wild fowl, but that is about all.
+
+The remainder of Finland consists of Finland proper and Nyland
+on the south and south-western coasts, and as these comprise not
+only the capital, but also the large towns of Abo and Viborg, they
+may be regarded as the most important, politically, commercially,
+and socially, in the country. Here lakes are still numerous, but
+insignificant in size compared with those of the interior. On the
+other hand, the vegetation is richer, for the oak, lime, and hazel
+do well, and the flora, both wild and cultivated, is much more
+extensive than in the central and northern districts. Several kinds
+of fruit are grown, and Nyland apples are famous for their flavour,
+while very fair pears, plums, and cherries can be bought cheaply
+in the markets. Currants and gooseberries are, however, sour and
+tasteless. In these southern districts the culture of cereals has
+reached a perfection unknown further north, for the farms are usually
+very extensive, the farmers up to date, and steam implements in
+general use. Dairy-farming is also carried on with excellent results
+and yearly increasing prosperity. Amongst the towns, Bjorneborg,
+Nystad, Hang�, and Kotka will in a few years rival the capital
+in size and commercial importance.
+
+The last on the list is the Aland archipelago, which consists of
+one island of considerable size surrounded by innumerable smaller
+ones, and situated about fifty miles off the south-western coast
+of Finland. Here, oddly enough, Nature has been kinder than almost
+anywhere on the mainland, for although the greater part of the island
+is wild and forest-clad, the eternal pines and silver birch-trees
+are blended with the oak, ash and maple, and bright blossoms such
+as may and hawthorn relieve to a great extent the monotonous green
+foliage of Northern Europe.
+
+That the Alander has much of the Swede in his composition is shown
+by the neatness of his dwellings and cleanly mode of life. He is an
+amphibious creature, half mariner, half yeoman, a sober, thrifty
+individual, who spends half of his time at the plough-tail and the
+other half at the helm. Fishing for a kind of small herring called
+"str�mming" is perhaps the most important industry, and a lucrative
+one, for this fish (salted) is sent all over the country and even
+to Russia proper. Farming is a comparatively recent innovation,
+for the Alanders are born men of the sea, and were once reckoned the
+finest sailors in Finland. Less than a century ago Aland harboured
+a fine fleet of sailing-ships owned by syndicates formed amongst
+the peasantry, and engaged in a profitable trade with Great Britain
+and Denmark. But steamers have knocked all this upon the head,
+and the commercial future of the islands would now seem to depend
+chiefly upon the fishing and agricultural industries.
+
+The population of these Islands is under 25,000, of which the small
+town of Mariehamm, the so-called capital, contains about 700 souls.
+Steamers touch here, so that there is no difficulty in reaching the
+place, which is certainly worth a visit not only for its antiquity
+(the Alands were inhabited long before the mainland), but on account
+of the interesting ruins it contains--amongst them the Castle of
+Castelholm, built by Birger Jarl in the Fourteenth Century, and the
+time-worn walls of which could tell an interesting history. A part
+of the famous fortress of Bomarsund, destroyed by an Anglo-French
+fleet in 1854, may also be seen not far from Mariehamm. Plain but
+decent fare may be obtained here, but the fastidious will do well
+to avoid the smaller villages, where the Alander's diet generally
+consists solely of seal-meat, salt fish, bread and milk. A delicacy
+eaten with gusto by these people is composed of seal-oil and the
+entrails of sea-birds, and is almost identical with one I saw amongst
+the Tchuktchis on Bering Straits. And yet the Alanders are cleanly
+enough in their habits and the smallest village has its bath-house.
+
+At one time Aland was famous for sport, and in olden days Swedish
+sovereigns visited the island to hunt the elk, which were then
+numerous. But these and most other wild animals are now extinct and
+even wild fowl are scarce. Only one animal appears to thrive,--the
+hedgehog; but the natives do not appear to have discovered its
+edible qualities. An English tramp could enlighten them on this
+point.
+
+[Illustration: HELSINGFORS, FINLAND]
+
+The entire population of Finland amounts to rather over 2,500,000,
+including a considerable number of Swedes, who are found chiefly
+in the Aland Islands, Nyland, and Finland proper. Helsingfors,
+the capital, contains over 80,000 souls, and Kemi, the smallest
+town, near the northern frontier, under 400. Of the other cities,
+Abo has 30,000, Tammerfors, 25,000, and Viborg, 20,000 inhabitants.
+I should add that there is probably no country in creation where
+the population has so steadily increased, notwithstanding adverse
+conditions, as Finland. After the Russian campaign of 1721 the
+country contained barely 250,000 souls, and yet, although continually
+harassed by war and its attendant evils, these had increased thirty
+years later to 555,000. Fifty years ago the Finns numbered 1,500,000,
+and the latest census shows nearly double these figures, although
+in 1868 pestilence and famine swept off over 100,000 victims.
+
+The languages spoken in the Grand Duchy are Finnish and Swedish,
+the former being used by at least eighty-five per cent. of the
+population. Russian-speaking inhabitants number about 5,000, while
+the Lapps amount to 1,000 only, other nationalities to under 3,000.
+Although Swedish is largely spoken in the towns, Finnish only is
+heard, as a rule, in the rural districts. There is scarcely any
+nobility in the country, if we except titled Swedish settlers. Most
+Finns belong to the middle class of life, with the exception of a
+few families ennobled in 1809 by the Tsar of Russia on his accession
+as Grand Duke of Finland. The lower orders are generally quiet and
+reserved in their demeanour, even on festive public occasions, and
+make peaceable, law-abiding citizens. "'Arry" is an unknown quantity
+here, and "'Arriet" does not exist. A stranger will everywhere
+meet with studied politeness in town and country. Drive along a
+country road, and every peasant will raise his hat to you, not
+deferentially, but with the quiet dignity of an equal. The high
+standard of education, almost legally exacted from the lowest classes
+in Finland, is unusually high, for the most illiterate plough boy
+may not marry the girl of his choice until he can read the Bible
+from end to end to the satisfaction of his pastor, and the same
+rule applies to the fair sex.
+
+The climate of Finland is by no means so severe as is generally
+imagined. As a matter of fact, no country of a similar latitude,
+with the exception of Sweden, enjoys the same immunity from intense
+cold. This is owing to the Gulf Stream, which also imparts its genial
+influence to Scandinavia. In summer the heat is never excessive, the
+rainfall is insignificant, and thunderstorms are rare. July is the
+warmest, and January the coldest month, but the mean temperature of
+Helsingfors in mid-winter has never fallen below that of Astrakhan,
+on the Caspian Sea.
+
+The weather is, however, frequently changeable, and even in summer
+the thermometer often rises or falls many degrees in the space
+of a few hours. You may sit down to dinner in the open air in
+Helsingfors in your shirt-sleeves, and before coffee is served be
+sending home for a fur coat. But this is an unusual occurrence, for
+a summer in Finland has been my most agreeable climatic experience
+in any part of the world.
+
+The winter is unquestionably hard, and lasts about six months,
+from November till the middle of April. At Christmas time the sun
+is only visible for six hours a day. The entire surface of the
+country, land, lake, and river, then forms one vast and frozen
+surface of snow, which may be traversed by means of sledge, snowshoes,
+or ski. A good man on the last-named will easily cover his seven
+miles an hour. Although tourists generally affect this country
+in the open season, a true Finlander loves the winter months as
+much as he dislikes the summer. In his eyes boredom, heat, and
+mosquitoes are a poor exchange for merry picnics on ski, skating
+contests, and sledge expeditions by starlight with pretty women and
+gay companions, to say nothing of the nightly balls and theatre and
+supper parties. Helsingfors is closed to navigation from November
+until June, for the sea forms an icy barrier around the coast of
+Finland, now no longer impenetrable, thanks to the ice-breakers at
+Hang�. In the north the Gulf of Bothnia is frozen for even longer.
+
+Towards April winter shows signs of departure. By the middle of
+May ice and snow have almost disappeared, except in the north,
+where Uleaborg is, climatically, quite three weeks behind any of
+the southern towns. Before the beginning of June verdure and foliage
+have reappeared in all their luxuriance, and birds and flowers
+once more gladden field and forest with perfume and song. Even now
+an occasional shower of sleet besprinkles the land, only to melt
+in a few minutes, and leave it fresher and greener than before.
+May and June are, perhaps, the best months, for July and August
+are sometimes too warm to be pleasant. October and November are
+gloomy and depressing. Never visit Finland in the late autumn, for
+the weather is then generally dull and overcast, while cold, raw
+winds, mist and sleet, are not the exception. Midwinter and midsummer
+are the most favourable seasons, which offer widely different but
+equally favourable conditions for the comfort and amusement of
+the traveller.
+
+And, if possible, choose the former, if only for one reason. No
+one who has ever witnessed the unearthly beauty of a summer night
+in Finland is likely to forget it. The Arctic Circle should, of
+course, be crossed to witness the midnight sun in all its glory,
+but I doubt if the quiet _cr�puscule_ (I can think of no other
+word) of the twilit hours of darkness is not even more weird and
+fascinating viewed from amid silent streets and buildings than
+from the sullen dreariness of an Arctic desert, which is generally
+(in summer) as drab and as flat as a biscuit. In Arctic Lapland,
+where for two months the sun never sinks below the horizon, you may
+read small print without difficulty throughout the night between
+June and August. This would be impossible in Helsingfors, where
+nevertheless from sunset till dawn it is never quite dark. In the
+far north the midnight sun affords a rather garish light; down
+south it sheds grey but luminous rays, so faint that they cast
+no shadows, but impart a weird and mysterious grace to the most
+commonplace surroundings. No artist has yet successfully portrayed
+the indescribable charm and novelty of a summer night under these
+conditions, and, in all probability, no artist ever will!
+
+His Majesty the Tsar's manifesto has not as yet (outwardly, at
+any rate) Russianized the capital of Finland. It will probably
+take centuries to do that, for Finland, like France, has an
+individuality which the combined Powers of Europe would be puzzled to
+suppress. A stranger arriving at the railway station of Helsingfors,
+for instance, may readily imagine himself in Germany, Austria, or
+even Switzerland, but certainly not within a thousand miles of
+Petersburg. Everything is so different, from the dapper stationmaster
+with gold-laced cap of German build down to the porters in clean
+white linen blouses, which pleasantly contrast with the malodorous
+sheepskins of unwashed Russia. At Helsingfors there is nothing,
+save the soldiery, to remind one of the proximity of Tsarland. And
+out in the country it is the same. The line from Mikkeli traverses
+a fair and prosperous district, as unlike the monotonous scenery over
+the border as the proverbial dock and daisy. Here are no squalid
+hovels and roofless sheds where half-starved cattle share the misery
+of their owners; no rotting crops and naked pastures; but snug
+homestead, flower gardens, and neat wooden fences encircling fields
+of golden grain and rich green meadow land. To travel in Southern
+Finland after Northern Russia is like leaving the most hideous
+parts of the Black Country to suddenly emerge into the brightness
+and verdure of a sunlit Devonshire.
+
+
+
+
+_LAPLAND_
+
+_ALEXANDER PLATONOVICH ENGELHARDT_
+
+The Peninsula of Kola, which forms the District of that name, extends
+about 650 versts, or 433 miles, from west to east, from the frontiers
+of Norway and Finland to the White Sea, and about 400 versts, or 266
+miles, from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of
+Kandalax, covering an area of 131,860 square versts, or 37,022,400
+acres. The coast belt from the Norwegian border-line to Holy Cape
+(or Sweet-nose), is called the Murman Coast, or simply the Murman;
+the eastern and south-eastern part, from Holy Cape along the White
+Sea to the mouth of the Varzuga, goes by the name of the Tierski
+Coast; and the southern part, from the Varzuga to Kandalax, the
+Kandalax Coast; whilst the whole of the interior bears the name of
+Russian Lapland. The surface of the Peninsula is either mountainous,
+or covered with _tundras_ (i. e., moss-grown wilds), and swamps.
+The Scandinavian mountain range, which divides Sweden from Norway,
+extending to the Kola Peninsula, breaks up into several separate
+branches. Along the shores of the Murman they form craggy coast
+cliffs, rising at times to an elevation of 500 feet. Further to
+the east they become gradually lower, so that near the White Sea
+they seldom exceed fifty or one hundred feet, with less precipitous
+descents. The reach their greatest height further inland, to the
+east of Lake Imandra, where they form the Hibinski and Luiavrout
+chains, veiled in perpetual snow. Some of the peaks rise to 970
+feet above the level of the lake, which, in its turn, is 140 feet
+higher than the sea-level, so that the mountains surrounding the
+lake are over 1,000 feet above the level of the sea.
+
+Not far from Lake Imandra is the lofty Mount Bozia, (or Gods' Hill),
+at the foot of which, according to the traditions of the Lapps,
+their ancestors offered up sacrifices to their gods. Even at the
+present time the Lapps of the district speak of this site with
+peculiar veneration. Between the village of Kashkarantz and the
+Varzuga rises Mt. Korable, remarkable for its many caverns, studded
+with crystals of translucent quartz and amethyst, the former, together
+with fluor and heavy spar, being met with, too, in the eastern
+parts of the mountain. The Kola Peninsula was carefully explored
+by Finnish Expeditions in 1887-1892.
+
+The climate of Lapland is not everywhere uniform, but in general
+it is bleak and raw. Winter begins about the end of September and
+continues till May. It is colder inland than by the ice-free shores
+of the Northern Ocean, where the warm currents of the Gulf Stream
+moderate the cold. And yet the severity of the weather does not
+injuriously affect the health or longevity of the inhabitants.
+The winter roads are well set in by the end of October (or early
+in November), the snow-fall during the winter months amounting
+to seven quarters, or four feet one inch. The Polar night lasts
+from the 25th of November to the 15th of January, but the darkness
+is not by any means so great as one would imagine. The white of
+the snow gives a certain glimmer of light, and the frequent and
+prolonged flashes of Aurora Borealis set the heavens in a blaze as
+with clouds of fire, turning night into twilight, as it were, and
+by their brilliancy and beauty making some amends to the natives
+for the absence of the sun's rays. It is easy even to read by their
+light; while each day, about noon, there is enough daylight for an
+hour or so to enable one to dispense with candles. So that under
+the name of Polar Night should be understood not the total absence
+of light, but rather the season when the sun no longer appears
+above the horizon. It begins to show itself again about the 17th
+of January, gradually rising higher and higher as the days advance.
+
+[Illustration: REINDEER TRAVELLING]
+
+Snow vanishes from the plains towards the middle (or end) of May,
+but remains the whole year round in the gorges of the mountains.
+The rivers are clear of ice about the beginning (or middle) of
+May, and within a month from that time the first shoots of verdure
+begin to appear on the meadows and hill-sides. The sun never sets
+from the 24th of May to the 21st of July. There is neither twilight
+nor night,--the long Arctic Day has set in. During this period the
+sun warms the soil only at noon, simply shining for the rest of
+the day, seemingly a golden orb without heat. Summer, beginning
+about the middle (_i. e._, end) of June, barely lasts two months.
+By July flowers are already shedding their blossoms, their rapid
+growth being aided by the unbroken daylight.
+
+Any attempts at agriculture in such a climate are, of course, foredoomed
+to failure, but along the river banks some fairly good meadows
+enable the settlers of the Murman to rear all the cattle they need.
+Turnips are the only vegetables that can be raised, with, here
+and there, a few potatoes.
+
+The southern and western portions of the Peninsula are covered with
+pretty good timber, mostly pine (_Pinus silvestris_). As you go
+further north, the timber becomes more and more stunted, consisting
+chiefly of birchwood, till you reach the open _tundra_, which is
+clothed in moss and low-growing shrubs.
+
+The Lapps lead a semi-nomadic life. The settlements in which they
+live are called _pagosts_, each group of Lapps having its particular
+summer and winter _pagost_. The latter is usually inland near the
+forests, where they herd their deer in winter. In summer they wander
+nearer to the coasts and lakes for the sake of the fishing. The
+winter dwelling of the Lapp is called a _toopa_, a small smoky
+sod-covered hut, covering some 150 to 200 square feet; whereas in
+summer he lives in his _vieja_, a large wigwam resembling a Samoyede
+_choom_, but covered over, not with skins as with the Samoyedes,
+but with branches, tree-bark and turfs.
+
+The typical Lapp is dwarf-like and thick-set. He usually wears
+a grey cloth jacket, his head being encircled in a high woollen
+cap tapering to a tassel at the top, while his feet, wrapped up
+in rags, are then covered with big shoes. In general, his whole
+appearance, with his pointed beard, bears a striking resemblance
+to the familiar representations of "gnomes," as these denizens of
+the subterranean world are pictured to us in fairy books. Few of
+the Lapps, however, confine themselves to this characteristic type
+of Lapp costume, but wear whatever comes to their hands,--hats,
+caps, clothes "made in Germany" and so on.
+
+Among the women, especially the younger ones, some fairly pretty
+faces may be met with. Their dress is usually a calico _sarafan_,
+and generally speaking, there is nothing specially distinguishing
+about their apparel.
+
+The Lapp race is evidently dying out, or rather, is gradually
+intermingling with, and being absorbed by, the neighbouring races.
+With neither written memorials nor a historic past to cling to,
+nor any particular religious belief, they are all of the Orthodox
+Faith. In assuming the customs and civilization of the Russians,
+the Lapps often abandon their own tribe, and assimilate with the
+stronger race. I have often heard such sayings as the following
+from Lapps who have more or less settled down: "I'm not a Lapp at
+all, I'm a Russian now," or "He's a good man" (_i. e._, active,
+energetic) "and not a Lapp."
+
+So that they evidently have no particularly high opinion of themselves,
+and put no great value on their tribal individuality; and yet, as
+the free-born child of the broad and boundless _tundra_, the Lapp
+dearly loves his home and open roving life.
+
+The chief occupations of the Lapps are reindeer-rearing and fishing,
+and in winter, the transport of goods by means of their deer. They
+are unfortunately bad husbandmen, utterly reckless about the increase
+of their herds, and never dreaming of looking upon them as sources
+of gain. Deer-herding is not, in their eyes, a regular business,
+they merely keep such head as are required for domestic uses, that
+is, for food, clothing and travelling. Very few Lapps own big herds,
+while most of them hardly know or care how many in reality they have.
+In summer, when the deer are not wanted for travelling purposes, they
+dismiss them to range at large, without any surveillance whatever. To
+escape the persecutions of gadflies and mosquitoes the deer generally
+flock to the Hibinski Mountains, or else wander to the sea-shore.
+When thus at large they multiply freely of themselves, and, by
+this time half wild, often stray away from the herds altogether.
+
+The rearing of reindeer might easily be made such a profitable
+business as to be sufficient in itself to insure a comfortable
+livelihood to the Lapps. The deer itself hardly requires any looking
+after the whole year round. All through the summer it feeds on
+various grasses, and in winter on the _yagel_, or reindeer lichen
+(_Cladonia rangiferina_), which it scratches out from under the
+snow, with its hoofs. This lichen, or moss, grows in profusion all
+over the _tundras_ and forests of the Kola Peninsula. It is his
+deer which supply the Lapp with food and clothing, convey his family
+and goods hundreds of versts in his wanderings, and, finally, give
+him the opportunity of adding to his income by acting as carrier,
+and by supplying teams to the government postal-stations, etc.
+Some years ago some Ziri�ns from the Petchora settled in the Kola
+Peninsula with their herds, numbering some 5,000 head. The Lapps
+welcomed them into their community, looking upon them, indeed,
+as benefactors, as the Ziri�ns, a smart and enterprising race,
+get everything needed for household purposes, which they obtain
+much cheaper than the Lapps themselves could before, at the same
+time giving good prices for the skins of reindeer and other wild
+animals killed by the Lapps. So far no want of grazing plots has been
+felt. The Ziri�ns have already over 10,000 head of deer, deriving,
+comparatively speaking, enormous gains from them. But then, unlike
+the Lapps, the Ziri�ns go about their business in systematic and
+sensible fashion, safeguarding their stock from the incursions of
+beasts of prey, tending them carefully winter and summer, driving
+them from time to time to suitable pastures, etc.
+
+
+
+
+_MOSCOW_
+
+_THE KREMLIN AND ITS TREASURIES. THE ANCIENT REGALIA. THE ROMANOFF
+HOUSE_
+
+_ALFRED MASKELL_
+
+Moscow is the second capital of the Empire, but by ancient right
+the first, although now surpassed both in commerce and population by
+the modern city of Peter the Great. Moscow occupies almost exactly
+the geographical centre of European Russia. Artistically it is of
+far greater interest to us than its northern rival. It has preserved
+the old oriental type: in its palaces has been displayed the barbaric
+pomp of the Muscovite Tsars of which much yet remains, not only
+in their renovated halls but also in what is left of the plate,
+jewels and ornaments with which they once abounded.
+
+The general plan resembles somewhat that of Paris; the different
+quarters have gradually developed around a centre, and the river
+Moskva meanders through them as the Seine. The centre is the Kremlin;
+in shape an irregular triangle surrounded by high walls, outside
+which is the first walled-in quarter--the Kitai-Gorod, that is
+the Chinese city, about the meaning of which term there is some
+dispute. It is not, nor ever has been, in any way Chinese.
+
+The name of Moscow appears first in the chronicles in 1147, when
+Youri, a son of Vladimir Monomachus, built the first houses of a
+town on the hill where the Kremlin now stands, but it was not until
+at least a century later that the city became of any importance.
+In 1237, it was burned by the Tartars and the real founder was
+Daniel, a son of Alexander Nevski. He was the first prince buried
+in the church of St. Michael where, until the time of Peter the
+Great, all the sovereigns of Russia have been buried; as in the
+metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption, but a few steps distant,
+they have all been crowned up to the present day. From the Fifteenth
+to the Seventeenth Centuries, at the time when the arts flourished
+in Russia, in the greatest profusion and magnificence, Moscow was
+endowed with her richest monuments. It was then the numerous churches
+arose, the Kremlin, and the palaces of the boyars. At that time the
+city consisted of the Kremlin and the three walled-in enclosures
+which encircle it and each other as the several skins and shell
+inclose the kernel of a walnut. It appears to have been built in a
+haphazard fashion, though the old plans, with the houses sketched
+in rows, exhibit an uniformity of streets and buildings. They show
+us also that the houses were for the most part of wood, having each
+a covered outside staircase leading to the upper stories. Built
+so much of wood it was exposed to frequent conflagrations, the last
+being the great burning at the time of the French invasion in 1812.
+But so quickly was it always rebuilt and on the same lines that it
+has ever retained its original and irregular aspect. The Kremlin
+was at first of wood, but under the two Ivans it was surrounded by
+the solid stone walls of white stone cut in facets, which have
+given to the city the name "White Mother," or "Holy Mother Moscow
+with the white walls."
+
+[Illustration: MOSCOW.]
+
+The Kremlin is at the same time a fortress and a city contained
+within itself, with its streets and palaces, churches, monasteries,
+and barracks. Eighteen towers and five gateways garnish the long
+extent of the inclosing wall; two of the gateways are interesting;
+that of the Saviour built by Pietro Solario in 1491, and that of
+the Trinity by Christopher Galloway in the Seventeenth Century.
+Here, among the churches are those of the Assumption and of St.
+Michael; here are the new palace of the Tsar, the restored Terem
+(what is left of the old palace), the sacristy and library of the
+patriarchs, the treasure and regalia, the great tower of Ivan Veliki
+in which hangs the largest bell in the world that will ring, and
+beneath it the "Tsar Kolokol," the king of bells, which it is supposed
+has never been rung and the king of cannons which has never been
+fired.
+
+The ancient "Kazna," or treasury of the Kremlin, where the riches
+of the Tsars have been preserved from time immemorial was in the
+reign of Ivan III. situated within the walls of the Kremlin, between
+the Cathedrals of St. Michael and of the Annunciation. Here it
+remained until the great fire of 1737. The treasure had already
+suffered a heavy loss: in the early part of the Seventeenth Century,
+at the time of the war with Poland, a large quantity of plate was
+melted down to provide for the payment of the troops. The fire
+of 1737 caused a further and greater loss and destroyed also a
+large part of the armoury. At the time of the French invasion in
+1812 the whole of the treasure, together with the regalia, was
+removed to Novgorod, and thus escaped destruction of seizure. On
+its return to Moscow in 1814, systematic arrangements were made
+for its preservation, and for the formation and arrangement of
+the museum in which it is now exhibited. In the year 1850 the new
+building of the Oruj�naia Palata which forms part of the modern
+palace of the Kremlin was completed, and to this the entire collection
+was transferred.
+
+The treasury of Moscow has been almost from the time of the
+establishment of the Russian Empire the place where the riches
+of the Tsars have been kept; consisting of the regalia, of the
+state costumes, of the plate and vases used in the service of their
+table, of their most magnificent armour and horse-trappings, of
+their state carriages and sledges and of the presents which from
+time to time the sovereigns of other countries sent through their
+ambassadors, of whose embassies so many interesting accounts have
+come down to us.
+
+The collection of plate is exposed on open stands arranged in tiers
+round the pillars, or otherwise displayed in a vast hall of the
+new building of the Oruj�naia Palata.
+
+The riches thus brought together have suffered many changes. The
+court was frequently moved, the state of the empire was continually
+disturbed, fires were of frequent occurrence, and necessity at times
+caused much treasure to be melted down. The Tsar's favourites received
+no doubt from time to time acceptable marks of his approbation in
+the shape of rich presents, and many specimens of plate found their
+way probably in a similar manner to the churches and monasteries. But
+notwithstanding all this, there still remains permanently installed
+and carefully guarded in the treasury of the Kremlin a collection
+of plate which, for extent, variety, and interest, may rival that
+in any other palace in the world.
+
+It appears to have been customary during the last two centuries
+at least to make a grand display of this treasure on the occasion
+of the visit of the sovereign, and especially during the ceremonies
+of the coronation. Then, in the centre of the hall in the ancient
+_Terem_, known as the gold room, where the Tsar dines in solitary
+state, a kind of buffet is arranged and other stands disposed,
+loaded and groaning with this rich accumulation.
+
+Great splendour and richness of material, the lavish use of jewels in
+the decoration, and the brilliant colour derived from the employment
+of enamels are characteristics of eastern art in the precious metals.
+But while we are struck by the delicacy and refinement with which
+these are employed by many eastern countries, and while we admire
+the taste and harmony of colour displayed by the workmen of India
+or of Persia, it must be confessed that the Russian tempted by the
+glitter and display which are so much in accordance with his own
+taste, has been unable to use the same judgment as those whom he
+has taken as his models. Few would deny that there reigns throughout
+his work that quality which is best expressed by the term--barbaric
+magnificence. This is not vulgarity: such a term is not applicable;
+it is the outcome of the desire which is to be found amongst all
+nations who have attained a certain degree of civilization and
+riches to impose respect and awe by a lavish display of material
+wealth or by the use of gorgeous colour, which always calls forth
+the admiration of the multitude.
+
+In the plate and jewelled ornament which we find in the treasury
+of the Kremlin, we shall find that Russian taste was fond of solid
+material and ornament, enriched with many and large precious stones
+of value. All Oriental nations have ever loved to accumulate riches
+of this description which, at the same time that they are of use
+as ornament, are also of intrinsic value. The crowns, and thrones,
+and sceptres, the ornaments of the imperial costume, the gold and
+silver plate and vases and other precious objects of the court
+of the Tsars have, therefore, a character of solid splendour, a
+want of refinement and delicacy, which is almost uniformly
+characteristic. Still they are not deficient in a certain grandeur
+and even elegance, and in details there is much that is admirable,
+much that is strikingly original.
+
+By far the greater number of pieces that we shall find in the Kremlin
+and elsewhere belong to the Seventeenth Century. In the treasury
+of the Kremlin we have but one piece of the Twelfth Century and
+some few of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. All the rest
+are later.
+
+The entire number of pieces in the Kremlin amounts to sixteen hundred.
+After the disasters of 1612, all the ancient plate for the service
+of the Tsar's table was melted down and converted into money; many
+objects in gold and silver and jewelled work being at the same time
+given in pledge to the troops of Vladislas IV. There are therefore
+few examples earlier than the dynasty of the Romanoffs.
+
+The treasure contains also some of the most highly venerated icons,
+crosses, and reliquaries in Russia. As regards many of these it
+is difficult to assign a date or a place of production. Many of
+them have histories more or less legendary, but while some may
+appear to belong absolutely to the Greek school, we must not forget
+that Russia sent its workmen to Mount Athos to be instructed and
+to work there, and on their return the traditions and models of
+the school were scrupulously observed in the workshops of Moscow.
+
+The regalia of the ancient Tsars scarcely yield in interest to
+that of any other country. They consist of a large number of crowns
+or jewelled caps of peculiar form, of orbs and sceptres, of the
+imperial costume, and especially of that peculiar part of the latter,
+a kind of collar or shoulder ornament, known as the _barmi_.
+
+Other important pieces of the regalia of Alexis Michailovitch are
+the orbs and sceptres, the bow and arrow case of the same description
+of workmanship. These are gorgeous specimens of jewelled and enamelled
+work attributed to Constantinople. The sceptre of the Tsar Michailovitch
+is of similar enamelled work, and is probably a good specimen of
+the effect of western influence on the goldsmiths of Moscow. The
+figures especially appear to be of the Italian renaissance. Another
+sceptre is unmistakably Russian work, and if not of pure taste is
+at least of fine workmanship and imposing magnificence.
+
+The thrones are of high interest from more than one point of view.
+We must content ourselves with choosing two from amongst them,
+viz.: the ivory throne of Ivan III. (_Antiquities of the Russian
+Empire_, ii. 84-100), and the throne known as the Persian throne
+(_Ibid_, ii. 62-66).
+
+The first was brought from Constantinople in 1472 by the Tsarina
+Sophia Paleologus, who, by her marriage with Ivan III., united
+the coats of arms of Byzantium and Russia.
+
+There is a certain resemblance between this throne and that known
+as the chair of St. Peter at Rome. The general form is the same, as
+is the manner in which the ivory plaques and their borderings are
+placed. The second throne is a magnificent work, which, according
+to a register as the _Book of Embassies_, was sent from Persia in
+the year 1660 to the Tsar Alexis by a certain Ichto Modevlet, of
+the Shah's court. M. Weltman, in his enumeration of the treasury of
+the Kremlin, says: "It was therefore probably made in the workshops
+of Ispahan about the same time that the globe, sceptre, and _barmi_
+were ordered from Constantinople."
+
+[Illustration: THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW.]
+
+The Kremlin contains a large number of pieces of decorative plate
+of all kinds made for the service of the table of the Tsars, or
+displayed on buffets on state occasions. Much of it is the production
+of other countries, presented by their ambassadors or purchased
+for the Tsar. The frequent fires and the melting down of treasure
+during the Polish disturbances have much diminished this collection,
+and possibly also many of the finest pieces have disappeared. Of
+the large service of gold plate of the Tsar Alexis, which consisted
+of 120 covers, two plates are all that remain. These are, however,
+sufficient evidence of the skill and taste of the Moscow goldsmiths
+of the period and of their dexterity in the use of enamel.
+
+The Treasury of the Kremlin contains a large number of cups or
+vases of silver-gilt, for table use, of Russian work. There is
+no great variety in the cups, but some forms are peculiar to the
+country. There are especially the cups called _bratini_ (loving
+cups, from _brat_, a brother), the bowls or ladles termed _kovsh_,
+and the small cups with one flat handle for strong liquors. Tall
+beakers expanding at the lip and contracted at the middle are also
+favourite forms, but the bulbous shape is the most frequent. Indeed,
+that form of bulb or cupola which we see upon the churches is peculiarly
+characteristic. We find it with more or less resemblance, in the
+ancient crowns, in the mitres of the popes, in the bowls of chalices
+and in vases and bowls for drinking. In the _bratini_ and _kovsh_
+the bulging form of ornament, the coving up of the bottoms of the
+bowls, and the use of twisted lobes are very common.
+
+The Cathedral of the Assumption is one of the many churches situated
+within the precincts of the Kremlin. It was reconstructed by Fioraventi
+in 1475 after the model of the Cathedral of Vladimir, and in spite
+of the frequent calamities and fires which have half ruined Moscow
+still preserves in a great measure its primitive character. The
+church of the Assumption has five domes resting in the centre of
+the building on four massive circular pillars, and the sanctuary
+is composed of four hemicycles. The Cathedral of the Archangel
+Michael is close by and was built in 1507 in imitation of it. Near
+this again is the Cathedral of the Annunciation. This, which was
+built in 1416, is more original in style and recalls the churches of
+Mount Athos, or that of Kertch, which dates from the Tenth Century.
+
+Mention must be made of an ancient building, the house known as
+the Romanoff House in Moscow. It was the birthplace of the Tsar
+Michael Theodorovitch, founder of the now reigning family, and
+also of his father Theodore Nikitisch, who became patriarch under
+the name of Philaret. In its restored state the Romanoff House
+is still perhaps the most remarkable ancient building existing
+in Russia as a perfect specimen of the old dwelling-houses of the
+boyards. It is built of stone, and the solid exterior walls are
+as they originally stood. The interior restoration, completed by
+the emperor Alexander in 1859, has been carried out with great
+care in the exact style of the time, the furniture and ornaments
+being authentic and placed as they would have been.
+
+
+
+
+_VASSILI-BLAGENNOI_
+
+(_ST. BASIL THE BLESSED_)
+
+_TH�OPHILE GAUTIER_
+
+We soon reached the Kitai-Gorod, which is the business quarter,
+upon the Krasnaia, the Red Square, or rather the beautiful square,
+for in Russia the words red and beautiful are synonymous. Upon
+one side of this square is the long fa�ade of the Gostinnoi-Dvor,
+an immense bazaar with streets enclosed by glass-like passages,
+and which contains no less than 6,000 shops. The outside wall of
+the Kremlin rears itself on another side, with gates piercing the
+towers of sharply peaked roofs, permitting you to see above it the
+turrets, the domes, the belfries and the spires of the churches and
+convents it encloses. On another side, strange as the architecture
+of dreamland, stands the chimerical and impossible church of
+Vassili-Blagennoi, which makes your reason doubt the testimony of
+your eyes. Although it appears real enough, you ask yourself if
+it is not a fantastic mirage, a building made of clouds curiously
+coloured by the sunlight, and which the quivering air will change
+or cause to dissolve. Without any doubt, it is the most original
+building in the world; it recalls nothing that you have ever seen
+and it belongs to no style whatever: you might call it a gigantic
+madrepore, a colossal formation of crystals, or a grotto of stalactites
+inverted.
+
+But let us not search for comparisons to give an idea of something
+that has no prototype. Let us try rather to describe Vassili-Blagennoi,
+if indeed there exists a vocabulary to speak of what had never been
+imagined previously.
+
+There is a legend about Vassili-Blagennoi, which is probably not
+true, but which nevertheless expresses with strength and poetry
+the sense of wondering stupefaction felt at the semi-barbarous
+period when that singular edifice, so remote from all architectural
+traditions, was erected. Ivan the Terrible had this cathedral built
+as a thank-offering for the conquest of Kasan, and when it was
+finished, he found it so beautiful, wonderful and astounding, that
+he ordered the architect's eyes to be put out--they say he was an
+Italian--so that he could never erect anything similar. According
+to another version of the same legend, the Tsar asked the originator
+of this church if he could not erect a still more beautiful one,
+and upon his reply in the affirmative, he cut off his head, so
+that Vassili-Blagennoi might remain unrivalled forever. A more
+flattering exhibition of jealous cruelty cannot be imagined, but
+this Ivan the Terrible was at bottom a true artist and a passionate
+dilettante. Such ferocity in matters of art is more pleasing to
+me than indifference.
+
+Imagine on a kind of platform which lifts the base from the ground,
+the most peculiar, the most incomprehensible, the most prodigious
+heaping up of large and little cabins, outside stairways, galleries
+with arcades and unexpected hiding-places and projections, unsymmetrical
+porches, chapels in juxtaposition, windows pierced in the walls at
+haphazard, indescribable forms and a rounding out of the interior
+arrangement, as if the architect, seated in the centre of his work
+had produced a building by thrusting it out from him. From the
+roof of this church which might be taken for a Hindu, Chinese, or
+Thibetan pagoda, there springs a forest of belfries of the strangest
+taste, fantastic beyond anything else in the world. The one in the
+centre, the tallest and most massive, shows three or four stories
+from base to spire. First come little columns, and toothed
+string-courses, then come some pilasters framing long mullioned
+windows, then a series of blank arches like scales, overlapping
+one another, and on the sides of the spire wart-like ornaments
+outlining each spire, the whole terminated by a lantern surmounted
+by an inverted golden bulb bearing on its tip the Russian cross.
+The others, which are slenderer and shorter, affect the form of the
+minaret, and their fantastically ornamented towers end in cupolas
+that swell strangely into the form of onions. Some are tortured
+into facets, others ribbed, some cut into diamond-shaped points
+like pineapples, some striped with fillets in spirals, others again
+decorated with lozenge-shaped and overlapping scales, or honeycombed
+like a bee-hive, and all adorned at their summit with the golden
+ball surmounted by the cross.
+
+[Illustration: VASSILI-BLAGENNOI (ST. BASIL THE BLESSED), MOSCOW.]
+
+What adds still more to the fantastic effect of Vassili-Blagennoi,
+is that it is coloured with the most incongruous tones which
+nevertheless produce a harmonious effect that charms the eye. Red,
+blue, apple-green and yellow meet here in all portions of the building.
+Columns, capitals, arches and ornaments are painted with startling
+shades which give a strong relief. On the plain spaces of rare
+occurrence, they have simulated divisions or panels framing pots
+of flowers, rose-windows, wreathing vines, and chim�ras. The domes
+of the bell-towers are decorated with coloured designs that recall
+the patterns of India shawls; and, displayed thus on the roofs
+of the church, they recall the kiosks of the Sultans.
+
+The same fantastic genius presided over the plan and ornamentation
+of the interior. The first chapel, which is very low and in which
+a few lamps glimmer, resembles a golden cavern; unexpected stars
+throw their rays across the dusky shadows and make the stiff images
+of the Greek saints stand out like phantoms. The mosaics of St.
+Mark's in Venice alone can give an approximate idea of the effect
+of this astonishing richness. At the back, the iconostas looms up
+in the twilight shot through with rays like a golden and jewelled
+wall between the faithful and the priests of the sanctuary.
+
+Vassili-Blagennoi does not present, like other churches, a simple
+interior composed of several naves communicating and cut at certain
+points of intersection after the laws of the rites followed in
+the temple. It is formed of a collection of churches, or chapels,
+in juxtaposition and independent of each other. Each bell-tower
+contains a chapel, which arranges itself as it pleases in this
+mass. The dome is the terminal of the spire or the bulb of the
+cupola. You might believe yourself under the enormous casque of
+some Circassian or Tartar giant. These calottes are, moreover,
+marvellously painted and decorated in the interior. It is the same
+with the walls covered with those barbaric and hieratic figures,
+the traditional designs for which the Greek monks of Mount Athos
+have preserved from century to century, and which, in Russia, often
+deceive the careless observer regarding the age of a building.
+It is a peculiar sensation to find yourself in these mysterious
+sanctuaries, where personages familiar to the Roman Catholic cult,
+mingle with the saints peculiar to the Greek Calendar, and seem in
+their archaic Byzantine and constrained appearance to have been
+translated awkwardly into gold by the childish devotion of a primitive
+race. These images that you view across the carved and silver-gilt
+work of the iconostas, where they are ranged symmetrically upon
+the golden screen opening their large fixed eyes and raising their
+brown hand with the fingers turned in a symbolic fashion, produce, by
+means of their somewhat savage, superhuman and immutable traditional
+aspect, a religious impression not to be found in more advanced
+works of art. These figures, seen amid the golden reflections and
+twinkling light of the lamps, easily assume a phantasmagorical
+life, capable of impressing sensitive imaginations and of creating,
+especially at the twilight hour, a peculiar kind of sacred awe.
+
+Narrow corridors, low arched passages, so narrow that your elbows
+brush the walls and so low that you have to bend your head, circle
+about these chapels and lead from one to the other. Nothing could
+be more fantastic than these passages; the architect seems to have
+taken pleasure in tangling up their threading ways. You ascend, you
+descend, you seem to go out of the building, you seem to return,
+twisting about a cornice to follow the curves of a bell-tower,
+and walking through thick walls in tortuous passages that might
+be compared to the capillary tubes of madrepores, or to the roads
+made by insects in the barks of trees. After so many turnings and
+windings, your head swims, a vertigo seizes you, and you wonder if
+you are not a mollusk in an immense shell. I do not speak of the
+mysterious corners, of inexplicable c�cums, low doors opening no
+one knows whither, dark stairways descending into profound depths;
+for I could never finish talking of this architecture, which you
+seem to walk through as if in a dream.
+
+
+
+
+_POLAND_
+
+_THOMAS MICHELL_
+
+The Tsar still bears the title of King of Poland, but the constitutional
+kingdom created at the great settlement of political accounts in
+1815 has been officially styled "The Cis-Vistula Provinces," ever
+since the absolute incorporation with the Russian empire in 1868.
+The provinces in question, ten in number, have an aggregate area
+of 49,157 English square miles, and a population of eight millions,
+composed to the extent of sixty-five per cent. of Poles, the remainder
+being Jews (in the proportion of thirteen per cent., and settled
+chiefly in towns), Lithuanians, Russians, Germans, and other aliens.
+
+The Poles (the Polacks of Shakespeare), are a branch of the Sclav
+race, their language differing but little from that of the Russians,
+Czechs (Bohemians), Servians, Bulgarians, and other kindred remnants.
+Contact and co-operation with Western civilization, and escape
+from Tartar subjugation, permitted the Poles to work out their
+own development on lines so widely apart from those pursued by
+their Russian brethren, that the complete amalgamation of these
+two great Sclav branches has long been a matter of practical
+impossibility.
+
+Polish history begins, like that of Russia, with Scandinavian invasion;
+Szainocha, a reliable authority of the present century, asserted
+that the Northmen descended on the Polish coast of the Baltic,
+and became, as in Russia, ancestors of the noble houses. On the
+other hand, it is on record that the first Grand Duke of Poland
+(about A. D. 842), was Piastus, a peasant, who founded a dynasty
+that was superseded only in 1385 by the Lithuanian Jagellons.
+Christianity was introduced by the fourth of the Piasts, A. D. 964,
+and it was a sovereign of the same House, Boleslas I., the Brave,
+who gave a solid foundation to the Polish State. He conquered Dantzig
+and Pomerania, Silesia, Moravia, and White Russia, as far as the
+Dnieper. After being partitioned, in accordance with the principle
+that long obtained in the neighbouring Russian principalities,
+the component territories of Poland were reunited by Vladislaf
+(Ladislaf) the Short, who established his capital, in 1320, at
+Cracow, where the Polish kings were ever after crowned. Casimir
+the Great, the Polish Justinian (1334-1370), gained for himself
+the title of _Rex Rusticorum_, by the bestowal of benefits on the
+peasantry, who were _adscripti gleh�_, and by the limitation of the
+power of the nobles, or freeholders. On his death, Louis, King of
+Hungary, his sister's son, was called to the throne; but in order
+to insure its continued possession he was compelled to reinstate the
+nobles in all their privileges, under a _Pacta Conventa_, which,
+subject to alterations made at Diets, was retained as part of the
+Coronation Oath so long as there were Polish kings to be consecrated.
+He was the last sovereign of the Piast period. After compelling
+his daughter to marry, not William of Austria, whom she loved, but
+Jagellon, Duke of Lithuania, who offered to unite his extensive
+and adjacent dominions with those of Poland, and to convert his
+own pagan subjects to Christianity, the nobles, in virtue of their
+Magna Charta, elected Jagellon (baptized under the name of Ladislas)
+to the throne of Poland, which thus became dynastically united
+(1386), with that of Lithuania.
+
+On the death, in 1572, of Sigismund II., Augustus, the last of
+the Jagellons, the power of the king, already limited by that of
+two chambers, was still further diminished, and the crown became
+elective. While occupied in besieging the Huguenots at Rochelle,
+and at a time when Poland enjoyed more religious liberty than any
+other country in Europe, Henry of Valois was elected to the throne,
+in succession to Sigismund II.; but he quickly absconded from Cracow
+in order to become Henry III. of France. The Jesuits, introduced in
+the next reign, that of Stephen Bathori, brought strong intolerance
+with them, and one of the reasons that led the Cossacks of the Polish
+Ukraine to solicit Russian protection was the inferior position to
+which their Greek religion had been reduced in relation to Roman
+Catholicism. The Russians and Poles had been at war with each other
+for two centuries. Moscow had been occupied in 1610 by the Poles in
+the name of Ladislas, son of Sigismund III., of the Swedish Wasa
+family, elected to the Muscovite throne by the Russian boyars, but
+soon expelled by the patriots, under Minin and Pojarski. Sobieski,
+who had saved Vienna for the Austrians, could not keep Kief and
+Little Russia for the Poles. Such was the outcome of disorders and
+revolutions in the State, and of wars with Muscovy, Turkey, and
+Sweden, as well as with Tartars and Cossacks. Frederick Augustus
+II., Elector of Saxony, succeeded Sobieski, and reigned until 1733,
+with an interval of five years, during which he was superseded by
+Stanislas I.
+
+[Illustration: NOWO ZJAZD STREET, WARSAW.]
+
+Dissension and anarchy became still more general, in the reign of
+the next sovereign, Augustus III. Civil war, in which the question
+of the rights of Lutherans, Calvinists, and other "dissidents"
+obnoxious to the Roman Catholic Church played a great part, resulted
+in the intervention of Russia and Prussia, and in 1772 the first
+partition of Poland was consummated. The second followed in 1793,
+under an arrangement between the same countries, which had taken
+alarm at a liberal constitution voted by the Polish Diet in 1791,
+especially as it had provided for the emancipation of the _adscripti
+gleb�_. The struggle made by Thaddeus Kosciuszko ended in the entry
+of Suvoroff into Warsaw over the ashes of the Prague suburb, and
+in the third dismemberment (1795), of ancient Poland, under which
+even Warsaw was absorbed by Russia.
+
+Previous to these several partitions, Poland occupied a territory
+much more extensive than that of France. In addition to the kingdom
+proper, it included the province of Posen and part of West Prussia,
+Cracow, and Galicia, Lithuania, the provinces of Volhynia and Podolia,
+and part of the present province of Kief. In 1772, Dantzig was a
+seaport of Poland, Kaminets, in Podolia, its border stronghold
+against Turkey; while to the west and north its frontier extended
+almost to the walls of Riga, and to within a short distance from
+Moscow. In still earlier times, Bessarabia, Moldavia, Silesia,
+and Livonia were embraced within the Polish possessions.
+
+These successive partitions gave the most extensive portion of
+Polish territory to Russia, the most populous to Austria, and the
+most commercial to Prussia. Napoleon I. revived a Polish state
+out of the provinces that had been seized by Prussia and Austria.
+This was first constituted into a Grand Duchy under the King of
+Saxony, and in 1815, when Galicia (with Cracow) was restored to
+Austria, and Posen to Prussia, Warsaw became again a kingdom under
+a constitution granted by Alexander I. The old Polish provinces
+that had fallen to the share of Catherine II. at the partitions
+remained incorporated with the Russian Empire, but were not fully
+subjected to a Russian administration until after the great Polish
+insurrection of 1830, when also the constitution of 1815 was withdrawn,
+the national army abolished, and the Polish language proscribed in
+the public offices.
+
+Notwithstanding the wide measures of Home Rule introduced by Alexander
+II. into the administration of the kingdom, and which, in combination
+with many liberal and pregnant reforms in Russia Proper appeared
+to offer to the Poles the prospect of no inconsiderable influence
+over the destinies of the Russian Empire, the old spirit of national
+independence began to manifest itself, and in 1862, not without
+encouragement from Napoleon III., an insurrection broke out at
+Warsaw.
+
+Outside Warsaw and its immediate vicinity there is little in Russian
+Poland to interest the tourist. The country is generally level
+and monotonous, with wide expanses of sand, heath, and forest,
+and it is only towards the north and east that the ground may be
+said to be heavily timbered. Dense forests stretch down from the
+Russian, anciently Polish, province of Grodno, and now form the
+last retreat in Europe of the _Bison Europeans_, the survivor of
+the Aurochs (_Bos primigenius_), which is supposed to have been
+the original stock of our horned cattle. Although much worried by
+the wolf, the bear, and the lynx, the bison is strictly preserved
+from the hunter, and are not therefore likely to disappear like the
+_Bos Americanus_, or buffalo, which has so long been ruthlessly
+slaughtered in the United States.
+
+Interspersed among these barren or wooded tracts are areas containing
+some of the finest corn-bearing soil in Europe, supplying from
+time immemorial vast quantities of superior grain for shipment
+from ports in the Baltic. It is produced on the larger estates of
+two hundred to fifteen hundred acres, belonging to more than eight
+thousand proprietors. The peasantry, who hold more than 240,000
+farms--seldom exceeding forty acres--contribute next to nothing
+towards exportation, their mode of agriculture being almost as
+rude as that of the Russian peasantry, and their habits of life but
+little superior, especially in the matter of drink. Towns, large
+and small, occur more frequently than in Russia, and while some are
+rich and industrial, others--we may say the great majority--are
+poor and squalid, affording no accommodation that would render
+possible the visit of even the least fastidious traveller.
+
+Consequently we confine ourselves to Warsaw, which we take on our way
+by rail to or from St. Petersburg or Moscow. Founded in the Twelfth
+Century, and, during the Piast period, the seat of the appanaged
+Dukes of Masovia, Warszawa, replaced Cracow as the residence of the
+Polish kings and therefore as the capital of Poland, on the election
+of Sigismund III. (1586). It has now a population of about 445,000,
+not including the Russian garrison of 31,500 officers and men. The
+left bank of the Vistula, on which Warsaw is chiefly built, is
+high, and the pretty, gay, and animated city, with its stately lines
+of streets, wide squares, and spacious gardens, is picturesquely
+disposed along the brow of the cliff and on the plains above. Across
+the broad sandy bed of the stream, here "shallow, ever-changing,
+and divided as Poland itself," and which is on its way from the
+Carpathians to the Baltic, is the Prague suburb, which, formerly
+fortified, has never recovered from the assault by Suvoroff in
+1794, when its sixteen thousand inhabitants were indiscriminately
+put to the sword. A vast panorama spreads out in every direction
+from this melancholy and dirty point of vantage. Opposite is the
+Zamek, or castle, built by the Dukes of Masovia, and enlarged and
+restored by several of the Polish kings, from Sigismund III. to
+Stanislas Augustus Poniatovski. Its pictures and objects of art
+are now at St. Petersburg, and Moscow, and the old royal apartments
+are occupied by the Governor-General. The square in front of the
+castle was the scene of the last Polish "demonstrations," in 1861,
+when it was twice stained with blood.
+
+In the Stare Miasto, or Old Town, strongly old German in aspect,
+stands the cathedral, built in the Thirteenth Century, and restored
+on the last occasion by King John Sobieski. A still more ancient
+sacred edifice is the Church of Our Lady in the Nove Miasto, or New
+Town; but it certainly retains no traces of deep antiquity. Beyond
+the great Sapieha and Sierakovski Barracks towers the Alexander
+Citadel, with its outlying fortifications, built in 1832-35, at the
+expense of the city, as a penalty for the insurrection in 1830.
+In the same direction, but a considerable distance from the town,
+is Mariemont, the country seat of the consort of John Sobieski;
+also Kaskada, a place of entertainment much frequented by the
+inhabitants of Warsaw, and Bielany, a pretty spot on the Vistula
+commanding a fine view. The churches and chapels, mostly Roman
+Catholic, are numerous (eighty-five), and so are the monasteries
+and convents (twenty-two).
+
+Near Novi Sviat (New World) Street, we find the Avenues, or _Champs
+Elys�es_, bordered by fine lime-trees, in front of elegant private
+residences. Crossing a large square, in which the troops are exercised,
+and the military hospital at Uiazdov, formerly a castle of the
+kings of Poland, we reach the fine park of Lazienki, a country
+seat of much elegance built by King Stanislas Augustus, and now
+the residence of the Emperor when he visits Warsaw. The ceilings
+of this _ch�teau_ were painted by Bacciarelli, and its walls are
+hung with portraits of numerous beautiful women.
+
+Contiguous to the Lazienki Park are the extensive gardens of the
+Belvedere Palace, in which the Poles attempted in 1830 to get rid
+of their viceroy, the Grand Duke Constantine. We drive hence in
+less than an hour to one of the most interesting places near Warsaw.
+This is the Castle of Villanov, built by John Sobieski, who died
+in it. To this retreat he brought back the trophies of his mighty
+deeds in arms, and here sought repose after driving the Turks from
+the walls of Vienna. The _ch�teau_, now the property of Countess
+Poto�ka, is full of historical portraits, objects of art, and other
+curiosities, of which the most interesting is the magnificent suit
+of armour presented by the Pope to Sobieski in memory of his great
+victory. The apartments of his beautiful consort are of great elegance.
+In the gallery of pictures we notice an admirable Rubens--the _Death
+of Seneca_; although we are more strongly attracted by an original
+portrait of Bacon, which is but little known in England.
+
+[Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, WARSAW.]
+
+For want of space, again we must plead guilty of omitting to describe
+many palatial residences, and several noticeable monuments, among
+which is one to Copernicus, the Polish founder of modern astronomy.
+On the same ground we pass over handsome public buildings, theatres,
+gardens and cemeteries, in one of which, the Evangelical Cemetery, is
+buried John Cockerell, to whom Belgium owes so much of her industrial
+prosperity.
+
+
+
+
+_KIEF, THE CITY OF PILGRAMAGE_
+
+_J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON_
+
+Kief, the Jerusalem of Russia, is by nature marked for distinction;
+she rises like an Etruscan city from the plain; she is flanked by
+fortifications; she is pleasantly clothed by trees, and height
+beyond height is crowned by castle or by church. Fifty thousand
+pilgrims annually, many of whom are footsore from long and weary
+journeying, throw themselves on their knees as they see the sacred
+city from afar: her holy places shine in the sun as a light set
+upon a hill which cannot be hid. Three holy shrines which I can
+recall to mind--Kief, Assisi, and Jerusalem--are alike fortunate in
+command of situation; the approach to each is most impressive. In
+Kief particularly the natural landscape is heightened in pictorial
+effect by the picturesque groups of pilgrims, staves in hand and
+wallets on back, who may be seen at all hours of the day clambering
+up the hill, resting under the shadow of a tree, or reverently
+bowing the head at the sound of a convent bell.
+
+Kief is not one city, but three cities, each with its own fortification.
+The old town, strong in position, and enclosing within its circuit
+the Cathedral of St. Sophia and the Palace of the Metropolitan,
+was in remote ages a Sclavonian Pantheon, sacred to the Russian
+Jupiter and other savage gods. The new town, separated from the
+old town by a deep ravine, stands on a broad platform which rises
+precipitously from the banks of the Dnieper. The walls are massive,
+the fort is strong, and the famous monastery, the first in rank
+in Russia, with its gilt and coloured domes, shines from out the
+shade of a deep wood. The third division, "the Town of the Vale,"
+situated between the hills and the river, is chiefly devoted to
+commerce. Without much stretch of fancy it might be said that Kief,
+like Rome, Lisbon and some other cities, is built on seven hills.
+And thus the pictorial aspect changes almost at every step; a winding
+path will bring to view an unsuspected height, or open up a valley
+previously hid. The traveller has in the course of his wanderings
+often to feel thankful that a kind providence has planted sacred
+places in the midst of lovely scenery. The holy mountain at Varallo,
+the sacred hill at Orta, are, like the shrines of Kief, made doubly
+pleasant for pilgrimage through the beauties of nature by which
+they are surrounded. It is said that at the monastery of the Grande
+Chartreuse the monks do not permit themselves to look too much at
+the outward landscape, lest their hearts should by the loveliness
+of earth be estranged from heaven. I do not think that Russian
+priests or pilgrims incur any such danger. When they are neither
+praying nor eating they are sleeping; in short, I did not among
+the motley multitude see a single eye open to the loveliness of
+colour in the sky above, or to the beauty of form in the earth
+beneath. It is singular how obtuse these people are; I have noticed
+in a crowded railway carriage that not a face would be turned to
+the glory of the setting sun, but if a church tower came into view
+on the distant horizon, every hand was raised to make the sign
+of the cross. While taking my observations among the pilgrims at
+Kief I was struck with the fact, not only that a superstitious
+faith, but that a degraded art blinds the eye to the beauty of
+nature. It is one of the high services of true art to lead the mind
+to the contemplation, to the love and the better understanding,
+of the works of creation. But, on the contrary, it is the penalty
+of this Byzantine art to close the appointed access between nature
+and nature's God. An art which ignores and violates truth and beauty
+cannot do otherwise than lead the mind away from nature. This seemed
+one of the several lessons taught by Kief, the city of pilgrimage.
+
+Sketchers of character and costume will find excellent studies
+among the pilgrims of Kief. The upper and educated classes, who
+in Russia are assimilating with their equals in other nations, and
+are therefore not tempting to the pencil or the brush, do not, as
+we have already seen, come in any numbers to these sacred shrines.
+It is the lower orders, who still preserve the manners and customs
+of their ancestors, that make these church festivals so attractive
+to the artist. The variety of races brought together from afar--a
+diversity only possibly within an empire, like Russia, made up of
+heterogeneous materials--might serve not only to fill a portfolio,
+but to illustrate a volume; the ethnologist equally with the painter
+would find at the time of great festivities curious specimens of
+humanity. I remember some years ago to have met with the French
+artist, M. Th�odore Valerio, when he had brought home the _Album
+Ethnographique_ from Hungary, Croatia, and the more distant borders
+of the Danube. It was quite refreshing, after the infinite number
+of costume-studies I had seen from Italian peasantry, to find that
+art had the possibility of an entirely new sphere among the Sclavonic
+races. A like field for any painter of enterprise is now open in
+Russia. The large and famous composition, _The Butter Week (Carnival)
+in St. Petersburg_, by C. Makowski, may serve to indicate the hitherto
+undeveloped pictorial resources of the empire. When the conditions
+are new there is a possibility that the art may be new also. The
+ethnology, the physical geography, the climate, the religion, the
+products of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, so far as they are
+peculiar to Russia, will some day become reflected into the national
+art. It is true that the painter may occasionally feel a want of
+colour, the costumes of the peasant are apt to be dull and heavy, yet
+not unfrequently rags and tatters bring compensation by picturesque
+outlines and paintable surface-textures. At Kief, however, the traveller
+is sufficiently south and east to fall in with warm southern hues
+and Oriental harmonies, broken and enriched, moreover, among the
+lower orders by that engrained dirt which I have usually noted as
+the special privilege and prerogative of pilgrims in all parts of
+the world. The use of soap would seem to be accounted as sacrilege
+on religious sentiment. What with dust, and what with sun, the
+wayfarers who toil up the heights leading to the holy hill have
+gained a colour which a Murillo would delight in. The face and
+neck bronzed by the hot sun tell out grandly from a flowing mass
+of hair worthy of a patriarch.
+
+[Illustration: THE DNIEPER AT KIEF.]
+
+Beggars, who in Russia are as thick about the churches as the pigeons
+that pick up crumbs in front of St. Mark's, are almost essential
+to the histrionic panoramas at these places of pilgrimage. I have
+never seen so large or so varied a collection of professional and
+casual mendicants as within and about the sacred enclosures of Kief.
+Some appeared to enjoy vested rights; these privileged personages
+would as little endure to be driven from a favoured post as with us
+a sweeper at a crossing would tolerate a rival broom. Several of
+these waiters upon charity might be termed literary beggars; their
+function is to read aloud from a large book in the hearing of the
+passers-by. They are often infirm, and occasionally blind, but they
+read just the same. Another class may be called the incurables; in
+England they would be kept out of sight, but here in Russia, running
+sores, mutilated hands and legs, are valuable as stock-in-trade.
+Loathsome diseases are thrust forward as a threat, distorted limbs
+are extortionate for alms; it is a piteous sight to see; some of
+these sad objects are in the jaws of death, and come apparently
+that they may die on holy ground. Another class may be called the
+pious beggars; they stand at the church doors; they are picturesque
+and apostolic; long beards and quiet bearing, with a certain
+professional get-up of misery and desolation, make these sacred
+mendicants grand after their kind. Such figures are usually ranged
+on either side of the chief entrance; they are motionless as statues,
+save when in the immediate act of soliciting alms; indeed I have
+sometimes noticed how beggars standing before a church fa�ade are
+suggestive of statuary, the want of which is so much felt in the
+unsculpturesque architecture of Russia. Pilgrims and beggars--the
+line of demarcation it is not always easy to define--have an Oriental
+way of throwing themselves into easy and paintable attitudes; in
+fact posture plays a conspicuous part in the devotions of such
+people; they pray bodily almost more than mentally,--the figure
+and its attendant costume become instruments of worship.
+
+The Cathedral of St. Sophia, which dates back to the Eleventh Century,
+is of interest from its resemblance to St. Mark's, Venice, in the
+plan of the Greek cross, in the use of domes and galleries, and
+in the introduction of mosaics as surface-decorations. I saw the
+galleries full of fashionable worshippers; the galleries in St. Mark's
+on the contrary, are always empty and useless, though constructed for
+use. In the apse are the only old mosaics I have met with in Russia;
+it is strange that an art which specially pertains to Byzantium
+was not turned to more account by the Greco-Russian Church. There
+is in the apse, besides, a subject composition,--a noble female
+figure, colossal in size, the arms upraised in attitude of prayer,
+the drapery cast broadly and symmetrically. In the same interior
+are associated with mosaics, frescoes, or rather wall-paintings
+in _secco_. On the columns which support the cupola are frescoes
+which, though of no art value, naturally excited curiosity when
+they were discovered some few years since, after having been hid
+for two or more centuries by a covering of whitewash. Some other
+wall-pictures are essentially modern, and others have been restored,
+after Russian usage, in so reckless and wholesale a fashion as to
+be no longer of value as arch�ologic records. In the staircase
+leading to the galleries are some further wall-paintings, said to
+be contemporaneous with the building of the cathedral; the date,
+however, is wholly uncertain. These anomalous compositions represent
+a boar-hunt and other sports, with groups of musicians, dancers,
+and jugglers, intervening. In accord with the secular character of
+the subjects is the rude naturalism of the style. Positive knowledge
+as to date being wanting, it is impossible to speak of these works
+otherwise than to say that they cannot be of Byzantine origin.
+If of real antiquity they will have to join company with other
+semi-barbaric products in metal, etc., which prove, as we have
+seen, that Russia has two historic schools, the Byzantine, on the
+one hand, debilitated and refined, as of periods of decline, and,
+on the other, a non-Byzantine and barbarous style, strong and coarse
+as of races still vital and vigorous. A like conflict is found in
+the North of Italy between the Byzantine and the Lombard manner;
+and even in England the west front of Wells Cathedral presents the
+same unresolved contradictions. It would seem that over the greater
+part of Europe, Eastern as well as Western, these two hostile arts
+were practiced contemporaneously; at all events the same buildings
+are found to display the two opposite styles. It would appear probable,
+however, that the respective artists or artisans belonged to at
+least two distinct nationalities.
+
+The Pecherskoi Monastery, or Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, at Kief, the
+Kremlin in Moscow, and the grand monastery of Troitza, have this
+in common, that the situation is commanding, the site elevated.
+Also, these three venerable sanctuaries are strongholds, for though
+the holy places at Kief are not on all sides fortified, yet the
+approach from the old city, which is the most accessible, lies
+along bastions and walls. In fact, here we have again a semblance
+to the ancient idea of a church, a citadel, and a palace united,
+as in an acropolis--the Church and the State being one; the arm
+of the flesh sustaining the sword of the spirit,--a condition of
+things which has always given to the world its noblest art. The
+walk to this most ancient monastery in Russia passes pleasantly by
+the side of a wood; then opens a view of the vast plain beneath,
+intersected by the river Dnieper, over which is flung the great
+suspension-bridge built by the English engineer, Charles Vignolles,
+at the cost of �350,000. The immediate approach is lined with open
+shops or stalls for the sale of sacred pictures, engravings of
+saints, and other articles which pilgrims love to carry back to
+their homes. Within the enclosure trees throw a cool shade, under
+which, as in the courtyards of mosques in Constantinople, the hot
+and weary may repose.
+
+The cathedral dedicated to the ascension of the Virgin, has not
+the slightest pretence to external architecture. The walls are
+mostly whitewashed, and some of the windows have common square
+heads crowned by mean pediments; the intervening pilasters and
+floral decorations in relief, and all in the midst of whitewash,
+are of the poorest character. The seven gilded cupolas or domes
+may be compared to inverted cups surmounted by crosses. The form
+resembles the cup commonly combined in the fantastic towers and
+spires of Protestant churches in Germany, where, however, it has
+been supposed to signify that the laity partake of the chalice.
+These domes are made further decorative at the point of the small
+circular neck which connects the cupola with the upper member or
+finial; around this surface is painted a continuous series of single
+saints standing; the effect of these pictures against the sky,
+if not quite artistic, is striking. Other parts of the exterior
+may indicate Italian rather than Oriental origin, but the style
+is far too mongrel to boast of any legitimate parentage. Here,
+as in the Kremlin, are external wall-paintings of saints, some
+standing on solid ground, others sitting among clouds; the Madonna
+is of course of the company, and the First and Second Persons of
+the Trinity crown the composition. The ideas are trite and the
+treatment is contemptible--the colours pass from dirty red into
+brown and black. These certainly are the worst wall-paintings I
+have ever met with, worse even than the coarsest painted shrines
+on the waysides of Italy; indeed no Church save the Greek Church
+would tolerate an art thus debased. A year after my journey to Kief
+I travelled through the Tyrol on my way from the Ammergau Passion
+Play. The whole of this district abounds in frescoes, many being on
+the external walls of private dwellings. This village art of the
+Bavarian Highlands, though often the handiwork of simple artisans,
+puts to shame both the external and the internal wall-paintings at
+Kief, Troitza, and the Kremlin. Yet this contrast between Russia
+and Southern nations does not arise so much from the higher ability
+of the artists, as from the superiority of the one school to the
+other school. The pictorial arts fostered by the Western Church
+are fundamentally true, while the arts which the Eastern Church has
+patronized and petrified are essentially false and effete.
+
+The scene which strikes the eye on entering this parti-coloured
+Cathedral of the Assumption, though strange, is highly picturesque.
+To this holy shrine are brought the halt, the lame, and the blind,
+as to the moving of the waters. Some press forward to kiss the
+foot of a crucifix, others bow the head and kiss the ground, a
+servile attitude of worship, which in the Greco-Russian Church
+has been borrowed from the Mohammedans. The groups which throng
+the narrow, crowded floor, are wonderfully effective; an artist
+with sketch-book in hand would have many a good chance of catching
+graphic heads and costumes, and all the more easily because these
+pilgrims are not so lively as lethargic. Still, for grand scenic
+impression, I have never in Russia witnessed any church function so
+striking as the piazza in front of St. Peter's on Easter Day, when
+all Rome flocks to receive the Pope's blessing from the balcony.
+Yet the whole interior of this cathedral is itself a picture, or
+rather a countless succession of pictures; as to the architecture
+there is not the minutest space that has not been emblazoned by
+aid of a paint-pot.
+
+But the greatest marvel in this Cathedral of the Assumption is
+the iconostas, or screen for the sacred pictures, a structure
+indispensable to all Russian churches, of which I have withheld the
+description till now, when I find myself in front of a large and
+more astounding erection than can be found in St. Petersburg, Moscow,
+or Troitza. In small churches these sacred placards, bearing the
+character of drop-scenes, are apt to be paltry, indeed the irreverent
+stranger may even be reminded of painted caravans at village fairs.
+But in large cathedrals the screen which stands between the people
+in the nave and the priests in the holy of holies, presents a vast
+fa�ade, upon which are ranged, in three, four, or five stories,
+a multitude of sacred pictures covered with gold and decked with
+jewels. These elaborate contrivances correspond to the reredos
+in Western churches, only with this important difference, that
+they are not behind the holy place but in front of it. They might,
+perhaps, with more correctness be compared to the rood-screens which
+in our churches stand between the altar and the people. The sacred
+screen now before me mounts its head into the dome, and presents an
+imposing and even an architectonic aspect, but certain details,
+such as classic mouldings of columns, and a broken entablature,
+pronounce the edifice to be comparatively modern. The summit is
+fitly crowned by a crucifix, almost in the flat, in order not to
+evade the law of the Russian Church, which prohibits statues in the
+round; the figure of Christ is silver, the cross and the drapery
+of gold or silver-gilt. On either side of the crucifix stand in
+their prescriptive stations the Madonna and St. John. On the story
+beneath comes the entombment, all covered with gold and silver,
+in a low-relief which indicates the forms of the figures beneath;
+the heads, which are not in relief but merely pictorial, are the
+only portions of the picture actually visible.
+
+These altar-screens, which in Russia are counted not by tens but
+by hundreds and thousands, are highly ornate. Silver and gold and
+jewellery are conjoined with painting after the nursery and doll-like
+fashion approved in the South of Spain and at Naples. Only in the
+most corrupt of Roman Catholic capitals does ecclesiastical art
+assume the childish forms common in Russia. Resuming the description
+of the above altar-screen, we find next in range below the entombment
+a large composition, comprising God the Father surrounded by cherubs,
+with two full-grown seraphs, encircled by six gold wings, standing
+on either side. Again, the only parts of the picture permitted to
+be seen are the heads, crossed hands, black legs and feet. Christ
+with the open book of judgment is another conspicuous figure; also a
+companion head, gigantic in size, is the Madonna, directly Byzantine
+in type, though its smooth and well-kept surface gives little sign of
+age. The Christ, too, must be accounted but as modernized Byzantine;
+here is none of the severity or of the tenuity of the early periods.
+The type is poor though refined, debilitated though ideal. The hair,
+parted on the forehead, falls thickly on the shoulders. The face is
+youthful, not more than thirty, and without a wrinkle; the cheeks
+are a little flushed, the prevailing expression is placidity. The
+accessories of glory, drapery, and open book are highly decorative;
+here embossed patterns on the gold coverings enhance the richness
+of the surface-ornament. Once again the Russians appear supreme
+in metal-work, especially in the elaboration of decoration in the
+flat. Most of the pictures above mentioned are evidently supremely
+holy; they are black and highly gilded; moreover, they move most
+deeply all sorts and conditions of men, women, and children.
+
+I may here again mention that one purpose of my Russian journey was
+to discover whether there were heads of Christ in the possession
+of the Russian Church older or nobler than the ivory carvings, the
+frescoes, or easel pictures which are found in Italy and other
+Southern or Western nations. And I was, I confess, disappointed not
+to meet with any data which could materially enlarge or enrich this
+most interesting of subjects. As to priority of date, it seems to be
+entirely on the side of the Roman catacombs and the Latin Church;
+moreover, in Russia, as I before frequently remarked, chronology
+is untrustworthy, inasmuch as comparatively modern works assume
+and parody the style of the most ancient. The heads of Christ in
+Russia, one of which has been just described, are, as already said,
+more or less servile reproductions of Byzantine types. Still the
+typical form is found under varying phases; the general tendency
+in these replicas of anterior originals would appear to be towards
+the mitigation of the asperities in the confirmed Byzantine formulas.
+Thus the more recent heads of the Saviour in the churches of St.
+Petersburg, Moscow, Troitza and Kief, assume a certain modern manner,
+and occasionally wear a smooth, pretty and ornamental aspect. In
+these variations on the prescriptive Eastern type, the hair usually
+flows down upon the shoulders, as with the Greek and Russian Priests
+in the present day. As to the beard, it is thick and full, or short
+and scant, but the cheeks are left uncovered, and show an elongated
+face and chin.
+
+These Russian heads of the Saviour in softening down the severe and
+aged type common to Byzantium, assume a physiognomy not sufficiently
+intellectual for the Greatest of Teachers. These "images" in fact
+inspire little reverence except with blind worshippers; they are
+mostly wrought up and renovated, so as to fulfil the preconceived
+conditions of sanctity: undefined generality, weakness, smoothness,
+and blackness, are the common characteristics of these supposititious
+heads of the Saviour. It will thus again be easily understood how
+opposite has been the practice of the Eastern and Western Churches;
+it is a striking fact that at the time when, in Italy, under Leonardo
+da Vinci, Raphael and others, the mystery of a God manifest in the
+flesh had been as it were solved by a perfected art, this Russian
+Church was still under bondage to the once accepted but now discarded
+notion that the Redeemer ought to be represented as one who had no
+form or comeliness. Art in the Western world gained access to the
+beautiful, the perfect, and the divine, as soon as it was permitted
+to the painter or the sculptor to develop to uttermost perfection
+the idea of the Man-God. All such conceptions of the infinite,
+whether it be that of Jupiter in pagan periods, or of Christ under
+our divine dispensation, have always been the life and inspiration
+of the arts. But in Russia ignoble heads of Christ convinced me that
+such life and inspiration were denied. And I look upon the head
+of Christ as the turning point in the Christian art of a nation.
+If that head be conceived of unworthily there is no possibility
+that prophets, apostles, martyrs, shall receive their due.
+
+[Illustration: LA LAVRA, KIEF.]
+
+
+
+
+_NIJNI-NOVGOROD_
+
+_ANTONIO GALLENGA_
+
+Nijni-Novgorod, or Lower New-town, is older than Moscow, and only
+not so old as Novgorod the Great, which was a contemporary of Venice,
+and was still new when the semi-fabulaus Ruric and his Varangians
+are supposed to have given their name to Russia.
+
+Nijni-Novgorod, which everybody here calls simply "Nijni," dates
+from 1222; and mention of its fair occurs, we are told, in 1366,
+since which epoch its celebration has suffered very rare and only
+violent interruption.
+
+To understand why this venerable spot should have been for so many
+years, and should be still, so extensively favoured by the world's
+trade, it is hardly necessary to see it. We only need bear in mind
+that Nijni lies near the confluence of the Oka and the Volga, two
+of the greatest rivers of this Russia which alone of all countries
+of Europe may be said to have great rivers; the Volga having a
+course of 2,320 miles, and the Oka, a mere tributary, of 850 miles.
+
+It is the position which the Sa�ne and the Rhone have made for Lyons;
+the position for which St. Louis is indebted to the Mississippi and
+Missouri; the position which Corientes will soon owe to the Parana
+and the Paraguay.
+
+Nijni lies at the very centre of that water communication which
+joins the Caspian and the Black Sea to the White Sea and the Baltic,
+and which, were it always summer, might almost have enabled Russia
+to dispense with roads and railroads.
+
+But Nijni is, besides, the terminus of the railway from Moscow.
+That line places this town and its fair in communication with all
+the lines of Russia and the Western World, while the Volga, with
+its tributary, the Kama, leads to Perm, and the Pass of the Ural
+Mountains, and the vast regions of Siberia and Central Asia.
+
+Nijni-Novgorod is thus one of the most important links between
+the two great continents, the point of contact between Asiatic
+wealth and European industry; and its fair the best meeting-place
+for the interchange of commodities between the nations that still
+walk, ride, or row at the rate of three to five miles an hour,
+and those who fly on the wings of steam at the rate of thirty to
+fifty.
+
+The site of Nijni is somewhat like what I still remember of St.
+Louis after a seventeen years' interval. We travelled from Moscow
+over a distance of 273 miles in thirteen hours. For the last hour
+or two before we reached our journey's end, we had on our right
+the river Oka and a hilly ridge rising all along it and forming
+its southern bank.
+
+On alighting at the station we drove through a flat, marshy ground,
+intersected by broad canals, to a triangular space between the
+Oka and the Volga at their confluence, where the fair is held.
+
+We went through the maze of bazaars and market buildings, of rows
+of booths, shops and stalls, eating and drinking sheds, warehouses
+and counting-houses. We struggled through long lines of heavy-laden
+country carts, and swarms of clattering _droskies_, all striving to
+force their way along with that hurry-skurry that adds to confusion
+and lessens speed; and we came at last to a long pontoon bridge, over
+which we crossed the Oka, and beyond which rises the hill-range or
+ravine, on the top and at the foot of which is built the straggling
+town of Nijni-Novgorod.
+
+Nijni-Novgorod is a town of 45,000 inhabitants, and, like most
+Russian towns, it occupies a space which could accommodate half a
+million of people. Like many old Russian towns, also, it is laid
+out on the pattern of Moscow, as far as its situation allowed;
+and, to keep up the resemblance, it boasts a Kremlin of its own,
+a grim, struggling citadel with battlemented walls and medi�val
+towers over its gates, with its scores of Byzantine churches, most
+of them with their five cupolas _de rigueur_, clustering together
+like a bunch of radishes--one big radish between four little
+radishes--but not as liberally covered with gilding as those which
+glisten on the top of sacred buildings in St. Petersburg or Moscow;
+down the slopes and ravines are woods and gardens, with coffee-houses
+and eating-houses, and other places of popular entertainment.
+
+It is a town to be admired on the outside and at a distance as a
+picture, but most objectionable as a residence on account of its
+marvellous distances and murderous pavement, a stroll on which
+reminds you of the martyrdom of those holy pilgrims who, to give
+glory to God, walked with dry peas in their shoes.
+
+The pavements are bad in Nijni town, but worse in Nijni fair, for
+if in the former all is hard, sharp, uneven flint, in the latter,
+what is not wood is mud, and what is not mud is dust, for heavy
+showers alternate with stifling heat; and, after a three hours'
+drought one would say that these good people, who live half in
+and half out of a swamp, and who drink anything rather than water,
+can never spare a poor drop to slake the pulverized clay of their
+much trodden thoroughfares.
+
+With all these drawbacks, however, and even with the addition of
+its villainous smells, this is an interesting and striking spot.
+No place can boast of a more sublime view than one can get here
+from the Imperial Palace and Terrace, or from the church-domes
+or spires on the Kremlin; or, even better, from the Esplanade of
+Mouravief's Folly--a tower erected by the well-known General of
+that name on the highest and foremost ravine, and on the summit of
+which he had planned to place a fac-simile of the famous Strassburg
+clock, but constructed on so gigantic a scale that hours and minutes,
+the moon's phases, the planets' cycles and all besides, should be
+distinctly visible from every locality of the town and fair for
+miles and miles around.
+
+From any of those vantage-grounds on the hill look down. The town
+is at your feet; the fair--a city, a Babylon of shops--stretches
+beyond the bridge; the plain, a boundless ocean of green, field and
+forest, dotted here and there with church-spires and factory-shafts
+at prodigious distances; and the two broad rivers, bearing the
+tribute of remote regions from north and south in numberless boats
+and lighters, and neat gallant steamers; the two streams meeting
+here at right angles just below the pontoon-bridge where an immense
+five-domed church of recent construction has been reared to mark
+and hallow the spot.
+
+Down at the fair, in the centre of its hubbub, rises the governor's
+summer-place. The governor dwells there with his family during the
+few weeks of the fair (mid-August to mid-September), coming down
+hither from the Imperial Palace in the town Kremlin, and occupying
+the upper floor. The whole basement, the entrance-hall, and all
+passages--with the exception of a narrow, private, winding
+staircase--are invaded by the crowd and converted into a bazaar,
+the noisiest in the fair, where there is incessant life and movement,
+and music and hurly-burly at every hour between noon and night--a
+lively scene upon which his Excellency and his guests and friends
+look down from the balcony after their five o'clock dinner, smoking
+their cigarettes, and watching the policemen as they pounce like
+trained hawks on the unwary pick-pockets prowling among the crowd.
+
+Of this immense mass of strangers now in Nijni, the town itself,
+and especially the upper town, sees and hears but little.
+
+The fair has its own ground, on its own side of the bridge, its
+own hotels and lodging-houses, its own churches, chapels, theatres,
+eating, gambling, and other houses, its long straight streets and
+boulevards, and pleasure as well as business resorts.
+
+It has its fine Chinese Row, though Chinamen have lately discontinued
+their attendance; it has rich traders' temporary homes, fitted up
+with comfort, and even taste and luxury; and it has its charity
+dormitory, a vast wooden shed, built by Court Ignatieff, and bearing
+his name, intended to accommodate 250 houseless vagrants, but alas! in
+a place where there must be 20,000, if not 200,000 persons answering
+that description.
+
+Of women coming to this market the number is comparatively small--one,
+I should say, for every 100 men; of ladies not one in 10,000, or
+100,000.
+
+Of those who muster sufficiently strong at the evening promenade
+on the Boulevard, indigenous or resident, for the most part, rather
+the look than the number is formidable; and it is here in Nijni,
+as it is generally in Russia, that a Mussulman becomes convinced
+of the wisdom of his Arabian prophet, who invented the yashmak
+as man's best protection, and hallowed it; for of the charms of
+most Russian women, blessed are those who believe without seeing!
+
+In working hours only men and beasts are to be seen--a jumble and
+scramble of men and beasts: car-loads of goods; piles of hogsheads,
+barrels, bales, boxes, and bundles, merchandise of all kinds, of
+every shape, colour, or smell, all lying in a mass topsy-turvy,
+higgledy-piggledy; the thoroughfares blocked up, the foot-paths
+encumbered; chaos and noise all-pervading; and yet, by degrees, almost
+imperceptibly, you will see everything going its way, finding its own
+place; for every branch of trade has, or was at least intended to
+have, here its appointed abode; and there are Tea Rows; Silversmiths
+and Calico Streets; Fur Lanes; Soap, Candle, and Caviare Alleys;
+Photograph, Holy Images, and Priestly Vestments Bazaars; Boot,
+Slop, Tag and Rag Marts and Depositories--all in their compartments,
+kin with kin, and like with like; and everything is made to clear
+out of the way, and all is smoothed down; all subsides into order
+and rule, and not very late at night--quiet.
+
+The Tartars do the most of the work.
+
+They are the descendants of the old warriors of Genghis Khan and
+Timour the Lame, of the ruthless savages who for 200 years overran
+all Russia, spreading death and desolation wherever their coursers'
+hoofs trod, making slaves of the people, and tributary vassals of
+their Princes; but, who by their short-sighted policy favoured the
+rise of that dynasty of Moscow Grand Princes, who presently became
+strong enough to extend their sway both over Russ and Tartar.
+
+The great merchants of Moscow and St. Petersburg or their
+representatives and partners come here for a few days, partners and
+clerks taking up the task by turns, according as business allows
+them absence from their chief establishments.
+
+They bring here no goods, but merely samples of goods--tea, cotton,
+woollen and linen tissues, silk, cutlery, jewellery, and generally
+all articles of European (home Russian) manufacture.
+
+They have most of them good apartments in the upper floors of their
+warehouses; they see their customers, mostly provincial retail
+dealers; they show their samples, drive their bargains, receive
+orders, attend on 'Change (for they have a _Bourse_ at the fair,
+near the bridge), smoke indoors (for in the streets that indulgence
+is forbidden all over the fair for fear of fire), lunch or dine
+together often by mutual invitation.
+
+They are gentlemenly men, young men for the most part (for their
+elders are at home minding the main business), young Russians or
+Russified Germans, some of whom adopt and even affect and exaggerate
+Russian feeling and habits; young men to whom it seems to be a
+principle that easy-made money should be readily spent; leisurely,
+business young men, who sit up late and get up later, take the world
+and its work and pleasure at their ease; understand little and
+care even less about politics; profess to be neither great readers
+nor great thinkers; but are, as a rule, free-handed, hospitable,
+sociable, most amiable, and anything rather than unintelligent men.
+
+Of all the articles of trade which come to court public favour
+in Nijni, the most important and valuable is tea; and although
+the Moscow merchants, by the excellence of their sea-faring tea,
+chiefly imported from Odessa or through England, have almost entirely
+driven from the market the caravan tea, still about one-tenth of
+the enormous quantity of tea sold here is grown in the north of
+China, and comes overland from Kiakhta, the city on the border
+between the Asiatic-Russian and the Celestial Empire.
+
+I was curious to compare the taste of some of the very best qualities
+of both kinds, and was brought to the conclusion, confirmed by the
+opinion of gentlemen interested in the sale of sea-faring tea,
+that, although some of their own is more high-flavoured and stronger,
+there is in the Kiakhta tea an exquisite delicacy, which will always
+receive in its favour a higher price. The difference, I am told,
+mainly arises from the fact that the caravan tea, exposed to the
+air during its twelve months' journey in loose and clumsy and
+much-shaken paper and sheep-skin bundles, gets rid of the tannin
+and other gross substances, a process of purification which cannot
+be effected in the necessarily sealed and hermetically-closed boxes
+in which it reaches Europe by the sea-route; so that if sea-faring
+tea, like port-wine, easily recommends itself to the taste and
+nerves of a strong, hard-working man, a dainty, refined lady will
+give preference to a cup of Kiakhta tea, as she would to a glass
+of Ch�teau Yquem.
+
+The interest of a European, however, would be chiefly attracted
+by what is less familiar in his own part of the world; and, short
+of an actual journey to the remote regions of Siberia and Central
+Asia, nothing is calculated to give him a more extensive idea of
+the produce of those Trans-Uralian Russian possessions than a survey
+of the goods they send here for sale.
+
+What astonishes a stranger at first sight is the quantity. You may
+walk for hours along yards and sheds, the repositories of iron from
+Siberia. You pass hundreds of shops of malachite and lapis-lazuli,
+and a variety of gold and silver work and precious stones from the
+Caucasus, cut with all the minute diligence of Asiatic skill. You
+will see Turkish carpets, Persian silks, and above all things the
+famous Orenburg shawls, so finely knitted, and with such patience
+that one can (they say, but I have not made the experiment), be
+made to pass through a lady's ring, though they be so broad on
+all sides as to wrap the lady all around from head to foot.
+
+One may, besides, have his choice of hundreds and thousands of
+those delightful curiosities and knickknacks, recommendable less
+for their quaintness than for the certainty one feels that there
+is no possible use in the world they may be put to.
+
+There is no novelty at Nijni; no new shape, pattern, or colour
+just coming out to catch popular favour; no unknown mechanical
+contrivance; no discovery likely to affect human progress and brought
+here for the entertainment of the intelligent, un-commercial visitor.
+There are only the shop-keeper and his customer, though it is a
+wholesale shop and on a very large scale.
+
+The fair, moreover, has not the duration that is generally allowed
+for an Exhibition.
+
+[Illustration: NIJNI-NOVGOROD (BRIDGE OF THE FAIR).]
+
+Though officially opened on the 27th of July, the fair does not
+begin in good earnest till the 18th of August; and it reaches its
+height on the 27th, when accounts are settled, and payments ensue;
+after which, goods are removed, and the grounds cleared; only a
+portion of the business lingering throughout September.
+
+About half a score of days, out of the two months during which the
+fair is held, are all that may have attraction for the generality
+of strangers. And although many come from all parts of Russia, and
+from foreign countries, I do not think they tarry here for pleasure
+beyond two or three days.
+
+It would be interesting to anticipate what change a few weeks will
+effect in this scene which is now so full of life, bustle, and
+gaiety; this stage, where so great a variety of human beings from
+nearly all regions of the world, with their money or money's worth,
+with their hopes and fears, their greed and extravagance, all their
+good and evil instincts and faculties at play.
+
+In a few weeks the flags will be furled, the tents struck; the
+pontoon-bridge removed; the shops closed; hotels, bazaars, and
+churches, all private and public edifices, utterly deserted and
+silent; and every house stripped of the last stick of valuable
+furniture; every door locked, barred, and sealed; the place left
+to take care of itself.
+
+For autumn rains and spring thaws must set in, when the seven or
+eight square miles of the ground of the fair, as well as the country
+to an immense extent, will be under water.
+
+
+
+
+_THE VOLGA BASIN_
+
+_THE GREAT RIVER--KASAN, TSARITZIN--ASTRAKHAN_
+
+_ANTONIO GALLENGA_
+
+It is hardly possible to travel on the Volga without falling in
+love with the great river at first sight.
+
+The range of low hills which we had on our right as we descended
+the Oka continued now on the same side as we came down the Volga.
+The Volga, however, has nothing of the wild, erratic instincts
+of its tributary. It is a grand, calm, dignified stream, keeping
+to its course as a respectable matron, and gliding down in placid
+loveliness, without weir or leap, fall or rapids, or break of any
+kind--a fine, broad, almost unrippled sheet of water, with an even,
+steady, and grandly monotonous flow, like that of the stanzas of
+Tasso.
+
+Its width, so far as eye can judge, does not greatly exceed that
+of the Thames at Gravesend, but it is always the same from the
+bridge at Twer above Moscow to the only other bridge, one mile
+in length, between Syzran and Samara; everywhere the same "full
+bumper" for a run of 2,000 English miles.
+
+Though the Volga is numbered among the European rivers, and has
+its sources on the Valda� hills between the European cities, St.
+Petersburg and Moscow, it is a frontier stream, and seemed intended
+to form the natural line of demarcation between two parts of the
+world--between two worlds.
+
+Up to the middle of the Sixteenth Century, Kasan was the advanced
+guard of the Tartar hordes. These wandering tribes, which, profiting
+by dissensions among the Russian princes, overcame and overran
+all Russia, weakened in their turn by division, fell back from
+the main part of the invaded territory, but still held for some
+time their own on the Volga, from Kasan to Astrakhan, till they
+were utterly routed and brought under Russian sway by Ivan the
+Terrible.
+
+Even then, however, though their strength was broken, their spirit
+was untamed. The men of high warrior caste who survived their defeat
+sought a refuge among their kindred tribes further east, at Samarkand,
+Bokhara, and Khiva, where the Russians have now overtaken them; but
+a large part of the mere multitude laid aside without giving up
+their arms, passively accepted without formally acknowledging the
+Tsar's sway, and abided in their tents,--swallowed at once, but
+very leisurely digested, by the all-absorbing Russian civilization.
+
+Large bodies of the nation, however, migrated _en masse_ from time
+to time, the lands they left vacant being rapidly filled up by
+bands of Cossacks, and by foreign (chiefly German), colonists.
+
+For more than three centuries, though already mistress of Siberia
+and victorious in remote Asia, Russia proper might be considered as
+ending at the Volga; so that most of the older and most important
+towns south of Kasan and north of Astrakhan, such as Simbirsk,
+Syzran, Volsk, Saratof, Kamyshin, and Tsaritzin, lie on the right,
+or Russo-European bank of the stream.
+
+Tsaritzin is at the head of the Delta of the Volga, and it lies 580
+versts above Astrakhan, which is said to be at the river's mouth,
+but which is still 150 versts from the roadstead or anchorage,
+called the Nine Feet Station; the spot on the Caspian where sea
+navigation really begins.
+
+At Tsaritzin we might have fancied ourselves in some brand-new
+town in one of the remote backwoods of America. It was nothing of
+a place before the railway reached it. No one can foretell what
+it may become before the locomotive travels past it. For under
+present circumstances all the postal service, the light goods and
+time-saving passenger traffic from all parts of Russia to Astrakhan,
+the Caspian and the Trans-Caspian region, or _vice vers�_, must
+pass between the Tsaritzin pier on the Volga and the platforms
+of the Tsaritzin railway station.
+
+We did not see much of the upstart town, for the horrible clouds
+of thick, dung-impregnated dust would not allow us to keep our
+eyes open. But we perceived that almost every trace of what was
+once little better than a second rate fortress and a village was
+obliterated; the old inhabitants were nowhere, and a bustling set
+of new settlers were sharing the broad area among themselves, taking
+as much of it as suited their immediate wants, and extending it to
+the utmost limits of their sanguine expectations; drawing lines
+of streets at great distances, tracing the sides of broad squares
+and crescents, and laying the foundations of what would rise in
+time into shops and houses, hotels, bazaars, theatres and churches.
+
+Tzaritzin when we saw it was merely the embryo of a city. Those
+that may visit it a score of years hence will tell us what they
+find it.
+
+Two more nights and a day down the sluggish waters of the main
+channel of the Volga landed us on the tenth day after our departure
+from Nijni-Novgorod, at Astrakhan, where we stayed a whole week.
+
+From Tsaritzin to Astrakhan the Volga flows through the Steppe,
+the great Asiatic grass desert extending from the Caucasus to the
+frontier of China. The wild tenants of this wilderness, the various
+tribes of Tartars, once the terror of East and West, were like a vast
+ocean of human beings swayed to and fro by nomadic and predatory
+instincts, which for centuries threatened to overwhelm and efface
+every vestige of the world's civilization.
+
+The Russians who were first invested and overpowered by the flood,
+were able by the valour and more by the craft of their princes,
+first to stem the tide, then to force it back, and in the end to
+rear such bulwarks as might for ever baffle its fury, and prevent
+its further onset.
+
+Such bulwarks were once the strong places of Kasan and Astrakhan,
+the former seats of Tartar hordes, which the Tsars of Moscow made
+their bases of operations for the indefinite extension of their
+civilized empire over Tartar barbarism.
+
+For the experience of centuries had proved that the Steppe was not
+everywhere and altogether an irreclaimable land, nor the Tartars
+an utterly untameable race.
+
+Astrakhan, like Kasan, is a Russian town, of whose 50,000 inhabitants
+one-fourth or one-fifth at least are tamed Tartars, and the sands
+around which can be made to yield grapes and peaches, and a profusion
+of melons and watermelons. Beyond the immediate neighbourhood,
+over the whole province or "Government" of Astrakhan, stretches
+the vast land of the Steppe, the wide and thin pasture-grounds on
+which the Tartar tribes roam at will with their flocks; a pastoral
+set of men; without fixed homes, and, in our sense of the word,
+without laws; and yet perfectly harmless and peaceful--exempt,
+at least till very lately, from military service, and only paying
+a tribute of 45,000 roubles, at so much a head for each horse,
+ox, or camel, ranging over an extent of 7,000,000 dessiatines
+(20,000,000 acres) of land, an area of 224,514 kilometers, or about
+half of that of France, with a population, including that of the
+capital, of 601,514 inhabitants.
+
+Astrakhan is a modern town, with the usual broad, straight streets,
+most of them boasting no other pavement than sand, with brick
+side-walks, much worn and dilapidated, and, like those of Buenos
+Ayres and many other American cities, so raised above the roadway
+as to require great attention from those who do not wish to run
+the risk of broken shins.
+
+The town has its own Kremlin, apart from the citadel. The Kremlin
+is a kind of cathedral-close, with the cathedral and the archbishop's
+palace, and several monasteries and priests' habitations. The whole
+town, besides, and the environs, as usual in Russia, muster more
+churches than they can number priests or worshippers.
+
+In a walk of two or three miles I took outside the town and as
+far as the cemeteries, I had a scattered group of at least half
+a score of churches all around me, but there was scarcely a human
+habitation within sight.
+
+The governor's palace is a low building over a row of shops in the
+main square of the city. The square itself and the thoroughfares were
+enveloped in thick clouds of blinding dust, almost as troublesome as
+that of Tsaritzin; but on the whole, the place is less unclean than
+one might expect from a population made up of Russians, Tartars,
+Calmucks, Persians, Armenians and Jews.
+
+The Volga and the hundred channels which constitute its delta,
+and the northern shores of the Caspian Sea into which they flow,
+yield more fish than the coasts of Norway and Newfoundland put
+together. The nets employed in catching them would, if laid side
+by side on the ground in all their length, extend over a line of
+40,000 versts, or twice the distance from St. Petersburg to Tashkend
+and back. The annual produce of these Astrakhan fisheries--sturgeon,
+sterlet, salmon, pike, shad, etc.--amounts to 10,000,000 puds of
+fish (the pud thirty-six English pound weight) of the value of
+20,000,000 roubles, the herrings alone yielding a yearly income
+of 4,000,000 roubles. With the exception of the caviare, which is
+sold all over the world, the produce of these fisheries, salted
+or pickled, is destined for home consumption, and travels all over
+the empire, although as far as I have been, I have found everywhere
+the waters equally well-stocked by nature with every description
+of fish; a provident dispensation, since the Russian clergy, like
+the Roman Catholic, are indefatigable in their promotion of what
+they call "the Apostles' trade," by their injunction of 226 fast
+or fish days throughout the year.
+
+The Delta of the Volga and the Caspian Sea lie twenty-five metres
+below the level of the Black Sea.
+
+The city of Astrakhan, placed on the left bank of the main channel
+of the Delta, and, as I said, 150 versts above its anchorage, becomes
+like an island in the midst of a vast sea when the Volga comes down
+in its might with the thaw of the northern ice in late spring;
+and most of its lowest wards would be overwhelmed were it not for
+the dikes that encompass it like a town in Holland.
+
+The eight principal branches and the hundred minor channels and
+outlets of the Delta, breaking up the land into a labyrinth of
+hundreds of islets, are then blended together in one watery surface,
+out of which only the crests of these islets emerge with isolated
+villages, with log-huts and long whitewashed buildings, and high-domed
+churches, all dammed and diked up like the town itself--Tartar
+villages, Calmuck villages, Cossack villages, all or most of them
+fishers' homes and fishing establishments--a population of 20,000
+to 30,000 souls being thus scattered on the bare sand-hills and
+dunes; men of all race, colour, and faith, all employed in the
+same fishing pursuit; the Tartars and Calmucks usually as rank
+and file, the Russians and other Europeans as overseers, foremen,
+and skilled labourers.
+
+From Astrakhan, the queen of the Steppes, to Tiflis the queen of
+the Caucasus, we had a choice of routes.
+
+Tourists from England, or from any part of Western Europe, may
+easily visit the great mountain-chain on which Prometheus was found,
+by crossing the Black Sea from Constantinople or from Odessa, and
+landing at Poti, where the Russians have constructed a railway
+to Tiflis, once the capital of Georgia, now the residence of the
+Governor-General of the whole Caucasus region.
+
+A traveller from the north, bound to the same goal, can take the
+train at Moscow, and come down by rail, _via_ Rostov-on-the-Don,
+all the way to Vladikavkas, a distance of 1,803 versts; and about
+200 additional versts, by post, over a good military road, and
+across the main Caucasian chain, will bring him from Vladikavkas
+to Tiflis.
+
+But we had descended the Volga, and were now near its mouth. We
+had to go down the Volga to the Nine Feet Station below Astrakhan,
+embark there on the Caspian Sea, and cross over either to Baku,
+whence we could go by post round the mountain-chain at its southern
+extremity as far as Tiflis; or land at Petrofsk, and travel along
+the chain to Vladikavkas and the good military road across the
+chain to Tiflis.
+
+We gave our preference to the last-named route.
+
+We left Astrakhan at ten in the evening on board a heavy barge
+belonging to the Caucasus and Mercury steam-navigation company,
+towed by a tug down stream at the rate of five or six miles an
+hour.
+
+We were all that afternoon and night, and part of the following
+day, descending the main channel of the Volga, and it was past
+noon before we reached the Nine Feet Station, for so they call
+the roadstead above which vessels of more than nine feet draught
+dare not venture.
+
+All sight of land, of the seventy larger islands of the Delta,
+and even of the minor islets, and of the lowest sand-banks, had
+been lost for several hours, and we were here in the open sea,
+though scarcely beyond the boundary that the Creator has elsewhere
+fixed between land and water. For the Station which, if I can allow
+myself an apparent Irishism, is a moveable one, has to be pushed
+forward almost day by day as the sands of the Volga silt up far
+beyond the choked-up lands of the Delta, encroaching with a steady
+inroad on the depths of the waves; the Steppe everywhere widening
+as the sea dwindles, and suggesting the thought that the whole
+region that is now Steppe must in remote ages have been sea, and
+that whatever is now sea, must in time become Steppe.
+
+Indeed, it seems not impossible to calculate how many years or
+centuries it may take for the sands of the Volga, aided by those of
+the Ural and the Emba on the eastern, and of the Kuma, the Terek,
+and the Kur or Kura, with its tributary the Aras, on the western
+shore, to fill up the land-locked Caspian, though its extreme depth,
+according to the Gazetteers, is 600 feet, and the area covered by
+it probably exceeds 180,000 square miles, a surface as large as
+that of Spain.
+
+Kasan, once the residence of a redoubted horde, was probably, under
+Tartar sway, in a great measure a mere encampment, chiefly a city of
+tents; for whatever the guide-books may say, there is no positive
+evidence of its present buildings belonging to a date anterior to
+the Russian Conquest.
+
+Its situation probably recommended itself to the Tartars chiefly
+on the score of strength; for although it stands high above the
+river, its present distance from it is at least three miles, and
+it is surrounded by a sandy and marshy plain, intersected by the
+channels of the Kasana river, erratic water-courses which may have
+proved sufficient obstacles to the onset of an invader, but which
+raise no less serious hindrances to the conveyance of goods from
+the landing-place to the town; an inconvenience hitherto not removed
+by the tramway, as it as yet only carries passengers.
+
+Kasan is on the main line of communication between Central Russia
+and Siberia.
+
+The travellers bound to that bourne embark here on steamers that go
+down the Volga as far as its confluence with the Kama, a tributary
+stream, and thence ascend the Kama, which is navigable all the
+way to Perm. From Perm a railway runs up to the Pass of the Ural
+mountains to Ekaterinenburg, probably to be in course of time continued
+to Tiumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk, the Baikal Lake, the Chinese
+frontier at Kiakhta, the banks of the Amoor, and the shores of
+the Pacific Ocean.
+
+Along this route it is calculated that some �3,000,000 worth of
+merchandise are brought yearly from Siberia down the Kama and up
+the Volga to the Nijni-Novgorod fair.
+
+Kasan is a highly flourishing city. It has a population of 90,000
+to 100,000 inhabitants, one-fourth of whom are Tartars.
+
+These descendants of the old Nomad race are now here at home, and
+live in the city perfectly at peace with their Russian fellow-subjects,
+though being Mahometans, they have distinct, if not separate, quarters,
+and mosques and a burial-ground of their own. It would seem impossible
+for two races which have so little reason for mutual good-will, to
+show so little disposition to quarrel. But it should be remembered
+that Sclav and Tartar were not in former times so far asunder in
+manners, in language, in polish, nor so free from admixture in
+blood as the Russians fondly believe.
+
+The town has its Kremlin, on the site of the old citadel, with
+its cathedral and other churches, and several "telescope towers,"
+if they may be so called, built on several stories, dwindling in
+size from floor to floor as they rise one above the other, so that
+one can conceive how they might easily sink into one another and
+shut up like a spy-glass. The great brick tower of Pier Crescenzi
+in Rome is such a tower; and here are many in the same style at
+Moscow and in most other old Russian cities. Kasan has several public
+edifices of some pretension: the Admiralty; the University--one of
+the seven of the Empire, etc. But we had enough of it all after
+two or three hours, and were glad to shun the heat of the rest
+of the day in the cool sitting-room of Commonen's Hotel, which
+alone may be taken as a voucher for the high degree of civilization
+reached by Kasan.
+
+We gave even less time to the other cities of the Volga, not thinking
+it always worth while to alight at all the stations, though the
+steamer stopped at some of these for many a long, weary hour.
+
+With the exception of Kasan, Samara, and Astrakhan, the most important
+cities are, as I said, on the right or Russian bank of the River;
+and three of them, Syzran, Saratof, and Tsaritzin, are connected
+by various railways with Moscow and all the other important centres
+of life in the Empire.
+
+The Volga, which between Nijni-Novgorod and Kasan flows in an almost
+straight easterly direction, takes a turn to the southward after
+leaving Kasan and the confluence of the Kama; but it makes a loop
+below Simbirsk, turning eastward to Samara, and again west to Syzran,
+after which it resumes its southerly course to Saratof, Tsaritzin,
+and Astrakhan.
+
+The railway from Moscow to Syzran, upon reaching Syzran, crosses
+the Volga on an iron bridge, one verst and a half, or one English
+mile, in length, and high enough to allow the largest steamer pass
+without lowering its funnel--a masterpiece of engineering greatly
+admired by the people here, who describe it as the longest bridge
+in Russia and in the world.
+
+We went under it at midnight by a dim moonlight which barely allowed
+us to see it looming in the distance not much bigger than a
+telegraph-wire drawn all across the valley, the gossamer line of
+the bridge and all the landscape round striking us as dreamlike
+and unreal.
+
+After crossing the river the railway proceeds to Samara, and hence
+419 versts further to Orenburg, a large and thriving place on the
+Ural river, the spot from which the straightest and probably the
+shortest way is, or will be, open to all parts of Siberia or Central
+Asia; preferable, I should think, to that of Perm and Ekaterinenburg
+above-mentioned, which is now the most frequented route.
+
+Beyond Syzran and Samara the river scenery, which has hitherto
+been verdant, assumes a southerly aspect; the hill-sides sloping
+to the river have a parched and faded brown look; the hill-tops are
+bared and seamed with chalky ravines; every trace of the forests
+has disappeared; and it is only at rare intervals that the banks
+are clad with the verdure of the new growth.
+
+[Illustration: FROM THE RAMPARTS OF THE KREMLIN NIJNI-NOVGOROD.]
+
+From Nijni to Tsaritzin we have stopped at more than thirty different
+stations, and no pen could describe the stir and bustle of goods
+and passengers that awaited us at every wharf and pier.
+
+Several of these stations are towns of 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants,
+and, besides their corn trade and tobacco, they all deal in some
+articles of necessity or luxury, of which they produce enough for
+their own, if not always for their neighbours', consumption.
+
+Everywhere one sees huge buildings--steam flour-mills,
+tobacco-factories, salt-mines, soap and candle factories, tanneries--and
+last, not least, palaces for the sale of _koumiss_ or fermented
+mare's milk, a sanitary beverage; and extensive establishments,
+especially near Samara, for the _koumiss_ cure,--fashionable resorts
+as watering-places, frequented by persons affected by consumption,
+and other real or imaginary ailments.
+
+There is something appalling in the thought that all this busy,
+and, on the whole, merry life on the banks of the Volga must come
+to a dead stand-still for six or seven months in the year. I have
+been vainly taxing my brain to guess what may become of the captains,
+mates and crews of the 700 steamers, and of the 5,000 heavy barges
+with which the river is now swarming; of the porters, agents, clerks,
+and other officials at the various stations; of the thousands of
+women employed to carry all the firewood from the piers to the
+steam-boats. What becomes of all these, and of the men and horses
+toiling at the steam-row and tow-boats on the Oka, the Kama, the Don,
+the Dnieper, and a hundred other rivers during the long season in
+which the vast plains of Russia are turned into a howling wilderness
+of snow and ice from end to end?
+
+Railway communication and sledge-driving may, by doubling their
+activity, afford employment to some of the men and beasts who would
+otherwise be doomed to passive and torpid hybernation. But much of
+the work that is practicable in other countries almost throughout
+the year--nearly all that is done in the open air--suffers here
+grievous interruption.
+
+What should we think in England of a six months' winter, in which
+the land were as hard as a rock, in which all the cattle had to
+be kept within doors, in which the bricklayer's trowel and the
+road-mender's roller had to be laid aside?
+
+And, by way of compensation, what mere human bone and muscle can
+stand the crushing labour by which the summer months, with their
+long days of twenty hours' sunlight, must make up for the winter's
+forced idleness; in a climate too, where, as far as my own experience
+goes, the heat is hardly less oppressive and stifling than in the
+level lands of Lombardy or the Emilia?
+
+
+
+
+_ODESSA_
+
+_ANTONIO GALLENGA_
+
+From Yalta to Sebastopol there are two routes. One strikes across
+the Ya�la hills to Simpheropol, whence we could proceed by rail to
+Sebastopol; the other runs along the coast, high up on the hills,
+to the Baidar Gate and through the Baidar Valley leading to Balaclava
+and the other well-known spots encompassing the ruins of what was
+once the great naval station of the Russians on the Black Sea.
+
+We chose the coast route, and travelled for five hours in the afternoon
+over forty-eight versts of the most singular road in the world.
+
+It rambles up and down along the side of the hills--as a road did
+once on the beautiful Cornice along the Ligurian Riviera--midway
+between the upper hill crest and the sea, having on the right the
+mountains, a succession of wall-like, perpendicular, hoary cliffs,
+between 1,500 feet and 2,000 feet high, a great wall riven into
+every variety of fantastic shapes of bastions, towers, and pyramids,
+all bare and rugged, crumbling here and there into huge boulders,
+strewn along the slopes down to the road, across the road, and
+further down to the water-edge, a scene which might befit the
+battle-field of the Titans against the gods; and on the left the
+wide expanse of the waters, with a coast like a fringe of little
+glens and creeks and headlines, and the sun's glitter on the waves
+like Dante's "_tremolar della marina_" on the shore of Purgatory.
+
+Between the road and the sea far below us, in the distance, embosomed
+in woods still untouched by the autumn frosts, lay the marine villas
+of Livadia, Orianda, Alupka, etc., very Edens, where on their first
+annexation of the Crimea the wealthy Russians sought a refuge against
+the horrors of their wintry climate; more recently, Imperial
+residences--Livadia, the darling of the late Emperor; Orianda,
+now a mere wreck from the recent conflagration, the seat of the
+Grand Duke Constantine; Alupka, the abode of Prince Woronzoff, the
+son of the benevolent genius of these districts, the road-maker,
+the patron of Yalta, the second founder of Odessa.
+
+A scene of irresistible enchantment is the whole of what the Russians
+emphatically call their "southern coast." And, as if to enhance
+its charm by contrast, everything changes as you pass the Baidar
+Gate, and when you have crossed the Baidar Valley the balmy air
+becomes raw and chill, the bald mountains tame and common-place,
+and the long descent is through an ashy-gray country, swept over by
+an icy blast, saddened by a lowering sky, unrelieved by a flower, a
+bush, or a cottage. So marvellous is the power of mere position, so
+great the difference between the two sides of the same mountain-wall!
+You pass at once from a garden to a steppe.
+
+Away from these sheltering rocks, away from the southern slopes
+of the Caucasian ridges, you are in Russia. The only mountains
+throughout all the rest of the Tsar's European territories are
+the Urals, which nowhere reach even the heights of the Apennines,
+which do not form everywhere a continuous chain, and which run in
+almost a straight line from north to south. From the icy pole the
+wind sweeping over the frozen ocean and the snowy wastes of the
+northern provinces finds nowhere a hindrance to its cruel blasts,
+and spreads its chill over the whole land with such steady keenness
+as to make the climate of the exposed parts of the Black Sea coast
+almost as wintry as that of the White Sea. At Odessa in the early
+days of October both our hotel and the private houses we had occasion
+to enter had already put up double doors and windows, and people
+lived in apartments as hermetically closed as if their homes had
+been in St. Petersburg.
+
+We slept at Baidar, a Tartar village, where a maiden of that Moslem
+race was the only attendant at the Russian inn, and on the morrow
+we drove in three hours to Sebastopol, a distance of forty-two
+versts.
+
+Sebastopol has still not a little of that Pompeian look which it
+bore on the day after its surrender to the Western Allies in 1856.
+We drove through miles of ruins, the roofless walls staring at
+us from the dismantled doors and windows, the dust from the
+rubbish-heaps of brick and mortar blinding us at every turning
+of the streets, though, we were told, the city is looking up and
+thriving, and both house-rent and building-ground are rising in
+price from day to day.
+
+We had to wait two days for the "Olga," detained by stress of weather,
+and it was with a hope of enlivening ourselves that, under the
+escort of the English Consul, a Crimean veteran who takes care of
+the heroic dead, and actually lives with as well as for them, we
+drove out to some of the eleven English cemeteries, to the house
+where Lord Raglan died, and the monument marking the spot where
+"the six hundred rode into the jaws of death"--those localities
+made forever memorable by a war than which none was ever undertaken
+with less distinct aims, none fought with greater valour, none
+brought to an end with less important results.
+
+We left Sebastopol at three in the afternoon in the "Olga," and
+landed at Odessa in the morning at ten. Throughout the first week
+after our arrival, we never caught a single glimpse of the sun.
+Odessa, like Sebastopol, like Kertch, like Astrakhan, and other
+places lying on the edge of the Russian Steppe, seems habitually,
+under the influence of the wind in peculiar quarters, to be haunted
+by fogs that set in at sunrise and only sometimes clear off after
+sunset. During this gloomy state of the atmosphere the night is
+usually warmer than the day.
+
+[Illustration: PLACE TUREMNAJA ODESSA.]
+
+Odessa has a magnificent position, for it lies high on ravines,
+which give it a wide command over its large harbour, lately improved,
+as well as on the open sea and coast, the striking feature of the
+place being its _boulevard_, a terrace or platform about 500 yards in
+length, laid out and planted as a promenade, looking out seawards and
+accessible by a flight of stairs of 150 steps from the landing-place.
+
+Odessa is not an old town, but it looks brand-new, for there has
+been of late a great deal of building, and the crumbling nature
+of the stone keeps the mason and white-washer perpetually at work.
+It is lively, though monotonous, for its broad, straight streets
+are astir with business, and the rattle of hackney-carriages,
+heavy-laden vans, and tramway-cars is incessant. It boasts many
+private palaces and has few public edifices, and in its municipal
+institutions it is, or used to be, taxed with consulting rather
+more the purposes of luxury and ornament than the real wants of
+the people or the interests of charity.
+
+Odessa is in Russia, but not of Russia, for among its citizens, we
+are told, possibly with exaggeration, more than one-third (70,000)
+are Jews, besides 10,000 Greeks and Germans, and Italians in good
+number. It is unlike any other Russian city, for it is tolerably
+well paved, has plenty of drinking-water, and rows of trees--however
+stunted, wind-nipped, and sickly--in every street. It is not Russian,
+because few Russians succeed here in business; but strenuous efforts
+are made to Russify it, for the names of the streets, which were
+once written in Italian as well as in Russian, are now only set up
+in Russian, unreadable to most foreign visitors; and the so-called
+"Italian Street" (Strada Italiana), reminding one of what the town
+owes to its first settlers, has been rebaptized as "Pushkin Street."
+Of the three French newspapers which flourished here till very
+lately, not one any longer exists, for whatever is not Russian
+is discountenanced and tabooed in a town which, in spite of all,
+is not and never will be, Russian. French is, nevertheless, more
+generally understood than in most Russian cities, but Italian is
+dying off here as in all the Levant and the north coast of Africa,
+Italy losing as a united nation such hold as she had as a mere
+nameless cluster of divided states.
+
+It is difficult to foresee what results the great change that is
+visibly going on in the economical and commercial conditions of
+the Russian Empire may have on the destinies of Odessa.
+
+Half a century ago, if we may trust the statistics of the _Journal
+d' Odessa_, this city had only the third rank among the commercial
+places of Russia. At the head of all then was St. Petersburg, whose
+harbour was frequented by 1,500 to 2,000 vessels, the exports being
+100,000,000 to 120,000,000 roubles, and the imports 140,000,000
+to 160,000,000 roubles. Next in importance came Riga, with 1,000
+to 1,500 vessels, 35,000,000 to 50,000,000 roubles exports, and
+15,000,000 to 20,000,000 roubles imports; and Odessa, as third,
+received 600 to 800 vessels, her exports amounting from 25,000,000
+to 30,000,000 roubles, and her imports from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000
+roubles. The relative commercial importance of the three ports
+was, therefore, as twenty-five to six and five.
+
+Matters have undergone a considerable alteration since then. St.
+Petersburg, whose imports and exports doubled in amount those of
+all the other ports of the Empire put together, has been gradually
+declining, the ports of Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland threatening
+to deprive her inconvenient harbour of a great part of the Baltic
+trade, and the centre of general business being rapidly removed
+from the present seat of Government to the old capital, Moscow.
+Riga, also, has been and is slowly sinking from its high position
+in the Baltic, and may, perhaps, eventually succumb to the active
+rivalry of Revel and Libau. Odessa, on the contrary, has been looking
+up for these many years, absorbing nearly all the Russian trade in
+the Black Sea, and rapidly rising from the third to the second
+rank as a seaport.
+
+The main cause of the rise and progress of Odessa was owing to the
+development of agricultural enterprise in the provinces of what
+is called "Little" and "New Russia," or the "Black Earth Country"
+the granary of the Empire and for a long time of all Europe.
+
+Beyond the steppes which encompass the whole southern seacoast of
+Russia, from the Sea of Azof to the Danube, there spreads far inland
+a fertile region, embracing the whole or part of the Governments
+of Podolia, Poltava, Kharkof, Kief, Voronei, Don Cossacks, etc.,
+including the districts of what was once known as the "Ukraine,"
+which was for many years debatable land between Poland, Turkey,
+and Russia, and on which roamed the mongrel bands of the Cossacks,
+an uncouth population recruited among the many tramps and vagabonds
+from the northern provinces, mixed with all the races of men with
+whom they came into contact, settling here and there in new, loose,
+and almost lawless communities, organized as military colonies,
+and perpetually shifting their allegiance from one to the other
+of these three Powers, till the policy and good fortune of Peter
+the Great and Catherine II. extended the sway of Russia over the
+whole territory.
+
+At the close of the last century, and contemporaneously with the
+foundation of Odessa (1794), the bountiful nature of the soil of
+this region became known, and the country was overrun by colonists
+from "Great" or "Northern Russia," from Germany, and from Bulgaria
+and Wallachia; and its rich harvests were soon sufficient, not
+only to satisfy, but to exceed the wants of the whole Empire.
+
+Odessa, endowed by its founder, Catherine II., with the privilege
+of a free port, which it enjoyed till after the war of the Crimea,
+monopolized during that time the export of the produce of this
+southern land, consisting chiefly of grain and wool; and its prosperity
+went on, always on the increase--affected only temporarily by wars
+and bad harvests--to such an extent that the total value of the
+exports, which was, in round numbers, about 52,000,000 roubles in
+1871, rose to 86,000,000 roubles in 1878, to 88,000,000 roubles
+in 1879, and fell, owing to the bad harvest, to 56,000,000 roubles
+in 1880.
+
+The Odessa trade was for a long time in the hands of Greek and Italian
+merchants, the original settlers in the town at its foundation, the
+produce being, before the invention of steamers, conveyed to Italy,
+France and England in Italian bottoms. But, of late years, preference
+being given to steamers over sailing vessels, and the Italians,
+either failing to perceive the value of time and the importance
+of the revolution that steam had effected, or lacking capital to
+profit by it, allowed the English to have the lion's share of the
+Black Sea trade, so that, in 1879, the English vessels entering
+the port of Odessa were 549 steamers and four sailing vessels, with
+500,000 tons, while the Italians had only fifty steamers and 119
+sailing vessels, with 85,700 tons. Next to the English were, in
+the same year, the Austrians (eighty-seven steam and 119 sailing
+vessels, 119,000 tons). The Russians, at home here, had 150 steam
+and eight sailing vessels and 180,000 tons.
+
+Odessa, however, though she had so much of the trade to herself,
+had not of late years the whole of it. As the means of land and
+water conveyance improved, and especially after the construction of
+railways, a number of minor rivals arose all along the coast--Rostov,
+at the mouth of the Don; Taganrog, Mariupol or Marianopolis, and
+Berdianski, on the north coast of the Sea of Azof, where Greek
+colonies are flourishing; Kherson, at the mouth of the Dnieper;
+Nicolaief, at the mouth of the Bug; and others. Odessa was thus
+reduced to the trade of the region to the west of the last-named
+river, having lost that of the provinces of Poltava, Kharkof, Kursk,
+Orel, Ekaterinoslaf, etc., and only retaining Kherson, Bessarabia,
+Volhynia, Kief, etc., which would still be sufficient for her commercial
+well-being.
+
+But Odessa is threatened with a new and far more formidable rival
+in Sebastopol. Sebastopol, with all its inlets, is by far the most
+perfect harbour in the Black Sea, and has the inestimable advantage
+that it never freezes, while in Odessa the ice brings all trade
+to a standstill for two or three weeks every winter, and all the
+ports of Azof and the mouths of the rivers are frozen from November
+to March or even mid-April. Sebastopol has the additional advantage
+of being in the most direct and nearest communication by rail with
+Kharkof, the very heart of the Black Earth Country, and with Moscow,
+the centre of the Russian commercial and industrial business.
+
+The people in Sebastopol have hopes that the Imperial Government,
+giving up all thought of bringing back their great Black Sea naval
+station from Nicolaief to its former seat, may not be unwilling that
+their fine harbour be turned to the purposes of trading enterprise,
+and even to favour it for a few years with the privileges of a free
+port.
+
+[Illustration: SEBASTOPOL.]
+
+The citizens of Odessa, on the other hand, scout such expectations
+as over-sanguine, if not quite chimerical, laugh to scorn the idea
+that the Government may at any time lay aside its intention of
+going back with its naval establishment to Sebastopol; and, in
+that case, they contend that the juxtaposition of a commercial
+with an Imperial naval port would be as monstrous a combination
+as would be in France that of Marseilles and Toulon, or in England
+that of Portsmouth and Liverpool, in one and the same place.
+
+They add that the railway between Moscow and Sebastopol is
+ill-constructed and almost breaking down; that, although it is
+by some hundred miles shorter than that from Odessa to Moscow,
+the express and mail trains are so arranged that the most rapid
+communication between north and south is effected between Odessa
+and St. Petersburg, which route is travelled over in less than
+three days.
+
+Whichever of the contending parties may have the best of the argument,
+there is no doubt that, were even the Government to be favourable
+to the wishes of the people of Sebastopol, there would be no just
+reason for jealousy between the two cities, for Odessa has already
+proved that she can manage to grow richer than ever upon one-half
+of the trade of Southern Russia, while Sebastopol might safely
+rely on carrying on the other half--that other half which is now
+already in the hands of Taganrog, Mariupol, Nicolaief, etc. For
+all these ports of Azof and the mouths of the rivers, besides being
+closed by ice for at least four months in the year, are so shallow
+that no amount of dredging can keep back the silting sands, and
+vessels must anchor at distances of ten to twenty and even thirty
+miles outside the harbours.
+
+
+
+
+_THE DON COSSACKS_
+
+_THOMAS MICHELL_
+
+Coming from the north, the first town of any importance in Southern
+Russia is Kursk, three hundred and thirty-five miles from Moscow
+in an almost direct line, the railway passing through the cities
+of Tula (the Russian Birmingham), and Orel, the centre of a rich
+agricultural district connected by rail, on the west, with Riga
+on the Baltic, and on the south-east with Tsaritzin on the Volga.
+Authentic records attest the existence of Kursk in 1032, and in
+1095 it was held by Isiaslaf, son of Vladimir Monomachus, from
+whom it passed alternately to the Princes of Chernigof and of
+Pereyaslasl. In the Thirteenth Century it was razed to the ground
+by the Tartars. In 1586 the southern frontiers of Moscovy were
+fortified, and Kursk became one of the principal places on that
+line of defence against the Crimean Tartars and the Poles. Its
+disasters and sufferings as a military outpost ceased only towards
+the end of the Seventeenth Century, after Little Russia (the more
+southerly districts watered by the Dnieper), submitted to the Tsar
+Alexis.
+
+We are now almost in the heart of the _Chernozem_, or black soil
+country, so called from the rich black loam of which its surface
+is composed to a depth of two and three yards and more. These vast
+plains were known to Herodotus, Strabo, and other ancient geographers
+only in their present _Steppe_, or flat and woodless condition. It
+is a great relief to the eye to see at last a handsomely-built
+city like Kursk, perched, relatively to the surrounding flatness,
+on an elevation and almost smothered in the verdure of numerous
+gardens. There is, however, not much to see within it, for even the
+churches are mostly not older than the second half of the Eighteenth
+Century.
+
+The more southerly part of the province of Kursk is in the _Ukraine_,
+or ancient border country. Its semi-nomadic population obtained in
+early days the designation of Cossacks. This word is not Sclavonic,
+but Turkish; and although it long denoted in Russia a free man, or,
+rather, a man free to do anything he chose, it had been used by
+the Tartar hordes to designate the lower class of their horsemen.
+From the princes of the House of Rurik these southerly districts
+passed into the possession of Lithuania, and, later, into those of
+Poland. Little Russia was another arbitrary name anciently given
+to a great part of what has been also known as the Ukraine. No fixed
+geographical limits can be assigned to either of these designations,
+and especially to the Ukraine of the Poles or the Muscovites; for
+as the borders or marshes became safe and populated, they were
+absorbed by the dominant power, and ultimately incorporated into
+provinces. Little Russia is, in fact, a term now used only to denote
+the Southern Russians as distinguished principally from the Great
+Russians of the more central part of the empire.
+
+There is a strongly-marked difference in the outward appearance,
+the mode of life, and even the cast of thought of these two branches
+of the Sclav race. The language of the Little Russian, or _Hohol_, as
+he is contemptuously called by his more vigorous northern brother,
+is a cross between the Polish and the Russian, although nearer akin
+to the Muscovite than to the Polish tongue. Ethnographically, also,
+the Little Russians become gradually fused with the White Russians of
+the north-west (Mohilef and Vitebsk) and with the Slovaks of the
+other side of the Carpathians. The _Malo-Ros_ (Little Russian)
+is physically a better, though a less muscular man than the
+_Veliko-Ros_, or Great Russian. He is taller, finer-featured, and
+less rude and primitive in his domestic surroundings. The women
+have both beauty and grace, and make the most of those qualities
+by adorning themselves in neat and picturesque costumes, resembling
+strongly those of the Roumanian and Transylvanian peasantry. Their
+houses are not like those of other parts of Russia--log huts, full,
+generally, of vermin and cockroaches; but wattled, thatched, and
+whitewashed cottages, surrounded by gardens, and kept internally
+in order and cleanliness.
+
+Their lives are altogether more happy, although their songs, full
+of deep feeling, and not without a vein of romance are, like those
+of all Sclavs, plaintive and in the minor key. The men sing of
+the daring exploits of their Cossack forefathers, who were not
+free-booters like the old Cossacks of the Volga, but courageous
+men engaged in a life-and-death struggle with nomadic hordes, and
+later with internal enemies, Poles and rebels. The greater refinement
+of the women of Little Russia is attributable to the comparative
+ease of their lives in a fertile country, with a climate more genial
+than that of the more northerly parts of the empire. There the
+Great and the White Russians had to contend with a soil much less
+productive, with swamps which had to be drained, with thick forests
+which had to be cleared, with wild beasts which had to be destroyed
+or guarded against, and with frost and snow that left scarcely
+four months in the year for labour in the field.
+
+The upper classes of South Russia, enriched by the cultivation of
+large and fertile estates, and favoured in their social development
+by long contact with the ancient Western civilization of Poland,
+exhibit a similar superiority over the bulk of their compeers in
+Great Russia. Except, however, in the case of the larger landed
+proprietors, the everyday life of the Southern Russian bears a strong
+resemblance to that of the Irish squireen. There is a strong tinge
+of the same _insouciance_ as to the material future, and an equal
+propensity to reckless hospitality, to sport (principally coursing),
+social jollification, and to a great extent to card-playing. Indeed,
+there are well-appointed country seats in the South of Russia in
+which the long summer days are entirely spent in card-playing, with
+interruptions only for meals. There are horses in plenty in the stable,
+and vehicles of every description to which they can be harnessed;
+but "taking a drive" through endless cornfields along natural roads
+or tracks, parched, cracked, and dusty one day, and presenting
+the next a surface of black mud, offers but few attractions to the
+ladies, and vehicular locomotion is therefore resorted to only
+as a matter of necessity, on journeys to estates or towns often
+fifty to one hundred miles distant. Country life, indeed, has no
+great attractions in any part of Russia Proper, and ever since the
+Emancipation of the Serfs and the accompanying extinction of the
+power and authority of the proprietary classes, absenteeism has been
+largely on the increase, to the advantage solely of the principal
+provincial towns, and of certain capitals and watering-places in
+Western Europe. Thus, while Kursk and Kharkof owe much of their
+riches and progress to the immigration of landed proprietors from
+the northerly and eastern districts of the "Black Soil Zone," Kief is
+the resort of more princely landlords of the south-western districts,
+strongly and favourably affected by Polish culture.
+
+Kharkof, to the east of Kief, is the principal seat of trade in
+South Russia, being a centre from which the products and manufactures
+of Northern and Central Russia are spread throughout the provinces
+to the east and south, down even to the Caucasus.
+
+Sugar, largely produced in this part of Russia from beet-root and
+"bounty-fed," and corn, brandy, wool and hides from the central
+provinces, are largely sold at the five fairs held each year at
+Kharkof, which has also reason to be proud of its university with
+upwards of six hundred students, and of its connection by rail with
+the shores of the Baltic and those of the Black and Azof Seas.
+In 1765, Kharkof became the capital of the Ukraine, after having
+been a Cossack outpost town since 1647, when Poland finally ceded
+the province to Muscovy. Anciently, this was the camping-ground of
+nomadic tribes, particularly of the Khazars, and later the high
+road of the Tartar invaders of Russia, whether from the Crimea or
+the shores of the Caspian. In the province of Kharkof are found
+those remarkable idols of stone which we have seen in the Historical
+Museum at Moscow, and a vast number of tumuli, which have yielded
+coins establishing the fact of an early intercourse both with Rome
+and Arabia.
+
+Poltava, also a place of extensive trade, principally in wool,
+horses, and cattle, is familiar to us in connection with the defeat
+of Charles XII. by Peter the Great in 1709. The centre of the field
+so disastrous to the Swedes is marked by a mound which covers the
+remains of their slain. Two monuments commemorate the victory.
+
+At Ekaterinoslaf we are again on the great Dnieper. It was only
+a village when Catherine II., descending the river from Kief in a
+stately barge accompanied by Joseph II. of Austria, King Stanislaus
+Augustus of Poland and a brilliant suite, raised it to the dignity
+of a town bearing her own name. On that occasion she laid the first
+stone of a cathedral which was not destined to be completed on
+the imposing scale she had projected, and which has been reduced
+to one-sixth in the edifice that was consecrated only in 1835.
+The town consists of only one row of buildings, almost concealed
+in gardens and running for nearly three miles parallel with the
+Dnieper. Catherine's Palace, a bronze statue which represents her
+clad in Roman armour and crowned, and the garden of her magnificent
+favourite, Prince Potemkin, constitute the "sights" of Ekaterinoslaf,
+the more striking feature of which, however, is its Jewish population,
+huddled together in a special quarter between the river and the
+bazaar. A considerable number of them pursue the favourite Jewish
+occupation of money-changing, and the Ekaterinoslaf Prospekt is
+dotted with their stands and their money-chests, painted blue and
+red.
+
+A drive over forty miles of Steppe, somewhat relieved in its monotony
+by numerous ancient tumuli, bring those who do not proceed by steamer
+to the great naval station and commercial port of Nicolaief, at the
+junction of the Ingul with the Bug. It was the site until 1775 of
+a Cossack _setch_, or fortified settlement, and in 1789 it received
+its present appellation in commemoration of the capture of Otchakof
+from the Turks on the feast-day of St. Nicholas. Destined from
+the first by Potemkin to be the harbour of a Russian fleet in the
+Black Sea, temporarily neglected by the naval authorities, Nicolaief
+reasserted its claim to that proud position after the fall of
+Sebastopol. It owes much of its present affluence to the sound
+administration of Admiral Samuel Greig, son of the admiral of Scotch
+parentage who, with the aid of some equally gallant countrymen,
+won for the Russians the naval battle of Chesm� in 1769. Next to
+Odessa, Nicolaief is the handsomest town in New Russia, as this
+part of the country was called after its conquest from the Turks
+and Tartars. Its large trade, mostly in grain, has been greatly
+promoted by the railway, which now connects this important harbour
+with Kharkof and other rich agricultural centres.
+
+Of the six ports on the neighbouring Sea of Azof, Taganrog, where
+Alexander I. died in 1825, is the most considerable, although steamers
+have to anchor at a considerable distance from it, owing to the
+shallowness of the roadstead. The annual value of its exports of
+corn, wool, tallow, etc., is about five millions sterling, and, as
+at Nicolaief, British shipping is chiefly employed in the trade.
+Much of the produce shipped here comes from Rostov-on-the-Don, the
+chief centre of inland trade in the south-east provinces of Russia,
+and one in which many industries (especially the manipulation of tobacco
+grown in the Caucasus and the Crimea), are pursued. A short distance
+above this great mart is Novocherkask, the capital of the "Country
+of the Don Cossacks," anciently the abode of Scythians, Sarmatians,
+Huns, Bolgars, Khazars and Tartars. The present population dates
+from the Sixteenth Century, when renegades from Muscovy and vagrants
+of every description formed themselves into Cossack, or robber
+communities. They attacked the Tartars and Turks, and in 1637 took
+the Turkish fortress of Azof. Under the reign of Peter the Great
+the powerful and independent Cossacks were not much interfered with,
+but from 1718 they were gradually brought under subjection to the
+Tsar, whom they powerfully assisted in subsequent wars. The town
+was founded in 1804, and is adorned with a bronze monument to the
+famous Hetman (Ataman or chief) Platof, leader of the Cossacks between
+1770 and 1816. It is usual to bestow on the Russian heir-apparent
+the title of "Ataman" of the Don Cossacks. The last investiture
+with Cossack _b�ton_ took place in 1887, when also the reigning
+Emperor confirmed, at a "circle," or open-air assemblage, all the
+ancient rights and privileges of the warlike Cossacks of the Don.
+
+[Illustration: KHARKOF.]
+
+The chief town of the Kuban district is Ekaterinodar, a name which
+signifies, literally, "Catherine's gift," from having been founded
+by the sovereign of that name and bestowed, in 1792, together with
+the adjacent territory, on the Zaporogian, subsequently known as the
+Black Sea Cossacks. Catherine mistrusted their power and influence,
+and tempted them to the Kuban with grants of land and other privileges.
+The first service of some 20,000 of those new warrior settlers
+consisted in barring all egress from the mountains, by means of a
+"first fortified line" of stations that extended to Vladikavkas,
+where they united with the descendants of the Grebenski Cossacks,
+with whom they are not to be confounded. The predominant type amongst
+the Zaporogians is still that of the Little Russians, the Grebenski
+continuing to preserve their identity with the natives of Great
+Russia, whence their origin; and although the whole of this imposing
+force, maintained at half a million, has long since adopted the
+dress of the Caucasian mountaineers, the Cossacks remain true to
+the orthodox faith and to the customs of their forefathers, whose
+vernacular tongue has never been forgotten by them. The dress so
+universally worn by the male sex, even from boyhood, in all parts
+of the Caucasus, consists of a single-breasted garment, like a
+frock-coat, but reaching almost to the ankles, tightened in closely
+at the waist, with a belt from which are suspended dagger, sword,
+and frequently a pistol, and having on either breast a row of ten
+or twelve sockets, each of a size to hold a cartridge. A rifle,
+which every man possesses, is slung across the back; and a tall
+sheep-skin hat finished off at its summit with a piece of coloured
+cloth completes the costume.
+
+The number of Cossacks in Transcaucasia being very limited, for
+a few only are stationed in each principal town, chiefly as an
+escort to the governor of the province, their duties are performed
+by _Chapars_, an irregular force, equally dashing horsemen, and
+trained in like manner from early youth in those singular exercises
+and breakneck evolutions for which the Cossacks of the Caucasus
+have become so famous. Setting their horses at full gallop, they
+will stand on the saddle and fire all around at an imaginary enemy;
+or throw the body completely over to the right, with the left heel
+resting on their steed's hind quarter, and fire as if at an enemy
+in pursuit, or turn clean round, and sitting astride facing the
+horse's tail, keep up a rapid fire. A favourite feat, among many
+others, is to throw their hat and rifle to the ground, wheel, and
+pick them up whilst going at the horse's fullest speed.
+
+Should the traveller elect to proceed eastward, but north of the
+great range, he will meet with the Kabardines, the first amongst the
+Circassians to enter into friendly relations with Russia; they are
+the "blood" of the Caucasus, a noble race, thoroughly domesticated,
+hospitable to strangers, and useful breeders of cattle. To the
+south of the Circassians, and occupying about one hundred miles of
+the coast in the Black Sea, are the Abkhases, who have enjoyed the
+reputation, from time immemorial, of being an indolent and lawless
+race, anciently given to piracy, now addicted to thieving when the
+opportunity is afforded them, for they are determinedly inimical
+to strangers. Their mountains abound in forests of magnificent
+walnut and box, where the enthusiastic sportsman will find the
+bear, hyena, and wolf, and plenty of smaller game, with seldom a
+roof to cover him other than the vault of heaven; but the ordinary
+traveller is likely to encounter difficulties and delays that he would
+prefer to avoid. Christianity was here introduced by Justinian, who
+constructed many churches that would have been notable specimens
+of Byzantine architecture, had the Abkhases not destroyed them in
+their struggles against the Russians, every such edifice being
+occupied and converted by the latter into a military post. One
+church, at Pitzunda on the coast, remarkable as being the place
+to which John Chrysostom was banished at the instance of Empress
+Eudoxia--although the exile never reached his destination--having
+escaped the general destruction, has been thoroughly restored of
+late years, and is a striking object to passing vessels. Being the
+mother church in the Caucasus, Pitzunda, then Pityus, continued to
+be the seat of the Catholics of Abkhasia until the Twelfth Century.
+Practically, the Abkhases are at present heathens.
+
+Farther south, and extending some way inland from the sea, is the
+principality of Mingrelia, where we again tread classic ground,
+inasmuch as our wanderings have brought us to the �a of Circe and
+the Argonauts. In a Mingrelian landscape we are struck at the aspect
+afforded by the numerous whitewashed cottages as they dot the
+well-wooded hills. The Mingrelians, too, like their neighbours
+whom we have just quitted, are incurably given to indolence, except
+in the making of wine from their abundant vineyards; otherwise they
+are content to live on the produce of their orchards, prolific
+through the interposition of a beneficent Providence rather than
+to any agricultural diligence on their part. They may certainly be
+included amongst the handsomest people in Transcaucasia, with their
+well-defined features and usually raven black hair. The Dadian, or
+prince, is the wealthiest of the dispossessed rulers: the foresight
+of his predecessor and his own European training having taught
+him the danger of disposing of land and squandering the proceeds,
+rather than preserving the property and contenting himself with
+a smaller income.
+
+Between Mingrelia and Abkhasia courses the Ingur, and if we ascend
+to near its water-shed--a journey easily accomplished on horse-back,
+say from Sougdidi, the well-known military station--we should find
+ourselves amongst a very wild and singular people, the Svanni,
+whose complete subjugation dates back no farther it may be said
+than 1876, although they made a formal submission in 1833. They
+occupy some forty or fifty miles of the upper valley of the Ingur,
+at no part exceeding ten miles in width, and are cut off from all
+outside communication between the beginning of September and the
+end of May, in consequences of the passes being blocked with snow.
+"The scenery in this valley," writes a recent traveller, "is of
+great beauty and wildness, and grand beyond description; amid the
+most profuse vegetation, every imaginable flower is seen in its
+wild state, and bank, meadow, hill-side and grass plot are literally
+covered with all that is most lovely; in every forest and grove,
+and all undergrowth even, indeed wherever the pure air of heaven
+and its divine light is not obstructed, the earth is thus gorgeously
+arrayed."
+
+
+
+
+_IN THE CAUCASUS_
+
+_J. BUCHAN TELLER_
+
+Returning to Mingrelia, we find it bounded on the south by the
+river Rion, the ancient Phasis, which flows through the country
+whence was introduced into Europe the Phasian bird--our pheasant.
+The Rion divides Mingrelia from Guria, another principality, where
+is situated Batoum, a somewhat pestiferous but important military
+station and commercial port, that has tended in no small degree,
+since its annexation to Russia in 1878, towards the development
+of the resources of this beautiful country, intersected with good
+roads through valleys highly cultivated with maize, corn, and barley,
+the hills and their declivities being overspread with the oak and
+box, exported in large quantities, and yielding handsome returns.
+Ozurgheti, the chief town, attractively situated, was the residence
+of the rulers who lie interred at the ancient monastery and episcopal
+church, Chemokmedy, about six miles distant.
+
+Passengers from Odessa and the Crimea landing at Batoum find the
+train in readiness to convey them to Tiflis, the capital of the
+whole Transcaucasia, reached in about fifteen hours, the train
+travelling slowly enough, but through a land of much interest,
+historically and pictorially. On the right, in the distance, are
+the highlands of the old kingdom of Armenia, to the left is Imeritia,
+a glory, like Mingrelia and Guria, of the past. If so inclined, the
+traveller may exchange, at Rion station, the main for a branch line,
+which will take him to Kuta�s, the chief town of the old kingdom of
+Imeritia, where he may tarry for a while to great advantage. It
+is the ancient Khyt�a, the residence of �tes; at any rate a city
+of great antiquity, beautifully situated on the banks of the Rion.
+
+Between Kuta�s and Tiflis is the Pass of Suram, at an altitude
+of three thousand and twenty-seven feet, over which are laid the
+lines of rail by gradients of one in twenty-two feet over a distance
+of about eight miles; a triumph of engineering skill due, as is
+the entire railway, to British capital and enterprise. Beyond this
+Pass the train stops at Gori, situated at the limits of a glorious
+plain, watered by the Kur and its tributaries. Since fairly good
+accommodation is obtainable, it were well to halt at this station for
+the purpose of visiting the unique rock-cut town, Uplytztzykh�, some
+eight miles off. Here is a town--there can be no other designation for
+it--consisting of public edifices--if such a term may be employed--of
+large habitations, presumably for the great, smaller dwellings
+for others, each being conveniently divided, and having doorways,
+openings for light, and partitions, while many are ornamented with
+cornices, mouldings, beams and pillars. The groups are separated
+by streets and lanes, and grooves have been cut, unquestionably
+for water-courses, and yet the whole has been entirely hewn and
+shaped out of the solid rock. Tradition is replete with incidents
+in the history of these remarkable excavations, but faithful
+historiographers have hitherto refrained from endorsing any of the
+tales that have been handed down by romancers of Georgia.
+
+Tiflis, the chief seat of Government and residence of the
+Governor-General, having a population of about one hundred thousand
+souls, is unpleasantly situated between ranges of perfectly barren
+hills, and but for the River Kur, on the banks of which it is built,
+would be almost uninhabitable. Having driven through the suburbs
+on his way from the railway terminus, the traveller crosses the
+Kur over the Woronzoff Bridge, which at once brings him to the
+principal street, where he passes in succession the public gardens,
+gymnasium, law-courts, palace of the Governor-General, the main
+guard-house, public library, museum, etc.; by which time he will
+have reached Palace Street and Erivan Square, where are situated
+the best hotels and restaurants, and the National Theatre. From the
+square three main thoroughfares lead to as many separate quarters,
+viz.: the European, where the wealthy live in well-built houses of
+elegant construction; the native bazaars, and the marketplace and
+Russian bazaar. An extensive view of the city and an interesting
+sight is obtained from the eminence crowned by the old fortress
+which immediately overlooks the Asiatic quarter and bazaars, whence
+rise the confused sounds of human cries and the din from the iron,
+brass, and copper-workers. As is the custom elsewhere in the East,
+those of one trade congregate together, apart from the other trades,
+and so are passed a succession of silversmiths in their stalls,
+of furriers, armourers, or eating and wine-shops, the wine of the
+country being kept in buffalo, goat, or sheep-skins laid on their
+back, and presenting the disagreeable appearance of carcases swollen
+after lengthened immersion in water. The Georgians are merry folk,
+rarely allowing themselves to be depressed by the troubles of life.
+They love wine and music, and ever seek to drive away dull care
+by indulging in their favourite Kakhety--two bottles being the
+usual allowance to a man's dinner, an allowance, however, greatly
+exceeded when, of an evening, friends meet together to join in
+the national dance, called the Lezghinka.
+
+The Cathedral of Zion was formerly the church of the Patriarch of
+Georgia. It dates from the Fifth Century, and encloses that most
+precious relic, with which the nation was converted to Christianity
+in the Fourth Century--nothing less than a cross of vine stems bound
+with the hair of St. Nina, the patron saint, who first preached the
+truth! The patriarchate has long been suppressed, and is replaced
+by a Russian Exarch, so that the Georgian Church may be considered
+in all respects identical with that of Russia. The palace of the
+kings has entirely disappeared, for not a vestige remains. George
+XIII. signed his renunciation of the crown in favour of the Emperor
+Paul in 1800, and died shortly afterwards amid the execrations of
+his subjects, for having ignominiously betrayed them. Many of his
+descendants are in the service of Russia, and are the representatives
+of one of the most ancient monarchies of the world--for the Bagrations
+first rose to power in 587; and if allowance be made for interregnums
+it will be found that their reign extended over 1092 years, during
+the twelve centuries that elapsed from their earliest election.
+
+As Georgia is the land of wine and song, so is Armenia essentially
+the land of legend and tradition, for which must be held in great
+part responsible the magnificent mountain that exhibits itself
+suddenly at a dip in the road long before the plains are in sight.
+Well may the Armenians glory in "their" Ararat, peerless among the
+mighty works of the Creator, almost symmetrical in its outlines,
+and rising to an altitude of 16,916 feet above the sea, Lesser
+Ararat, 12,840 feet, looking almost dwarfed by the side of its mighty
+neighbour.
+
+At Erivan, the largest city in Russian Armenia, the traveller will
+find fairly good accommodation, but the place is dull enough, whether
+in the Persian quarter, where crooked lanes are lined with high walls,
+that mask the dwellings within like the defences of a fortress, or
+in the broad streets and unpaved quarter laid out by the Russians
+since their occupation of the province in 1829, even though enlivened
+by a boulevard and gardens fair to look upon. The population is
+Armenian and Persian, for Persia ruled here during a considerable
+period until vanquished by Russia; but at the bazaar one meets
+with other nationalities, such as Tartars from the Steppes, Kurds,
+Greeks, and Turkish dealers in search of good horses, upon which
+they will fly across the frontier, defying Cossacks and custom
+officers alike.
+
+Within a short distance of Erivan, and the post-station nearest
+to the Persian frontier, is Nahitchevan, the first abode of Noah
+after he came forth from the ark, and probably also his last, since
+his tomb is reverently shown by the inhabitants, who eagerly escort
+strangers to see it. Other still more important towns in Armenia,
+available by carriage-road, are Alexandropol and Kars, the former
+being the largest and most powerful fortress and the principal
+arsenal in Transcaucasia; the latter, long a Turkish fortress town,
+was gallantly defended in 1855 by Sir Fenwick Williams and a few
+British officers, until the garrison was starved into surrender
+by General Mouravieff. Kars was finally ceded to Russia by the
+Treaty of Berlin in 1878.
+
+[Illustration: TIFLIS.]
+
+A Tartar city brought into prominence of late years through the
+introduction of railways is Elizavetpol, on the line between Tiflis
+and the Caspian, where we must now pick ourselves up after having
+retraced our steps from the plains, to journey by rail to dismal
+looking Bak�--a town of recent creation, approached through a desert
+of sand and stones, where neither vegetable nor animal life can
+possibly find an existence. Viewed from the sea, Bak� presents a
+distinctly picturesque appearance, with its sombre citadel, numerous
+minarets, and the palace of the princes of bygone days towering
+above the old town, where the houses look as if they were piled the
+one above the other--the new or Russian quarter being at the base,
+and lining the shore of the pretty little bay. Modern Bak� contains
+some handsome residences and well-paved streets, the principal
+being the busy quay, constructed of massive blocks of greystone
+masonry, where the naphtha, the wealth of Bak�, is embarked for
+transport to the interior of Russia by the Volga, or for conveyance
+across the Caspian to Central Asia. Numerous refineries, worth
+inspecting, at the west end of Bak� compose the Black Town, so
+called from its begrimed condition, and from being ever enveloped
+in clouds of the densest smoke. Since a remote period has this
+neighbourhood been considered holy by fire-worshippers, because
+of the many naphtha springs that were constantly burning, some
+even perpetually; indeed, the fires at Surakan, a suburb of Bak�,
+continued to be guarded by fire-worshippers from Yezd in Persia,
+and even from India, until, with the connivance of the government,
+they were hustled away some ten years ago by the increasing number
+of speculators engaged in a trade which has now completely driven
+out of the market all American produce.
+
+In Daghestan is Gunib, the last stronghold of the brave Shamyl,
+whom the strength of Russia was unequal to subdue during the space
+of thirty years. "Do the Russians say that they are numerous as
+the grains of sand? Then are we the waves that will carry away
+that sand," said the great Tartar chief addressing the numerous
+tribes who placed themselves under his leadership to repel the
+invader. The mountaineers posted themselves on the heights, and,
+hidden by trees, shot down their enemies in scores as they advanced
+in column up the narrow defiles.
+
+The great thoroughfare between Transcaucasia and Russia is from
+Tiflis to Vladikavkaz, the terminus of the Moscow-Rostof railway, by
+way of the Dariel road, a stupendous engineering success completed
+in the reign of Nicholas. This road winds over a pass 7,977 feet
+above the sea, and is kept in repair and clear for traffic in winter
+by the Ossets, whose country it traverses, in return for which
+service they are exempt from all taxes.
+
+When the traveller will have completed the journey from Tiflis
+to Vladikavkaz, he will have arrived at the d�p�t and point of
+transit for all goods brought by rail from Russia, and there
+transferred, for conveyance to the Transcaucasian provinces, to
+clumsy, unwieldly carts or vans drawn by horses or oxen; those in
+charge of the caravans never being in a hurry, completely indifferent
+as to when they start, or when they arrive at their destination,
+and rejoicing in a lengthened stay at Mlety station, after having
+accomplished the most tiresome part of the distance--the ascent and
+descent of the pass. Vladikavkaz was founded in 1785 on the site
+of an Osset village, and became the headquarters and chief military
+d�p�t of the Russians during their lengthened struggle for supremacy
+with the stout-hearted hillmen; it is now the chief town and seat
+of government for the province of Kuban, and still an important
+military station. The population is made up of Circassians, Armenians,
+and Russians, and a few Ossets at the bazaars, for the natives made
+off long ago. The chief industries are the manufacture of silver
+and gold lace, arms, _burkas_, the Caucasian's all-weathers cloak,
+silver ornaments, etc. The hotels are fairly good, but there being
+nothing at Vladikavkaz itself sufficiently inviting to encourage
+a longer stay than is absolutely necessary, the following choice
+of routes lays before the stranger. He may post through Eastern
+Caucasus and embark at Petrovsk for Astrakhan and the tedious voyage
+up the Volga; or take the railway to Rostof _en route_ to Moscow; or
+travel by rail to Novorossisk on the Black Sea, and there embark;
+or, following that line as far as Ekaterinodar, post thence to
+Taman and cross the straits to Kertch.
+
+
+
+
+_KHIVA_
+
+_FRED BURNABY_
+
+We were now fast nearing Khiva, which could be just discerned in
+the distance, but was hidden, to a certain extent, from our view by
+a narrow belt of tall, graceful trees; however, some richly-painted
+minarets and high domes of coloured tiles could be seen towering
+above the leafy groves. Orchards surrounded by walls eight and ten
+feet high, continually met the gaze, and avenues of mulberry-trees
+studded the landscape in all directions.
+
+The two Khivans rode first; I followed, having put on my black
+fur pelisse instead of the sheep-skin garment, so as to present
+a more respectable appearance on entering the city. Nazar, who
+was mounted on the horse that stumbled, brought up the rear. He
+had desired the camel-driver to follow in the distance with the
+messenger and the caravan; my servant being of opinion that the
+number of our animals was not sufficient to deeply impress the
+Khivans with my importance, and that on this occasion it was better
+to ride in without any caravan than with the small one I possessed.
+We now entered the city, which is of an oblong form, and surrounded
+by two walls: the outer one is about fifty feet high: its basement
+is constructed of baked bricks, the upper part being built of dried
+clay. This forms the first line of defense, and completely encircles
+the town, which is about a quarter of a mile within the wall. Four
+high wooden gates, clamped with iron, barred the approach from
+the north, south, east, and west, while the walls themselves were
+in many places out of repair.
+
+The town itself is surrounded by a second wall, not quite so high
+as the one just described, and with a dry ditch, which is now half
+filled with ruined _d�bris_. The slope which leads from the wall to
+the trench has been used as a cemetery, and hundreds of sepulchres
+and tombs were scattered along some undulating ground just without
+the city. The space between the first and second walls is used
+as a market-place, where cattle, horses, sheep, and camels are
+sold, and where a number of carts were standing, filled with corn
+and grass.
+
+Here an ominous-looking cross-beam had been erected, towering high
+above the heads of the people with its bare, gaunt poles. This was
+the gallows on which all people convicted of theft are executed;
+murderers being put to death in a different manner, having their
+throats cut from ear to ear in the same way that sheep are killed.
+This punishment is carried out by the side of a large hole in the
+ground, not far from the principal street in the centre of the
+town. But I must here remark that the many cruelties stated to
+have been perpetrated by the present Khan previous to the capture
+of his city did not take place. Indeed, they only existed in the
+fertile Muscovite imagination, which was eager to find an excuse for
+the appropriation of a neighbour's property. On the contrary, capital
+punishment was only inflicted when the laws had been infringed; and
+there is no instance of the Khan having arbitrarily put any one
+to death.
+
+The two walls above mentioned appear to have made up the defenses
+of the city, which was also armed with sixteen guns. These, however,
+proved practically useless against the Russians, as the garrison
+only fired solid shot, not being provided with shell. The Khan
+seemed to have made no use whatever of the many inclosed gardens
+in the vicinity of the city during the Russian advance, as, if he
+had, and firmly contested each yard of soil, I much doubt whether
+the Tsar's troops could have ever entered the city.
+
+It is difficult to estimate the population of an Oriental city
+by simply riding round its walls; so many houses are uninhabited,
+and others again are densely packed with inhabitants. However, I
+should say, as a mere guess, that there are about 25,000 human
+beings within the walls of Khiva. The streets are broad and clean,
+while the houses belonging to the richer inhabitants are built of
+highly polished bricks and coloured tiles, which lend a cheerful
+aspect to the otherwise somewhat sombre colour of the surroundings.
+There are nine schools: the largest, which contains 130 pupils,
+was built by the father of the present Khan. These buildings are
+all constructed with high, coloured domes, and are ornamented with
+frescoes and arabesque work, the bright aspect of the cupolas first
+attracting the stranger's attention on his nearing the city.
+
+Presently we rode through a bazaar similar to the one at Oogentch,
+thin rafters and straw uniting the tops of the houses in the street,
+and forming a sort of roof to protect the stall-keepers and their
+customers from the rays of a summer sun. We were followed by crowds
+of people; and as some of the more inquisitive approached too closely,
+the Khivans who accompanied me, raising their whips in the air,
+freely belaboured the shoulders of the multitude, thus securing
+a little space. After riding through a great number of streets,
+and taking the most circuitous course--probably in order to duly
+impress me with an idea of the importance of the town--we arrived
+before my companion's house. Several servants ran forward and took
+hold of the horses. The Khivan dismounted, and, bowing obsequiously,
+led the way through a high door-way constructed of solid timber.
+We next entered a square open court, with carved stone pillars
+supporting a balcony which looked down upon a marble fountain, or
+basin, the general appearance of the court being that of a _patio_
+in some nobleman's house in Cordova or Seville. A door of a similar
+construction to the one already described, though somewhat lower,
+gave access to a long, narrow room, a raised da�s at each end being
+covered with handsome rugs. There were no windows, glass being a
+luxury which has only recently found its way to the capital; but
+the apartment received its light from an aperture at the side,
+which was slightly concealed by some trellis-work, and from a space
+left uncovered in the ceiling, which was adorned with arabesque
+figures. The two doors which led from the court were each of them
+handsomely carved, and in the middle of the room was a hearth filled
+with charcoal embers. My host, beckoning to me to take the post
+of honour by the fire, retired a few paces and folded his arms
+across his chest; then, assuming a deprecatory air, he asked my
+permission to sit down.
+
+Grapes, melons, and other fruit, fresh as on the day when first
+picked, were brought in on a large tray and laid at my feet, while
+the host himself, bringing in a Russian tea-pot and cup, poured
+out some of the boiling liquid and placed it by my side; I all
+this time being seated on a rug, with my legs crossed under me,
+in anything but a comfortable position.
+
+He then inquired if I had any commands for him, as the Khan had
+given an order that everything I might require was instantly to
+be supplied.
+
+In the afternoon two officials arrived from the Khan's palace,
+with an escort of six men on horseback and four on foot. The elder
+of the two dignitaries said that His Majesty was waiting to receive
+me, and my horse being brought round, I mounted, and accompanied
+him towards the palace. The six men on horseback led the way, then
+I came between the two officials, and Nazar brought up the rear
+with some attendants on foot, who freely lashed the crowd with
+their whips whenever any of the spectators approached our horses
+too closely.
+
+The news that the Khan was about to receive me had spread rapidly
+through the town, and the streets were lined with curious individuals
+all eager to see the Englishman. Perhaps in no part of the world is
+India more talked of than in the Central Asian khanates; and the
+stories of our wealth and power, which have reached Khiva through
+Afghan and Bokharan sources, have grown like a snow-ball in its
+onward course, until the riches described in the garden discovered
+by Aladdin would pale if compared with the fabled treasures of
+Hindoostan.
+
+After riding through several narrow streets, where, in some instances,
+the house-tops were thronged with people desirous of looking at
+our procession, we emerged on a small, flat piece of ground which
+was not built over, and which formed a sort of open square. Here
+a deep hole was pointed out to me as the spot where criminals who
+have been found guilty of murder had their throats cut from ear
+to ear.
+
+The Khan's palace is a large building, ornamented with pillars
+and domes, which, covered with bright-coloured tiles, flash in
+the sun, and attract the attention of the stranger approaching
+Khiva. A guard of thirty or forty men armed with cimeters stood
+at the palace gates. We next passed into a small court-yard. The
+Khan's guards were all arrayed in long flowing silk robes of various
+patterns, bright-coloured sashes being girt around their waists, and
+tall fur hats surmounting their bronzed countenances. The court-yard
+was surrounded by a low pile of buildings, which are the offices
+of the palace, and was filled with attendants and menials of the
+court, while good-looking boys of an effeminate appearance, with
+long hair streaming down their shoulders, and dressed a little like
+the women, lounged about, and seemed to have nothing in particular
+to do.
+
+A door at the farther end of the court gave access to a low passage,
+and, after passing through some dirty corridors, where I had
+occasionally to stoop in order to avoid knocking my head against the
+ceiling, we came to a large, square-shaped room. Here the treasurer
+was seated, with three moullahs, who were squatted by his side, while
+several attendants crouched in humble attitudes at the opposite
+end of the apartment. The treasurer and his companions were busily
+engaged in counting some rolls of ruble-notes and a heap of silver
+coin, which has been received from the Khan's subjects, and were
+now to be sent to Petro-Alexandrovsk as part of the tribute to
+the Tsar.
+
+The great man now made a sign to some of his attendants, when a
+large wooden box, bearing signs of having been manufactured in
+Russia, was pushed a little from the wall and offered to me as a
+seat. Nazar was accommodated among the dependents at the other end
+of the room. After the usual salaams had been made, the functionary
+continued his task, leaving me in ignorance as to what was to be
+the next part of the programme; Nazar squatting himself as far as
+possible from one of the attendants, who was armed with a cimeter,
+and whom he suspected of being the executioner.
+
+After I had been kept waiting for about a quarter of an hour, a
+messenger entered the room and informed the treasurer that the
+Khan was disengaged, and ready to receive me. We now entered a
+long corridor, which led to an inner court-yard. Here we found
+the reception-hall, a large tent, or _kibitka_, of a dome-like
+shape. The treasurer, lifting up a fold of thick cloth, motioned
+to me to enter, and on doing so I found myself face to face with
+the celebrated Khan, who was reclining against some pillows or
+cushions, and seated on a handsome Persian rug, warming his feet by
+a circular hearth filled with burning charcoal. He raised his hand
+to his forehead as I stood before him, a salute which I returned
+by touching my cap. He then made a sign for me to sit down by his
+side.
+
+Before I relate our conversation, it may not be uninteresting if
+I describe the sovereign. He is taller than the average of his
+subjects, being quite five feet ten in height, and is strongly built:
+his face is of a broad, massive type, he has a low, square forehead,
+large dark eyes, a short straight nose with dilated nostrils, and
+a coal-black beard and mustache; while an enormous mouth, with
+irregular but white teeth, and a chin somewhat concealed by his
+beard, and not at all in character with the otherwise determined
+appearance of his face, must complete the picture.
+
+He did not look more than eight-and-twenty, and has a pleasant,
+genial smile, and a merry twinkle in his eye, very unusual among
+Orientals; in fact, to me an expression in Spanish would better
+describe his face than any English one I can think of. It is very
+_simpatica_, and I must say I was greatly surprised, after all
+that has been written in Russian newspapers about the cruelties
+and other iniquities perpetrated by this Khivan potentate, to find
+the original such a cheery sort of fellow.
+
+His countenance was of a very different type from his treasurer's.
+The hang-dog expression of the latter made me bilious to look at
+him, and it was said that he carried to great lengths these peculiar
+vices and depraved habits to which Orientals are so often addicted.
+The Khan was dressed in a similar sort of costume to that generally
+worn by his subjects, but it was made of much richer materials,
+and a jewelled sword was lying by his seat. His head was covered
+by a tall black Astrakhan hat, of a sugar-loaf shape; and on my
+seeing that all the officials who were in the room at the same
+time as myself kept on their fur hats, I did the same.
+
+The sovereign, turning to an attendant, gave an order in a low
+tone, when tea was instantly brought, and handed to me in a small
+porcelain tea-cup. A conversation with the Khan was now commenced,
+and carried on through Nazar and a Kirghiz interpreter who spoke
+Russian, and occasionally by means of a moullah, who was acquainted
+with Arabic, and had spent some time in Egypt.
+
+
+
+
+_THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY_
+
+_WILLIAM DURBAN_
+
+The general characteristics of the Trans-Siberian Railroad may
+be described in a few words. It is by far the longest railway on
+earth. It is very much more solidly constructed, for the most part,
+than is generally supposed. The road bed is perfectly firm, and
+the track is well ballasted. Though in certain of the sections
+far to the east great engineering difficulties had to be contended
+with, the gradients on the greater part of the route are remarkably
+easy.
+
+Uniformity of gauge is the keynote of Russian railway engineers.
+Accordingly in possessing a five-foot guage, the Great Siberian
+is uniform with all the railroads throughout the Russian Empire.
+Thus, the ample breadth of the cars harmonizes with the luxury
+which astonishes the traveller who visits Russia for the first time,
+no matter in what region of the Empire he happens to be touring.
+The great height of the carriages, proportionate with the width,
+adds to the imposing aspect of the trains. It is necessary to bear
+these considerations in mind, for the idea prevails throughout the
+world outside Russia that this colossal road was carried through,
+not only with great haste, but also on a flimsy and superficial
+system. The bridges are necessarily very numerous, for Siberia
+is a land of mighty rivers with countless tributaries. All the
+permanent bridges are of iron. Those which were temporarily made
+of timber are being in every case reconstructed, and the Great
+Siberian includes some of the most magnificent bridges in the world.
+
+The bridge over the Irtish is unrivalled. Being nearly four miles
+long, it is on that account phenomenal; but its stupendous piers,
+designed specially to resist the fearful pressure of the ice, would
+alone convince any sceptic of the determination of the Russian
+administration to spare none of the resources of the Empire in order
+to make this railway absolutely efficient, alike for mercantile
+and military purposes. The Trans-Siberian Railway is intended to
+create a new Siberia. It is already fulfilling that aim, as I shall
+show. The most potent of the civilizing factors of the Twentieth
+Century is in this enterprise presented to the world, and in a very
+few years people will realize with astonishment what this railway
+means.
+
+The Trans-Siberian nominally begins in Europe. It is inaugurated
+by the magnificent iron bridge which spans the Volga at Samara
+in East Russia. The Volga is here a giant river, and this noble
+bridge joins the European railway system with the new Asiatic line.
+But practically the Asian line commences in the heart of the Ural
+Mountains, if that long and broad chain of low and pretty hills
+ought to be dignified with the name of mountains. Here lies the
+little town of Cheliabinsk, which in 1894 was the terminus of the
+European system.
+
+It is an interesting fact that Americans and Englishmen were the
+real authors of this splendid and romantic scheme for spanning the
+Asiatic continent with a railway from west to east. In 1857, an
+American named Collins came forward with a scheme for the formation
+of an Amur Railway Company, to lay a line from Irkutsk to Chita.
+Although his plan was not officially adopted, it was carefully
+kept in mind, and it actually forms the main and central part of
+the present line. An English engineer offered to lay a tramroad
+across Siberia, after Muravieff had carried Russia to the Pacific
+by his brilliant annexation of the mouths of the Amur. In 1858,
+three Englishmen offered to construct a railway from Moscow through
+Nijni-Novgorod to Tartar Bay. Though all proposals by foreigners
+have been courteously shelved, they have in reality formed the
+bases of native enterprise. It is to the credit of Russia that
+she has determined to depend on the energy and ability of her own
+sons to carry out this colossal undertaking.
+
+One of the chronic troubles of the Russian Government arises from
+the uneven distribution of the population. It happens that those
+are the most thickly inhabited districts which are the least able
+to support a dense population. For instance, an immense number of
+villages are scattered through the vast forest regions of Central
+and Western Russia, where birch trees grow by millions, while the
+great wheat-growing plains of the west centre and south-west are
+but sparsely inhabited. Then again, the infatuation of the military
+oligarchy has been evidenced in the plan by which all the railways
+except this new Siberian line have been designed for purely military
+purposes. The Emperor Nicholas insisted on all the lines being
+developed without the slightest regard to the wants of the towns
+and the conveniences of commerce. Even the natural facilities for
+engineering operations were not allowed by that autocrat to be
+for a moment taken into consideration. His engineers were once
+consulting him as to the expediency of taking the line from St.
+Petersburg to Moscow by a slight detour, to avoid some very troublesome
+obstacles. The Tsar took up a ruler, and with his pencil drew a
+straight line from the old metropolis. Handing back the chart,
+he peremptorily said: "There, gentlemen, that is to be the route
+for the line!" And certainly there is not a straighter reach of
+600 miles on any railroad in the world, as every tourist knows who
+has journeyed between the two chief cities of the Russian Empire.
+For instance, not very far beyond the Urals there is one magnificent
+stretch of perfectly straight road for 116 versts, or nearly eighty
+miles.
+
+The traveller who expects that on the great Siberian route he will
+speedily find himself plunged into semi-savagery, or that he will
+on leaving Europe begin to realize the solitude of a vast forlorn
+wilderness, will be agreeably disappointed. This great line is
+intended to carry forward in its progress all the comforts of modern
+civilization. Every station is picturesque and even artistic. No
+two stations are alike in style, and all are neat, substantial,
+comfortable, and comparable to the best rural stations anywhere in
+Europe or America. In one respect Russian provision for travellers
+is always far in advance of that in other countries. Those familiar
+with the country will know at once that I refer to the railway
+restaurants. The Great Siberian follows the rule of excellence
+and abundance. There, at every station, just as on the European
+side of the Urals, the traveller sees on entering the handsome
+dining-room the immense buffet loaded with freshly cooked Russian
+dishes, always hot and steaming, and of a variety not attempted in
+any other land excepting at great hotels. You select what fancy
+and appetite dictate, without any supervision. To dine at a railway
+restaurant anywhere in the Russian Empire is one of the luxuries
+of travel. Your dinner costs only a rouble--about two shillings,
+and what a dinner you secure for the money! Soup, beef, sturgeon,
+trout, poultry, game, bear's flesh, and vegetables in profusion
+are supplied _ad libitum_, the visitor simply helping himself just
+as he pleases. I mention these little details to prove that the
+longest railway in the world is to push civilization with it as
+it goes forward.
+
+Readers who will glance at any map of the new line will notice
+that the track runs across the upper waters of the great rivers,
+just about where they begin to be navigable. All through the summer,
+at any rate, America and England will, by the Arctic passage and
+by these mighty rivers, communicate with the heart of Asia, the
+railway in the far interior completing the circle of commerce.
+Other results will follow. Siberia at present contains a population
+of four million--less by more than a million than London reckons
+within its borders. Millions of the Russian peasantry in Europe are
+in a condition of chronic semi-starvation. Ere long thousands of
+these will weekly stream to the new Canaan in the East. Within the
+borders of Siberia, the whole of the United States of America could
+be enclosed, with a great spare ring around for the accommodation
+of a collection of little kingdoms. In the wake of the new line
+towns are springing up like mushrooms. Many of these will become
+great cities. There are several reasons for this development. The
+first is that the railway runs through South Siberia, where the
+climate is delightfully mild compared with the rigorous conditions
+of the atmosphere further north. The next reason is that all the
+chief gold-fields are in this southern latitude.
+
+One characteristic worthy of note is the absolute security aimed
+at by the administration of the line. Train and track are protected
+by an immense army of guards. The road is divided into sections
+of a verst each, a verst being about two-thirds of a mile. Every
+section is marked by a neat cottage, the home of the guard and
+his family. Night and day the guard or one of his household must
+patrol the section. A train is never out of sight of the guards,
+several of whom are employed wherever there are heavy curves. There
+are nearly 4,000 of these guards on the stretch between the Urals
+and Tomsk. All sense of solitude is thus removed from the mind of
+the traveller. The old post road through Siberia is one of the
+most dangerous routes in the world, being infested by murderous
+"brodyags," or runaway convicts; but the Siberian line is as safe
+as Cheapside or Oxford Street. With the fact of perfect safety
+is soon blended in the mind of the observer that of plenty. All
+along this wonderful route grass is seen growing in rank luxuriance
+that can hardly be equalled in any other part of the globe, Siberia
+being emphatically a grass-growing country. It is the original home
+of the whole graniferous stock. Wheat is indigenous to Siberia.
+Here is the largest grazing region in existence. Through this the
+train rolls on hour after hour, as in European Russia it goes on and
+on through interminable birch forests. Countless herds of animals in
+superb condition are everywhere seen roaming over these magnificent
+flowering Steppes, over which the Muscovite Eagle proudly floats.
+
+Parts of the great railway, however, traverse regions other than
+these. To make the reader understand the general characteristics
+of Siberia and the importance of the railway in the light of these
+characteristics, a few words must be said about the three great
+zones which mainly make up the country. The first is the _tundra_,
+the vast region which stretches through the northern sub-arctic
+latitudes. This desolate belt is not less than 5,000 miles in extent.
+In breadth it varies from 200 to 500 miles. In winter the _tundra_
+is, of course, one vast frozen sheet. In the brief summer it is
+swampy, steaming, and swarming with mosquitoes. Treeless and sterile,
+the _tundra_ is the home of strange uncouth tribes, but it is a
+valuable training ground for hardy hunters. To the minds of most
+people the _tundra_ is Siberia. This mischievous fallacy is difficult
+to dispel. In a few years the Siberian railway will have completely
+dissipated it. Much more valuable is the far wider zone called
+the _taiga_, the most wonderful belt of forest on the surface of
+the earth. I can testify to the profound impression of mingled
+mystery and delight produced on the mind by riding a thousand miles
+through Russian forests as they still exist in European Russia,
+where myriads of square miles in the north and centre of the land
+are covered by birch, spruce, larch, pine, and oak plantations.
+Where do these forests begin and where do they have an end? That
+is the traveller's thought. He finds that they thicken and broaden,
+and deepen as they sweep in their majestic gloom across the Urals,
+and make up for thousands of miles the grand Siberian arboreal belt.
+In this _taiga_ the Tsar possesses wealth beyond all computation;
+and the railway will put it actually at his disposal. The third
+zone, the most valuable of all, is that which mainly constitutes
+Southern Siberia. It is the region of the Steppes, that endless
+natural garden which again makes Siberia an incomparable land.
+Sheeted with flowers, variegated by woodlands, it holds in its lap
+ranges of mountains, all running with fairly uniform trend from
+north to south, while in its heart lies the romantic and mysterious
+Baikal, the deepest of lakes. Through the spurs of the _taiga_,
+running irregularly through the lovely Steppes, passes the new
+railroad, which thus taps the chief resources of the land. It will
+open up the forests, the arable country land, the cattle-breeding
+districts, and, above all, the mineral deposits. Here is a fine
+coming opportunity for the capitalists of the world.
+
+The Siberian railway starts at Cheliabinsk, just across the Ural
+Mountains, which it reaches through Samara on the Volga from the
+European side, coming over the boundary hills through Ufa, Miass
+and Zlatoust. Shortly after leaving the latter town, which is the
+centre of the Uralian iron industry, the train passes that pathetic
+"Monument of Tears," which marks the boundary between Europe and
+Asia. The triangular post of white marble, which thousands of weeping
+exiles every year embrace as they pay their sad farewell to Europe,
+is simply inscribed on one of its three sides, "Asia," on another,
+"Europe." Passing down the eastern slopes of the Urals the train
+soon reaches Cheliabinsk, running beside the Isset, a tributary
+of the Irtish, one of the main branches of the grand Obi river.
+On leaving Cheliabinsk, the traveller begins to realize that he
+is in Siberia. In the near future this section of the line will
+be traversed by many an explorer and many a hunter, who will in
+summer come to seek fresh fields on the course of the Obi, to track
+out towards the north the haunts of the seal, the walrus, and the
+white bear. The line crosses the Tobol at Kurgan, the Ishim at
+Patropavlosk, and the Irtish at Omsk, where the majestic new bridge
+spans a stream of two hundred yards. The three fine rivers are
+confluents of the Obi. Kurgan lies embosomed in the finest and
+richest, as well as the largest pasturage in the world. The magnitude
+of this undertaking may be imagined from the fact that the Yenisei
+river is only reached after a ride of 2,000 miles from Cheliabinsk,
+and then the traveller has not traversed half the distance across
+the continent which this railroad spans.
+
+We arrive at the main stream of the Obi when the train rolls into
+the station at Kolivan. Thus Tomsk, one of the chief cities of
+Siberia, is missed, for it lies further north on the Obi. In the
+same way does the line ignore Tobolsk, the Siberian capital, as it
+touches the Irtish far south of the city. These important places
+will be served by branch lines. Indeed, the branch to Tomsk is
+already finished. It is eighty miles long, and runs down the Tom
+valley northward to the city, which is the largest and most important
+in all Siberia. Tomsk will become the "hub" of Asia. It lies near
+the centre of the new railway system. It has a telephone system, is
+lighted by electricity, and possesses a flourishing university with
+thirty professors and 300 students. Tomsk, Tobolsk, and Yeniseisk
+would be difficult to reach by the main line as they are surrounded
+by vast swamps, and therefore the line is thus laid considerably
+south of these great towns. They are accessible with ease by side
+lines down their respective rivers.
+
+The Siberian line is designed to run through the arable lands of
+the fertile zone. The adjacent land will be worth countless millions
+of roubles to a Government which has not had to pay a single copeck
+for it. On for many hundreds of versts rolls the train through the
+pasture lands of the splendid Kirghiz race. The Kirghiz are by
+far the finest of the Tartars. They are a purely pastoral people,
+frugal, cleanly, and hospitable, living mainly on meats, and milk
+and cheese, the products of their herds. Both for pasture and for
+the culture of cereals, the vast territory between the Obi and
+the Yenisei will be unrivalled in the whole world. Kurgan is the
+capital. It will become an Asiatic Chicago.
+
+On the Shim river, a fairly important though minor tributary of
+the Obi, is Patropavlosk, with a population already of 20,000.
+It is growing rapidly, and fine buildings are springing up, in
+attestation of the immense influence of the new line. This city was
+once the frontier fortress erected by Russia against the Kirghiz.
+It was of commercial importance before the railroad was thought
+of, as the emporium of the brisk trade with Samarkand and Central
+Asia; great camel caravans constantly reaching it. All the old towns
+which are traversed by the Great Siberian are being transformed as
+if by magic. From Patropavlosk to Omsk is a distance equal to that
+between London and Edinburgh, about 400 miles. New and promising
+villages are frequently espied in the midst of the level, fertile
+flowery plains, varied by great patches of cultivated land. All
+along the track the land is being taken up on each side, and crops
+are being raised. We are in the midst of the great future granary
+of the whole Russian Empire, and not of that Empire alone.
+
+Reaching the Yenisei river, the grandest stream in Siberia, the
+train crosses a bridge 1,000 yards in length. But some time before
+this a stoppage is made at the town of Obb, which is a striking
+sample of the magical results of the railway. The whole country was
+till recently a scene of wild desolation. The thriving community,
+busy with a prosperous trade, is typical of the coming transformation
+of Siberia.
+
+A short distance beyond Irkutsk the line reaches one of the most
+remarkable places in the world--Lake Baikal. This grand lake is as
+long as England. It is nearly a mile deep, and covers an area of
+13,430 square miles. Its surface is 1,500 feet above the level of
+the sea. On every side it is hemmed in by lofty mountains, covered
+with thick forest. Only a few tiny villages relieve its dreary
+solitude. The early Russian settlers, impressed by the mystic silence
+and gloomy grandeur of Baikal, named it the "Holy Sea." It abounds
+in fish of many species, and every season thousands of pounds' worth
+of salmon are caught and dried. At the north end great numbers of
+seals have their habitat, the Buriat hunters sometimes taking as
+many as 1,000 in a single season. Baikal is the only fresh-water
+sea in the world in which this animal is found.
+
+The Transbaikalian section takes the line from Lake Baikal to the
+great Amur River. The line gradually ascends to the crest of the
+Yablonoi Mountains, reaching a height of 3,412 feet above the sea
+level. This is the greatest altitude of the Siberian Railway. In
+this province of Transbaikalia lies the interesting city of Chita,
+the far-off home of the most famous and estimable Socialist exiles
+sent from Russia. From this point to the Amur, where Manchuria is
+reached, the line is carried down the Pacific slope, through one
+of the wildest and most romantic tracks ever penetrated by railway
+engineers. It is not generally remembered that the Great Siberian
+Railway was begun at the Pacific end, and that the present Tsar
+Nicholas II., when Tsarevitch, inaugurated the colossal enterprise
+by laying the first stone of the eastern terminus at Vladivostock,
+on May 12, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+_HIGH LIFE IN RUSSIA_
+
+_THE COUNTESS OF GALLOWAY_
+
+The Russian aristocracy and plutocracy have few powers or privileges
+beyond that of serving their sovereign, and their position depends
+entirely on the will of the emperor. Official rank is the only
+distinction, and all ranks or "tchin," as it is called, is regulated
+according to the army grades. By this "tchin" alone is the right of
+being received at Court acquired. Society is, therefore, subservient
+to the Court, and occupies itself more with those whose position can
+best procure them what they desire than with any other ideas. The
+Court itself is very magnificent, and its entertainments display
+unbounded splendour, taste, and art. In the midst of winter the whole
+palace is decorated for the balls with trees of camellias, drac�nas
+and palms. The suppers seem almost to be served by magic. Two thousand
+people sup at the same moment: they all sit down together, and all
+finish together in an incredibly short space of time. The palace
+is lit by the electric light, the tables are placed under large
+palm-trees, and the effect is that of a grove of palms by moonlight.
+At these Court balls, besides the Royal Family of Grand Dukes and
+Duchesses, with gorgeous jewels, may be seen many of the great
+generals and governors of the provinces who come to St. Petersburg
+to do homage to their sovereign; a splendid-looking Circassian
+Prince, whose costume of fur and velvet is covered with chains of
+jewels and gold; the commander of the Cossack Guard, Tch�r�vine,
+who watches over the Emperor's safety, dressed in what resembles
+a well-fitting scarlet dressing-gown, with a huge scimitar in his
+belt sparkling with precious stones; Prince Dondoukoff Korsakoff,
+the Governor of the Caucasus, also in Cossack attire, with the
+beard which is the privilege of the Cossack birth. M. de Giers,
+whose civilian blue coat with gold buttons is remarkable among
+the numberless brilliant uniforms, talks to the Ambassadors with
+the wearied anxious expression habitual to his countenance. The
+Empress dances, but not the Emperor; he does not sit down to supper
+either, but walks about, after the Russian fashion of hospitality,
+to see that all his guests are served.
+
+[Illustration: THE WINTER PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG]
+
+If, to the outsider, society seems to lack the serious side, science,
+learning, and politics, it gains energy from its contact with men who
+are continually engaged in distant provinces, carrying Russian rule and
+civilization to the conquered Eastern tribes. Notwithstanding the great
+ease and luxury, the fact that so much of the male portion is composed
+of officers, who wear no other clothes than their uniforms, gives
+something of a business-like air, and produces a sense of discipline
+at the entertainments. Individually, the Russians have much sympathy
+with English ways and habits, and the political antagonism between
+the two nations does not appear to affect their social intercourse.
+They are exceedingly courteous, hospitable, and friendly, throwing
+themselves with much zest into the occupation or amusement of the
+moment. In these days of rapid communication social life is much
+the same in every great capital. St. Petersburg is a very gay society,
+and the great troubles underlying the fabric do not come to the
+surface in the daily life. There are of course representatives
+of all the different lines of thought and policy, and because they
+cannot govern themselves, it must not be supposed that they have
+not predilections in favour of this or that line of action.
+
+The season in St. Petersburg begins on the Russian New Year's Day,
+which is thirteen days late, for they adhere to what the Western
+nations now call the Old Style. It lasts till Lent, which the Eastern
+Church fixes also by a different calculation from the Western, and
+during that time there are Court balls twice a week and dancing at
+private houses nearly every other night, Sundays included. Private
+balls begin, as in London, very late and end very late. The dancing
+is most vigorous and animated. The specially Russian dance is the
+Mazurka, of Polish origin, and very pretty and graceful. Like the
+Scotch reel, it is a series of different figures with numerous
+and varied steps. The music, too, is special and spirited. The
+supper, which is always eaten sitting down, is a great feature
+of the evening, and there is invariably a cotillon afterwards.
+The pleasantest and most sociable entertainments are the little
+suppers every evening, where there is no dancing, and where the
+menu is most _recherch�_ and the conversation brilliant. The houses
+are well adapted for entertainments, and those we saw comfortable
+and luxurious as far as the owners are concerned. The bedrooms
+were prettily furnished, and the dressing-rooms attached fitted
+up with a tiled bath, hot and cold water, and numberless mirrors.
+The wives of the great Court and State officials, as well as many
+other ladies, have one afternoon in the week on which they sit at
+home and receive visitors. There is always tea and Russian bonbons,
+which are most excellent. What strikes an English-woman is the
+number of men, officers of the army, and others, who attend these
+"jours," as they are called in French. Many of noted activity,
+such as General Kaulbars, may be seen quietly sipping their tea
+and talking of the last ball to the young lady of the house. A f�te
+given by Madame Polovtsoff, wife of the Secr�taire de l'Empire,
+was wonderfully conducted and organized. It took place at a villa
+on the Islands, as that part of St. Petersburg which lies between
+the two principal branches of the Neva is called. It is to villas
+here that the officials can retire after the season when obliged
+to remain near the capital. The rooms and large conservatories
+were lit by electricity. At the further end of the conservatory,
+buried in palm-trees were the gipsies chanting and wailing their
+savage national songs and choruses, while the guests wandered about
+amongst groves of camellias, and green lawns studded with
+lilies-of-the-valley and hyacinths; rose-bushes in full flower at
+the corners. When the gipsies were exhausted, dancing began, and
+later there was an excellent supper in another still more spacious
+conservatory. The entertainment ended with a cotillon, and for
+the stranger its originality was only marred by the fact that it
+had been thawing, and the company could not arrive or depart in
+"_troikas_,"--sleighs with three horses which seem to fly along the
+glistening moonlit snow. A favourite amusement, even in winter, is
+racing these "_troikas_," or sleighs, with fast trotters. The races
+are to be seen from stands, as in England, and are only impeded by
+falling snow. The pretty little horses are harnessed, for trotting
+races, singly, to a low sleigh (in summer to a drosky) driven by
+one man, wearing the colours of the owner. Two of these start at
+once in opposite directions on a circular or oblong course marked
+out on a flat expanse of snow and ice, which may be either land
+or water, as is found most convenient. It is a picturesque sight,
+and reminds one of the pictures of ancient chariot races on old
+vases and carved monuments.
+
+The character of a nation can scarcely fail to be affected by the
+size of the country it inhabits, and a certain indifference to time
+and distance is produced by this circumstance. There is also a
+peculiar apathy as regards small annoyances and casualties. Whatever
+accident befalls the Russian of the lower orders, his habitual
+remark is "_Nitchivo_" ("It is nothing"). Nevertheless, Northern
+blood and a Northern climate have mixed a marvellous amount of
+energy and enterprise with this Oriental characteristic. Take for
+example the Caspian railway, undertaken by General Annenkoff. This
+general completes fifteen hundred miles of railway in the incredibly
+short space of time of a year and a half, and almost before the
+public is aware of its having been commenced, he is back again in
+St. Petersburg dancing at a Court ball in a quadrille opposite the
+Empress. The railway made by him runs at present from the Caspian
+Sea to the Amou-Daria River, and will be continued to Bokhara,
+Samarkand, and Tashkend, in a northerly direction, while on the
+south it is to enter Persia. Should European complications, by
+removing the risk of foreign interposition, make it possible for
+a Russian army to reach the Caspian by way of the Black Sea and
+the Caucasus, this railway gives it the desired approach to India.
+By attacking us in India, which they possibly do not desire to
+conquer, the Panslavists and Russian enthusiasts believe they would
+establish their empire at Constantinople, and unite the whole Sclav
+race under the dominion of the Tsar.
+
+The one preponderating impression produced by a short visit to
+Russia is an almost bewildering sense of its vastness, with an
+equally bewildering feeling of astonishment at the centralization
+of all government in the hands of the Emperor. This impression is
+perhaps increased by the nature of the town of St. Petersburg. Long,
+broad streets, lit at night by the electric light, huge buildings,
+public and private, large and almost deserted places or squares, all
+tend to produce the reflection that the Russian nation is emerging
+from the long ages of Cimmerian darkness into which the repeated
+invasions of Asiatic hordes had plunged it, and that it is full
+of the energy and aspirations belonging to a people conscious of
+a great future in the history of mankind.
+
+
+
+
+_RURAL LIFE IN RUSSIA_
+
+_LADY VERNEY_
+
+The amount of territory given up to the serfs by the Emancipation
+Act of 1861 was about one-half of the arable land of the whole
+empire, so that the experiment of cutting up the large properties
+of a country, and the formation instead of a landed peasantry,
+has now been tried on a sufficiently large scale for a quarter of
+a century to enable the world to judge of its success or failure.
+There is no doubt of the philanthropic intentions of Alexander
+the First, but he seems to have also aimed (like Richelieu) at
+diminishing the power of the nobles, which formed some bulwark
+between the absolute sway of the Crown and the enormous dead level
+of peasants.
+
+The serfs belonged soul and body to the landowner: even when they
+were allowed to take service or exercise a trade in distant towns,
+they were obliged to pay a due, "_obrok_," to their owner, and to
+return home if required; while the instances of oppression were
+sometimes frightful, husbands and wives were separated, girls were
+sold away from their parents, young men were not allowed to marry.
+On the other hand, when the proprietor was kind, and rich enough
+not to make money of his serfs, the patriarchal form of life was
+not unhappy. "See now," said an old peasant, "what have I gained
+by the emancipation? I have nobody to go to to build my house,
+or to help in the ploughing time; the Seigneur, he knew what I
+wanted, and he did it for me without any bother. Now if I want
+a wife, I have got to go and court her myself; he used to choose
+for me, and he knew what was best. It is a great deal of trouble,
+and no good at all!" Under the old arrangements three generations
+were often found living in one house, and the grandfather, who was
+called "the Big One," bore a very despotic sway. The plan allowed
+several of the males of the family to seek work at a distance,
+leaving some at home to perform the "_corv�e_" (forced labour)
+three days a week; but the families quarrelled among themselves,
+and the effect of the emancipation has been to split them up into
+different households. A considerable portion of the serfs were
+not really serfs at all. They were coachmen, grooms, gardeners,
+gamekeepers, etc., while their wives and daughters were nurses,
+ladies'-maids, and domestic servants. Their number was out of all
+proportion to their work, which was always carelessly done, but
+there was often great attachment to the family they served. The
+serfs proper lived in villages, had houses and plots of land of
+their own, and were nominally never sold except with the estate.
+The land, however, was under the dominion of the "_Mir_"; they could
+neither use it nor cultivate it except according to the communal
+obligations.
+
+The outward aspect of a Russian village is not attractive, and
+there is little choice in the surrounding country between a wide
+grey plain with a distance of scrubby pine forest, or the scrubby
+pine forest with distant grey plains. The peasants' houses are
+scattered up and down without any order or arrangement, and with
+no roads between, built of trunks of trees, unsquared, and mortised
+into each other at the corners, the interstices filled with moss
+and mud, a mode of building warmer than it sounds. In the interior
+there is always an enormous brick stove, five or six feet high,
+on which and on the floor the whole family sleep in their rags.
+The heat and the stench are frightful. No one undresses, washing
+is unknown, and sheepskin pelisses with the wool inside are not
+conducive to cleanliness. Wood, however, is becoming very scarce,
+the forests are used up in fuel for railway engines, for wooden
+constructions of all kind, and are set fire to wastefully--in many
+places the peasants are forced to burn dung, weeds, or anything
+they can pick up--fifty years, it is said, will exhaust the peasant
+forests, and fresh trees are never planted.
+
+The women are more diligent than the men, and the hardest work is
+often turned over to them, as is generally the case in countries
+where peasant properties prevail. "They are only the females of
+the male," and have few womanly qualities. They toil at the same
+tasks in the field as the men, ride astride like them, often without
+saddles, and the mortality is excessive among the neglected children,
+who are carried out into the fields, where the babies lie the whole
+day with a bough over them and covered with flies, while the poor
+mother is at work. Eight out of ten children are said to die before
+ten years old in rural Russia.
+
+In the little church (generally built of wood) there are no seats,
+the worshippers prostrate themselves and knock their heads two or
+three times on the ground, and must stand or kneel through the
+whole service. The roof consists of a number of bulbous-shaped
+cupolas; four, round the central dome, in the form of a cross is
+the completed ideal, with a separate minaret for the Virgin. These
+are covered with tiles of the brightest blue, green, and red, and gilt
+metal. The priest is a picturesque figure, with his long unclipped
+hair, tall felt hat largest at the top, and a flowing robe. He must
+be married when appointed to a cure, but is not allowed a second
+venture if his wife dies. Until lately they formed an hereditary
+caste, and it was unlawful for the son of a pope to be other than
+a pope. They are taken from the lowest class, and are generally
+quite as uneducated, and are looked down upon by their flocks.
+"One loves the Pope, and one the Popess" is an uncomplimentary
+proverb given by Gogol. "To have priests' eyes," meaning to be
+covetous or extortionate, is another. The drunkenness in all classes
+strikes Russian statesmen with dismay, and the priests and the
+popes, are among the worst delinquents. They are fast losing the
+authority they once had over the serfs, when they formed part of
+the great political system, of which the Tsar was the religious and
+political head. A Russian official report says that "the churches
+are now mostly attended by women and children, while the men are
+spending their last kopeck, or getting deeper into debt, at the
+village dram shop."
+
+Church festivals, marriages, christenings, burials and fairs, leave
+only two hundred days in the year for the Russian labourer. The
+climate is so severe as to prevent out-of-door work for months,
+and the enforced idleness increases the natural disposition to
+do nothing. "We are a lethargic people," says Gogol, "and require
+a stimulus from without, either that of an officer, a master, a
+driver, the rod, or _vodki_ (a white spirit distilled from corn);
+and this," he adds in another place, "whether the man be peasant,
+soldier, clerk, sailor, priest, merchant, seigneur or prince."
+At the time of the Crimean War it was always believed that the
+Russian soldier could only be driven up to an attack, such as that
+of Inkermann, under the influence of intoxication. The Russian
+peasant is indeed a barbarian at a very low stage of civilization.
+In the Crimean hospitals every nationality was to be found among
+the patients, and the Russian soldier was considered far the lowest
+of all. Stolid, stupid, hard, he never showed any gratitude for
+any amount of care and attention, or seemed, indeed, to understand
+them; and there was no doubt that during the war he continually put
+the wounded to death in order to possess himself of their clothes.
+
+The Greek Church is a very dead form of faith, and the worship of
+saints of every degree of power "amounts to a fetishism almost as
+bad as any to be found in Africa." I am myself the happy possessor
+of a little rude wooden bas-relief, framed and glazed, of two saints
+whose names I have ungratefully forgotten, to whom if you pray
+as you go out to commit a crime, however heinous, you take your
+pardon with you--a refinement upon the whipping of the saints in
+Calabria and Spanish hagiolatry. The icons, the sacred images,
+are hung in the chief corner, called "The Beautiful," of a Russian
+_izba_. A lamp is always lit before them, and some food spread
+"for the ghosts to come and eat." The well-to-do peasant is still
+"strict about his fasts and festivals, and never neglects to prepare
+for Lent. During the whole year his forethought never wearies;
+the children pick up a number of fungi, which the English kick
+away as toadstools, these are dried in the sun or the oven, and
+packed in casks with a mixture of hot water and dry meal in which
+they ferment. The staple diet of the peasant consists of buckwheat,
+rye meal, sauerkraut, and coarse cured fish" (little, however,
+but black bread, often mouldy and sauerkraut, nearly putrid, is
+found in the generality of Russian peasant homes). No milk, butter,
+cheese, or eggs are allowed in Lent, all of which are permitted to
+the Roman Catholic, and the oil the peasant uses for his cooking
+is linseed instead of olive oil, which last he religiously sets
+aside for the lamps burning before the holy images. "To neglect
+fasting would cause a man to be shunned as a traitor, not only
+to his religion, but to his class and country."
+
+[Illustration: RUSSIAN FARM SCENE.]
+
+In a bettermost household, the samovar, the tea-urn, is always
+going. If a couple of men have a bargain to strike, the charcoal
+is lighted inside the urn, which has a pipe carried into the stone
+chimney, and the noise of the heated air is like a roaring furnace.
+They will go on drinking boiling hot weak tea, in glasses, for
+hours, with a liberal allowance of _vodki_. The samovar, however,
+is a completely new institution, and the old peasants will tell
+you, "Ah, Holy Russia has never been the same since we drank so
+much tea."
+
+The only bit of art or pastime to be found among the peasants seems
+to consist in the "circling dances" with songs, at harvest, Christmas,
+and all other important festivals, as described by Mr. Ralston.
+And even here "the settled gloom, the monotonous sadness," are
+most remarkable. Wife-beating, husbands' infidelities, horrible
+stories of witches and vampires, are the general subjects of the
+songs. The lament of the young bride who is treated almost like
+a slave by her father and mother-in-law, has a chorus: "Thumping,
+scolding, never lets his daughter sleep"; "Up, you slattern! up,
+you sloven, sluggish slut!" A wife entreats: "Oh, my husband, only
+for good cause beat thou thy wife, not for little things. Far away
+is my father dear, and farther still my mother." The husband who is
+tired of his wife sings: "Thanks, thanks to the blue pitcher (_i.
+e._, poison), it has rid me of my cares; not that cares afflicted
+me, my real affliction was my wife," ending, "Love will I make to
+the girls across the stream." Next comes a wife who poisons her
+husband: "I dried the evil root, and pounded it small;" but in
+this case the husband was hated because he had killed her brother.
+The most unpleasant of all, however, are the invocations to _vodki_.
+A circle of girls imitate drunken women, and sing as they dance:
+"_Vodki_ delicious I drank, I drank; not in a cup or a glass, but a
+bucketful I drank.... I cling to the posts of the door. Oh, doorpost,
+hold me up, the drunken woman, the tipsy rogue."
+
+The account of the Baba Zaga, a hideous old witch, is enough to
+drive children into convulsions. She has a nose and teeth made
+of strong sharp iron. As she lies in her hut she stretches from
+one corner to the other, and her nose goes through the roof. The
+fence is made of the bones of the people she has eaten, and tipped
+with their skulls. The uprights of the gate are human legs. She
+has a broom to sweep away the traces of her passage over the snow
+in her seven-leagued boots. She steals children to eat them.
+
+Remains of paganism are to be found in some of the sayings. A curse
+still existing says, "May Perun (_i. e._, the lightning) strike
+thee." The god Perun, the Thunderer, resembles Thor, and like him
+carries a hammer. He has been transformed into Elijah, the prophet
+Ilya, the rumbling of whose chariot as he rolls through heaven,
+especially on the week in summer when his festival falls, may be
+heard in thunder. There is a dismal custom by which the children are
+made to eat the mouldy bread, "because the Rusalkas (the fairies)
+do not choose bread to be wasted." Inhuman stories about burying
+a child alive in the foundation of a new town to propitiate the
+earth spirit; that a drowning man must not be saved, lest the water
+spirit be offended; that if groans or cries are heard in the forest,
+a traveller must go straight on without paying any attention, "for
+it is only the wood demon, the lyeshey," seem only to be invented
+as excuses for selfish inaction. Wolves bear a great part in the
+stories. A peasant driving in a sledge with three children is pursued
+by a pack of wolves: he throws out a child, which they stop to
+devour; then the howls come near him again, and he throws out a
+second; again they return, when the last is sacrificed; and one
+is grieved to hear that he saves his own wretched cowardly life
+at last.
+
+The Emancipation was doubtless a great work. Twenty million serfs
+belonging to private owners, and 30,000,000 more, the serfs of
+the Crown were set free. They had always, however, considered the
+communal land as in one sense their own. "We are yours but the
+land is ours," was the phrase. The Act was received with mistrust
+and suspicion, and the owners were supposed to have tampered with
+the good intentions of the Tsar. Land had been allotted to each
+peasant family sufficient, as supposed, for its support, besides
+paying a fixed yearly sum to Government. Much of it, however, is
+so bad that it cannot be made to afford a living and pay the tax,
+in fact a poll tax, not dependent on the size of the strip, but on
+the number of the souls. The population in Russia has always had a
+great tendency to migrate, and serfdom in past ages is said to have
+been instituted to enable the lord of the soil to be responsible for
+the taxes. "It would have been impossible to collect these from
+peasants free to roam from Archangel to the Caucasus, from St.
+Petersburg to Siberia." It was therefore necessary to enforce the
+payments from the village community, the Mir, which is a much less
+merciful landlord than the nobles of former days, and constantly
+sells up the defaulting peasant.
+
+The rule of the Mir is strangely democratic in so despotic an empire.
+The Government never interferes with the communes if they pay their
+taxes, and the ignorant peasants of the rural courts may pass sentences
+of imprisonment for seven days, inflict twenty strokes with a rod,
+impose fines, and cause a man who is pronounced "vicious or pernicious"
+to be banished to Siberia. The authority of the Mir, of the Starosta,
+the Whiteheads, the chief elders, seems never to be resisted, and
+there are a number of proverbs declaring "what the Mir decides
+must come to pass"; "The neck and shoulders of the Mir are broad";
+"The tear of the Mir is cold but sharp." Each peasant is bound
+hand and foot by minute regulations; he must plough, sow and reap
+only when his neighbours do, and the interference with his liberty
+of action is most vexatious and very injurious.
+
+The agriculture enforced is of the most barbarous kind. Jensen,
+Professor of Political Economy at Moscow, says: "The three-field
+system--corn, green crops and fallow--which was abandoned in Europe
+two centuries ago, has most disastrous consequences here. The lots
+are changed every year, and no man has any interest in improving
+property which will not be his in so short a time. Hardly any manure
+is used, and in many places the corn is threshed out by driving
+horses and wagons over it. The exhaustion of the soil by this most
+barbarous culture has reached a fearful pitch."
+
+The size of the allotments varies extremely in the different climates
+and soils, and the country is so enormous that the provinces were
+divided into zones to carry out the details of the Emancipation
+Act--the zone without black soil; the zone with black soil; and,
+third, the great steppe zone. In the first two the allotments range
+from two and two-thirds to twenty acres, in the steppes from eight
+and three-quarters to thirty-four and one-third. "Whether, however,"
+says Jensen, "the peasants cultivate their land as proprietors at
+1_s_. 9_d_. or hire it at 18_s_. 6_d_. the result is the same--the
+soil is scourged and exhausted, and semi-starvation has become the
+general feature of peasant life."
+
+Usury is the great nightmare of rural Russia, at present, an evil
+which seems to dog the peasant proprietor in all countries alike.
+The "Gombeen Man" is fast getting possession of the little Irish
+owners. A man who hires land cannot borrow on it; the little owner
+is tempted always to mortgage it at a pinch. In Russia he borrows to
+the outside of its value to pay the taxes and get in his crop. "The
+bondage labourers," _i. e._, men bound to work on their creditor's
+land as interest for money lent, receive no wages and are in fact a
+sort of slaves. They repay their extortioners by working as badly
+as they can--a "level worst," far inferior to that of the serfs of
+old, they harvest three and a half or four stacks of corn where
+the other peasants get five. The Koulaks and Mir-eaters, and other
+usurers, often of peasant origin, exhaust the peasant in every
+way; they then foreclose the mortgages, unite the small pieces
+of land once more, and reconstitute large estates. A Koulak is
+not to be trifled with; he finds a thousand occasions for revenge;
+the peasant cannot cheat the Jew as he does the landlord, and is
+being starved out--the mortality is enormous.
+
+The peasant class comprises five-sixths of the whole population--a
+stolid, ignorant, utterly unprogressive mass of human beings. They
+have received in gift nearly half the empire for their own use,
+and cling to the soil as their only chance of existence. They
+consequently dread all change, fearing that it should endanger
+this valuable possession. A dense solid stratum of unreasoning
+conservatism thus constitutes the whole basis of Russian society
+backed by the most corrupt set of officials to be found in the
+whole world. The middle and upper classes are often full of ardent
+wishes for the advancement of society and projects for the reform
+of the State. These are generally of the wildest and most terrible
+description, but their objects are anything but unreasonable. They
+desire to share in political power and the government of their
+country, as is the privilege of every other nation in Europe, and
+they hope to do something for the seething mass of ignorance and
+misery around them. The Nihilists have an ideal at least of good,
+and the open air of practical politics would probably get rid of
+the unhealthy absurdities and wickedness of their creeds. But the
+Russian peasant cares neither for liberty nor politics, neither
+for education, nor cleanliness, nor civilization of any kind. His
+only interest is to squeeze just enough out of his plot of ground
+to live upon and get drunk as many days in the year as possible.[1]
+With such a base to the pyramid as is constituted by the peasant
+proprietors of Russia, aided by the enormous army, recruited almost
+to any extent from among their ranks, whose chief religion is a
+superstitious reverence for the "great father," the Tsar is safe
+in refusing all concessions, all improvements; and the hopeless
+nature of Russian reform hitherto, mainly hangs upon the conviction
+of the Government that nothing external can possibly act upon this
+inert mass. "Great is stupidity, and shall prevail." But surely
+not forever!
+
+[Footnote 1: "When God created the world He made different nations
+and gave them all sorts of good things--land, corn and fruit. Then
+He asked them if they were satisfied, and they all said 'Yes' except
+the Russian, who had got as much as the rest, but simpered 'Please
+Lord, some _vodki_.'"--_Russian Popular Tale_.]
+
+
+
+
+_FOOD AND DRINK_
+
+_H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS_
+
+The essential point in the service of the Russian dinner is--as
+is now generally known throughout Europe--that the dishes should
+be handed round instead of being placed on the table, which is
+covered throughout the meal with flowers, fruit, and the whole
+of the dessert. One advantage of this plan is, that it makes the
+dinner-table look well; another, that it renders the service more
+rapid, and saves much trouble to the host. The dishes are brought
+in one by one; or two at a time, and of the same kind, if a large
+number are dining. The ordinary wines are on the table, and nothing
+has to be changed except the plates. At the end of dinner, as the
+cloth is not removed, the dessert is ready served; and this has
+always been one of the great glories of a Russian banquet.
+
+"I was particularly struck," says Archdeacon Coxe, "with the quantity
+and quality of the fruit which made its appearance in the dessert.
+Pines, peaches, apricots, grapes, pears, and cherries, none of
+which can in this country be obtained without the assistance of
+hot-houses,[1] were served," he tells us, "in the greatest profusion.
+There was a delicious species of small melon, which had been sent
+by land-carriage from Astrakhan to Moscow--a distance of a thousand
+miles. These melons," he adds, "sometimes cost five pounds apiece,
+and at other times may be purchased in the markets of Moscow for
+less than half-a-crown apiece." One "instance of elegance" which
+distinguished the dessert, and which appears to have made an impression
+on the Archdeacon, is then mentioned. "At the upper and lower ends
+of the table were placed two china vases, containing cherry-trees
+in full leaf, and fruit hanging on the boughs which was gathered by
+the company." This cherry-tree is also a favourite, and certainly
+a very agreeable ornament, in the present day. At the conclusion
+of the dessert coffee is served as in France and England. Men and
+women leave the table together, and after dinner no wine is taken.
+Later in the evening tea is brought in, with biscuits, cakes, and
+preserved fruits.
+
+[Footnote 1: That is to say, not in the winter. In the summer,
+pears and cherries abound in Moscow, and every kind of fruit ripens
+in the south.]
+
+The reception-rooms in Russian houses are all _en suite_; and instead
+of doors you pass from room to room through arches hung with curtains.
+The number of the apartments in most of the houses I remember varied
+from three to six or seven; but in the clubs and in large mansions
+there are more. Grace before or after dinner is never said under
+any circumstances; but all the guests make the sign of the cross
+before sitting down to table, usually looking at the same time
+towards the eastern corner of the room, where the holy image hangs.
+This ceremony is never omitted in families, though in the early
+part of the century, when the Gallomania was at its height, it is
+said to have been much neglected. In club dinners, when men are
+dining alone, it will be easily believed that the same importance
+is not attached to it; but the custom may be described as almost
+universal among the rich, and quite universal among the poor. Indeed,
+a peasant or workman would not on any account eat without first
+making the sign of the cross. In Russia, with its "patriarchal"
+society (as the Russians are fond of saying), it is usual to thank
+the lady of the house, either by word or gesture, after dining at
+her table; and those who are sufficiently intimate kiss her hand.
+
+[Illustration: THE TSAR'S DINING-ROOM, MOSCOW.]
+
+We now come to the composition of the Russian dinners; and here I
+must repeat with Archdeacon Coxe, that although the Russians have
+adopted many of the delicacies of French cookery, they "neither
+affect to despise their native dishes nor squeamishly reject the
+solid joints which characterize our own repasts." I was astonished,
+at one Russian dinner, which I was assured was thoroughly national
+in style, to meet with the homely roast leg of mutton and baked
+potatoes of my native land. Like the English, the Russians take
+potatoes with nearly every dish--either plain boiled, fried, or
+with parsley and butter over them. Plum-pudding, too, and boiled
+rice-pudding with currants in it, and with melted butter, are known
+in Russia--at all events in Moscow and St. Petersburg; and goose is
+not considered complete without apple-sauce. As in France, every
+dinner begins with soup; but this custom has not been borrowed
+from the French. It seems to date from time immemorial, for all
+the Russian peasants, a thoroughly stationary class, take their
+soup daily. The Russians are very successful with some kinds of
+pickles, such as salted cucumbers and mushrooms; and they excel
+in salads, composed not only of lettuce, endive, and beetroot, but
+also of cherries, grapes, and other fruits, preserved in vinegar.
+The fruit is always placed at the top, and has a very picturesque
+effect in the midst of the green leaves. Altogether it may be said
+that the Russian _cuisine_ is founded on a system of eclecticism,
+with a large number of national dishes for its base. Of course,
+in some Russian houses, as in some English ones, the cooking is
+nearly all in the French style; but even then there are always a
+few dishes on the table that might easily be recognized as belonging
+to the country. We need scarcely remark, that only very rich persons
+dine every day in the sumptuous style described by Archdeacon Coxe,
+though the rule as to service may be said to be general--one dish
+at a time, and nothing on the table but flowers and the dessert.
+In the winter, when it is difficult and expensive to get dessert,
+those who are rich send for it where it _can_ be obtained--perhaps
+to their own hot-houses; and those who are not rich, as in other
+countries, go without. At the _traktirs_, or _restaurants_, the
+usual dinner supplied for three-quarters of a rouble consists of
+soup, with a pie of mince-meat, or minced vegetables, an _entr�e_,
+roast meat, and some kind of sweet. That, too, may be considered
+the kind of dinner which persons of moderate means have every day
+at home. Rich proprietors, who keep a head-cook, a roaster, a
+pastry-cook, and two or three assistant-cooks, would perhaps despise
+so moderate a repast; but from a little manual of cookery which
+a friend has been kind enough to send me from Russia, it would
+appear that the generality of persons do not have more than four
+dishes at each meal.
+
+The most ancient and popular drinks in Russia are hydromel or mead
+(called by the same name in Russia), beer, and _kvass_. Mead, the fine
+old Scandinavian drink, is mentioned as far back as the Tenth Century;
+and in a chronicle of Novgorod of the year 989, it is stated that "A
+great festival took place, at which a hundred and twenty thousand
+pounds of honey were consumed." Hydromel is flavoured with various
+kinds of spices and fermented with hops. Gerebtzoff states that
+beer is mentioned (under the name of _oloul_--the present word being
+_pivo_) in the _Book of Ranks_, written in the Eleventh and Twelfth
+Centuries. But no drink is so ancient as _kvass_, which, according
+to the chronicle of Nestor, was in use among the Sclavonians in
+the first century of our era. Among the laws of Yaroslaff there
+is an old edict determining the quantity of malt to be furnished
+for making _kvass_ to workmen engaged in building a town.
+
+The Russians learnt to drink wine from the Greeks, during their
+frequent intercourse with the Eastern Empire, long before the Mongol
+invasion. During the Tartar domination there was less communication
+with Constantinople and the consumption of wine decreased, but
+it became greater again during the period of the Tsars. In the
+beginning of the Seventeenth Century wine was supplied to ambassadors,
+but the Russians for the most part still preferred their native
+drinks. The cultivation of the vine was introduced at Astrakhan
+in 1613, and a German traveller named Strauss, who visited the
+city in 1675, found that it had been attended with great success;
+so much so, that, without counting what was sold in the way of
+general trade, the province supplied to the Tsar alone every year
+two hundred tuns of wine, and fifty tuns of grape brandy. The wines
+of Greece were at the same time replaced by those of Hungary, which
+were in great demand when Peter came and introduced the vintage
+of France. This by many persons will be considered not the least
+of his reforms.
+
+The Russians acquired the art of distilling from grain in the Fourteenth
+Century from the Genoese established in the Crimea, and seem to
+have lost no time in profiting by their knowledge. They soon began
+to invent infusions of fruit and berries, which under the name of
+"_nalivka_" have long been known to travellers, and which I for
+my part found excellent. "_Raki_," about the consumption of which
+by the Russian soldiers so much was written during the Crimean
+war, is a Turkish spirit, and is unknown in Russia. The Russian
+grain-spirit is called "_vodka_." The best qualities are more like
+the best whiskey than anything else, only weaker; but it is of various
+degrees of excellence as of price. The new common _vodka_, like other
+new spirits, is fiery; but when purified, and kept for some time, it
+is excellent and particularly mild. Travellers to Moscow who are
+curious on the subject of _vodka_ may visit a gigantic distillery
+in the neighbourhood, to which it is easy to gain admission, and
+where they can obtain information and samples in abundance. _Vodka_
+is sometimes made in imitation of brandy, and there are also sweet
+and bitter _vodkas_; and, indeed, _vodka_ of all flavours. But
+the British spirit which the ordinary _vodka_ chiefly resembles
+is whiskey. There is one curious custom connected with drinking in
+Russia which, as far as I am aware, has never been noticed. The
+Russians drink first and eat afterwards, and never drink without
+eating. If wine and biscuits are placed on the table, everyone takes
+a glass of wine first, and then a biscuit; and at the _zakouska_
+before dinner, those who take the customary glass of _vodka_ take an
+atom of caviare or cheese after it, but not before. It may also be
+remarked that, as a general rule, the Russians, like the Orientals,
+drink only at the beginning of a repast.
+
+A hospitable Englishman entertaining a Russian, on seeing him eat
+after drinking, would press him to drink again, and having drunk
+a second time, the Russian would eat once more on his own account;
+which would involve another invitation to drink on the part of the
+Englishman. As a hospitable Russian, on the other hand, entertaining
+an Englishman, would endeavour to prevail upon him to eat after
+drinking, and as it is the Englishman's habit to drink after eating,
+it is easy to see that too much attention on either side might
+lead to very unfortunate results.
+
+A great deal is said about the enormous quantity of champagne consumed
+in Russia. Champagne, however, costs five roubles (from sixteen to
+seventeen shillings) a bottle--the duty alone amounting to one rouble
+a bottle--and is only drunk habitually by persons of considerable
+means. Nor does the champagne bottle go round so frequently at
+Russian as at English dinners. It is usually given, as in France,
+with the pastry and dessert, and no other wine is taken after it.
+The rich merchants are said to drink champagne very freely at their
+evening entertainments; but the only merchant at whose house I
+dined had, unfortunately, adopted Western manners, and gave nothing
+during the evening but tea. However, at festivals and celebrations
+of all kinds--whether of congratulation, of welcome, or of
+farewell--champagne is indispensable. What Alphonse Karr says of
+women and their toilette--that they regard every event in life
+as an occasion for a new dress--may certainly be paraphrased and
+applied to the Russians in connection with champagne. Besides the
+champagne which is given as a matter of course at dinner-parties
+and balls, there must be champagne at birthdays, champagne at
+christenings, champagne at, or in honour of, betrothals, champagne
+in abundance at weddings, champagne at the arrival of a friend, and
+champagne at his departure. For those who cannot afford veritable
+champagne, Russian viniculture supplies an excellent imitation in
+the shape of "_Donskoi_" and "_Crimskoi_,"--the wines of the Don
+and of the Crimea. As "_Donskoi_" costs only a fifth of the price
+of real champagne, it will be understood that it is not seldom
+substituted for the genuine article, both by fraudulent wine merchants
+and economic hosts. However, it is a true wine, and far superior to
+the fabrications of Hamburg, which, under the name of champagne,
+find their way all over the north of Europe. It has often been
+said that the Russians drink champagne merely because it is dear.
+But the fact is, they have a liking for all effervescing drinks,
+and naturally, therefore, for champagne, the best of all. Among
+the effervescing drinks peculiar to Russia, we may mention apple
+_kvass, kislya shchee_, and _voditsa. Kislya shchee_ is made out of
+two sorts of malt, three sorts of flour, and dried apples; in apple
+_kvass_ there are more apples and less malt and flour. _Voditsa_
+(a diminutive of _voda_, water), is made of syrup, water, and a
+little spirit. All these summer-drinks are bottled and kept in
+the ice-house.
+
+
+
+
+_CARNIVAL-TIME AND EASTER_
+
+_A. NICOL SIMPSON_
+
+Lent is heralded by carnival, called by Russians "Maslanitza"--the
+"_Butter Wochen_" of the Germans. _Maslanitza_ is held during the
+eighth week preceding Easter, the fast proper is observed during the
+intervening seven weeks. During Maslanitza every article of diet,
+flesh excepted, is allowed to be partaken of, but over-indulgence
+in other articles, including drinks, is not forbidden.
+
+Carnival commences on Sunday at noon and continues till the close
+of the succeeding Sunday. The salutation during the week is
+"_Maslanitza_," or "_Sherokie Maslanitza_," "_Sherokie_" meaning,
+literally "broad," indicating a full amount of pleasure, and the
+facial expression accompanying this salutation shows plainly that
+unrestrained enjoyment is the aim and object for the week. Upon
+the discharge of the time gun at noon, there emerge from all parts
+of the city tiny sleighs driven by peasants, chiefly Finns, who for
+the time are allowed to ply for hire by the payment of a nominal
+tax imposed by the police or city corporation. Most of these Finns
+are unable to speak Russian intelligibly, although living at no
+great distance from the capital. It is said that from 5,000 to 10,000
+of these jehus come annually to St. Petersburg for _Maslanitza_,
+and they add materially to the gaiety of the city as they drive
+along the streets. These Finns are mostly patronized by the
+working-classes, for the simple reason that their charges are lower
+than the ordinary _isvozchick_, or cabby.
+
+During the festivities the great centre of attraction for the working
+population is the "Marco Polo," or "Champ de Mars," an immense
+plain on the banks of the Neva. Here a huge fair is held, with
+the usual assortment of stalls, loaded with sweetmeats and similar
+dainties. Actors from the city theatres are upon the ground, with
+smaller booths where the stage-struck hero acts the leading part.
+There are dwarfs, fat women, giants, and the renowned ubiquitous
+Punch and Judy, merry-go-rounds, card-sharpers, cheap-jacks, and
+a medley crowd of men and women all catering for the roubles of
+the crowd. What are termed the "ice-hills" are perhaps the most
+attractive feature of the gathering.
+
+In the city feasting and visiting are the order of the day. There
+is no limit to the consumption of "_bleenies_," a kind of pancake
+made of buckwheat flour, and eaten with butter sauce or fresh caviare,
+according to the circumstances of the families. Morn, noon, and
+night _bleenies_ are cooked and eaten by the dozen, moistened,
+of course, with the indispensable _vodka_ or native gin, which is
+distilled from rye.
+
+When midnight of the second Sunday arrives, all gaieties are supposed
+to vanish, and a subdued and demure aspect must be assumed, and
+the form of congratulation between friends and acquaintances
+is--"_Pozdravlin vam post_," or "I congratulate you on the fast."
+The church bells toll mournfully at brief intervals from 4 or 5
+A. M., when early mass is celebrated until about 8 P. M., when
+evening service closes.
+
+Before the Passion--like the Jews, who at Passover search diligently
+for and cast out the old leaven--the Russian housewife likewise
+searches out every corner, most remorselessly sweeps from its
+hiding-place every particle of dust. Everything is done to make the
+house and its contents fit to meet a risen Saviour. The streets,
+always very clean, receive special attention, even the lamp-posts
+are carefully washed down and the kerbs sanded. Everything that
+will clean has brush and soap-and-water applied to it. The reason
+of this is the belief that our Saviour invisibly walks about the
+earth for forty days after Easter, that is, until Ascension Day.
+
+On the Thursday of Passion Week "_Strashnaya Nedelli_," _i. e._,
+"_Terrible Week_," is enacted in a very realistic fashion one of
+the last acts of our Saviour--"the washing of the Disciples' feet."
+After the close of the second diet of worship at St. Isaac's Cathedral
+this ceremony is performed.
+
+The most important day of the week is that of "_Strashnaya Piatnitsa_,"
+or Good Friday, when the burial of our Lord is enacted before the
+people in a truly solemn and impressive manner. In every church
+there is a sarcophagus in imitation of our Saviour's tomb, and
+many of these sarcophagi are of elaborate workmanship with gorgeous
+gilt and otherwise ornamented. The lid is adorned with a painting
+representing our Saviour in death. At dawn this lid is carried
+into the chapel, and by 3 P. M. the sarcophagus is in its place
+on the da�s ready to receive the body of our Lord. Shortly before
+the service is concluded, all the worshippers have their tapers
+lighted, the flame being procured from a candelabrum in front of
+the sacred icon. This is done by those nearest to the candelabrum
+lighting their tapers, while those behind them get the sacred flame
+from them, and in this way all get their tapers lit. Many endeavour
+to carry their burning tapers home, so that they may have the holy
+flame in their dwellings.
+
+[Illustration: ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL, ST. PETERSBURG.]
+
+Leaving the chapel the crowd musters in the street. Then there
+emerges a church dignitary bearing a large brightly-burnished crucifix,
+followed by others bearing bannerettes and other symbols, the names
+and uses of which are to us a mystery. Last of all come forth four
+priests, clad in their gorgeous canonical vestments, bearing the
+lid of the sarcophagus which is supported on brass rods. Under
+the lid walks an aged priest clad in his clerical vestments,
+representing the dead Christ being carried to his tomb. Slowly,
+sadly, and reverently he is borne to the tomb, the worshippers
+crossing themselves most devoutly. A sudden rush is made for the
+church to witness the interment, the big bell meanwhile tolling
+mournfully as the procession moves on. The sad procession enters
+the church, and, going up to where the sarcophagus is placed with
+all the external appearances of love, mourning, and lamentation,
+the lid is placed on the sarcophagus and the last obsequies of
+the crucified "Christ" are over.
+
+Preparations are now industriously made for the due celebration of
+the Resurrection morn. Shopping, shopping, shopping goes on without
+intermission. Those who can, prepare to adorn their bodies with one
+or more articles of new clothing, but all make preparations for a
+sumptuous feast. It is interesting to watch the shops, especially in
+the public markets, to see the avidity with which every article of
+food is bought up. The butchers come in, perhaps, for the largest
+share of custom, as flesh, especially smoked ham, is in universal
+demand. Ham among all classes of the community is indispensable for
+the breaking of the fast and the due celebration of the feast. Dyed
+eggs are in universal request. The exchange of eggs, accompanied with
+kissing on the lips and cheeks in the form of the cross, accompanies
+all gifts or exchange. The _koolitch_ and _paska_ have also to be
+bought. The _koolitch_ is a sweet kind of wheaten bread, circular
+in form, in which there are raisins. It is ornamented with candied
+sugar and usually has the Easter salutation on it: "_Christos
+vozkress_"--"Christ is risen"--the whole surmounted with a large
+gaudy red-paper rose. The _paska_ is made of cords, pyramidal in
+shape, and contains a few raisins, and, like the former, has also
+a paper rose inserted on the top. These are the _sine qua non_ for
+the due observance of Easter, but what relation they may have, if
+any, to the Jewish Feast of the Passover, it is difficult to see,
+although in many other respects there is a striking resemblance
+to the service of the Temple in Jerusalem in the ritual of the
+Russo-Greek Church. The _koolitch_ and _paska_ and dyed eggs are
+brought to, but not into, the church on the Saturday evening. Some
+have burning tapers inserted into them, while a pure white table
+napkin is spread on the ground, or on benches specially provided
+for the purpose, awaiting the priests' blessing. The hours for
+this purpose are six, eight, and ten o'clock. The priests sprinkle
+the _koolitch, paska_, and dyed eggs at these hours, those to whom
+they belong slipping a silver or copper coin into his hand as a
+reward for his services. These articles are then carried home,
+and along with the other necessities for the feast are laid out
+on a table, there to lie untouched till the resurrection of the
+"Saviour" is an accomplished fact. Meanwhile the lessons are being
+read over the tomb of "Christ," and the devotees, still in large
+numbers, kiss His face and feet. About 11 P. M. the sarcophagus is
+wheeled to its usual place in the church, where it remains until
+the following Easter.
+
+All the churches by this time are densely packed with worshippers,
+silently waiting with eager expectancy the time when their "Saviour"
+will break the bonds of death and rise from the tomb in which he
+has now lain for three days.
+
+As if by magic, everyone has lighted his or her taper, and looks
+anxiously towards the altar-screen, where preparations are being
+made by the priests to go to Joseph of Arimathea's garden, as the
+disciples and women did of old to visit the tomb where Christ was
+buried. This they do by forming a procession with the crucifix,
+bannerettes, etc., each carrying a lighted candle in his hand.
+There is a rush among the worshippers to join the procession. They
+walk thrice round the church, searching diligently by the aid of
+their candles for "Christ," and not finding Him, they go to bring
+the disciples word that He is risen from the dead.
+
+When the procession enters the threshold of the church, the royal
+gates are thrown back, suddenly displaying a marvellously beautiful
+stained glass window, and all eyes behold an enchanting representation
+of the Saviour in the act of rising from the cold grave.
+
+The priests with the choristers, as they enter the church, proclaim
+in joyful tones, "_Christos vozkress_" ("Christ is risen"), the
+response being "_Voestenno vozkress_" ("Truly He is risen"). It
+is really a jubilant song of praise they sing--the finely trained
+voices of the choir and priests, joined with those of the worshippers,
+making it most impressive. Every face in the vast crowd bears the
+joyous expression of gladness, for to these men and women a really
+dead Christ has risen, and is now invisibly in their midst. Relatives
+and friends kiss each other and shake hands, and the salutation,
+"_Christos vozkress_," with the refrain, "_Voestenno vozkress_,"
+is heard on every side. The officiating priest begins the usual
+early morning service (celebrated on ordinary Sundays at 5 A. M.),
+which continues until nearly three o'clock, when the churches are
+closed for the day.
+
+Immediately after midnight a salute of one hundred and one guns is
+given from the fortress to greet the sacred morn. The whole city
+is stirred as the loud peal of cannon reverberates, proclaiming
+to the faithful that Christ is indeed risen from the dead. Some
+few worshippers remain in church until the early service is over,
+but the majority retire to their homes to tender the greetings
+of the day.
+
+Then families and friends assemble at the domestic board that groans
+under a load of the good things of this life, according to their
+circumstances, and to make reparation to their stomachs for the
+privation they have endured during the seven weeks of Lent. And
+full compensation their stomachs get, as the feast is a literal
+gorge of meat and drink. Ham is on the table of prince and peasant
+alike, and it is first partaken of. The table of the rich is spread
+with all gastronomical luxuries, _vodka_ and wines, cold roast
+beef, eggs, etc. These dainties remain on the table for several
+days; indeed a free table is kept, and all who call to congratulate
+are expected to partake of the hospitality. Not to do so is regarded
+in the light of an insult.
+
+On Easter Sunday only gentlemen pay visits of congratulation; ladies
+remain at home for that day to receive and entertain visitors.
+Presents are dispensed to domestic and other servants. A good drink
+is as indispensable to the feast among the peasant class as a good
+feed, and they neither deny themselves the one nor the other, their
+potations lasting for several days.
+
+To the Western mind the continual kissing and giving of eggs on
+the streets appear strangely out of keeping with the solemnity
+of the hour. To see a couple of bearded men hugging and kissing
+each other and each other's wives on the public streets, with the
+salutation, "_Christos vozkress_," is indeed peculiar. But use
+and wont justify this, and it would be a breach of courtesy to
+withhold the lips and cheeks, and would be regarded as indicating
+indifference to the great feast of the Church. Present-giving,
+although on somewhat similar lines to our Christmas greetings,
+is a much heavier tax on a Russian household than Christmas gifts
+are with us. In the ordinary house in St. Petersburg, the master,
+on gaining his breakfast-room, is saluted by his domestic servant
+with "_Prazdnik_ (holiday), _Christos vozkress_," which involves a
+new dress for the female, or a money equivalent. Then the _dvorniks_,
+or house-porters, resplendent in clean white aprons, make their
+appearance, giving the usual salutation, and one or two roubles
+must be given. They have scarcely vanished when a couple of
+chimney-sweepers put in an appearance, necessitating another appeal
+to the purse; postmen follow, and in their rear come the juvenile
+representatives of your butcher, greengrocer, etc., all bent upon
+testing your liberality. You go to church and the doorkeeper gravely
+says, "_Christos vozkress_," while he of the cloak-room echoes
+the sentiment to the impoverishment of one's exchequer. But this
+seeming mendicancy is not confined to these classes, for even the
+reverend fathers and brethren walk in the same footsteps unblushingly.
+Either on foot or by carriage they call upon the well-to-do of
+their church, give the usual salutation, "_Christos vozkress_,"
+and the kiss, partake of the general hospitality, and get their
+gratuity or "_Na Chai_," as it is called, and retire. They are
+scarcely gone when the "_Staroste_," or elders, put in an appearance,
+followed by the "_Pyefche_," or choristers, all of whom share in
+the bounty and hospitality of those on whom they call. The priests,
+of course, come in for the largest share, and, generally speaking,
+they know the value of the adage, "First come first served."
+
+At mid-day of Easter Sunday a salute is fired from the fortress,
+and carnival begins again. It is a repetition of the same amusements
+as in carnival before Lent, and continues until the following Sunday
+evening.
+
+
+
+
+_RUSSIAN TEA AND TEA-HOUSES_
+
+_H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS_
+
+A true Russian _restaurant_, or _traktir_ (probably from the French
+_traiteur_), is not to be found in St. Petersburg, whose _caf�s_
+and _restaurants_ are either German or French, or imitated from
+German or French models. One of the large Moscow _traktirs_ is not
+only very much larger, but at least twelve times larger than an
+ordinary French _caf�_. The best of them is the Troitzkoi _traktir_,
+where the merchants meet to complete the bargains they have commenced
+on the Exchange--that is to say--in the street beneath, where all
+business is carried on, summer and winter, in the open air. St.
+Petersburg is more fortunate, and has a regular bourse, with a
+chapel attached to it. The merchants always enter this chapel before
+commencing their regular afternoon's work ('Change is held at four
+o'clock in St. Petersburg), and remain for several minutes at their
+devotions, occasionally offering a candle to the Virgin or some
+saint. Now and then it must happen that a speculator for the rise
+and a speculator for the fall enter the chapel and commence their
+orisons at the same time. Probably they pray that they may not
+be tempted to cheat one another.
+
+There is no special chapel for the Moscow merchants, nor is there
+one attached to the Troitzkoi _traktir_, which I am inclined to
+look upon after all as the real Moscow Exchange. But in each of
+the rooms, of which the entrances as usual are arched, and which
+together form an apparently interminable suite, the indispensable
+holy picture is to be seen; and no Russian goes in or out without
+making the sign of the cross. No Russian, to whatever class he
+may belong, remains for a moment with his hat on in any inhabited
+place; whether out of compliment to those who inhabit it, or from
+respect to the holy pictures, or from mixed reasons. The waiters,
+of whom there are said to be a hundred and fifty at the Troitzkoi
+_traktir_, are all dressed in white, and it is facetiously asserted
+that they are forbidden to sit down during the day for fear of
+disturbing the harmony and destroying the purity of their spotless
+linen. The service is excellent. The waiters watch and divine the
+wishes of the guests, instead of the guests having to watch, seek,
+and sometimes scream for the waiters, as is too often the case in
+England. Here the attendants do everything for the visitor; cut
+up his _pirog_ (meat, or fish patty), so that he may eat it with
+his fork; pour out his tea, fill his _chibouk_, and even bring it
+to him ready lighted. The reader perceives that there is a certain
+Oriental style about the Russian _traktirs_. The great article
+of consumption in them is tea. Every one orders tea, either by
+itself, or to follow the dinner; and the majority of those who
+come into the place take nothing else. You can have a tumbler of
+tea, or a pot of tea; but in ordering it you do not ask for tea at
+all, but for so many portions of sugar. The origin of this curious
+custom it is scarcely worth while to consider; but it apparently
+dates from the last European war, when, during the general blockade,
+the price of sugar in Russia rose to about four shillings a pound.
+
+All sorts of stories have been told about the quantity of tea consumed
+by Russian merchants, nor do I look upon any of them as exaggerated.
+From twelve to twenty cups are thought nothing of. I have seen
+two merchants enter a _traktir_, order so many portions of sugar,
+and drink cup after cup of tea, until the tea-urn before them is
+empty; yet the ordinary tea-urn of the _traktir_ holds at least
+a gallon, or a gallon and a half.
+
+"Tea," says M. Gerebtzoff, "has become, for every one, an habitual
+article of consumption, and replaces, advantageously for morality,
+brandy and beer; for on all occasions when a bargain has to be
+concluded, or when a companion has to be entertained, or on receiving
+or taking leave of a friend, tea is given instead of wine or brandy."
+Indeed, I not only observed that in the Moscow _traktirs_ nearly
+every one drank tea, but that it was a favourite beverage with
+all classes on all occasions. The middle and upper classes take
+tea twice or three times a day,--always in the morning, and often
+twice in the evening. The _isvostchik_, who formerly had a reputation
+for drunkenness, which travellers of the present day continue to
+ascribe to him, appears to prefer tea to every other drink. Such,
+at least, was my experience; and his mode of asking for a _pour
+boire_ seems to confirm it. Some years since travellers used to
+tell us of the _isvostchik_ asking at the end of his drive for
+_vodka_ money ("_na votkou_"); at present the invariable request
+is for tea-money ("_na tchai_"). Even in roadside inns, where I
+have seen from twelve to twenty coachmen and postilions sitting down
+together, nothing but tea was being drunk. A well-known tourist has
+told us that every Russian peasant possesses a tea-urn, or _samovar_;
+but this is not the case. The majority of the peasants are too
+poor to afford such a luxury as tea, except on rare occasions,
+but a tea-urn is one of the first objects that a peasant who has
+saved a little money buys; and it is true, that in some prosperous
+villages there is a samovar in every hut; and in all the post-houses
+and inns each visitor is supplied with a separate one.
+
+[Illustration: ST. ANNE RESTAURANT, WIBORG.]
+
+The samovar, which, literally, means "self-boiler," is made of brass
+lined with tin, with a tube in the centre. In fact, it resembles
+the English urn, except that in the centre-tube red-hot cinders
+are placed instead of the iron heater. Of course, the charcoal,
+or _braise_, has to be ignited in a back kitchen or court-yard;
+for in a room the carbonic acid proceeding from it would prove
+injurious. It has no advantage then, whatever, over the English
+urn, except that it can be heated with facility in the open air,
+with nothing but some charcoal, a few sticks of thin dry wood,
+and a lucifer; hence its value at picnics, where it is considered
+indispensable. In the woods of Sakolniki, in the gardens of Marina
+Roschia, and in the grounds adjoining the Petrovski Palace, all close
+to Moscow, large supplies of samovars are kept at the tea-houses, and
+each visitor, or party of visitors, is supplied with one. Indeed,
+the quantity of tea consumed at these suburban retreats in the
+spring and summer is prodigious. In Russia there is no interval
+between winter and spring. As soon as the frost breaks up the grass
+sprouts, the trees blossom, and all nature is alive. In that country
+of extremes there is sometimes as much difference between April and
+May as there is in England between January and June. The summer is
+celebrated by various promenades to the country, which take place
+at Easter, on the first of May, Ascension Day, Trinity Sunday,
+and other occasions. The great majority of these promenades are of
+a festive nature, but some, like that which is made on the 19th of
+May to the monastery and cemetery of the Don, have a penitential, or,
+at least, a mournful character. The samovar, however, is present even
+in the churchyard. I never joined in one of the funeral pilgrimages
+to the Donskoi convent; but in other cemeteries outside Moscow and
+St. Petersburg (intramural burial not being tolerated), I noticed
+that the custodians kept in their lodges a supply of samovars for the
+benefit of visitors. And, after all, what can be more appropriate
+than an urn in a cemetery?
+
+Between St. Petersburg and Kovno or Tauroggen, there are upwards of
+fifty "stations," at each of which tea can be procured. Travellers
+whose route does not lie along the government post-roads, take
+samovars with them in their carnages; and small samovars that can
+be packed into the narrowest compass are made for the use of officers
+starting on a campaign, and other persons likely to find themselves
+in places where it may be difficult to procure hot water. Small
+tea-caddies are also manufactured with a similar object. Each caddy
+contains one or more glasses; for men among themselves usually drink
+their tea, not out of tea-cups, but out of tumblers. Not many years
+since it was the fashion to give cups to women and tumblers to
+men in the evening; but the tumbler is gradually being banished,
+at least from the drawing-room.
+
+The Russians never take milk in their tea; they take either cream,
+or a slice of lemon or preserved fruit, or simply sugar without
+the addition of anything else. They hold that milk spoils tea,
+and they are right. Tea with lemon or preserves (forming a kind
+of tea-punch, well worthy the attention of tea-totallers), is only
+taken in the evening. Sometimes the men add rum.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW RUSSIA AMUSES ITSELF_
+
+_FRED WHISHAW_
+
+If I were asked to state what a Russian schoolboy does with his
+spare time after working hours are over, I should be much puzzled
+what to say.
+
+Unfortunately young Russia has not the faintest glimmering of knowledge
+of the practice or even of the existence of such things as football,
+cricket, fives, rackets, golf, athletic sports, hockey, or any other
+of the numerous pastimes which play so important a part in the
+life of every schoolboy in this merry land of England. Therefore
+there is no question, for him, of staying behind at the school
+premises after working hours, in order to take part in any game.
+He goes home; that much is certain; most of his time is loafed
+away--that, too, is beyond question. He may skate a little, perhaps,
+in the winter, if he happens to live near a skating ground, but
+he will not go far for it; and in the summer, which is holiday
+time for him, from June to September, he walks up and down the
+village street clothed in white calico garments, or plays cup and
+ball in the garden; fishes a little, perhaps, in the river or pond
+if there happen to be one, and lazies his time away without exertion.
+Of late years "lorteneece," as lawn-tennis is called in the Tsar's
+country has been slightly attempted; but it is not really liked:
+too many balls are lost and the rules of the game have never yet
+been thoroughly grasped. A quartette of men will occasionally rig
+up their net, which they raise to about the height of a foot and
+a half, and play a species of battledore and shuttlecock over it
+until the balls disappear; but it is scarcely tennis. As a matter
+of fact, a Russian generally rushes at the ball and misses it; on
+the rare occasions when he strikes the object, he does so with
+so much energy that the ball unless stopped by the adversary's
+eye, or his partner's, disappears forever into "the blue."
+
+Croquet is a mild favourite, too; but it is played very languidly
+and unscientifically.
+
+Most gardens in Russian country houses contain a swing, a rotting
+horizontal bar for the gymnastically (and suicidally) inclined, and
+a giant stride. Occasionally there is a flower-bed in the centre,
+in which our dear old British friend the rhubarb, monopolizes the
+space, and makes a good show as an ornamental plant; for he is
+not known in that benighted country as a comestible, though, of
+course, children are acquainted with and hate him in his medicinal
+capacity. Besides the swings and the rhubarb, there are sand or gravel
+paths; and built out over the dusty road is an open summer-house,
+wherein the Muscovitish householder and his ladies love to sit
+and sip their tea for the greater part of each day--this being
+their acme of happiness. The dust may lie half-an-inch thick over
+the surface of their tea and bread and butter, but this does not
+detract from the delights of the fascinating occupation.
+
+I should point out that in all I have said above, I refer not so
+much to the highest or to the lowest classes of Russian society,
+as to that middle stratum to which belong the families of the
+_Chinovnik_, of the infantry officer, or the well-to-do merchant.
+The aristocracy amuse themselves very much in the same way as our
+own. They shoot, they loaf and play cards in their clubs, they
+butcher pigeons out of traps, they have their race-meetings, they
+dance much and well; some have yachts of their own. Many of them
+keep English grooms, and their English--when they speak it--for
+this reason smacks somewhat of the stable, though they are not
+usually aware that this is the case. If a Russian autocrat has
+succeeded in making himself look like an Englishman, and behaves
+like one, he is happy.
+
+Of winter sports--in which, however, but a small minority of the
+Russian youth care to take part--there are skating, ice-yatching,
+snow-shoeing, and ice-hilling. The skating ought, naturally, to be
+very good in Russia. As a matter of fact the ice is generally dead
+and lacking in that elasticity and spring which is characteristic
+of our English ice. It is too thick for elasticity, though the
+surface is beautifully kept and scientifically treated with a view
+to skating wherever a space is flooded or an acre or two of the
+Neva's broad bosom is reclaimed to make a skating-ground. Some
+of the Russian amateurs skate marvellously, as also do many of
+the English and other foreign residents. Ice-yachting is confined
+almost entirely to these latter, the natives not having as yet
+awakened to the merits of this fine pastime. Ice-hilling, however,
+at fair-time--that is, during the carnival week, preceding the
+"long fast" or Lent--is much practised by the people. This is a
+kind of cross between the switchback and tobogganing, and is an
+exceedingly popular amusement among the English residents of St.
+Petersburg.
+
+Snow-shoeing, again, is a fine and healthful recreation; it is
+the "ski"-running of Norway, and is beloved and much practised by
+all Englishmen who are fortunate enough to be introduced to its
+fascinations. It is too difficult and requires too much exertion,
+however, for young Russia, and that indolent individual, in consequence,
+rarely dons the snow-shoe.
+
+The Russians are a theatre-loving people, and the acting must be
+very good to please their critical taste. Many of their theatres
+are "imperial," that is, the state "pays the piper" if the receipts
+of the theatre so protected do not balance the expenditure. In
+paying for good artists, whether operatic or dramatic, the Russians
+are most lavish, and the Imperial Italian Opera must have been a
+source of considerable expense to the authorities in the days of
+its state endowment.
+
+Nearly every Russian is a natural musician, and cannot only sing in
+tune, but can take a part "by ear." The man with the _balaleika_,
+or _garmonka_, is always sure of an admiring audience, whether in
+town or village; and there is not a tiny hamlet in the empire but
+resolves itself, on holidays, into a pair of choral societies--one
+for male and one for female voices--which either parade up and down
+the village street, singing, without, of course, either conductor
+or accompaniment, or sit in rows upon the benches outside the huts,
+occupied in a similar manner.
+
+Occasionally, but very rarely, you may see a party of Russian children,
+or young men and women, playing, in the open air, at one of two
+games. The first is a variant of "prisoner's base"; the other is a
+species of ninepins, or skittles, played with a group of uprights
+at which short, thick clubs are thrown. The Russian youth--those
+who are energetic enough to practise the game--sometimes attain
+considerable proficiency with these grim little weapons, and make
+wonderful shots at a distance of some thirty yards or so.
+
+As for the middle-class Russian sportsman, he forms a class by
+himself, and is a very original person indeed, unless taught the
+delights of the chase by an Englishman. In his eyes the be-all and
+end-all of a true sportsman is to purchase the orthodox equipment
+of a green-trimmed coat, Tyrolese hat, and long boots, and to pay
+his subscription to a shooting club. He rarely discharges a gun;
+the rascally thing kicks, he finds; and the birds _will_ fly before
+he can point his weapon at them as they crouch in the heather at
+his feet; of course he is not such a fool as to fire after they
+are up and away. As a rule, however, he goes no farther afield
+than the card-table of the club-house. Why should he? He has bought
+all the clothes; and what more does a man need to be a sportsman?
+I cannot honestly affirm that I ever saw one of these good fellows
+actually fire off a gun; for whenever I have been informed that
+such an event is about to take place, I have always done my best
+to put two or three good miles, or a village or two, between myself
+and the Muscovitish "sportsman."
+
+
+
+
+_THE KIRGHIZ AND THEIR HORSES_
+
+_FRED BURNABY_
+
+The aspect of the country now underwent an entire change. We had
+left all traces of civilization behind us, and were regularly upon
+the Steppes. Not the Steppes as they are described to us in the
+summer months, when hundreds of nomad tribes, like their forefathers
+of old, migrate from place to place, with their families, flocks,
+and herds, and relieve the dreary aspect of this vast flat expanse
+with their picturesque _kibitkas_, or tents, while hundreds of
+horses, grazing on the rich grass, are a source of considerable
+wealth to the Kirghiz proprietors.
+
+A large dining-table covered with naught but its white cloth is not
+a cheery sight. To describe the country for the next one hundred
+miles from Orsk, I need only extend the table-cover. For here,
+there, and everywhere was a dazzling, glaring sheet of white, as
+seen under the influence of a mid-day sun; then gradually softening
+down as the god of light sunk into the west, it faded into a vast,
+melancholy-looking, colourless ocean. This was shrouded in some
+places from the view by filmy clouds of mist and vapour, which
+rose in the evening air and shaded the wilderness around--a picture
+of desolation which wearied, by its utter loneliness, and at the
+same time appalled by its immensity; a circle of which the centre
+was everywhere, and the circumference nowhere. Such were the Steppes
+as I drove through them at night-fall or in the early morn; and
+where, fatigued by want of sleep, my eye searched eagerly, but
+in vain, for a station.
+
+On arriving at the halting-place, which was about twenty-seven
+versts from Orsk, Nazar came to me, and said, "I am very sleepy; I
+have not slept for three nights, and shall fall off if we continue
+the journey."
+
+When I began to think of it, the poor fellow had a good deal of
+reason on his side. I could occasionally obtain a few moments'
+broken slumber, which was out of the question for him. I felt rather
+ashamed that in my selfishness I had over-driven a willing horse,
+and the fellow had shown first-class pluck when we had to pass
+the night out on the roadside; so, saying that he ought to have
+told me before that he wanted rest, I sent him to lie down, when,
+stretching his limbs alongside the stove, in an instant he was
+fast asleep.
+
+The inspector was a good-tempered, fat old fellow, with red cheeks
+and an asthmatic cough. He had been a veterinary surgeon in a Cossack
+regiment, and consequently his services were much in request with
+the people at Orsk. He informed me that land could be bought on
+these flats for a rouble and a half a _desyatin_ (2,700 acres);
+that a cow cost �3 2s. 6d.; a fat sheep, two years old, 12s. 6d.;
+and mutton or beef, a penny per pound. A capital horse could be
+purchased for three sovereigns, a camel for �7 10s., while flour
+cost 1s. 4d. the pood of forty pounds. These were the prices at Orsk,
+but at times he said that provisions could be bought at a much lower
+rate, particularly if purchased from the Tartars themselves. The
+latter had suffered a great deal of late years from the cattle-pest,
+and vaccinating the animals had been tried as an experiment, but,
+according to my informant, with but slight success.
+
+The Kirghiz themselves have but little faith in doctors or vets.
+It is with great difficulty that the nomads can be persuaded to
+have their children vaccinated; the result is, that when small-pox
+breaks out among them it creates fearful havoc in the population.
+Putting this epidemic out of the question, the roving Tartars are
+a peculiarly healthy race. The absence of medical men does not seem
+to have affected their longevity, the disease they most suffer
+from being ophthalmia, which is brought on by the glare of the snow
+in the winter, and by the dust and heat in the summer months.
+
+The country now began to change its snowy aspect, and party-coloured
+grasses of various hues dotted the Steppes around. The Kirghiz had
+taken advantage of the more benignant weather, and hundreds of
+horses were here and there to be seen picking up what they could
+find. In fact, it is extraordinary how any of these animals manage
+to exist through the winter months, as the nomads hardly ever feed
+them with corn, trusting to the slight vegetation which exists
+beneath the snow. Occasionally the poor beasts perish by thousands,
+and a Tartar who is a rich man one week may find himself a beggar the
+next. This comes from the frequent snow-storms, when the thermometer
+sometimes descends to from forty to fifty degrees below zero,
+Fahrenheit; but more often from some slight thaw taking place for
+perhaps a few hours. This is sufficient to ruin whole districts,
+for the ground becomes covered with an impenetrable coating of
+ice, and the horses simply die of starvation, not being able to
+kick away the frozen substance as they do the snow from the grass
+beneath their hoofs. No horses which I have ever seen are so hardy
+as these little animals, which are indigenous to the Kirghiz Steppes;
+perhaps for the same reason that the Spartans of old excelled all
+other nations in physical strength, but with this difference, that
+nature doles out to the weakly colts the same fate which the Spartan
+parents apportioned to their sickly offspring.
+
+The Kirghiz never clothe their horses, even in the coldest winter.
+They do not even take the trouble to water them, the snow eaten
+by the animals supplying this want. Towards the end of the winter
+months the ribs of the poor beasts almost come through their sides;
+but once the snow disappears and the rich vegetation which replaces
+it in the early spring comes up, the animals gain flesh and strength,
+and are capable of performing marches which many people in this
+country would deem impossible, a hundred-mile ride not being at all
+an uncommon occurrence in Tartary. Kirghiz horses are not generally
+well shaped, and cannot gallop very fast, but they can traverse
+enormous distances without water, forage, or halting. When the
+natives wish to perform any very long journey they generally employ
+two horses: on one they carry a little water in a skin, and some
+corn, while they ride the other, changing from time to time, to
+ease the animals.
+
+It is said that a Kirghiz chief once galloped with a Cossack escort
+(on two horses) 200 miles in twenty-four hours, the path extending
+for a considerable distance over a mountainous and rocky district.
+The animals, however, soon recovered from the effects of the journey,
+although they were a little lame for the first few days.
+
+An extraordinary march was made by Count Borkh to the Sam, in May,
+1870. The object of his expedition was to explore the routes across
+the Ust Urt, and if possible to capture some Kirghiz _a�ls_ (villages),
+which were the headquarters of some marauding bands from the town
+of Kungrad. The Russian officer determined to cross the northern
+Tchink, and by a forced march to surprise the tribes which nomadized
+on the Sam. Up to that time only small Cossack detachments had
+ever succeeded in penetrating to this locality. To explain the
+difficulties to be overcome, it must be observed that the Ust Urt
+plateau is bounded on all sides by a scarped cliff, known by the
+name of the Tchink. It is very steep, attaining in some places an
+elevation of from 400 to 600 feet, and the tracks down its rugged
+sides are blocked up by enormous rocks and loose stones. Count Borkh
+resolved to march as lightly equipped as possible, and without
+baggage, as he wished to avoid meeting any parties of the nomad tribes
+on his road. His men carried three days' rations on their saddles,
+while the artillery took only as many rounds as the limber-box
+would contain. The expedition was made up of 150 Orenburg Cossacks,
+sixty mounted riflemen, and a gun, which was taken more by way of
+experiment than for any other reason, the authorities being anxious
+to know if artillery could be transported in that direction.
+
+The detachment reached Ak-Tiube in six days without _contretemps_,
+after a march of 333 miles, and with the loss of only two lame
+horses.
+
+
+
+
+_WINTER IN MOSCOW_
+
+_H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS_
+
+Russia in the summer is no more like Russia in the winter than a
+camp in time of peace is like a camp in the presence of the enemy.
+Moreover, snow is one of the chief natural productions of the country;
+and without it Russia is as uninteresting as an orchard without fruit.
+One always thinks of Russia in connection with its frosts, and of
+its frosts in connection with such great events as the campaign of
+1812, or the winter of 1854 in the Crimea. Accordingly, a foreigner
+in Russia naturally looks forward to the winter with much interest,
+mingled perhaps with a certain amount of awe. He waits for it,
+in fact, as a man waits for a thief, expecting the visitor with
+a certain kind of apprehension, and not without a due provision
+of life-preservers in the shape of goloshes, seven-leagued boots,
+scarves, fur coats, etc.
+
+The house I lived in was in the middle of Moscow; and with the
+exception of the stoves, the internal arrangement seemed like that
+of most other dwellings in Europe. The Russian stoves, however, are,
+in fact, thick hollow party-walls, built of brick, and sometimes
+separating, or connecting, as many as three or four rooms, and
+heating them all from one common centre. The outer sides of these
+lofty intramural furnaces are usually faced with a kind of white
+porcelain, though in some houses they are papered like the rest
+of the wall, so that the presence of the stove is only known in
+summer by two or three apertures like port-holes, which have been
+made for the purpose of admitting the hot air, and which, when
+there is no heat within, are closed with round metal covers like
+the tops of canisters. Sometimes, especially in country houses,
+the stove, or _peitchka_ as it is called, is not only a wall, but
+a wall which, towards the bottom, projects so as to form a kind
+of dresser or sofa, and which the lazier of the inmates use not
+infrequently in the latter capacity. In the huts the _peitchka_
+is almost invariably of this form; and the peasants not only lie
+and sleep upon it as a matter of course, but even get inside and
+use it as a bath. Not that they fill their stoves with water--that
+would be rather difficult. But the Russian bath is merely a room
+paved with stone slabs and heated like an oven, in which the bather
+stands to be rubbed and lathered, and to have buckets of water poured
+over him, or thrown at him, by naked attendants; and accordingly a
+stove makes an excellent bath on a small scale. As a general rule,
+every row of huts has one or more baths attached to it, which the
+inhabitants support by subscription; but when this is not the case,
+the peasant, after carefully raking out the ashes, creeps into
+the hot _peitchka_, and is soon bathed in his own perspiration.
+He would infallibly be baked alive but for the pailfuls of water
+with which he soon begins to cool his heated skin. Thanks, however,
+to this precaution, he issues from the fiery furnace uninjured,
+and, it is to be hoped, benefited.
+
+[Illustration: THE RED SQUARE, MOSCOW.]
+
+When a stove is being heated, the port-holes are kept carefully
+shut, to prevent the egress of carbonic-acid gas. But after the
+wood has become thoroughly charred, and every vestige of flame
+has disappeared, the chimney is closed on a level with the garret
+floor, the covers are removed from the apertures in the side of
+the stove, and the hot air is allowed to penetrate freely into
+the room; which, if enough wood has been put into the _peitchka_,
+and the lid of the chimney closes hermetically, will, by this one
+fire, be kept warm for twelve or fourteen hours.
+
+Occasionally it happens that the port-holes are opened while there
+still flickers a little blue flame above the whitening embers.
+In this case there is death in the stove. The carbonic-acid gas,
+which is still proceeding from the burning charcoal, enters the
+room, and produces asphyxia, or at all events some of its symptoms.
+If you have not time, or if you are already too weak, to open the
+door when you find yourself attacked by _ougar_ (as the Russians
+call this gas), you had better throw the first thing you have at
+hand through the window; and the cold air, rushing rapidly into the
+room, will save you. A foreigner unaccustomed to the hot apartments
+of Russia will scarcely perceive the presence of _ougar_ until he
+is already seriously affected by it; and in this manner the son
+of the Persian ambassador lost his life, some years since, in one
+of the principal hotels of Moscow. A native, however, if the stove
+should chance to be "covered" before the wood is thoroughly charred,
+will detect the presence of the fatal gas almost instantaneously;
+and having done so, the best remedy he can adopt for the headache
+and sickness, which even then will inevitably follow, is to rush
+into the open air, and cool his temples by copious applications of
+snow. Persons who are almost insensible from the effect of _ougar_
+have to be carried out and rolled in the snow,--a process which
+speedily restores them to their natural condition.
+
+One morning there was a fall of snow; and the cream was brought
+in from the country in jars wrapped carefully round with matting
+to prevent its freezing. Hundreds of cabbages and thousands of
+potatoes, similarly protected, were purchased and stowed away.
+Furlongs of wood (in Russia wood is sold by the foot), were laid
+up in the courtyard; an inspector of stoves arrived to see that
+every _peitchka_ was in proper working order; and an examiner and
+fitter-in of windows was summoned to adjust the usual extra sash.
+At last the windows had been made fast, each pane being at the
+same time reputtied into its frame. On the window-sill, in the
+space between the outer and inner panes, was something resembling
+a long deep line of snow, which was, however, merely a mass of
+cotton-wool placed there as an additional protection against the
+external air. Indeed, the winds of the Russian winter have such
+powers of penetration that, in a room guarded by _triple_ windows,
+besides shutters closed with the greatest exactness, I have seen
+the curtains slightly agitated when the howling outside was somewhat
+louder than usual. "The wind," says Gregorovitch in his _Winter's
+Tale_, "howls like a dog; and like a dog will bite the feet and calves
+of those who have not duly provided themselves with fur-goloshes
+and doubly-thick pantaloons." Such a wind must not be suffered to
+intrude into any house intended to be habitable.
+
+Besides the cotton-wool, which is a special provision against draughts,
+the space between the two sashes is usually adorned with artificial
+flowers; indeed, the fondness of the Russians for flowers and green
+leaves during the winter is remarkable. The corridors are converted
+into greenhouses, by means of trellis-work covered with creepers. The
+windows of many of the apartments are encircled by evergreens, and
+in the drawing-rooms, flower-stands form the principal ornaments. At
+the same time enormous sums are paid for bouquets from the hot-houses
+which abound in both the capitals. Doubtless the long winters have
+some share in the production of this passion for flowers and green
+plants, just as love of country is increased by exile, and love
+of liberty by imprisonment.
+
+There are generally at least two heavy snow-storms by way of warning
+before winter fairly commences its reign. The first fall of snow
+thaws perhaps a few days afterwards, the second in about a week,
+the third in five months. If a lady drops her bracelet or brooch
+in the street during the period of this third fall, she need not
+trouble herself to put out handbills offering a reward for its
+discovery, at all events not before the spring; for it will be
+preserved in its hiding-place, as well as ice can preserve it,
+until about the middle of April, when, if the amount of the reward
+be greater than the value of the article lost, it will in all
+probability be restored to her. The Russians put on their furs at
+the first signs of winter, and the sledges make their appearance
+in the streets as soon as the snow is an inch or two thick. Of
+course at such a time a sledge is far from possessing any advantage
+over a carriage on wheels; but the Russians welcome their appearance
+with so much enthusiasm, that the first sledge-drivers are sure
+of excellent receipts for several days. The _droshkies_ disappear
+one by one with the black mud of autumn; and by the time the gilt
+cupolas of the churches, and the red and green roofs of the houses,
+have been made whiter than their own walls, the city swarms with
+sledges. It is not, however, until near Christmas, when the "frost
+of St. Nicholas" sets in, that they are seen in all their glory.
+The earlier frosts of October and November mayor may not be attended
+to without any very dangerous results ensuing; but when the frigid
+St. Nicholas makes his appearance,--staying the most rapid currents,
+forming bridges over the broadest rivers, and converting seas into
+deserts of ice,--then a blast from his breath, if not properly
+guarded against, may prove fatal.
+
+It has been said that it is not until the _Nik�lskoi Maros_, or
+Frost of St. Nicholas, that the sledges fly through the streets in
+all their glory. By that time the rich "boyars"[1] (as foreigners
+persist in styling the Russian proprietors of the present day),
+have arrived from their estates, and the poor peasants, who have
+long ceased to till the ground, and have not thrashed all the corn,
+begin to come in from theirs; for, humble and dependent as he may
+be, each peasant has nevertheless his own patch of land. For the
+former are the elegant sledges of polished nut-wood, with rugs
+of soft, thick fur to protect the legs of the occupants; whose
+drivers, in their green caftans fastened round the waist with red
+sashes, and in their square thickly-wadded caps of crimson velvet,
+like sofa-cushions, urge on the prodigiously fast trotting horses,
+at the same time throwing themselves back in their seats with
+outstretched arms and tightened reins, as though the animals were
+madly endeavouring to escape from their control. The latter bring
+with them certain strongly-made wooden boxes, with a seat at the
+back for two passengers and a perch in front for a driver. These
+boxes are put upon rails, and called sledges. The bottom of each
+box (or sledge), is plentifully strewn with hay, which after a
+few days becomes converted, by means of snow and dirty goloshes,
+into something very like manure. The driver is immediately in front
+of you, with his brass badge hanging on his back like the label
+on a box of sardines. He wears a sheepskin; but it is notorious
+that after ten years' wear the sheepskin loses its odour, besides
+which it is winter, so that your sense of smell has really nothing
+to fear. The one thing necessary is to keep your legs to yourself,
+or at all events not to obtrude them beneath the perch of the driver,
+or you will run the chance of having your foot crushed by that
+gentleman's heel. Sometimes the horse is fresh from the plough,
+and requires a most vigorous application of the driver's thong
+to induce him to quit his accustomed pace; but for the most part
+the animals are willing enough, and as rapid as their masters are
+skilful. The driver is generally much attached to his horse, whom
+he affectionately styles his "dove" or his "pigeon," assuring him
+that although the ground is covered with snow, there is still grass
+in the stable for his _galo�pchik_--as the favourite bird is called,
+etc., etc.
+
+[Footnote 1: It would be equally correct to speak of the English
+nobility of the present day as "the barons."]
+
+As for the real pigeons and doves, they are to be found everywhere,--on
+the belfries of the churches, in the courtyards of the houses, in
+the streets blocking up the pavement, and above all, beneath the
+projecting edges of the roofs, where you may see them clustering
+in long deep lines like black cornices.
+
+At home we associate snow with darkness and gloom; but, when once
+the snow has fallen, the sky of Moscow is as bright and as blue as
+that of Italy; the atmosphere is clear and pure; the sun shines for
+several hours in the day with a brightness from which the reflection
+of the snow becomes perfectly dazzling; and if the frost be intense,
+there is not a breath of wind. The breath that really does attract
+your notice is that of the pedestrians, who appear to be blowing
+forth columns of smoke or steam into the rarefied atmosphere, and
+who look like so many walking chimneys or human locomotives. And
+if breath looks like smoke, smoke itself looks almost solid. Rise
+early, when the fires are being lighted which are to heat the stoves
+through the entire day, and if the thermometer outside your window
+marks more than 15�, you will see the grey columns rising heavily into
+the air, until at a certain height the smoke remains stationary, and
+hangs in clouds above the houses. Looking from some great elevation,
+such as the tower of Ivan Veliki in the Kremlin, you see these
+clouds beneath you, agitated like waves, and forming a kind of
+nebulous sea, which is, however, soon taken up by the surrounding
+atmosphere.
+
+It is astonishing how much cold one can support when the sky is
+bright and the sun shining; certainly ten or fifteen degrees more
+by R�aumur's thermometer, than when the day is dark and gloomy.
+And the effect is the same on all. On one of these fine frosty
+days there is unwonted cheerfulness in the look, unwonted energy
+in the movements of everyone you meet. If there were the slightest
+wind with so keen a temperature, you would feel, every time it grazed
+your face, as if you were being shaved with a blunt razor,--for to
+be cut with a sharp one is comparatively nothing. But the air is
+calm; and as the day exhilarates you generally, it makes you walk
+more briskly than you are in the habit of doing in your _shouba_
+of cloth, wadding, and fur; and the result is, you are so warm and
+so surrounded by sunshine, that, but for seeing the cold, you might
+fancy yourself on the shores of the Mediterranean instead of on the
+banks of the Moskva, which is now a long, shiny, serpent-like path
+of ice. In London, on a damp, foggy, sunless winter's day, when
+the thermometer is not quite down to freezing-point, the system
+is so depressed by the atmosphere and the cheerless aspect of the
+streets, that you feel the cold more acutely than you would do on
+a sunshiny morning in Moscow with ten degrees of frost. In St.
+Petersburg, where the winter sun is, "as in northern climes, but
+dimly bright," and where the city is frequently enveloped in a
+mist (which is, however, ethereal vapour compared to the opaque
+fogs of London), the cold is, on the same principle, more severely
+felt than in Moscow. Nevertheless, in St. Petersburg people go
+about far more lightly clad than in the more southern towns of
+the empire,--for St. Petersburg is half a foreign city, and the
+numerous pedestrians have found it necessary to reject the ponderous
+_shouba_ for a long wadded paletot with a fur-collar. The real
+Russian _shouba_ is undoubtedly very warm; for it enables the Moscow
+merchant to go upon 'Change, which in the old capital, during the
+coldest weather, is held in the open air.
+
+In considering the advantages and disadvantages of a Russian winter,
+one should not forget the question of rain. It is evident, then,
+that where there is frost there can be no rain; and accordingly,
+for nearly six months in the year, you can dispense altogether
+with that most unpleasant encumbrance, the umbrella. For it must
+be remembered that in Russia the snow does not fall in the soft
+feathery flakes to which we are accustomed in the more temperate
+latitudes. It comes down in showers of microscopic darts, which,
+instead of intercepting the light of the sun, like the arrows of
+Xerxes' army, glitter and sparkle in the rays as they reflect them
+in every direction. The minute crystals, or rather crystalline
+fragments, can be at once shaken from the collars of fur, on the
+points of which they hang like needles, but above all like Epsom
+salts; and on the cloth of the men's _shoubas_ and the satin of
+the women's cloaks they have scarcely any hold.
+
+The most pleasant time of the whole winter is during the moonlight
+nights, when the wind is still and the snow deep on the ground.
+In the streets the sparkling _trottoir_, which appears literally
+paved with diamonds, is as hard as the agate floor of the Cathedral
+of the Annunciation in the Kremlin. In the country, where alone you
+can enjoy the night in all its beauty, the frozen surface crunches,
+but scarcely sinks, beneath the sledge, as your _troika_ tears
+along the road as fast as the centre horse can trot and the two
+outsiders gallop. For it is a peculiarity of the _troika_ that
+the three horses that constitute it are harnessed abreast; and
+that while the one in the shafts, whose head is upheld by a bow,
+with a little bell suspended from the top, is trained to trot,
+and never to leave that pace, however fast he may be driven, the
+two who are harnessed outside must gallop, even if they gallop
+but six miles an hour; though it is far more likely that they will
+be called upon to do twelve. Lastly, the _troika_ must present a
+fan-like front; to produce which the driver tightens the outside
+reins till the heads of the outriggers stand out at an angle of
+forty or fifty degrees from that of the horse in the shafts. At
+the same time the centre horse trots with his head high in the
+air, while the two who have their existences devoted to galloping
+have their noses depressed towards the ground, like bulls running
+at a dog.
+
+There may be enough moonlight to read by when the moon itself is
+obscured by clouds. But if it shines directly on the white ermine-like
+snow, which covers the vast plains like an interminable carpet, the
+atmosphere becomes full of light, and the night in its brightness,
+its solitude, and its silence, broken only by the bells of some
+distant team, reminds you of the calmness of an unusually quiet
+and beautiful day. As you turn away from the main road towards
+the woods, you pass groups of tall slender birch-trees, with their
+white silvery bark, and their delicate thread-like fibres hanging
+in frozen showers from the ends of the branches, and clothing the
+birch with a kind of icy foliage, while the other trees remain
+bare and ragged. The birch is eminently a winter tree, and its
+tresses of fibres, whether petrified and covered with crystal by
+the frost, or waving freely in the breeze which has stripped them
+of their snow, are equally ornamental. The ground is strewed with
+the shadows of the trees, traced with exquisite fineness on the
+white snow, from which these lunar photographs stand forth with
+wonderful distinctness. To drive out with an indefinite number of
+_troikas_ to some village in the environs, or to the first station
+on one of the Government roads, is a common mode of spending a
+fine winter's night, and one which is equally popular in Moscow
+and St. Petersburg. These excursions, which always partake more
+or less of the nature of a picnic, form one of the chief pleasures
+of the cold season. Of course such expeditions also take place
+during the day, but, whatever the hour of the departure, if there
+happen to be a moon that night, the return is sure not to take
+place before it has made its appearance.
+
+
+
+
+_A JOURNEY BY SLEIGH_
+
+_FRED BURNABY_
+
+"Bring out another sleigh," said my friend. "How the wind cuts!
+does it not?" he continued, as the breeze, whistling against our
+bodies, made itself felt in spite of all the precautions we had
+taken. The vehicle now brought was broader and more commodious than
+the previous one, which, somewhat in the shape of a coffin, seemed
+especially designed so as to torture the occupants, particularly if,
+like my companion and self, they should happen to be endowed by
+nature with that curse during a sleigh journey--however desirable
+appendages they may be when in a crowd--long legs. Three horses
+abreast, their coats white with pendent icicles and hoar-frost,
+were harnessed to the sleigh; the centre animal was in the shafts
+and had his head fastened to a huge wooden head-collar, bright with
+various colors. From the summit of the head-collar was suspended
+a bell, while the two outside horses were harnessed by cord traces
+to splinter-bars attached to the sides of the sleigh. The object
+of all this is to make the animal in the middle trot at a brisk
+pace, while his two companions gallop, their necks arched round in
+a direction opposite to the horse in the centre, this poor beast's
+head being tightly reined up to the head-collar.
+
+A well-turned-out _troika_ with three really good horses, which get
+over the ground at the rate of twelve miles an hour, is a pretty
+sight to witness, particularly if the team has been properly trained,
+and the outside animals never attempt to break into a trot, while
+the one in the shafts steps forward with high action; but the
+constrained position in which the horses are kept must be highly
+uncomfortable to them, and one not calculated to enable a driver
+to get as much pace out of his animals as they could give him if
+harnessed in another manner.
+
+Off we went at a brisk pace, the bell dangling from our horse's
+head-collar, and jingling merrily at every stride of the team.
+
+The sun rose high in the heavens: it was a bright and glorious
+morning in spite of the intense cold, and the amount of oxygen we
+inhaled was enough to elevate the spirits of the most dyspeptic of
+mankind. Presently, after descending a slight declivity, our Jehu
+turned sharply to the right; then came a scramble and a succession of
+jolts and jerks as we slid down a steep bank, and we found ourselves
+on what appeared to be a broad high-road. Here the sight of many
+masts and shipping which, bound in by the fetters of a relentless
+winter, would remain imbedded in the ice till the ensuing spring,
+showed me that we were on the Volga. It was an animated spectacle,
+this frozen highway, thronged with peasants who strode beside their
+sledges, which were bringing cotton and other goods from Orenburg
+to the railway. Now a smart _troika_ would dash by us, its driver
+shouting as he passed, when our Jehu, stimulating his steeds by
+loud cries and frequent applications of the whip, would vainly
+strive to overtake his brother coachman. Old and young alike seemed
+like octogenarians, their short thick beards and mustaches being
+white as hoar-frost from the congealed breath. According to all
+accounts the river had not been long frozen, and till very recently
+steamers laden with corn from Southern Russia had plied between
+Sizeran and Samara. The price of corn is here forty copecks the
+pood of forty pounds, while the same quantity at Samara could be
+purchased for eighteen copecks. An iron bridge was being constructed
+a little farther down the Volga. Here the railroad was to pass,
+and it was said that in two years' time there would be railway
+communication, not only between Samara and the capital, but even
+as far as Orenburg.
+
+Presently the scenery became very picturesque as we raced over the
+glistening surface, which flashed like a burnished cuirass beneath
+the rays of the rising sun. Now we approach a spot where seemingly
+the waters from some violent blast or other had been in a state
+of foam and commotion, when a stern frost transformed them into a
+solid mass. Pillars and blocks of the shining and hardened element
+were seen modelled into a thousand quaint and grotesque patterns.
+Here a fountain, perfectly formed with Ionic and Doric columns,
+was reflecting a thousand prismatic hues from the diamond-like
+stalactites which had attached themselves to its crest. There a
+huge obelisk, which, if of stone, might have come from ancient
+Thebes, lay half buried beneath a pile of fleecy snow. Farther
+on we came to what might have been a Roman temple or vast hall in
+the palace of a C�sar, where many half-hidden pillars and monuments
+erected their tapering summits above the piles of the _d�bris_. The
+wind had done in that northern latitude what has been performed
+by some violent pre-adamite agency in the Berber desert. Take away
+the ebon blackness of the stony masses which have been there cast
+forth from the bowels of the earth, and replace them on a smaller
+scale by the crystal forms I have faintly attempted to describe,
+and the resemblance would be striking.
+
+Now we came to some fishing-huts, which were constructed on the
+frozen river, the traffic in the finny tribe which takes place in
+this part of Russia being very great, the Volga producing the sterlet
+(a fish unknown in other rivers of Europe), in large quantities. I
+have often eaten them, but must say I could never appreciate this
+so-called delicacy. The bones are of a very glutinous nature, and
+can be easily masticated, while the taste of a sterlet is something
+between that of a barbel and a perch, the muddy flavour of the
+former predominating. However, they are an expensive luxury, as,
+to be perfection for the table, they should be taken out of the
+water alive and put at once into the cooking-pot. The distance to
+St. Petersburg from the Volga is considerable, and a good-sized
+fish will often cost from thirty to forty roubles, and sometimes
+even a great deal more.
+
+We were now gradually nearing our first halting-place, where it
+was arranged that we should change horses. This was a farm-house
+known by the name of Nijnege Pegersky Hootor, twenty-five versts
+distant from Sizeran. Some men were engaged in winnowing corn in a
+yard hard by the dwelling; and the system they employed to separate
+the husks from the grain probably dates from before the flood,
+for, throwing the corn high up into the air with a shovel, they
+let the wind blow away the husks, and the grain descended on to a
+carpet set to catch it in the fall. It was then considered to be
+sufficiently winnowed, and fit to be sent to the mill. The farm-house
+was fairly clean, and, for a wonder, there were no live animals
+inside the dwelling. It is no uncommon thing in farm-houses in
+Russia to find a calf domesticated in the sitting-room of the family,
+and this more particularly during the winter months. But here the
+good housewife permitted no such intruders, and the boards were
+clean and white, thus showing that a certain amount of scrubbing
+was the custom.
+
+The habitation, which was of a square shape, and entirely made of
+wood, contained two good-sized but low rooms, a large stove made
+of dried clay being so arranged as to warm both the apartments.
+A heavy wooden door on the outside of the building gave access to
+a small portico, at the other end of which there was the customary
+_obraz_, or image, which is to be found in almost every house in
+Russia. These _obrazye_ are made of different patterns, but generally
+take the form of a picture of saints or of the Trinity. They are
+executed in silver-gilt or brass relief, and adorned with tawdry
+fringe or other gewgaws. The repeated bows and crosses made by the
+peasantry before these idols is very surprising to an Englishman,
+who may have been told that there is little difference between the
+Greek religion and his own; but if this is the case, the sooner
+the second commandment is omitted from our service, the better.
+It may be said that the Russian peasantry only look upon these
+images as symbols, and that in reality they are praying to the
+living God. Let any one who indulges in this delusion travel in
+Russia and talk to the inhabitants with reference to the _obrazye_,
+or go to Kief at the time of a pilgrimage to the mummified saints
+in that sanctuary, and I think he will then say that no country
+in the world is so imbued with superstitious credences as Russia.
+
+Above the stove, which was about five feet high, a platform of
+boards had been erected at a distance of about three feet from the
+ceiling. This was the sleeping resort of the family, and occasionally
+used for drying clothes during the day. The Russian _moujik_ likes
+this platform more than any other part of the habitation, and his
+great delight is to lie there and perspire profusely, after which
+he finds himself the better able to resist the cold of the elements
+outside. The farm-house in which I now found myself had cost in
+building two hundred roubles, about twenty-six pounds of our money,
+and her home was a source of pride to the good housewife, who could
+read and write, an accomplishment not often possessed by the women
+of this class in the province of Russia.
+
+By this time our former team had been replaced by three fresh horses,
+and the driver who was to accompany us had nearly finished making
+his own preparations for the sleigh journey. Several long bands
+of cloth, first carefully warmed at the stove, were successively
+wound round his feet, and then, having put on a pair of thick boots
+and stuffed some hay into a pair of much larger dimensions, he
+drew the latter on as well, when, with a thick sheep-skin coat,
+cap, and _vashlik_, he declared that he was ready to start.
+
+The cold was very intense when we quitted the threshold, and the
+thermometer had fallen several degrees during the last half-hour;
+the wind had also increased, and it howled and whistled against the
+eaves of the farm-house, bearing millions of minute snowy flakes
+before it in its course. Presently the sound of a little stamping on
+the bottom of the sleigh announced to me that the cold had penetrated
+to my companion's feet, and that he was endeavouring to keep up the
+circulation.
+
+Very soon that so-called "pins-and-needles" sensation, recalling
+some snow-balling episodes of my boyish days, began once more to make
+itself felt, and I found myself commencing a sort of double-shuffle
+against the boards of the vehicle. The snow was falling in thick
+flakes, and with great difficulty our driver could keep the track,
+his jaded horses sinking sometimes up to the traces in the rapidly
+forming drifts, and floundering heavily along the now thoroughly
+hidden road. The cracks of his whip sounded like pistol-shots against
+their jaded flanks, and volumes of invectives issued from his lips.
+
+"Oh, sons of animals!"--[whack].
+
+"Oh, spoiled one!"--[whack]. This to a brute which looked as if
+he never had eaten a good feed of corn in his life. "Oh, woolly
+ones!" [whack! whack! whack!].
+
+"O Lord God!" This as we were all upset into a snowdrift, the sleigh
+being three parts overturned, and our Jehu precipitated in the
+opposite direction.
+
+"How far are we from the next halting-place?" suddenly inquired
+my companion, with an ejaculation which showed that even his good
+temper had given way under the cold and our situation.
+
+"Only four versts, one of noble birth," replied the struggling Jehu,
+who was busily engaged endeavouring to right the half-overturned
+sleigh. A Russian verst about night-fall, and under such conditions
+as I have endeavoured to point out to the reader, is an unknown
+quantity. A Scotch mile and a bit, an Irish league, a Spanish _legua_,
+or the German _stunde_, are at all times calculated to call forth
+the wrath of the traveller, but in no way equal to the first-named
+division of distance. For the verst is barely two-thirds of an
+English mile, and when, after driving yet for an hour, we were
+told that there were still two versts more before we could arrive
+at our halting-place, it began fully to dawn upon my friend that
+either our driver's knowledge of distance, or otherwise his veracity,
+was at fault.
+
+At last we reached a long, struggling village, formed of houses
+constructed much in the same way as that previously described,
+when our horses stopped before a detached cottage. The proprietor
+came out to meet us at the threshold. "_Samovar, samovar!_" (urn),
+said my companion. "Quick, quick! _samovar!_" and hurrying by him,
+and hastily throwing off our furs, we endeavoured to regain our
+lost circulation beside the walls of a well-heated stove.
+
+The Russian peasants are not ignorant of the good old maxim that
+the early bird gets the worm, and the few hours' daylight they
+enjoy during the winter months makes it doubly necessary for them
+to observe this precept. We were all up a good hour before sunrise,
+my companion making the tea, while our driver was harnessing the
+horses, but this time not three abreast, for the road was bad and
+narrow; so we determined to have two small sleighs with a pair of
+horses to each, and put our luggage in one vehicle while we travelled
+in the other.
+
+Off we went, a motley crew. First, the unwashed peddler who had
+wished to be my companion's bedfellow the night before; then our
+luggage sleigh; and, finally, my friend and self, who brought up
+the rear, with a careful eye upon our effects, as the people in
+that part of the country were said to have some difficulty in
+distinguishing between _meum_ and _tuum_.
+
+The sun was bright and glorious, and in no part of the world hitherto
+visited have I ever seen aurora in such magnificence. First, a pale
+blue streak, gradually extending over the whole of the eastern
+horizon, arose like a wall barring the unknown beyond; then, suddenly
+changing colour until the summit was like lapis-lazuli, and its
+base a sheet of purple waves of grey and crystal, radiating from
+the darker hues, relieved the eye, appalled by the vastness of
+the barrier; the purple foundations were in turn upheaved by a
+sea of fire, which dazzled the eye with its glowing brilliancy,
+and the wall of colours floating in space broke up into castles,
+battlements, and towers, which were wafted by the breeze far away
+from our view. The sea of flame meanwhile had lighted up the whole
+horizon; the eye quailed beneath the glare. The snowy carpet at
+our feet reflected like a camera the wonderful panorama overhead.
+Flakes of light in rapid succession bound earth to sky, until the
+globe of sparkling light arising from the depths of this ocean of
+flame dimmed into insignificance the surroundings of the picture.
+
+Presently a sudden check and exclamation of our Jehu told us that
+the harness had given way, and a conversation, freely interlarded
+with epithets exchanged between the driver and the peddler, showed
+that there was decidedly a difference of opinion between them. It
+appeared that the man of commerce was the only one of the party
+who knew the road, and having discovered this fact, he determined
+to make use of his knowledge by refusing to show the way unless
+the proprietor of the horses who drove the vehicle containing our
+luggage would abate a little from the price he had demanded for
+the hire of the horse in the peddler's sleigh. "A bargain is a
+bargain!" cried our driver, wishing to curry favour with his master,
+now a few yards behind him. "A bargain is a bargain. Oh, thou son
+of an animal, drive on!" "It is very cold," muttered my companion.
+"For the sake of God," he shouted, "go on!" But neither the allusion
+to the peddler's parentage nor the invocation of the Deity had
+the slightest effect upon the fellow's mercenary soul.
+
+"I am warm, and well wrapped up," he said; "it is all the same to
+me if we wait here one hour or ten;" and with the most provoking
+indifference he commenced to smoke, not even the manner in which
+the other drivers aspersed the reputation of his mother appearing
+to have the smallest effect. At last the proprietor, seeing it
+was useless holding out any longer, agreed to abate somewhat from
+the hire of the horse, and once more the journey continued over
+a break-neck country, though at anything but a break-neck pace,
+until we reached the station--a farm-hause--eighteen versts from
+our sleeping quarters, and, as we were informed, forty-five from
+Samara.
+
+
+
+
+_RUSSIAN ARCHITECTURE_
+
+_EUG�NE EMMANUEL VIOLLET-LE-DUC_
+
+The Russian people, composed of diverse elements in which the Sclav
+predominated at the moment when that vast empire began to be established
+under great princes and amid incessant struggle, was in too close
+communication with Byzantium not to have been to a certain extent
+in submission to Byzantine art; but nevertheless each of these
+elements was in possession of certain notions of art which we must
+not neglect.
+
+The Sclavs, like the Varangians, knew scarcely anything but construction
+by wood, but at a comparatively early period they had already carried
+the art of carpentry very far, and in many different channels.
+
+The Sclavs (as extant traditions show), proceeded by piles in their
+wooden buildings: and the Scandinavians resorted to joining and
+dove-tailing. Thus, the latter early attained great skill in naval
+construction.
+
+These two methods of construction in wood have persisted till the
+present day, which fact is easily established on examining the
+rural dwellings of Russia.
+
+The Sclavs, moreover, as well as the Varangians, possessed certain
+art expressions which denote an Asiatic origin.
+
+Even in Byzantine art, so far as ornamentation is concerned, there
+were origins that were evidently common to those that are felt in
+the Sclav arts; and these original elements are again found in
+Central Asia.
+
+That ornamentation, composed of interlacings and conventional floral
+motives, dry and metallic, which was adopted at Byzantium, where it
+very soon destroyed the last vestiges of Roman art, also appears
+on the most ancient monuments of the Sclavs, and even on objects
+that in France are attributed to the Merovingians, that is to say,
+the Franks who came from the shores of the Baltic.
+
+Thus, Russia was to take her arts, as regards ornamentation, from
+branches that are far apart from one another in time and distance,
+but which sprang from a common trunk.
+
+About the Tenth Century, the Russian buildings were of wood; all
+texts agree on this point, and consequently these constructions
+could have no part in Byzantine architecture, which does not recall
+even the traditions of carpentry work.
+
+Towards the Eleventh Century, when the Russians began to build
+religious edifices of masonry, the structure of which, particularly
+in the vaulting, is inspired by Byzantine art, they adapted to this
+structure, together with a sensibly modified Byzantine garb, an
+ornamentation, derived from Asiatic, Sclavic and Turanian elements
+in variable, that is to say local, proportions.
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH OF THE REDEMER, MOSCOW.]
+
+For at least three centuries, Byzantium was the great school sought
+by the Latin, Visigothic and Germanic nations of Europe for art
+teaching, and it was not till the end of the Twelfth Century that
+the French broke away from these traditions. Their example was
+followed in Italy, England and Germany more or less successfully.
+Russia held aloof from these attempts: she was too closely identified
+with Byzantine art to try any other course; it may be said that she
+was the guardian of that art, and was to carry on its traditions
+by mingling with it elements due to the Asiatic Sclavic genius.
+
+All the dominant elements in Russian art, whether they come from
+the north or south, belong to Asia. Iranians or Persians, Indians,
+Turanians, or Mongols have furnished tribute, though in unequal
+quantities, to this art.
+
+It may also be said that if Russia has borrowed much from Byzantium,
+the art elements among her population have not been without influence
+upon the formation of Byzantine art. We think even that the influence
+of Byzantine upon Russian art has been greatly exaggerated, and
+that Persia may have had at least as much effect upon the course
+of art in Russia.
+
+However, we must except everything pertaining to images. But even
+here Asiatic influence makes itself felt, not in the form, but in
+the preservation of the types. The imagery of the Greek school
+has never gone out of favour in Russia, and it still holds its
+place there in the representation of holy personages. In this,
+Russia shows her attachment to tradition, as all the Asiatic races
+do, and shows how little her intimate sentiments have suffered
+modification.
+
+The Russians avoided the influence of the Iconoclasts which was
+felt so violently in the Western Empire in the Eighth Century, and
+later still in various parts of Western Europe; among the Vaudois
+and Albigenses in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Century, the Hussites
+in the Fifteenth, and the Reformers in the Sixteenth.
+
+But if Russian architecture and ornamentation show marked originality,
+this does not seem to be the case with the representation of holy
+personages. These remain Byzantine. It was the school of Mount
+Athos that supplied Russia with the types, as it did to almost all
+the Greek Christians of the Orient.
+
+In these representations, we have difficulty in finding a tendency
+towards realism, which, morever, does not appear till quite late,
+and does not come to full bloom.
+
+In Russian art, it is possible to find a few Scandinavian traces,
+or, to be more exact, in the arts of Scandinavia we find some elements
+borrowed from the same sources whence the Russians took theirs.
+
+Russia has been one of the laboratories in which the arts, brought
+from all parts of Asia, have been united to adopt an intermediate
+form between the Eastern and the Western world.
+
+Geographically, she was favourably placed to gather together these
+influences; and, ethnologically, she was entirely prepared to assimilate
+these arts and develop them. If she has stopped short in this work,
+it was only at a very recent period, and when repudiating her origin
+and traditions, she tried to become Western, in spite of her own
+genius.
+
+In the first place, the oldest religious edifices of Russia affect
+slender forms, in elevation, which distinguishes them from the
+purely Byzantine buildings.
+
+Evidently, the Russians, from the Twelfth Century on, employed
+in their religious edifices a geometrical plan that was different
+from that employed by the Byzantine architects, but one very close
+to that admitted by the architects of Greece during the early years
+of the Middle Ages.
+
+In Georgia and Armenia, a number of ancient churches, the majority
+of which are very small, are also of this character. But, while
+submitting to these dispositions, as soon as they adopted masonry
+instead of wood for building, the Russians gave quite individual
+proportions to their religious edifices.
+
+By the Fifteenth Century, Russia had combined all the various elements
+by the aid of which a national art should be constituted. To
+recapitulate these origins: We find already among the Scythians
+some elements of art fairly well developed, foreign to Greek art
+and derived from Oriental tradition. Byzantium, in constant contact
+with the people of Southern Russia, made its arts felt there; but in
+the North, some slight Finnish influences and then some Scandinavian
+ones, make themselves felt. From Persia likewise, Russia received
+impulses in art, on account of her commercial relations with that
+country through Georgia and Armenia. In the Thirteenth Century,
+the Tartar-Mongol domination was imposed upon Russia, employed
+her artists and craftsmen, and thus placed her in direct contact
+with that Medi�val Orient that was so mighty and so brilliant in
+all its art productions.
+
+At length left to herself, in the Fifteenth Century, Russia constituted
+her own art from these various sources. But this variety of sources
+is more apparent than real. It is enough to examine Scythian
+ornamentation to recognize that it is of a pronounced Indo-Oriental
+character. Byzantine taste has exerted a preponderating influence
+upon Russia. But it has been recognized that this Byzantine style
+is itself composed of very varied elements among which figure most
+largely the art of Eastern Asia, and that from this Byzantine art
+Russia likes to appropriate the Asiatic side in particular.
+
+So that we may regard Russian art as composed of elements borrowed
+from the Orient to the almost complete exclusion of all others.
+
+Moreover, if we follow the streams of art to their sources, we soon
+come to recognize that the tributaries are not at all numerous.
+
+In the matter of architecture, there are only two principles: structure
+by wood and concrete structure: grottoes, and construction with clay,
+and with masonry, which is derived from it. As to construction with
+cut stones, there results, either from a tradition of building
+with wood or from concrete construction, grottoes or conglomerate
+masses, sometimes both, as in Egyptian art, for example.
+
+The innumerable races who issued from the East and finally overwhelmed
+the Roman Empire had preserved from their cradle their own traditions,
+and continued to keep up communication with their old homes. Better
+than any other nation, the Russians preserved these traditions, and
+they were, so to speak, rejuvenated every time a new wave passed
+across their territories; for it was always from the northern or
+southern Orient, from the Ural or the Taurus, that the invaders
+came. Whether they presented themselves as enemies or colonists
+they brought with them something of Asia, the great mother of
+civilizations.
+
+This Russian art, therefore, was never struck with decadence as
+was the Byzantine art. It did not live solely upon itself, but
+profited by all that was brought from the Orient. So, when the
+Eastern Empire fell during the Fifteenth Century, leaving only
+a pale trace of the last expressions of its arts, Russia, on the
+contrary, was raising edifices and fabricating objects of great
+value from an artistic point of view.
+
+The West had only a small share in these productions, but even
+this was enough to enable Russian art to be distinguished from the
+arts of the East by a certain freedom of conception and variety in
+the execution that rendered it an original product full of promise,
+the developments of which might have been marvellous if the natural
+course of events had not been hindered by the passion with which
+high Russian society threw itself on the works of art of Italy,
+Germany and France.
+
+
+
+
+_SCULPTURE AND PAINTING_
+
+_PHILIPPE BERTHELOT_
+
+Western influence was very strongly felt in sculpture and painting
+in Russia during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Narrowly
+confined to the representation of conventional types of saints,
+these arts did not acquire either personality or expression for
+two centuries. It was not until the Eighteenth Century that they
+began to raise statues to the memory of Russia's great men: one
+of the first monuments was consecrated, as was indeed just, to
+Peter the Great, Russia's great reformer; in his lifetime, Count
+Bartolomeo Rastrelli the sculptor, father of the architect, executed
+a _Peter the Great on Horseback_, which was cast in bronze in 1847;
+but the successors of Peter the Great did not like this group which
+they did not consider sufficiently animated and would not allow
+it to be erected on a public square. Catherine II. had Falconet
+model a _Peter the Great_ mounted on a fiery horse climbing up
+a rock; this bronze group is placed in the centre of the Square
+of Peter the Great on the Neva, at St. Petersburg. Among the most
+celebrated works of Russian sculpture, we may cite the bronze monument
+erected to the memory of Prince Poyarski and the butcher Minine
+on the Red Square, Moscow (by Martoss, rector of the Academy of
+Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, in 1888); Lomonossov's monument (by
+Martoss); those of Generals Barclay de Tolly and Koutousov (1818-1836
+after the model by B. Orlovski, placed in front of the Cathedral
+of Kazan, St. Petersburg); the colossal bust of Alexander I. (by
+Orlovski); the commemorative monument of Alexander I. (1832, by
+Montferrand), with a statue of the Angel of Peace, by Orlovski;
+the statue of Krilov, the fabulist, 1855, by Baron Clodt in the
+Summer Garden, St. Petersburg; an equestrian statue of the emperor
+Nicholas I. (by Clodt, 1859, on the St. Mary square); the monument
+of Novgorod, elevated in memory of the millenary of the Russian
+occupation (1862), in the form of a gigantic bell containing scenes
+from Russian history, by Mikiechin; the monument to Catherine II.
+by Mikiechin, she being represented as surrounded by her generals
+and statesmen (1874, before the Alexander Theatre); the monument to
+Pushkin in Moscow (1830, by Objekuchin and Bogomolov); the monument
+to Bohdan-Chmelnizki, at Kiev (1873, by Mikiechin and other sculptors).
+The principal Russian sculptors are Popov, Antokolski (statue of Ivan
+the Terrible, 1871, in St. Petersburg), Tchichov and E. Lanceray.
+They are characterized by a very pronounced realism that is common
+to all.
+
+Russian painting has developed in various directions during the
+last two centuries under the influence of Western Europe; until
+the first half of the Nineteenth Century the imitation of Italian
+painting, the classical French school and the execution of strictly
+academic painting were the three principal paths attempted by the
+Russian artists. But for half a century, art has found a national
+expression for itself. At the end of the Eighteenth and beginning of
+the Nineteenth Century, the principal representatives of religious
+and historical painting were Losenko (died in 1773), Antropov (died
+in 1792), Akimov (died in 1814), Ugriumov (died in 1823), Levizki
+(died in 1822), Ivanov (died in 1823), and Moschov (died in 1839).
+The landscape and marine painters of greatest repute are Sim. and
+Sil. Schtchedrin (the first died in 1804, and the second in 1830),
+Pritchetnikov (died in 1809), F. Alekseiev (died in 1824). Academic
+painting was cultivated principally by Tropinin (died in 1827),
+Warnek (died in 1843), Lebediev (died in 1837), Worobiev (died
+in 1855), K. Rabus (died in 1857), Bruni (died in 1875), Markov
+(died in 1878), A. Beidemann (died in 1869) and Willewalde. The
+chief painter of the romantic school is K. Brullov, who formed
+a school and had numerous scholars. Other romantic painters of
+repute are Bronnikov and various landscape and marine painters
+such as Aivasovski, Bogolnibov, L. Lagorio and A. Mechtcherski.
+Religious and popular painting has A. Ivanov for its representative.
+The principal realistic painters in genre and historical painting
+are Fedotov, Makovski, Perov, Polenor, Vereschagin, etc.
+
+[Illustration: STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT AND THE ADMIRALTY PALACE,
+ST. PETERSBURG.]
+
+Ornamental sculpture seems to be superior to statuary in Russia:
+it is abundantly practised in the decoration of churches; the
+innumerable chapels standing at the street corners in honour of some
+saint possess icons and lamps of bronze and silver; the iconostases
+of the cathedrals are extremely rich,--gold, silver-gilt, silver,
+lapis-lazuli, malachite and enamel-work are lavishly employed there.
+In the churches of Saint Isaac and the Saviour there are many admirable
+and veritable _chefs d'�uvre_ of originality and brilliancy to be
+found. The industry of bronze and goldsmith's work in religious
+objects is very flourishing and gives occupation to numerous workmen
+and artists in Moscow and St. Petersburg. An imperial manufactory
+produces the mosaics which occupy such a great place in the decoration
+of the churches.
+
+Industrial arts are very prosperous in Russia and have made great
+progress during the last century: silken goods are no longer imported
+from Lyons; and the Russian cabinet-makers produce beautiful furniture,
+not only in their national style, but in the purest forms of French
+art of the Louis XV. and Louis XVI. styles. Civil goldsmith's work
+and jewellery have also been benefited by the national Renaissance:
+the Emperor Alexander III. restored to honour the national feminine
+costume for official balls, and ordered works of art to be made
+after the models of the Muscovite style, and indeed even after
+the marvels found in the excavations of the Cimmerian Bosphorus.
+The religious images, particularly those made in Moscow and Kazan,
+come very near being works of art. Numerous manufactories produce
+icons painted on wood or copper, ornamented with reliefs of copper,
+_crysocale_, silver, silver-gilt and gold. The workmen are monks
+and peasants: each part of the icon--eyes, nose, mouth, hands and
+feet--is executed by a specialist who always makes the same thing,
+after the immutable types that the Muscovite convents received
+from Mount Athos.
+
+
+
+
+_RUSSIAN MUSIC_
+
+_A. E. KEETON_
+
+Russian music is the strangest paradox--it owes more to the music
+of other countries than any other school, yet no music is more
+thoroughly individual and unmistakable. It clothes itself after
+the form and fashion of its neighbours, but beneath its garb peeps
+out a physiognomy indubitably Sclavonic. Its utterances impress us
+as the most modern--yet the student who would correctly analyze
+many of its unique characteristics of harmony and modulation is often
+obliged to take a flying leap backwards over a space of centuries
+in order to investigate old Church modes, or Persian and Arabian
+scale systems, both so ancient as to be well-nigh forgotten in
+Western Europe.
+
+Sixty years ago, there was no Russian school of music, properly
+speaking; then suddenly it sprang into being. The wonderful rapidity
+of its growth almost confuses one. Its exponents at once displayed
+the astonishing receptiveness common to their race. _D'un trait_, as
+the French would say, they appropriated the knowledge and experience
+which the Italian and German schools had been slowly amassing for
+centuries. Technique, form, counterpoint--all these they found
+ready made to their hand, and borrowed them unstintingly. Had they
+done this and no more, the onlooker might have dismissed them as
+clever plagairists, and probably no one would have paid them any
+further attention. But they had other means at their disposal. Their
+country contained a treasure-house of native melody and rhythm;
+a region albeit which few Russians had hitherto thought it worth
+their while to explore. It is true that, since the middle of the
+Seventeenth Century, tentative excursions had been made in this
+direction from time to time, chiefly, though, by outsiders settled
+in Russia, nor had any of their efforts led to very appreciable
+results. The man who first turned with serious intent to the pent-up
+musical resources of his own country was Michael Ivanovitch Glinka.
+He had sufficient strength of purpose to carry out his designs--he
+became the founder of the modern Russian school of music and the
+father of Russian opera.
+
+Glinka belonged to a good if not very wealthy family, who lived upon
+their estate in the government of Smolensk, where he was born in 1804.
+From babyhood upwards he delighted his friends and relations by his
+aptitude not for music alone, but also for languages, literature,
+zoology, botany--in fact, for each and every intellectual pursuit
+which came in his way. The brilliance of his college course in St.
+Petersburg was noteworthy. He quitted it to occupy a civil post
+under Government, a position, however, which he soon abandoned,
+in order to devote himself solely to music. Like so many other men
+of genius, he married a woman quite incapable of comprehending
+his artistic aims and ambitions; to quote the words of a Russian
+writer, Madame Glinka, _n�e_ Maria Petrovna, "was only a pretty doll,
+who loved society and fine clothes, and had no sympathy whatever
+with her husband's romantic, poetic side." One is glad to state
+that Glinka never had to struggle with poverty. He died at Berlin
+in 1857.
+
+He did for Russian music what his contemporary, Pushkin, did for
+Russian literature, each in his own department representing a national
+movement. Perhaps it is not too far-fetched a theory to trace this
+movement to the momentous date of 1812, when it fell to the lot
+of Russia to administer the first check in Napoleon's triumphant
+career. Ever since the reign of Peter the Great it had been the
+fashion to ape foreign habits, to speak foreign tongues, to import
+foreign music, to mimic foreign literature. But when a foreign
+invader, who had marched all-conquering through the rest of Europe,
+appeared in serious earnest at the very gates of Moscow, there
+was a rebound: slumbering patriotism awoke with a great shout,
+and, united by a common danger, all classes gathered together for
+the protection of their Tsar and their Kremlin. To have repulsed
+a Napoleon was a mighty deed, which could reveal to the Russians
+of what stuff they were made. It taught them to rely upon each
+other and be strong in themselves; and as the art of a nation is
+invariably the outcome of its history, so the rising generation
+of Russian thinkers looked inwards rather than abroad. Glinka,
+Pushkin, and their followers sought no foreign aid; they represent
+a Russian Renaissance. They were content, indeed, to abide by the
+forms universally adopted elsewhere, but the spirit of their art
+manifestation was Russian to its core. In literature, Pushkin and
+Gogol were never weary of delineating their compatriots in every grade
+of Sclavonic society, whilst Glinka took his musical inspirations
+from his native folk-songs and dance-rhythms--from the historic
+chronicles of his country or its legendary lore. In reality, the
+foreign influences and environment with which he came so continuously
+into contact served more and more to convince him that Russia in
+her turn had as great a mission in music as any other nation. For
+thirty years the idea was gradually gaining strength in his mind.
+"I want," he said to a friend, "to write an essentially national
+opera both as regards subject and music; something which no foreigner
+can possibly accuse of being borrowed, and which shall come home
+to my compatriots as a part of themselves."
+
+His fame depends solely upon the two operas, _La Vie pour le Tsar_
+and _Russlan et Ludmille_. That he should have chosen to express
+himself especially in opera is a significant fact. The unerring
+instinct of his genius evidently told him that in this form, rather
+than in purely instrumental music, he would most truly represent
+that people whose musical aspirations he wished above all else
+to portray faithfully, and certainly in opera lay his surest way
+towards enlisting the sympathies of his compatriots. As before
+remarked, one might have imagined that opera would scarcely ally
+itself to his personal individuality; it seems probable, therefore,
+that various salient traits inherent in the Russians as a nation
+must have led him to the choice. First and foremost, any music
+which claims to proceed from the very heart of the Russian people
+must contain a vocal element. So universal a love of singing as
+exists throughout Russia is to be met with in no other country.
+
+By this one does not mean to infer that Russian cultivated singing,
+either solo or choral, is in any way superior to what is heard
+elsewhere. The Russian peasant knows absolutely nothing about voice
+production, nor, maybe, is he gifted with any unusual vocal material,
+nevertheless, singing is closely bound up with every rural event of
+his cheerless existence. During the last half-century many hundreds
+of the native melodies sung by the Russian country people for
+generations past have been collected and written down by different
+musicians--Balakireff, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Prokoudin, and Lisenko
+amongst others. The variety of these folk-songs is astonishing.
+They never become monotonous, each song having its distinctive
+climax, and the air always suits the words. Often the untutored
+singer has one melody in his _r�pertoire_, but intuitively he modifies
+its strains according to the sentiment of his subject.
+
+This general love of music applies as much to the noble as to the
+peasant. "Where there is a Sclav there is a Song," says a Sclavonic
+proverb, and no public ceremony or Court function is ever deemed
+complete in Russia without an outburst of singing to heighten its
+impressiveness. There is besides a marked dramatic ingredient in the
+Sclavonic character. The typical Russian loves acting. To discover
+this, it is only necessary to visit a Russian village and witness
+the unconscious presentments of lyric drama or of desolate tragedy
+set forth by the quaint rites of a country wedding or a rustic
+funeral. Or study a Russian legend. It at once impresses you with
+its wealth of dramatic situations most concisely defined. In this,
+the Sclavonic folktale differs radically from its Celtic neighbour.
+A comparison of the two types suggests that the Russian principally
+desires a clear statement of facts; a poetic idea which must be
+extracted from clouds of metaphor conveys but little significance
+to his mind. An innate love of song, an innate love of acting, a
+keen perception of dramatic unity, combined with a passionate love
+of colour and a strong sense of movement--here surely, without any
+manner of doubt, one has the basis of a well-nigh perfect school of
+opera. Glinka, the cultivated musician, himself a Russian, thoroughly
+appreciated these national qualities; indeed they were part and
+parcel of his birthright. He could assimilate the characteristics
+of his race and merge them into his own very remarkable originality.
+The first product of the combined motors was _La Vie pour le Tsar_,
+given at St. Petersburg in 1836. Fifty years later it had reached
+its 577th performance, and from all accounts it still retains an
+undiminished popularity.
+
+[Illustration: THE THEATER, ODESSA.]
+
+If we dissect this opera and examine its wonderful mastery of technique
+and its depth of musical inspiration, it displays beauties which
+cannot fail to appeal to connoisseurs of every race and school. But
+regarded as a whole, one is inclined to doubt its ever becoming a
+standard work outside its native home. Its true scope and meaning
+can only be justly estimated by a public acquainted with Russia
+herself, with her people, her history and her innermost modes of
+thought.
+
+Glinka attached the highest value to the folk-song, of which, as
+already stated, he found a treasure trove ready to his hand. Nothing,
+though, was further from his thoughts than to employ this material
+in _pot-pourri_ style. Russians themselves are all agreed that it
+would be difficult to select one whole folk-song from any single
+work of Glinka's. It would naturally require a native of Russia
+with an accurate knowledge of these native tunes to tell us exactly
+when and where he used them. He seized their mood. In this way he
+developed every species of Sclavonic folk-song--Great Russian,
+Little Russian, Circassian, Polish, Finnish--with a passing flavour
+contributed by Persia, for undoubtedly Oriental music had, at some
+remote period, influenced its Sclavonic neighbour very strongly.
+Glinka may be said to have attained his end almost unconscious
+of his mode of procedure. Determined to compose Russian music,
+he pursued his idea unremittingly, but it was only towards the
+close of his life that he began to seriously analyze his effects,
+asking himself whence he had obtained them and in what essential
+points they exhibited their nationality. This inquiry involved
+him in a field of research bewildering in its magnitude, and one
+which his early death unfortunately prevented him from thoroughly
+investigating. Nor is the task by any means completed now, some
+forty years later, although many Russian musicians have thrown
+considerable light upon its varied aspects. The first step towards
+a folk-song analysis was the collecting of the melodies in sufficient
+numbers for comparison. So much being done, it flashed upon Glinka
+that there was an intimate connection between the Russian folk-song
+and the most ancient Russian Church music. That is to say, the
+melody and the freedom of rhythm typical of the folk-song had been
+evolved by the people, whilst its harmonization, in which lay one
+of its most striking essentialities, had been bequeathed it by the
+Church. From all that can be gathered concerning music in Muscovy
+prior to the introduction of Christianity, it seems justifiable to
+admit that harmony, or part singing, was already practised amongst
+the inhabitants, in what manner it is impossible to conjecture.
+At any rate, when the Church of Byzantium took root there, the
+Sclav was sufficiently advanced musically to imbibe a new idea. We
+know that the Byzantine Church modes were purely diatonic, so is
+the harmonization of the Russian folk-song in its most elementary
+and uncorrupted form. That the one produced the other is a most
+natural conclusion. In the oldest of the Russian national melodies
+Glinka discovered the most clearly defined type of the earliest
+Christian songs on record.
+
+A wonderful testimony this to the indwelling religious spirit of
+the Russian people, who change but little and who are singularly
+tenacious of their customs in spite of all their ready receptiveness.
+In one sense the folk-song is as rude and hardy as its singer; from
+another point of view it is a shy, delicate emanation shrinking
+from all human intercourse outside its own small coterie of familiar
+voices. In Russia, as in every other country, it has had to be
+sought in the remote Steppes and far-off districts where foreign
+influences had never penetrated, and by a curious inverse process
+its harmonies, of course, transmitted orally, were the means of
+preserving the Byzantine Church tonality long after this "first
+cause" had accepted chromatic and enharmonic modulations. In the
+chief Russian cities and more opened-up parts of the country, the
+Italian, French, and later on German elements gradually formed
+themselves into Church as well as secular music, and only within
+the last sixty years have attempts been made to restore this to
+its pristine and, perhaps it may be added, somewhat monotonous
+purity. The minor key in which the Sclavonic folksong was usually
+couched, together with its extraordinary variety of rhythm and
+phrase, protected it from this monotony, the minor keys having
+infinitely richer resources of colour, even when strictly diatonically
+treated, than the major.
+
+Sclavonic music figures so constantly upon every concert programme
+in these days that we are probably most of us accustomed to its
+vagaries of rhythm, or what may be styled irregularity of metre.
+This is a direct heritage from the folk-song, which Glinka and
+his successors have borrowed largely.
+
+The leading musical spirits of his day were quick to accredit him
+a kindred genius. Berlioz welcomed him gladly, and furthered his
+cause by eloquent writing as well as by obtaining him a hearing
+in Paris. Liszt was another enthusiastic "Glinkite," and Schumann,
+unfailingly keen to notice new talent pursuing a new path, speedily
+drew attention to a Russian who was doing for the music of his
+country what Chopin and Moniusco had done for Poland. Rubinstein,
+who was still a boy when Glinka's sun was near setting, grew up
+with a warm admiration for the founder of his native school, and
+in 1855 he spent some of his ardour upon a highly laudatory article
+in the _Wiener Zeitschrift fir Musik_, placing Glinka on a par with
+Beethoven. Glinka thoroughly detesting anything that savoured of
+flattery, took the young musician soundly to task for his pains;
+but Rubinstein remained true to his tenets, and later on, when
+years had matured his judgment, we find him including the name of
+Glinka with that of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin, as the
+chief germinators of modern music; whilst one of the last acts of
+his generous public career was a concert given in aid of a national
+monument to the composer of _La Vie pour le Tsar_. With one or
+two minor exceptions, successive Russian masters have followed
+faithfully in Glinka's footsteps. To Borodine, Dargomijsky, Seroff,
+Balakireff, and Rimsky-Korsakoff a full meed of nationality has been
+granted. To Rubinstein and Tsch�ikowski criticism is at present
+disposed to deny the quality in its most salient features. But
+their prolific mass of compositions has so far scarcely been
+sufficiently explored outside their own Russian domain for a final
+judgment to be hazarded. A nearer inspection of their work, indeed,
+together with a more accurate study of Russian art as a whole,
+distinctly leads to the opinion that a revolution of feeling may
+eventually spring up, especially on the subject of their operas.
+Also Rubinstein's dramatic works, now mostly dismissed by foreigners
+as his weakest productions, may in due course be accepted as his
+finest creations. From the different reasons previously deduced
+there can be little doubt that in opera Glinka purposely laid the
+corner-stone of what he earnestly believed to be a true Russian
+school, and a glance at contemporary musical activity shows that
+here Russia has every opportunity for distinguishing herself, and
+that with very little competition.
+
+
+
+
+_RUSSIAN LITERATURE_
+
+_W. R. MORFILL_
+
+Of the Russian there are the following chief dialects--Great, Little,
+and White Russian. The Great Russian is the literary and official
+language of the Empire. In its structure it is highly synthetic,
+having three genders and seven cases, and the nouns and adjectives
+being fully inflected. Its great peculiarity (which it shares in
+common with all the Sclavonic languages), is the structure of the
+verbs, which are divided into so-called "aspects," which modify
+the meaning, just as the Latin terminations _sco, urio_, and _ita_,
+only the forms are developed into a more perfect system. The letters
+employed are the Cyrillian, held to have been invented by St. Cyril
+in the Ninth Century. They are on the whole well adapted to express
+the many sounds of the Russian alphabet, for which the Latin letters
+would be wholly inadequate, and must perforce be employed in some
+such uncouth combinations as those which communicate a grotesque
+appearance to Polish. It would be out of place here to discuss the
+Ecclesiastical Sclavonic employed in so many of the early writings
+composed in Russian. I shall proceed to speak of the literature in
+Russian properly so-called. The great epochs of this will be--
+
+I. From the earliest times to the reign of Peter the Great.
+
+II. From the reign of Peter the Great to our own time.
+
+The Russians, like the rest of the Sclavonic peoples are very rich
+in national songs, many (as one may judge from the allusions found
+in them), going back to a remote antiquity. For a long time, and
+especially during the period of French influence, these productions
+were neglected. In the last twenty years, however, they have been
+assiduously collected by Bezsonov, Kirievski, R�bnikov, Hilferding and
+others. The Russian legendary poems are called _B�lini_ (literally,
+tales of old time), and may be most conveniently divided into the
+following classes:--
+
+1. That of the earlier heroes. 2. The Cycle of Vladimir. 3. The
+Royal, or Moscow Cycle.
+
+The early heroes are of a half-mythical type, and perform prodigies
+of valour. To this class belong Volga Vseslavich, Mikoula Selianinovich
+and Sviatogor. The great glory of the Cycle of Vladimir is Ilya
+Murometz. The _B�linas_ are filled with his magnificent exploits,
+either alone, or in the company of Sviatogor.
+
+The national songs are carried on through the troublous times of
+Boris Godunov, and the false Dimitri, to the days of Peter the
+Great, when they seem to have acquired new vigour on account of
+the military achievements of the regenerator of his country. Nor
+are they extinct in our own time, for we find exploits of Napoleon,
+especially his disastrous expedition to Russia, made the subject
+of verse. The interest, however, of these legendary poems fades
+away as we advance into later days. The number of minstrels is
+rapidly diminishing; and Riabanin, and his companions among the
+Great Russians, and Ostap Veresai among the Malo-Russians, will
+probably be the last of these generations of rhapsodists, who have
+transmitted their traditional chants from father to son, from tutor
+to pupil. A great feature in Russian literature is the collection
+of chronicles, which begin with Nestor, monk of the Pestcherski
+Cloister at Kiev, who was born about A. D. 1056, and died about
+1116.
+
+During the time when Russia groaned under the yoke of the Mongols,
+the nation remained silent, except here and there, perhaps, in some
+legendary song, sung among peasants, and destined subsequently
+to be gathered from oral tradition by a R�bnikov and a Hilferding.
+Such literature as was cultivated formed the recreation of the
+monks in their cells. A new era, however, was to come. Ivan III.
+established the autocracy and made Moscow the centre of the new
+government. The Russians naturally looked to Constantinople as
+the centre of their civilization; and even when the city was taken
+by the Turks its influence did not cease. Many learned Greeks fled
+to Russia, and found an hospitable reception in the dominions of
+the Grand Duke. During the reigns of Ivan the Terrible and his
+immediate successors, although the material progress of the country
+was considerably advanced, and a strong Government founded, yet
+little was done for learning. Simeon Polotzki (1628-80), tutor
+to the Tsar Feodor, son of Alexis, was an indefatigable writer
+of religious and educational books, but his productions can now
+only interest the antiquarian. The verses composed by him on the
+new palace built by the Tsar Alexis, at Kolomenski are deliciously
+quaint. Of a more important character is the sketch of the Russian
+government, and the habits of the people, written by one Koshikin
+(or Kotoshikin--for the name is found in both forms), a renegade
+diak or secretary, which, after having lain for a long time in
+manuscript in the library of Upsala, in Sweden, was edited in 1840,
+by the Russian historian Soloviev. Kotoshikin terminated a life
+of strange vicissitudes by perishing at the hands of the public
+executioner at Stockholm, about 1669.
+
+With the reforms of Peter the Great commences an entirely new period
+in the history of Russian literature, which was now to be under
+Western influence. The epoch was inaugurated by Lomonosov, the
+son of a poor fisherman of Archangel, who forms one of the curious
+band of peasant authors--of very various merit, it must be
+confessed--who present such an unexpected phenomenon in Russian
+literature. Occasionally we have men of real genius, as in the cases
+of Koltzov, Nikitin, and Shevchenko, the great glory of southern
+Russia; sometimes, perhaps, a man whose abilities have been overrated
+as in the instance of Slepoushkin. Lemonosov is more praised than
+read by his countrymen. His turgid odes, stuffed with classical
+allusions, in praise of Anne and Elizabeth, are still committed
+to memory by pupils at educational establishments. His panegyrics
+are certainly fulsome, but probably no worse than those of Boileau
+in praise of Louis XIV., who grovelled without the excuse of the
+imperfectly educated Scythian. The reign of Catherine II. (1762-96),
+saw the rise of a whole generation of court poets. The great maxim,
+"_Un Auguste peut ais�ment faire un Virgile_," was seen in all its
+absurdity in semi-barbarous Russia. These wits were supported by
+the Empress and her immediate _entourage_, to whom their florid
+productions were ordinarily addressed.
+
+[Illustration: THE LIBRARY, ODESSA.]
+
+From Byzantine traditions, from legends of saints, from confused
+chronicles, and orthodox hymnologies, Russia was to pass by one
+of the most violent changes ever witnessed in the literature of
+any country, into epics moulded upon the _Henriade_, and tedious
+odes in the style of Boileau and Jean Baptiste Rousseau. Oustrialov,
+the historian, truly characterizes most of the voluminous writers
+of this epoch, as mediocre verse makers, for claiming merits in the
+cases of Bogdanovich, Khemnitzer, Von Vizin, Dmitriev, and Derzhavin.
+Bogdanovich wrote a very pretty lyric piece, styled _Dushenka_
+based on the story of Cupid and Psyche, and partly imitated from
+Lafontaine, with a sportive charm about the verse which will preserve
+it from becoming obsolete. With Khemnitzer begin the fabulists. But
+I shall reserve my remarks upon this species of literature and
+its Russian votaries until I come to Kr�lov, who may be said to
+be one of the few Sclavonic authors who have gained a reputation
+beyond the limits of their own country. In Denis Von Vizin, born
+at Moscow, but as his name shows, of German extraction, Russia saw
+a writer of genuine national comedy. Hitherto she had to content
+herself with poor imitations of Moli�re. His two plays, the _Brigadier_
+and the _Minor_ (_Nederosl_), have much original talent. No such
+vigorous representations of character appeared again on the stage
+till _The Misfortune of being too Clever_ (_Gore et Ouma_) of
+Griboiedov, and the _Revisor_ of Gogol. Dmitriev deserves perhaps
+no more than a passing mention.
+
+The name of Derzhavin is spoken of with reverence among his countrymen:
+he was the laureate of the epoch of Catherine, and had a fresh ode
+for every new military glory. There is much fire and vigour in
+his productions and he could develop the strength and flexibility
+of his native language which can be made as expressive and concise
+as Greek. Perhaps, however, we get a little tired of his endless
+perfections of Felitza, the name under which he celebrates the
+Empress Catherine, a woman who--whatever her private faults may
+have been,--did a great deal for Russia.
+
+In Nicholas Karamzin appeared the first Russian historian who can
+properly claim the title. His poems are almost forgotten: here and
+there we come upon a solitary lyric in a book of extracts. His
+_History of the Russian Empire_, however, is a work of extensive
+research, and must always be quoted with respect by Sclavonic scholars.
+Unfortunately, it only extends to the election of Michael Romanov.
+Karamzin was followed by Nicholas Polevoi, son of a Siberian merchant,
+who hardly left any species of literature untouched. His _History
+of the Russian People_, however, did not add to his reputation,
+and is now almost forgotten. In later times both these authors
+have been eclipsed by such writers as Soloviev and Kostomarov.
+A new and more critical school of Russian historians has sprung
+up; but for the early history of the Sclavonic peoples, the great
+work is still Schafarik's _Sclavonic Antiquities_, first published
+in the Bohemian language, and more familiar to scholars in the
+West of Europe in its German version.
+
+With the breaking up of old forms of government caused by the French
+Revolution, came the dislocation of the old conventional modes of
+thought. Classicism in literature was dead, having weighed like an
+incubus upon the fancy and fresh life of many generations. England
+and Germany were at the head of the new movement, which was at a
+later period to be joined to France. The influence was to extend
+to Russia, and may be said to date from the reign of Alexander I.
+It was headed by Zhukovski, who was rather a fluent translator
+than an original poet. He has given excellent versions of Schiller,
+Goethe, Moore, and Byron, and has better enriched the literature
+of his country in this way than by his original productions. He
+had, however, some lyric fire of his own; the ode entitled _The
+Poet in the Camp of the Russian Warriors_, written in the memorable
+year 1812, did something to stimulate the national feelings, and
+procure for the poet a good appointment at court.
+
+In Alexander Pushkin, the Russians were destined to find their
+greatest poet. His first work, _Rouslan and Lioudmilla_, was a tale
+of half-mythical times, in which the influence of Byron was clearly
+visible, but the author had never allowed himself to become a mere
+copyist. The same may be said of _The Prisoner of the Caucasus_,
+in which Pushkin had an opportunity of describing the romantic
+scenery of that wild country, which was then entirely new ground.
+In the _Fountain of Bakchiserai_ he chose an episode in the history
+of the Khans of the Crimea, which he has handled very poetically.
+The _Gipsies_ is a wild oriental tale of passion and vengeance. The
+poet, who had been spending some time amid the Steppes of Bessarabia,
+has left us wonderful pictures of the wandering tribes and their
+savage life. Many Russians consider the _Evgeni� Oniegin_ of Pushkin
+to be his best effort. It is a powerfully written love-story, full
+of sketches of modern life, interspersed with satire and pathos.
+
+A criticism of Pushkin would necessarily be imperfect, which left
+out of all consideration his drama on the subject of _Boris Godunov_.
+Here he has used Shakespeare as his model. Up to this time the
+traditions of the Russian stage--such as they were--were wholly
+French. The piece is undoubtedly very clever, and conceived with
+true dramatic power.
+
+Since Pushkin's attempt, the historical drama based upon the English,
+has been very successfully cultivated. A fine trilogy has been
+composed by Count A. Tolstoi (whose premature death all Russia
+deplored), on the three subjects, _The Death of Ivan the Terrible_
+(1866), _The Tsar Feodor_ (1868) and the _Tsar Boris_ (1869).
+
+The Russian fabulists, whose name is legion, demand some mention;
+Khemnitzer, Dmitriev, Ivanov and others, have attempted this style
+of poetry; but the most celebrated of all is Ivan Krilov (1768-1844).
+Many of his short sentences have become proverbs among the Russian
+people, like the couplets of Lafontaine among the French, and Butler's
+_Hudibras_ among ourselves. His pictures of life and manners are
+most thoroughly national. In Koltzov the true voice of the people,
+which had before only expressed itself in the national ballads was
+heard. The life of this sensitive and warm-hearted man of genius
+was clouded by poverty and suffering.
+
+The poems of Koltzov are written, for the most part, in an unrhymed
+verse; the sharp, well-defined accent in Russian amply satisfying
+the ear, as in German. His poetical taste had been nurtured by
+the popular lays of his country. He has caught their colouring
+as truly as Burns did that of the Scottish minstrelsy. He is
+unquestionably the most national poet that Russia has produced;
+Slepoushkin and Alipanov, two other peasant poets, who made some
+little noise in their time, cannot for one moment be compared with
+him; but, on the other hand, he has been excelled by the fiery
+energy and picturesque power of the Cossack, Taras Shevchenko, of
+whom I shall speak. Since the death of Pushkin, Lermontov alone
+has appeared to dispute the poetical crown with him. The short life
+of this author (1814-41), ended in the same way as Pushkin's--in
+a duel provoked by himself. Many of his lyrics are exquisite, and
+have become standard poems in Russia, such as the _Gifts of Terek_
+and _The Cradle Song of the Cossack Mother_.
+
+In Gogol, who died in 1852, the Russians had to lament the loss
+of a keen and vigorous satirist. With a happy humour reminding
+us of Dickens in his best moods, he has sketched all classes of
+society in the _Dead Souls_, perhaps the cleverest of all Russian
+novels. No one, also has reproduced the scenery and habits of Little
+Russia, of which he was a native, more vigorously than Gogol, whether
+in the pictures of country life in his _Old-Fashioned Household_
+(if we may translate in so free a manner the title _Starovetskie
+Pomestchiki_), or in the wilder sketches of the struggles which
+took place between the Poles and Cossacks in _Taras Boulba_. In the
+_Portrait_ and _Memoirs of a Madman_, Gogol shows a weird power,
+which may be compared with that of the fantastic American, Edgar
+Allan Poe. Besides his novels, he wrote a brilliant comedy called
+the _Revisor_, dealing with the evils of bureaucracy.
+
+Towards the end of the year 1877, died Nicholas Nekrasov, the most
+remarkable poet produced by Russia since Lermontov. He has left
+six volumes of poetry, of a peculiarly realistic type, chiefly
+dwelling upon the misfortunes of the Russian peasantry, and putting
+before us most forcibly the dull grey tints of their monotonous
+and purposeless lives.
+
+I have not space to enumerate here even the most prominent Russian
+novelists. No account, however, of their literature would be anything
+like complete which omitted the name of Ivan Tourgheniev, whose
+reputation is European. With the Russians the English novel of the
+realistic type is the fashionable model. In this branch of literature,
+French influences have hardly been felt at all. The historical
+novel--an echo of the great romances of Sir Walter Scott--had its
+cultivators in such writers as Zagoskin and Lazhechnikov; but at
+the present time, with the exception of the recent productions
+of Count Tolstoi, it is a form of literature as dead in Russia
+as in our own country. The novel of domestic life bids fair to
+swallow up all the rest, and it is to this that the Russians are
+devoting their attention.
+
+Tourgheniev first made a name by his _Memoirs of a Sportsman_,
+a powerfully written work, in which harrowing descriptions are
+given of the miserable condition of the Russian serfs. Since the
+publication of this novel, or rather series of sketches, he has
+written a succession of able works of the same kind, in which all
+classes of Russian society have been reviewed. No more pathetic
+tale than the _Gentleman's Retreat_ (_Dvorianskoe Gnezdo_) can
+be shown in the literature of any country. There are touches in
+it worthy of George Eliot. In _Fathers and Children_ and _Smoke_,
+Tourgheniev has grappled with the nihilistic ideas which for a
+long time have been so current in Russia.
+
+The study of Russian history, so well commenced by Karamzin, has
+been further developed by Oustrialov and Soloviev.
+
+The Malo-Russian is very rich in _skazki_ (national tales) and
+in songs. Peculiar to them is the _douma_, a kind of narrative
+poem, in which the metre is generally very irregular; but a sort
+of rhythm is preserved by the recurrence of accentuated syllables.
+The _douma_ of the Little Russians corresponds to the _b�lina_
+of the Great Russians.
+
+As might naturally be expected, most Malo-Russian authors of eminence,
+have preferred using the Great Russian, notably Gogol, who however
+is very fond of introducing provincial expressions which require a
+glossary. The foundation of the Malo-Russian cultivated literature
+was laid by the travisty of the _�neid_, by Kotliarevski, which
+enjoys great popularity among his countrymen. A truly national
+poet appeared in Taras Shevchenko, born a serf in the Government
+of Kiev, at the village of Kirilovka.
+
+Of the literature of the White Russians, but little need be said,
+as it is very scanty, amounting to a few collections of songs edited
+by Shein, Bezsonov and others.
+
+
+
+
+_PRESENT CONDITIONS_
+
+_E. S._
+
+Nicholas I., Tsar of all the Russias (born in 1868), the eldest
+son of Alexander III. and the Princess Dagmar, daughter of King
+Christian IX. of Denmark, ascended the throne on the death of his
+father in 1894. He is descended from Michael Romanof, elected Tsar
+in 1613, after the extinction of the House of Rurik, and also from
+the Oldenburg family. Nicholas II. was married in 1894 to Princess
+Alexandra Alix (Alexandra Feodorovina), daughter of Ludwig IV., Grand
+Duke of Hesse, and Alice Maud Mary, daughter of Queen Victoria. Their
+four daughters are: Olga (born 1895); Tatiana (born 1897); Marie
+(born 1899); and Anastasia (born 1901). The Grand Duke Michael (born
+1878), brother of the Emperor, is the Heir Presumptive. The Emperor's
+vast revenue is derived from Crown domains: the amount is unknown,
+as no reference is made in the budgets or finance accounts. It
+consists, however, of more than a million of square miles of cultivated
+lands and forests, besides gold and other mines in Siberia.
+
+[Illustration: THE TSAR NICHOLAS.]
+
+Russia is an absolute hereditary monarchy. The Emperor's will is
+law, and in him the whole legislative, executive and judicial power
+is united. The administration of the Empire is entrusted to four
+great boards or councils: the Council of the State; the Ruling
+Senate; the Holy Synod; and the Committee of Ministers.
+
+The Council of State, established by Alexander I. in 1801, consists
+of a president nominated every year by the Emperor and a large
+number of members appointed by him. This council is divided into
+four departments: Legislation; Civil and Church Administration;
+State's Economy and Industry; Sciences and Commerce.
+
+The Ruling Senate, founded by Peter I. in 1711, is really the high
+court of justice for the Empire. It is divided into six departments,
+or sections.
+
+The Holy Synod, founded by Peter I. in 1728, has charge of the
+religious affairs of the Empire. Its members are the Metropolitans
+of St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kief, the archbishop of Georgia and
+several bishops who sit in turn. The President is Antonious, the
+Metropolitan of St. Petersburg. The Emperor has to approve of all
+the decisions of the Holy Synod.
+
+European Russia consists of Russia Proper (50 Provinces), Poland
+(10 Provinces), and Finland (Grand Duchy). The population in 1897
+was respectively, 93,467,736; 9,401,097; and 2,527,801. Asiatic
+Russia consists of Caucasia (11 Provinces; population 9,291,000);
+Siberia (8 Provinces and Regions; population 5,726,719); and Central
+Asia (10 Provinces and Regions; population 7,740,394). Russian
+subjects in Khiva and Bokhara number 6,412. Of the total population
+128,161,249, 64,616,280 were men and 64,594,883, women. In European
+Russia the annual increase of population is at the rate of nearly
+a million and a half. The chief cities of European Russia are St.
+Petersburg (1,267,023); Moscow (988,614); Warsaw (638,208); Odessa
+(405,041); Lodz (315,209); Riga (256,197); Kief (247,432); Kharkoff
+(174,846); Tiflis (160,645); Vilna (159,568); Tashkend (156,414);
+Saratov (137,109); Kasan (131,508); Ekaterinoslav (121,216);
+Rostov-on-the-Don (119,889); Astrakhan (113,001); Baku (112,253);
+Tula (111,048), and Kishineff(108,796). The population of Novgorod,
+Samara, Minsk and Nikolaieff is between 95,000 and 90,000. Tiflis
+and Baku in the Caucasus have respective populations of 160,000
+and 112,000. The largest towns in the Trans-Caspia are Askhabad
+(19,500) and Merv (8,750), and those of Turkestan are Tashkend,
+Namangan Samarkand and Andijan. There are about 50,000 in each
+of the Siberian towns of Tomsk, Irkutsk and Ekaterinburg.
+
+[Illustration: THE TSARINA.]
+
+There has been no census since 1897, but in 1900 the population of
+St. Petersburg was 1,439,739; Moscow, 1,035,664; and Riga, 282,943.
+The mortality in the towns is so great that the deaths exceed the
+births. Emigration is on the increase, and, of late years, the
+Russians, particularly the Jews, flock to the United States, chiefly
+through Hamburg, L�beck and Bremen. In 1900, 49,580 emigrated to
+the United States; 1,253 to Argentina; and numbers to Canada and
+Brazil. Emigration to Siberia varies from year to year, but is on
+the increase. In 1898, 80,000 went and in 1901 from 150,000 to
+200,000. There is also much emigration to the Southern Ural and
+the Steppe provinces.
+
+In European Russia, there is an average of a town or village to
+every four or seven square miles, and in the Caucasus, one to every
+nine square miles; but in Asiatic Russia the average varies; for
+example, in Samarkand there is one to every fourteen square miles,
+and in the province of Yakutsk, one to every 2,760 square miles.
+
+The principal ports are St. Petersburg, Cronstadt, Narva, Riga,
+Libau, Pernau and Vindau (on the Baltic); Hango (on the Gulf of
+Bothnia); Revel, Helsingf�rs and Wiborg (on the Gulf of Finland);
+Archangel and Ekaterinsk (Arctic and White Seas); Odessa, Nicolaieff,
+Sebastopol, Nova-Rossiisk, Berdiansk and Batoum, Taganrog, Marinpol,
+Rostov and Kertch (on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov); Astrakhan,
+Derbent and Baku (on the Caspian Sea); Nicolaieffsk, Vladivostok
+and Petrapaulovsk in Kamtchatka; and Port Arthur and Dalni or
+Ta-lien-wan (Gulf of Pechili), have been occupied since the
+Russo-Chinese Treaty of 1898.
+
+The established religion is the Russo-Greek, or Gr�co-Russian, known
+officially as the Orthodox Catholic Faith. It maintains the relations
+of a sister church with the four patriarchates of Constantinople,
+Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. The Emperor is the head of the
+church. The Russian Empire is divided into 64 bishoprics, under 3
+metropolitans, 14 archbishops and 48 bishops; in 1898, there were
+66,146 churches (718 of which were cathedrals), and 785 monasteries.
+With the exception of the Jewish, all religions are allowed to be
+professed. There are more than 12,000,000 dissenters scattered
+throughout the Empire. The numbers are: Orthodox Greek, 87,384,480;
+Dissenters, 2,173,738; Roman Catholic, 11,420,927; Protestants,
+3,743,209; other Christians, 1,221,511; Mohammedans, 13,889,421;
+Jews, 5,189,401; and other religions, 645,503. In 1903, the Holy
+Synod received 28,388,049 roubles from the Imperial budget, besides
+other revenue and gifts.
+
+The Empire is divided into 15 educational districts: St. Petersburg,
+Moscow, Kasan, Orenburg, Kharkoff, Odessa, Kief, Vilna, Warsaw,
+Riga, Caucasus, Turkestan, West Siberia, East Siberia and Amur.
+In some of the primary village schools, there are school-gardens,
+while bee-keeping and silk-worm culture, as well as trades and
+handiwork, are taught. In 1900, the Ministers contributed 51,062,842
+roubles for schools and universities. The universities are in Moscow
+(4,344 students in 1902); St. Petersburg (3,708); Kief (2,316);
+Kharkov (1,340); Dorpat (1,791); Warsaw (1,312); Kasan (823); Odessa
+(1,116); and Tomsk (549). Helsingfors, Finland, had 1,211 students
+in 1900-1.
+
+Since 1874 military service has been obligatory for all men from
+the age of 21. The period of service in European Russia is five
+years in the active army (reduced by furloughs to four) 13 in the
+Zapas those who have passed through active service and five years
+in the Opolchenie, or reserve; in Asiatic Russia, seven years in
+the active army and six in the Zapas; and in Caucasia, three years
+in the active army and 15 in the Zapas. The Opolchenie is a reserve
+force of drilled conscripts.
+
+The Cossacks (Don, Kuban Terek, Astrakhan, Orenburg, Ural, Siberia,
+Semiryetchensk, Transbaikalia, Amur and Usuri) are divided in three
+classes; the first in active service, the second on furlough with
+their arms and horses; the third with arms and without horses. Some
+of the Cossack cavalry serves with the regular cavalry. Military
+service is also obligatory in Finland.
+
+The Russian army consists of 31 corps. The lowest estimate of its
+peace strength is about 1,100,000 with 42,000 officers; the war
+strength about 75,000 officers, 4,500,000 men and 562,000 horses.
+
+Owing to its widely separated seas, the Russian navy maintains
+four squadrons: the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Pacific and the
+Caspian. Cronstadt is the chief base of the Baltic Fleet; Sebastopol
+of the Black Sea; and Vladivostok and Port Arthur of the Pacific.
+The Caspian fleet is comparatively insignificant. In 1903, the navy
+consisted of 26 battleships, 14 coast defence ships, 24 first-class
+cruisers, 15 second-class cruisers, 161 gunboats and torpedo craft.
+
+The ocean shipping of the Russian Empire is not relatively large,
+but its lake and river shipping is very extensive. In 1900, the
+sea-going marine consisted of 2,293 sailing vessels and 745 steamers.
+
+The total length of railway open for traffic and travel on January
+1, 1903, was 35,336 miles (not including 1,753 miles in Finland).
+Of this 4,965 miles were in Asiatic Russia.
+
+The legal unit of money is the silver rouble of 100 kopecks of
+the value of 2s. 1.6d., or about fifty cents of American money.
+The coins called imperial and half-imperial contain 15 and 7-1/2
+roubles respectively. There are also credit notes of 100, 25, 10,
+5, 3 and 1 rouble.
+
+Russia's chief source of revenue is the liquor traffic. Her chief
+exports are spirits, tallow, wool, tow, bristles, timber, hides and
+skins, grain, raw and dressed flax, linseed and hemp. Her principal
+imports are tea, cotton and other colonial produce, iron, machinery,
+wool, wine, fruits, vegetables and oil.
+
+Russia is the second largest European grower of wheat. Hemp, flax,
+potatoes and tobacco are also raised in large quantities. Barley,
+buckwheat, oats, millet and rye form the staple food of the inhabitants.
+
+Mines of great value exist in the Ural, Obdorsk and Altai mountains,
+which produce gold, copper, iron, silver, platinum, rock-salt,
+marble and kaolin or china clay. Rich naphtha springs exist on
+the Caspian and an immense bed of coal has been discovered between
+the Donetz and Dnieper rivers.
+
+The Grand Duchy of Finland, which Russia conquered from Sweden
+and finally annexed in 1808, had a population in 1898 of about
+2,595,000 (2,230,000 Finns; 350,000 Swedes; 12,000 Russians; 2,000
+Germans; and 1,000 Laps). The chief religion is the Lutheran. The
+capital is Helsingfors with a population of 111,000, including the
+Russian garrison. The Tsar of Russia is the Grand Duke; Lieut.-Gen.
+N. Bobrikov, the governor-general; and V. von Plehwe, Secretary of
+State. The Diet, convoked triennially, consists of nobles, clergy,
+burgesses and peasants, but the country is chiefly governed by the
+Imperial Finnish Senate of twenty-two members. The army consists
+of nine battalions of Finnish Rifles (5,600 men), and one regiment
+of dragoons (900 men, with a reserve of 30,000). The chief export
+is timber and the chief industry iron mines. In 1898, the marine
+comprised 2,298 vessels of 324,344 tons.
+
+Bokhara and Khiva in Central Asia are vassal states of Russia.
+Bokhara, bounded on the north by Russian Turkestan, was once the
+most famous state of Central Asia. Genghis Khan took it from the
+Arabs in the Thirteenth Century, and it was taken by the Uzbegs,
+fanatical Sunni Mahommedans of Turkish extraction, in 1505. After
+the Russian capture of Tashkend in 1865, the Amir Muzeffared-din
+proclaimed a holy war against the Russians, who invaded his province
+and captured Samarkand in 1868. By a treaty of 1873, no foreigner may
+be admitted into Bokhara without a Russian passport. The population
+is estimated at 2,000,000. The Amir Syed Abdul Ahad succeeded in
+1885. The Uzbegs are still the dominant race. The religion is
+Mahommedan. The chief towns are Bokhara (about 75,000) and Karshi
+(25,000). The chief products are sheep, goats, camels, horses,
+rice, cotton, silk, corn, fruit, hemp and tobacco. Gold, salt,
+alum and sulphur are the chief minerals. There are cotton, woollen
+and silk manufacturers. Many Indian goods such as shawls, tea,
+drugs, indigo and muslins are imported. The Amir has 11,000 troops,
+4,000 of which are quartered in Bokhara. The Russian Trans-Caspian
+Railway runs through Bokhara and there is steam navigation on the
+Oxus. A telegraph connects Bokhara with Tashkend.
+
+The conquest of Khiva, another Uzbeg State also founded on the
+ruins of Tamerlane's Central Asian Empire, was attempted by Peter
+the Great in 1717 and again in 1839 by the Tsar Nicholas. On the
+pretext that the Khivans had aided the rebellious Kirghiz, the
+Russians invaded Khiva in 1873 and forced the Khan to sign a treaty
+putting the Khanate under Russian government. The reigning sovereign
+is Seyid Mahomed Rahim Khan who succeeded his father in 1865. He was
+born about 1845. The population is estimated at 800,000, including
+400,000 nomad Turcomans. The principal towns are Khiva (about 5,000)
+and New Urgenj (3,000). The religion is Mahommedan. The army consists
+of about 2,000 men. The chief productions are silk and cotton.
+
+[Illustration: KALKSTRASSE AND THE PROMENADE, RIGA.]
+
+In 1898, Russia obtained a lease of twenty-five years from China of
+Point Arthur and Ta-lien-wan with the adjacent seas and territory
+to the north. To this the name of Kwang-Tung was given in 1899. Port
+Arthur, the capital, is a naval station for Russian and Chinese
+ships. At the end of the port a new town, Dalni, has been founded;
+it is connected by rail with the Trans-Siberian railway system.
+
+Russia's history in 1903 was marked by general disquietude and
+turbulence. The disorders among the peasantry in 1902 led to a
+special committee being appointed to inquire into and ameliorate
+their condition and also to improve agriculture. On March 11, 1903,
+the Tsar issued a manifesto promising reform in the government of
+local towns and tolerance in religion. As little or no improvement
+was noticed, strike riots resulted in Slatoust (Ufa) and at
+Nijni-Novgorod, and riots also broke out in the university of St.
+Petersburg. In May, the Governor of Ufa was assassinated. To these
+disturbances, the Anti-Semitic outrages were encouraged at Kishineff
+(Bessarabia) when forty-five Jews were killed, 484 injured, 700
+houses demolished, and 600 houses sacked. Strike riots also broke
+out in South Russia and the Caucasus, particularly in the towns of
+Kief, Odessa, Baku, Rostov, Nikolaieff. Many smaller towns also
+suffered loss of life. Military troops were called out to quell
+the rioters. The policy of Russification was carried on in Finland
+as well as in the more recent acquisitions. The chief interest,
+however, lay in the extension of Russia's diplomatic and military
+policy in the Far East under Admiral Alexeieff (appointed August
+13, 1903).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Russia, by Various
+
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+ <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+ <title>Russia</title>
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+                  font-style: italic; }
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+  p.center      { text-align: center; }
+  p.editor      { text-align: center; font-size: larger; }
+  p.author      { text-align: center; font-style: italic; }
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+  p.image       { text-align: center; margin: 0.5em; }
+  td.center     { text-align: center; }
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+                  margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;
+                  text-align: center; }
+ -->
+ </style>
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Russia, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Russia
+       As Seen and Described by Famous Writers
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Esther Singleton
+
+Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19534]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUSSIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert J. Hall
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 815px;">
+<a name="fig_1">
+<img src="images/fig001.jpg" width="815" height="517" alt="Fig. 1" /></a>
+<p class="image">MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h1>RUSSIA</h1>
+
+<p class="center">
+As <i>Seen</i> and <i>Described</i> by Famous Writers
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<i>Edited and Translated by</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="editor">
+ESTHER SINGLETON
+</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;">
+<i>Author of</i> "Turrets, Towers and Temples," "Great Pictures,"
+and "A Guide to the Opera," and <i>translator of</i> "The Music
+Dramas of Richard Wagner."
+</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin: 2em;">
+WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+New York<br />
+Dodd, Mead and Company<br />
+1909
+</p>
+
+<h2>PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p class="indent">
+This is intended to be a companion volume to <i>Japan</i>, and
+therefore follows the same general plan and arrangement. It aims
+to present in small compass a somewhat comprehensive view of the
+great Muscovite power. After a short description of the country
+and race, we pass to a brief review of the history and religion
+including ritual and ceremonial observances of the Greek Church.
+Next come descriptions of regions, cities and architectural marvels;
+and then follow articles on the various manners and customs of rural
+and town life. The arts of the nation are treated comprehensively;
+and a chapter of the latest statistics concludes the rapid survey.
+The material is all selected from the writings of those who speak
+with authority on the subjects with which they deal.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russian Empire is so vast that it would be impossible to give
+detailed descriptions of all its parts in a work of this size:
+therefore I have been forced to be content with more general
+descriptions of provinces with an occasional addition of a typical
+city.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+E. S.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+<i>New York, April 21, 1904.</i>
+</p>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<table>
+ <tr><th>PART I</th></tr>
+ <tr><td>THE COUNTRY AND RACE</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_1">The Russian Empire</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Prince Kropotkine.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_2">Siberia</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Jean Jacques &Eacute;lis&eacute;e
+   Reclus.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_3">The Russian Races</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>W. R. Morfill.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><th>PART II</th></tr>
+ <tr><td>HISTORY AND RELIGION</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_4">The History of Russia</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>W. R. Morfill.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_5">Church Service</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Alfred Maskell.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_6">The Creeds of Russia</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Ernest W. Lowry.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><th>PART III</th></tr>
+ <tr><td>DESCRIPTIONS</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_7">St. Petersburg</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>J. Beavington Atkinson.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_8">Finland</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Harry De Windt.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_9">Lapland</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Alexander Platonovich
+   Engelhardt.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_10">Moscow (The Kremlin and its
+   treasuries&mdash;The Ancient Regalia&mdash;The Romanoff
+   House)</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Alfred Maskell.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_11">Vassili-Blagennoi (St. Basil the
+   Blessed)</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Th&eacute;ophile Gautier.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_12">Poland</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Thomas Michell.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_13">Kief, the City of Pilgrimage</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>J. Beavington Atkinson.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_14">Nijni-Novgorod</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Antonio Gallenga.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_15">The Volga Basin. (The Great
+   River&mdash;Kasan&mdash;Tsaritzin&mdash;Astrakhan)</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Antonio Gallenga.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_16">Odessa</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Antonio Gallenga.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_17">The Don Cossacks</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Thomas Michell.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_18">In the Caucasus</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>J. Buchan Teller.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_19">Khiva</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Fred Burnaby.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_20">The Trans-Siberian Railway</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>William Durban.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><th>PART IV</th></tr>
+ <tr><td>MANNERS AND CUSTOMS</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_21">High Life in Russia</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>The Countess of Galloway.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_22">Rural Life in Russia</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Lady Verney</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_23">Food and Drink</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>H. Sutherland Edwards.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_24">Carnival-Time and Easter</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>A. Nicol Simpson.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_25">Russian Tea and Tea-Houses</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>H. Sutherland Edwards.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_26">How Russia Amuses Itself</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Fred Whishaw.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_27">The Kirghiz and their Horses</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Fred Burnaby.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_28">Winter in Moscow</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>H. Sutherland Edwards.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_29">A Journey by Sleigh</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Fred Burnaby.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td class="center">PART V</td></tr>
+ <tr><td>ART AND LITERATURE</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_30">Russian Architecture</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Eug&egrave;ne Emmanuel
+   Viollet-le-Duc.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_31">Sculpture and Painting</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>Philippe Berthelot.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_32">Russian Music</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>A. E. Keeton.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_33">Russian Literature</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>W. R. Morfill.</i></td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><th>PART VI</th></tr>
+ <tr><td>STATISTICS</td></tr>
+
+ <tr><td><a href="#chapter_34">Present Conditions</a></td></tr>
+ <tr><td class="center"><i>E. S.</i></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<!-- This section header was not italiized -->
+<h2 style="font-style: normal;">ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<p>
+<a href="#fig_1">MOSCOW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_2">ARCHANGEL</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_3">REVEL</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_4">SIBERIAN NATIVES</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_5">SAMOJEDES OF NOVA ZEMBLA</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_6">ROOM OF THE TSAR MICHAILOWITCH, MOSCOW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_7">CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_8">A RELIGIOUS PROCESSION, KOLA</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_9">SHRINE IN THE CONVENT SOLOVETSKII, KOLA</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_10">ST. PETERSBURG</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_11">THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_12">HELSINGFORS, FINLAND</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_13">REINDEER TRAVELLING</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_14">MOSCOW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_15">THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_16">VASSILI&mdash;BLAGENNOI (ST. BASIL THE BLESSED),
+  MOSCOW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_17">NOWO ZJAZD STREET, WARSAW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_18">HOTEL DEVILLE, WARSAW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_19">THE DNIEPER AT KIEF</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_20">LA LAVRA, KIEF</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_21">NIJNI&mdash;NOVGOROD (BRIDGE OF THE FAIR)</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_22">FROM THE RAMPARTS OF THE KREMLIN,
+  NIJNI&mdash;NOVGOROD</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_23">PLACE TUREMNAJA, ODESSA</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_24">SEBASTOPOL</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_25">KHARKOFF</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_26">TIFLIS</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_27">THE WINTER PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_28">RUSSIAN FARM SCENE</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_29">THE TSAR'S DINING-ROOM, MOSCOW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_30">ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL, ST. PETERSBURG</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_31">ST. ANNE RESTAURANT, WIBORG</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_32">THE RED SQUARE, MOSCOW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_33">CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER, MOSCOW</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_34">STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT AND THE ADMIRALTY PALACE,
+  ST. PETERSBURG</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_35">THE THEATRE, ODESSA</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_36">THE LIBRARY, ODESSA</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_37">THE TSAR NICHOLAS</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_38">THE TSARINA</a><br />
+<a href="#fig_39">KALKSTRASSE AND PROMENADE, RIGA</a>
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_1">THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">PRINCE KROPOTKINE</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russian Empire is a very extensive territory in eastern Europe
+and northern Asia, with an area exceeding 8,500,000 square miles,
+or one-sixth of the land surface of the globe (one twenty-third
+of its whole superficies). It is, however, but thinly peopled on
+the average, including only one-fourteenth of the inhabitants of
+the earth. It is almost entirely confined to the cold and temperate
+zones. In Nova Zembla (Novaya Zemlya) and the Taimir peninsula, it
+projects within the Arctic Circle as far as 77&deg; 2' and 77&deg;
+40' N. latitude; while its southern extremities reach 38&deg; 50'
+in Armenia, about 35&deg; on the Afghan frontier, and 42&deg; 30'
+on the coasts of the Pacific. To the West it advances as far as
+20&deg; 40' E. longitude in Lapland, 18&deg; 32' in Poland, and
+29&deg; 42' on the Black Sea; and its eastern limit&mdash;East
+Cape in the Bering Strait&mdash;extends to 191&deg; E. longitude.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Arctic Ocean&mdash;comprising the White, Barents, and Kara
+Seas&mdash;and the northern Pacific, that is the Seas of Bering,
+Okhotsk, and Japan, bound it on the north and east. The Baltic,
+with its two deep indentations, the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland,
+limits it on the north-west; and two sinuous lines of frontier
+separate it respectively from Sweden and Norway on the north-west,
+and from Prussia, Austria and Roumania on the west. The southern
+frontier is still unsettled. In Asia beyond the Caspian, the southern
+boundary of the empire remains vague; the advance into the Turcoman
+Steppes and Afghan Turkestan, and on the Pamir plateau is still in
+progress. Bokhara and Khiva, though represented as vassal khanates,
+are in reality mere dependencies of Russia. An approximately settled
+frontier-line begins only farther east, where the Russian and Chinese
+empires meet on the borders of eastern Turkestan, Mongolia and
+Manchuria.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russia has no oceanic possessions, and has abandoned those she
+owned in the last century; her islands are mere appendages of the
+mainland to which they belong. Such are the Aland archipelago,
+Hochland, T&uuml;tters, Dag&ouml; and Osel in the Baltic Sea; Nova
+Zembla, with Kolgueff and Vaigatch, in the Barents Sea; the Solovetsky
+Islands in the White Sea; the New Siberian archipelago and the
+small group of the Medvyezhii Islands off the Siberian coast; the
+Commandor Islands off Kamchatka; the Shantar Islands and Saghalin
+in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Aleutian archipelago was sold to the
+United States in 1867, together with Alaska, and in 1874 the Kurile
+Islands were ceded to Japan.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 813px;">
+<a name="fig_2">
+<img src="images/fig002.jpg" width="813" height="511" alt="Fig. 2" /></a>
+<p class="image">ARCHANGEL.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A vast variety of physical features is obviously to be expected in
+a territory like this, which comprises on the one side the cotton
+and silk regions of Turkestan and Trans-caucasia, and on the other
+the moss and lichen-clothed Arctic <i>tundras</i> and the Verkhoyansk
+Siberian pole of cold&mdash;the dry Transcaspian deserts and the
+regions watered by the monsoons on the coasts of the Sea of Japan.
+Still, if the border regions, that is, two narrow belts in the
+north and south, be left out of account, a striking uniformity of
+physical feature prevails. High plateaus, like those of Pamir (the
+"Roof of the World") or of Armenia, and high mountain chains like
+the snow-clad summits of the Caucasus, the Alay, the Thian-Shan,
+the Sayan, are met with only on the outskirts of the empire.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Viewed broadly by the physical geographer, it appears as occupying
+the territories to the north-west of that great plateau-belt of the
+old continent&mdash;the backbone of Asia&mdash;which spreads with
+decreasing height and width from the high table-land of Tibet and
+Pamir to the lower plateaus of Mongolia, and thence north-eastwards
+through the Vitim region to the furthest extremity of Asia. It
+may be said to consist of the immense plains and flat-lands which
+extend between the plateau-belt and the Arctic Ocean, including
+all the series of parallel chains and hilly spurs which skirt the
+plateau-belt on the north-west. It extends over the plateau itself,
+and crosses it beyond Lake Baikal only.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A broad belt of hilly tracts&mdash;in every respect Alpine in character,
+and displaying the same variety of climate and organic life as Alpine
+tracts usually do&mdash;skirts the plateau-belt throughout its
+length on the north and north-west, forming an intermediate region
+between the plateaus and the plains. The Caucasus, the Elburz, the
+Kopetdagh, and Paropamisus, the intricate and imperfectly known
+network of mountains west of the Pamir, the Thian-Shan and Ala-tau
+mountain regions, and farther north-east the Altai, the still unnamed
+complex of Minusinsk mountains, the intricate mountain-chains of
+Sayan, with those of the Olekma, Vitim, and Aldan, all of which are
+ranged <i>en &eacute;chelon</i>,&mdash;the former from north-west
+to south-east, and the others from south-west to north-east&mdash;all
+these belong to one immense Alpine belt bordering that of the plateaus.
+These have long been known to Russian colonists, who, seeking to
+escape religious persecutions and exactions by the state, early
+penetrated into and rapidly pushed their small settlements up the
+better valleys of these tracts, and continued to spread everywhere as
+long as they found no obstacles in the shape of a former population
+or in unfavourable climatic conditions.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+As for the flat-lands which extend from the Alpine hill-foots to
+the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and assume the character either of
+dry deserts in the Aral-Caspian depression, or of low table-lands
+in central Russia and eastern Siberia, of lake-regions in north-west
+Russia and Finland, or of marshy prairies in western Siberia, and
+of <i>tundras</i> in the north,&mdash;their monotonous surfaces
+are diversified by only a few, and these for the most part low,
+hilly tracts.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+As to the picturesque Bureya mountains on the Amur, the forest-clothed
+Sikhota-alin on the Pacific, and the volcanic chains of Kamchatka,
+they belong to quite another orographical world; they are the
+border-ridges of the terraces by which the great plateau-belt descends
+to the depths of the Pacific Ocean. It is owing to these leading
+orographical features&mdash;divined by Carl Ritter, but only within
+the present day revealed by geographical research&mdash;that so
+many of the great rivers of the old continent are comprised within
+the limits of the Russian empire. Taking rise on the plateau-belt,
+or in its Alpine outskirts, they flow first, like the upper Rhone
+and Rhine, along high longitudinal valleys formerly filled up with
+great lakes; next they find their way through the rocky walls;
+and finally they enter the lowlands, where they become navigable,
+and, describing great curves to avoid here and there the minor
+plateaus and hilly tracts, they bring into water-communication
+with one another places thousands of miles apart. The double
+river-systems of the Volga and Kama, the Obi and Irtish, the Angara
+and Yenisei, the Lena and Vitim on the Arctic slope, the Amur and
+Sungari on the Pacific slope, are instances. They were the true
+channels of Russian colonization.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A broad depression&mdash;the Aral-Caspian desert&mdash;has arisen
+where the plateau-belt has reached its greatest height and suddenly
+changes its direction from a north-western into a north-eastern
+one; this desert is now filled only to a small extent by the salt
+waters of the Caspian, Aral and Balkash inland seas; but it bears
+unmistakable traces of having been during Post-Pliocene times an
+immense inland basin. There the Volga, the Ural, the Sir Daria,
+and the Oxus discharge their waters without reaching the ocean, but
+continue to bring life to the rapidly drying Transcaspian Steppes,
+or connect by their river network, as the Volga does, the most
+remote parts of European Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The above-described features of the physical geography of the empire
+explain the relative uniformity of this wide territory, in conjunction
+with the variety of physical features on the outskirts. They explain
+also the rapidity of the expansion of Sclavonic colonization over
+these thinly-peopled regions; and they also throw light upon the
+internal cohesion of the empire, which cannot fail to strike the
+traveller as he crosses this immense territory, and finds everywhere
+the same dominating race, the same features of life. In fact, as
+their advance from the basins of the Volkhoff and Dnieper to the foot
+of the Altai and Sayan mountains, that is, along nearly a quarter
+of the earth's circumference, the Russian colonizers could always
+find the same physical conditions, the same forest and prairies as
+they had left at home, the same facilities for agriculture, only
+modified somewhat by minor topographical features. New conditions of
+climate and soil, and consequently new cultures and civilizations,
+the Russians met with, in their expansion towards the south and
+east, only beyond the Caucasus in the Aral-Caspian region, and
+in the basin of the Usuri on the Pacific coast. Favoured by these
+conditions, the Russians not only conquered northern Asia&mdash;they
+colonized it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russian Empire falls into two great subdivisions, the European
+and the Asiatic, the latter of which, representing an aggregate of
+nearly 6,500,000 square miles, with a population of only sixteen
+million inhabitants may be considered as held by colonies. The
+European dominions comprise European Russia, Finland, which is, in
+fact, a separate nationality treated to some extent as an allied
+state, and Poland, whose very name has been erased from official
+documents, but which nevertheless continues to pursue its own
+development. The Asiatic dominions comprise the following great
+subdivisions:&mdash;Caucasia, under a separate governor-general; the
+Transcaspian region, which is under the governor-general of Caucasus;
+the Kirghiz Steppes; Turkestan under separate governors-general,
+Western Siberia and Eastern Siberia; and the Amur region, which
+last comprises also the Pacific coast region and Kamchatka.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+<i>Climate of Russia in Europe</i>.&mdash;Notwithstanding the fact
+that Russia extends from north to south through twenty-six degrees
+of latitude, the climate of its different portions, apart from
+the Crimea and the Caucasus, presents a striking uniformity. The
+aerial currents&mdash;cyclones, anti-cyclones and dry south-east
+winds&mdash;extend over wide surfaces and cross the flat plains
+freely. Everywhere we find a cold winter and a hot summer, both
+varying in their duration, but differing little in the extremes
+of temperature recorded.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Throughout Russia the winter is of long continuance. The last days
+of frost are experienced for the most part in April, but also in
+May to the north of fifty-five degrees. The spring is exceptionally
+beautiful in central Russia; late as it usually is, it sets in with
+vigour and develops with a rapidity which gives to this season in
+Russia a special charm, unknown in warmer climates; and the rapid
+melting of snow at the same time raises the rivers, and renders
+a great many minor streams navigable for a few weeks. But a return
+of cold weather, injurious to vegetation, is observed throughout
+central and eastern Russia between May 18 and 24, so that it is only
+in June that warm weather sets in definitely, reaching its maximum
+in the first half of July (or of August on the Black Sea coast). The
+summer is much warmer than might be supposed; in south-eastern
+Russia it is much warmer than in the corresponding latitudes of
+France, and really hot weather is experienced everywhere. It does
+not, however, prevail for long, and in the first half of September
+the first frosts begin to be experienced on the middle Urals; they
+reach western and southern Russia in the first days of October,
+and are felt on the Caucasus about the middle of November. The
+temperature descends so rapidly that a month later, about October 10
+on the middle Urals and November 15 throughout Russia the thermometer
+ceases to rise above the freezing-point. The rivers rapidly freeze;
+towards November 20 all the streams of the White Sea basin are
+covered with ice, and so remain for an average of 167 days; those
+of the Baltic, Black Sea, and Caspian basins freeze later, but
+about December 20 nearly all the rivers of the country are highways
+for sledges. The Volga remains frozen for a period varying between
+150 days in the north and 90 days at Astrakhan, the Don for 100
+to 110 days, and the Dneiper for 83 to 122 days. On the Dwina ice
+prevents navigation for 125 days and even the Vistula at Warsaw
+remains frozen for 77 days. The lowest temperatures are experienced
+in January, in which month the average is as low as 20&deg; to
+5&deg; Fahr. throughout Russia; in the west only does it rise above
+22&deg;.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+<i>The flora and fauna of Russia</i>.&mdash;The flora of Russia,
+which represents an intermediate link between those of Germany
+and Siberia, is strikingly uniform over a very large area. Though
+not poor at any given place, it appears so if the space occupied by
+Russia be taken into account, only 3,300 species of phanerogams and
+ferns being known. Four great regions may be distinguished:&mdash;the
+Arctic, the Forest, the Steppe, and the Circum-Mediterranean.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The <i>Arctic Region</i> comprises the <i>tundras</i> of the Arctic
+littoral beyond the northern limit of forests, which last closely
+follows the coast-line with bends towards the north in the river
+valleys (70&deg; N. lat. in Finland, on the Arctic Circle about
+Archangel, 68&deg; N. on the Urals, 71&deg; on West Siberia). The
+shortness of summer, the deficiency of drainage and the thickness
+of the layer of soil which is frozen through in winter are the
+elements which go to the making of the characteristic features of
+the <i>tundras</i>. Their flora is far nearer those of northern
+Siberia and North America than that of central Europe. Mosses and
+lichens cover them, as also the birch, the dwarf willow, and a
+variety of shrubs; but where the soil is drier, and humus has been
+able to accumulate, a variety of herbaceous flowering plants, some
+of which are familiar also in western Europe, make their appearance.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The <i>Forest Region</i> of the Russian botanists occupies the
+greater part of the country, from the Arctic <i>tundras</i> to the
+Steppes, and it maintains over this immense surface a remarkable
+uniformity of character. Viewed as a whole, the flora of the forest
+region must be regarded as European-Siberian; and though certain
+species disappear towards the east, while new ones make their
+appearance, it maintains, on the whole, the same characters throughout
+from Poland to Kamchatka. Thus the beech, a characteristic tree
+of western Europe, is unable to face the continental climate of
+Russia, and does not penetrate beyond Poland and the south-western
+provinces, reappearing again in the Crimea. The silver fir does
+not extend over Russia, and the oak does not cross the Urals. On
+the other hand, several Asiatic species (Siberian pine, larch,
+cedar) grow freely in the north-east, while several shrubs and
+herbaceous plants, originally from the Asiatic Steppes, have spread
+into the south-east. But all these do not greatly alter the general
+character of the vegetation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The <i>Region of the Steppes</i>, which covers all Southern Russia,
+may be subdivided into two zones&mdash;an intermediate zone and
+that of the Steppes proper. The Ante-Steppe of the preceding region
+and the intermediate zone of the Steppes include those tracts where
+the West-European climate struggles with the Asiatic, and where a
+struggle is being carried on between the forest and the Steppe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Steppes proper are very fertile elevated plains, slightly undulated,
+and intersected by numerous ravines which are dry in summer. The
+undulations are scarcely apparent to the eye as it takes in a wide
+prospect under a blazing sun and with a deep-blue sky overhead. Not
+a tree is to be seen, the few woods and thickets being hidden in
+the depressions and deep valleys of the rivers. On the thick sheet
+of black earth by which the Steppe is covered a luxuriant vegetation
+develops in spring; after the old grass has been burned a bright
+green covers immense stretches, but this rapidly disappears under
+the burning rays of the sun and the hot easterly winds. The colouring
+of the Steppe changes as if by magic, and only the silvery plumes of
+the <i>kovyl</i> (<i>Stipa pennata</i>) wave under the wind, giving
+the Steppe the aspect of a bright, yellow sea. For days together the
+traveller sees no other vegetation; even this, however, disappears
+as he nears the regions recently left dry from the Caspian, where
+salted clays covered with a few <i>Salsolace&oelig;</i>, or mere sands,
+take the place of the black earth. Here begins the Aral-Caspian
+desert. The Steppe, however, is not so devoid of trees as at first
+sight appears. Innumerable clusters of wild cherries, wild apricots,
+and other deep-rooted shrubs grow in the depressions of the surface,
+and on the slopes of the ravines, giving the Steppe that charm which
+manifests itself in popular poetry. Unfortunately, the spread of
+cultivation is fatal to these oases (they are often called "islands"
+by the inhabitants); the axe and the plough ruthlessly destroy them.
+The vegetation of the <i>poimy</i> and <i>zaimischas</i> in the
+marshy bottoms of the ravines, and in the valleys of streams and
+rivers, is totally different. The moist soil gives free development to
+thickets of various willows, bordered with dense walls of worm-wood
+and needle-bearing <i>Composita</i>, and interspersed with rich but
+not extensive prairies harbouring a great variety of herbaceous
+plants; while in the deltas of the Black Sea rivers impenetrable
+masses of rush shelter a forest fauna. But cultivation rapidly
+changes the physiognomy of the Steppe. The prairies are superseded
+by wheat-fields, and flocks of sheep destroy the true steppe-grass
+(<i>Stipa-pennata</i>), which retires farther east.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The <i>Circum-Mediterranean Region</i> is represented by a narrow
+strip of land on the south coast of the Crimea, where a climate similar
+to that of the Mediterranean coast has permitted the development
+of a flora closely resembling that of the valley of the Arno.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 816px;">
+<a name="fig_3">
+<img src="images/fig003.jpg" width="816" height="515" alt="Fig. 3" /></a>
+<p class="image">REVEL</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The fauna of European Russia does not very materially differ from
+that of western Europe. In the forests not many animals which have
+disappeared from western Europe have held their ground; while in
+the Urals only a few&mdash;now Siberian, but formerly also
+European&mdash;are met with. On the whole, Russia belongs to the
+same zoo-geographical region as central Europe and northern Asia,
+the same fauna extending in Siberia as far as the Yenisei and Lena.
+In south-eastern Russia, however, towards the Caspian, we find a
+notable admixture of Asiatic species, the deserts of that part of
+Russia belonging in reality rather to the Aral-Caspian depression
+than to Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+For the zoo-geographer only three separate sub-regions appear on
+the East-European plains&mdash;the <i>tundras</i>, including the
+Arctic islands, the forest region, especially the coniferous part
+of it, and the Ante-Steppe and Steppes of the black-earth region.
+The Ural mountains might be distinguished as a fourth sub-region,
+while the south-coast of the Crimea and Caucasus, as well as the
+Caspian deserts, have their own individuality.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+As for the adjoining seas, the fauna of the Arctic Ocean off the
+Norwegian coast corresponds, in its western parts at least, to that
+of the North Atlantic Gulf Stream. The White Sea and the Arctic
+Ocean to the east of Svyatoi Nos belong to a separate zoological
+region connected with, and hardly separable from, that part of
+the Arctic Ocean which extends along the Siberian coast as far as
+to about the Lena. The Black Sea, of which the fauna was formerly
+little known but now appears to be very rich, belongs to the
+Mediterranean region, slightly modified, while the Caspian partakes
+of the characteristic fauna inhabiting the lakes and seas of the
+Aral-Caspian depression.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the region of the <i>tundras</i> life has to contend with such
+unfavourable conditions that it cannot be abundant. Still the reindeer
+frequents it for its lichens, and on the drier slopes of the moraine
+deposits four species of lemming, hunted by the <i>Canis lagopus</i>,
+find quarters. Two species of the white partridge, the lark, one
+<i>Plectrophanes</i>, two or three species of <i>Sylvia</i>, one
+<i>Phylloscopus</i>, and the <i>Motacilla</i> must be added. Numberless
+aquatic birds, however, visit it for breeding purposes. Ducks, divers,
+geese, gulls, all the Russian species of snipes and sandpipers,
+etc., cover the marshes of the <i>tundras</i>, or the crags of the
+Lapland coast.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The forest region, and especially its coniferous portion, though
+it has lost some of its representatives within historic times, is
+still rich. The reindeer, rapidly disappearing, is now met with
+only in Olonetz and Vologda; the <i>Cervus pygargus</i> is found
+everywhere, and reaches Novgorod. The weasel, the fox and the hare
+are exceedingly common, as also the wolf and the bear in the north;
+but the glutton, the lynx, and even the elk are rapidly disappearing.
+The wild boar is confined to the basin of the Dwina, and the <i>Bison
+eropea</i> to the Bielovyezha forests. The sable has quite disappeared,
+being found only on the Urals; the beaver is found at a few places
+in Minsk, and the otter is very rare. On the other hand, the hare
+and also the grey partridge, the hedgehog, the quail, the lark, the
+rook, and the stork find their way into the coniferous region as
+the forests are cleared. The avifauna is very rich; it includes all
+the forest and garden birds which are known in western Europe, as
+well as a very great variety of aquatic birds. Hunting and shooting
+give occupation to a great number of persons. The reptiles are few.
+As for fishes, all those of western Europe, except the carp, are met
+with in the lakes and rivers in immense quantities, the characteristic
+feature of the region being its wealth in <i>Coregoni</i> and in
+<i>Salmonid&oelig;</i> generally.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the Ante-Steppe the forest species proper, such as <i>Pteromys
+volans</i> and <i>Tamias striatus</i>, disappear, but the common
+squirrel, the weasel, and the bear are still met with in the forests.
+The hare is increasing rapidly, as well as the fox. The avifauna,
+of course, becomes poorer; nevertheless the woods of the Steppe,
+and still more the forests of the Ante-Steppe, give refuge to many
+birds, even to the hazel-hen, the woodcock and the black-grouse.
+The fauna of the thickets at the bottom of the river-valleys is
+decidedly, rich and includes aquatic birds. The destruction of
+the forests and the advance of wheat into the prairies are rapidly
+impoverishing the Steppe fauna. The various species of rapacious
+animals are disappearing, together with the colonies of marmots; the
+insectivores are also becoming scarce in consequence of the destruction
+of insects, while vermin, such as the suslik (<i>Spermophilus</i>),
+become a real plague, as also the destructive insects which have
+been a scourge to agriculture during recent years. The absence of
+<i>Coregoni</i> is a characteristic feature of the fish-fauna of
+the Steppes; the carp, on the contrary, reappears, and the rivers
+are rich in sturgeons. On the Volga below Nijni Novgorod the sturgeon,
+and others of the same family, as also a very great variety of
+ganoids and <i>Teleostei</i>, appear in such quantities that they
+give occupation to nearly 100,000 people. The mouths of the Caspian
+rivers are especially celebrated for their wealth of fish.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_2">SIBERIA</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">JEAN JACQUES &Eacute;LIS&Eacute;E RECLUS</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Siberia is emphatically the "Land of the North." Its name has by
+some etymologists been identified with "Severia," a term formerly
+applied to various northern regions of European Russia. The city
+of Sibir, which has given its name to the whole of North Asia,
+was so called only by the Russians, its native name being Isker.
+The Cossacks, coming from the south and centre of Russia, may have
+naturally regarded as pre-eminently the "Northern Land" those cold
+regions of the Ob basin lying beyond the snowy mountains which
+form the "girdle of the world."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Long before the conquest of Sibir by the Cossacks, this region was
+known to the Arab traders and missionaries. The Tatars of Sibir were
+Mahommedans and this town was the centre of the great fur trade. The
+Russians themselves had constant relations with the inhabitants of
+the Asiatic slopes of the Urals, and the Novgorodians were acquainted
+with the regions stretching "beyond the portages." Early in the
+Sixteenth Century the Moscow Tsars, heirs of the Novgorod power,
+called themselves lords of Obdoria and Kondina; that is of all the Lower
+Ob basin between the Konda and the Irtish confluence, and the station
+of Obdorsk, under the Arctic Circle. Their possessions&mdash;that is,
+the hunting grounds visited by the Russian agents of the Strogonov
+family&mdash;consequently skirted the great river for a distance of
+600 miles. But the Slav power was destined soon to be consolidated
+by conquest, and such is the respect inspired by force that the
+successful expedition of a Cossack brigand, on whose head a price
+had been set, was supposed to have led to the discovery of Siberia,
+although really preceded by many visits of a peaceful character.
+Even still the conquering Yermak is often regarded as a sort of
+explorer of the lands beyond the Urals. But he merely establishes
+himself as a master where the Strogonov traders had been received
+as guests. Maps of the Ob and of the Ostiak country had already
+been published by Sebastian Munster and by Herberstein a generation
+before the Cossacks entered Sibir. The very name of this town is
+marked on Munster's map.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In 1579, Yermak began the second plundering expedition, which in
+two years resulted in the capture of the Tatar kingdom. When the
+conquerors entered Sibir they had been reduced from over 800 to
+about 400 men. But this handful represented the power of the Tsars
+and Yermak could sue for pardon, with the offer of a kingdom as
+his ransom. Before the close of the Sixteenth Century the land had
+been finally subdued. Sibir itself, which stood on a high bluff on
+the right bank of the Irtish, exists no more, having probably been
+swept away by the erosions of the stream. But ten miles farther down
+another capital, Tobolsk, arose, also on the right bank, and the
+whole of the north was gradually added to the Tsar's dominions. The
+fur trappers, more even than the soldiers, were the real conquerors
+of Siberia. Nevertheless, many battles had to be fought down to
+the middle of the Seventeenth Century. The Buriats of the Angora
+basin, the Koriaks, and other tribes long held out; but most of
+the land was peacefully acquired, and permanently secured by the
+forts erected by the Cossacks at the junction of the rivers, at
+the entrance of the mountain passes, and other strategic points.
+History records no other instance of such a vast dominion so rapidly
+acquired, and with such slender means, by a handful of men acting
+mostly on their own impulse, without chiefs or instructions from
+the centre of authority.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Even China allowed the Cossacks to settle on the banks of the Amur,
+though the treaty of Nerchinsk required the Russians to withdraw
+from that basin in 1689. But during the present century they have
+been again attracted to this region, and the Government of St.
+Petersburg is now fully alive to the advantages of a free access
+by a large navigable stream to the Pacific seaboard. Hence, in
+1851, Muraviov established the factory of Nikolaievsk, near the
+mouth of the Amur, and those of Mariinsk and Alexandrovsk at either
+end of the portage connecting that river with the Bay of Castries.
+During the Crimean war its left bank was definitely secured by a
+line of fortified posts, and in 1859 a ukase confirmed the possession
+of a territory torn from China in time of peace. Lastly, in 1860,
+while the Anglo-French forces were entering Pekin, Russia obtained
+without a blow the cession of the region south of the Amur and east
+of the Ussuri, stretching along the coast to the Corean frontier.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+And thus was completed the reduction of the whole of North Asia,
+a territory of itself alone far more extensive than the European
+continent. In other respects there is, of course, no point of comparison
+between these two regions. This Siberian world, where vast wildernesses
+still remain to be explored, has a foreign trade surpassed by that
+of many a third-rate European seaport, such as Dover or Boulogne.
+Embracing a thirteenth part of the dry land on the surface of the
+globe, its population falls short of that of London alone; it is
+even more sparsely peopled than Caucasia and Turkestan, having
+little over one inhabitant to 1,000 acres.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Accurate surveys of the physical features and frontier-lines are
+still far from complete. Only quite recently the first circumnavigation
+of the Old World round the northern shores of Siberia has been
+accomplished by the Swedish explorer, Nordenskj&ouml;ld. The early
+attempts made by Willoughby, Chancellor, and Burrough failed even
+to reach the Siberian coast. Hoping later on to reach China by
+ascending the Ob to the imaginary Lake Kita&iuml;&mdash;that is,
+Kathay, or China&mdash;the English renewed their efforts to discover
+the "north-east passage," and in 1580 two vessels, commanded by
+Arthur Ket and Charles Jackman, sailed for the Arctic Ocean; but
+they never got beyond the Kara Sea. The Dutch succeeded no better,
+none of the voyages undertaken by Barents and others between 1594
+and 1597 reaching farther than the Spitzbergen and Novaya Zembla
+waters. Nor were these limits exceeded by Hendrick Hudson in 1608.
+This was the last attempt made by the navigators of West Europe;
+but the Russian traders and fishers of the White Sea were familiar
+with the routes to the Ob and Yenisei Gulfs, as is evident from
+a map published in 1600 by Boris Godunov. However, sixteen years
+afterwards the navigation of these waters was interdicted under pain
+of death, lest foreigners should discover the way to the Siberian
+coast.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 822px;">
+<a name="fig_4">
+<img src="images/fig004.jpg" width="822" height="557" alt="Fig. 4" /></a>
+<p class="image">SIBERIAN NATIVES.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The exploration of this seaboard had thus to be prosecuted in Siberia
+itself by means of vessels built for the river navigation. In 1648,
+the Cossack Dejnev sailed with a flotilla of small craft from the
+Kol&icirc;ma round the north-east extremity of Asia, passing long
+before the birth of Bering through the strait which now bears the
+name of that navigator. Stadukhin also explored these eastern seas
+in search of the islands full of fossil ivory, of which he had heard
+from the natives. In 1735, Pronchishchev and Lasinius embarked
+at Yakutsk and sailed down the Lena, exploring its delta and
+neighbouring coasts. Pronchishchev reached a point east of the
+Taimir peninsula, but failed to double the headlands between the
+Lena and the Yenisei estuaries. The expedition begun by Laptiev in
+1739, after suffering shipwreck, was continued overland, resulting
+in the exploration of the Taimir peninsula and the discovery of the
+North Cape of the Old World, Pliny's Tabin, and the Cheluskin of
+modern maps, so named from the pilot who accompanied Pronchishchev
+and Laptiev. The western seaboard between the Yenisei and Ob estuaries
+had already been surveyed by Ovtzin and Minin in 1737-9.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+But the problem was already being attacked from the side of the
+Pacific Ocean. In 1728, the Danish navigator, Bering, in the service
+of Russia, crossed Siberia overland to the Pacific, whence he sailed
+through the strait now named from him, and by him first revealed
+to the West, though known to the Siberian Cossacks eighty years
+previously. Even Bering himself, hugging the Asiatic coast, had
+not descried the opposite shores of America, and was uncertain as
+to the exact position of the strait. This point was not cleared
+up till Cook's voyage of 1778, and even after that the Sakhalin,
+Yezo and Kurile waters still remained to be explored. The shores
+of the mainland and islands were first traced by La P&eacute;rouse,
+who determined the insular character of Sakhalin, and ascertained
+the existence of a strait connecting the Japanese Sea with that of
+Okhotsk. This completed the general survey of the whole Siberian
+seaboard.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The scientific exploration of the interior began in the Eighteenth
+Century with Messerschmidt, followed by Gmelin, M&uuml;ller, and
+Delisle de la Croy&egrave;re, who determined many important physical
+points between the years 1733 and 1742. The region stretching beyond
+Lake Baikal was explored by Pallas and his associates in 1770-3.
+The expeditions, interrupted by the great wars following on the
+French Revolution, were resumed in 1828 by the Norwegian Hansteen,
+whose memorable expedition in company with Erman had such important
+results for the study of terrestrial magnetism. While Hansteen
+and Erman were still prosecuting their labours in every branch
+of natural science, Alexander von Humboldt, Ehrenberg, and Gustav
+Rose made a short visit to Siberia, which, however, remained one
+of the most important in the history of science. Middendorff's
+journeys to North and East Siberia had also some very valuable
+results, and were soon followed, in 1854, by the "expedition to
+Siberia" undertaken by Schwartz, Schmidt, Glehn, Usoltzev, and
+associates, extending over the whole region of the Trans-baikal
+to the Lena and northern tributaries of the Amur. Thus began the
+uninterrupted series of modern journeys, which are now being
+systematically continued in every part of Siberia, and which promise
+soon to leave no blanks on the chart of that region.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The work of geographical discovery, properly so called, may be
+said to have been brought to a close by Nordenskj&ouml;ld's recent
+determination of the north-east passage, vainly attempted by Willoughby,
+Barents, and so many other illustrious navigators.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Such a vast region as Siberia, affected in the west by Atlantic,
+in the east by Pacific influences, and stretching north and south
+across 29&deg; of latitude, must obviously present great diversities
+of climate. Even this bleak land has its temperate zones, which the
+Slav colonists are fond of calling their "Italies." Nevertheless
+as compared with Europe, Siberia may, on the whole, be regarded as
+a country of extreme temperatures&mdash;relatively great heats,
+and, above all, intense colds. The very term "Siberian" has justly
+become synonymous with a land of winds, frosts, and snows. The mean
+annual temperature in this region comprised between the rivers
+Anabara and Indigirka is 20&deg; Fahr. below freezing point. The
+pole of cold, oscillating diversely with the force of the lateral
+pressure from Yakutsk to the Lena estuary, is the meteorological
+centre round which the atmosphere revolves. Here are to a large
+extent prepared the elements of the climate of West Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Travellers speak of the Siberian winters with mingled feelings
+of terror and rapture. An infinite silence broods over the
+land&mdash;all is buried in deep sleep. The animals hibernate in
+their dens, the streams have ceased to flow, disappearing beneath
+the ice and snow; the earth, of a dazzling whiteness in the centre
+of the landscape, but grey in the distance, nowhere offers a single
+object to arrest the gaze. The monotony of endless space is broken
+by no abrupt lines or vivid tints. The only contrast with the dull
+expanse of land is the everlasting azure sky, along which the sun
+creeps at a few degrees only above the horizon. In these intensely
+cold latitudes it rises and sets with hard outlines, unsoftened by
+the ruddy haze elsewhere encircling it on the edge of the horizon.
+Yet such is the strength of its rays that the snow melts on the
+housetop exposed to its glare, while in the shade the temperature
+is 40&deg; to 50&deg; below freezing point. At night, when the
+firmament is not aglow with the many-tinted lights and silent
+coruscations of the aurora borealis, the zodiacal light and the
+stars still shine with intense brightness.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+To this severe winter, which fissures the surface and rends the
+rocks of the rivers into regular basalt-like columns, there succeeds
+a sudden and delightful spring. So instantaneous is the change that
+nature seems as if taken by surprise and rudely awakened. The delicate
+green of the opening leaf, the fragrance of the budding flowers,
+the intoxicating balm of the atmosphere, the radiant brightness of
+the heavens, all combine to impart to mere existence a voluptuous
+gladness. To Siberians visiting the temperate climes of Western
+Europe, spring seems to be unknown beyond their lands. But these
+first days of new life are followed by a chill, gusty and changeful
+interval, arising from the atmospheric disturbances caused by the
+thawing of the vast snowy wastes. A relapse is then experienced
+analogous to that too often produced in England by late east winds.
+The apple blossom is now nipped by the night frosts falling in the
+latter part of May. Hence no apples can be had in East Siberia,
+although the summer heats are otherwise amply sufficient for the
+ripening of fruit. After the fleeting summer, winter weather again
+sets in. It will often freeze at night in the middle of July; and
+after the 10th of August the sear leaf begins to fall, and in a
+few days all are gone, except perhaps the foliage of the larch.
+The snow will even sometimes settle early in August on the still
+leafy branches, bending and breaking them with its weight. Below
+the surface of the ground, winter reigns uninterrupted even by
+the hottest summers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+With its vast extent and varied climate, Siberia naturally embraces
+several vegetable zones, differing more from each other even than
+those of Europe. The southern Steppes have a characteristic and
+well-marked flora, forming a continuation of that of the Aral,
+Caspian and Volga plains. The treeless northern <i>tundras</i>
+also constitute a vegetable domain as sharply defined as the desert
+itself, while between these two zones of Steppe and <i>tundra</i>
+the forest region of Europe stretches, with many subdivisions,
+west and east right across the continent. Of these subdivisions
+the chief are those of the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, and Amur basins.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Beyond the northern <i>tundras</i> and southern Steppes by far
+the greatest space is occupied by the forest zone. From the Urals
+to Kamchatka the dense <i>taiga</i>, or woodlands are interrupted
+only by the streams, a few natural glades and some tracts under
+cultivation. The term <i>taiga</i> is used in a general way for
+all lands under timber, but east of the Altai it is applied more
+especially to the moist and spongy region overgrown with tangled
+roots and thickets, where the <i>mari</i>, or peat bogs, and marshes
+alternate with the <i>padi</i>, or narrow ravines. The miners call by
+this name the wooded mountains where they go in search of auriferous
+sands. But everywhere the <i>taiga</i> is the same dreary forest,
+without grass, birds, or insects, gloomy and lifeless, and noiseless
+but for the soughing of the wind and crackling of the branches.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The most common tree in the <i>taiga</i> is the larch, which best
+resists the winter frost and summer chills. But the Siberian woodlands
+also include most of the trees common to temperate Europe&mdash;the
+linden, alder, juniper, service, willow, aspen, poplar, birch,
+cherry, apricot&mdash;whose areas are regulated according to the
+nature of the soil, the elevation or aspect of the land. Towards
+the south-east, on the Chinese frontier, the birch is encroaching
+on the indigenous species, and the natives regard this as a sure
+prognostic of the approaching rule of the "White Tsar."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Conflagrations are very frequent in the Siberian forests, caused
+either by lightning, the woodmen, or hunters, and sometimes spreading
+over vast spaces till arrested by rivers, lakes or morasses. One
+of the pleasures of Siberian travelling is the faint odour of the
+woods burning in the distance.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The native flora is extremely rich in berries of every kind, supplying
+food for men and animals.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The extreme eastern regions of the Amur basin and Russian Manchuria,
+being warmer, more humid and fertile, also abound more in animal
+life than the other parts of Asiatic Russia. On the other hand,
+the Siberian bear, deer, roebuck, hare, squirrel, marmot and mole
+are about one-third larger, and often half as heavy again as their
+European congeners. This is doubtless due partly to the greater
+abundance of nourishment along the rivers and shores of Siberia,
+and partly to the fact that for ages the western species have been
+more preyed upon by man, living in a constant state of fear, and
+mostly perishing before attaining their full development.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Arctic Seas abound probably as much as the Pacific Ocean with
+marine animals. Nordenskj&ouml;ld found the Siberian waters very
+rich in molluscs and other lower organisms, implying a corresponding
+abundance of larger animals. Hence fishing, perhaps more than
+navigation, will be the future industry of the Siberian coast
+populations. Cetacea, fishes, molluscs, and other marine organisms
+are cast up in such quantities along both sides of Bering Strait
+that the bears and other omnivorous creatures have here become
+very choice as to their food. But on some parts of the coast in the
+Chukchi country whales are never stranded, and since the arrival of
+the Russians certain species threaten to disappear altogether. The
+<i>Rhytina stelleri</i>, a species of walrus formerly frequenting
+Bering Strait in millions, was completely exterminated between the
+years 1741-68. Many of the fur-bearing animals, which attracted
+the Cossacks from the Urals to the Sea of Okhotsk, and which were
+the true cause of the conquest of Siberia, have become extremely
+rare. Their skins are distinguished, above all others, for their
+great softness, warmth, lightness, and bright colours. The more
+Alpine or continental the climate, the more beautiful and highly
+prized become the furs, which diminish in gloss towards the coast
+and in West Siberia, where the south-west winds prevail. The sables
+of the North Urals are of small value, while those of the Upper
+Lena, fifteen degrees farther south, are worth a king's ransom. Many
+species assume a white coat in winter, whereby they are difficult
+to be distinguished from the surrounding snows. Amongst these are
+the polar hare and fox, the ermine, the campagnol, often even the
+wolf and reindeer, besides the owl, yellow-hammer, and some other
+birds. Those which retain their brown or black colour are mostly
+such as do not show themselves in winter. The fur of the squirrels
+also varies with the surrounding foliage, those of the pine forests
+being ruddy, those of the cedar, <i>taiga</i>, and firs inclining
+to brown, and all varying in intensity of colour with that of the
+vegetation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Other species besides the peltry-bearing animals have diminished
+in numbers since the arrival of the Russian hunters. The reindeer,
+which frequented the South Siberian highlands, and whose domain
+encroached on that of the camel, is now found only in the domestic
+state amongst the Soyotes of the Upper Yenisei and is met with
+in the wild state only in the dwarf forests and <i>tundras</i>
+of the far north. The argali has withdrawn to Mongolia from the
+Siberian mountains and plains, where he was still very common at
+the end of the last century. On the other hand, cold and want of
+food yearly drive great numbers of antelopes and wild horses from
+the Gobi Steppes towards the Siberian lowlands, tigers, wolves
+and other beasts of prey following in their track, and returning
+with them in the early spring. Several new species of animals have
+been introduced by man and modified by crossings in the domestic
+state. In the north, the Samoyeds, Chukchis, and Kamchadales have
+the reindeer and dog, while the horse and ox are everywhere the
+companions of man in the peopled regions of Siberia. The yak has
+been tamed by the Soyotes of the Upper Yenisei, and the camel,
+typical of a distinctly Eastern civilization, follows the nomads of
+the Kirghiz and Mongolian Steppes. All these domesticated animals
+seem to have acquired special qualities and habits from the various
+indigenous or Russian peoples of Siberia.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_3">THE RUSSIAN RACES</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">W. R. MORFILL</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The vast Empire of Russia, as may be readily imagined, is peopled
+by many different races. These may ethnologically be catalogued
+as follows:
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I. Sclavonic races, the most important in numbers and culture. Under
+this head may be classified:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(1) The Great Russians, or Russians properly so called, especially
+occupying the Governments round about Moscow, and from thence scattered
+in the north to Novgorod and Vologda, on the south to Kiev and to
+Voronezh, on the east to Penza, Simbirsk, and Viatka, and on the
+west to the Baltic provinces. Moreover, the Great Russians, as
+the ruling race, are to be found in small numbers in all quarters
+of the Empire. They amount to about 40,000,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(2) Little Russians (Malorossiani), dwelling south of the Russians,
+upon the shores of the Black Sea. These, together with the Rusniaks,
+amount to 16,370,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Cossacks come under these two races.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+To the great Russians belong the Don Cossacks, with those sprung
+from them&mdash;the Kouban, Stavropol, Khoperski, Volga, Mosdok,
+Kizlarski and Grebenski.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 821px;">
+<a name="fig_5">
+<img src="images/fig005.jpg" width="821" height="516" alt="Fig. 5" /></a>
+<p class="image">SAMOYEDES OF NOVA ZEMBLA.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+To the Little Russian: the Malorossiiski, with those sprung from
+them&mdash;the Zaporoghian, Black Sea (Chernomorski), and those
+of Azov and of the Danube.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(3) The White Russians, inhabiting the Western Governments. Their
+number amounts to 4,000,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(4) Poles, living in the former Kingdom of Poland and the Western
+Governments of the Empire. Their number amounts to 5,000,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(5) Servians, Bulgarians, and other Slavs, inhabiting especially
+Bessarabia and the country called New Russia. Their number reaches
+150,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+II. The Non-Sclavonic races comprise either original inhabitants of
+the country who have been subdued by the Russians, or later comers.
+Among races originally inhabiting the country, and subjugated by the
+Russians, are included&mdash;the Lithuanians and Letts, the Finns,
+the Samoyeds, the Mongol-Manzhurians, the races of eastern Siberia,
+the Turko-Tartar, the Caucasian, the German, and the Hebrew.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+1. The Lithu-Lettish race inhabits the country between the western
+Dwina and the Nieman. In numbers they do not amount to more than
+3,000,000. The Lithu-Lettish population is divided into the two
+following branches:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(a) The Lithuanians properly so called (including the Samogitans
+or Zhmudes), who inhabit the Governments of Vilno, Kovno, Courland,
+and the northern parts of those of Augustovo and Grodno (1,900,000).
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(b) The Letts, who inhabit the Governments of Courland, Vitebsk,
+Livonia, Kovno, Pskov, and St. Petersburg (1,100,000).
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+2. The Finnish race&mdash;known in the old Sclavonic chronicles
+under the name of Chouds&mdash;at one time inhabited all the
+north-eastern part of Russia. The Finns, according to the place of
+their habitation, are divided into four groups:&mdash;the Baltic
+Finns, the Finns in the Governments of the Volga, the Cis-Oural
+and the Trans-Oural Finns.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(a) The Baltic Finns: the Chouds (in the Governments of Novgorod
+and Olonetz); the Livonians (in Courland); the Esthonians (in the
+Governments of Esthonia, Livonia, Vitebsk, Pskov, and St. Petersburg);
+the Lopari (in northern Finland and in the Government of Archangel);
+the Corelians (in the Government of Archangel, Novgorod, Olonetz,
+St. Petersburg, Tver, and Jaroslav); Evremeiseti (in the Governments
+of Novgorod and St. Petersburg), Savakoti, Vod, and Izhora.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(b) To the Finns of the Governments of the Volga, who have become
+almost lost in the Russians, belong the Cheremisians (in the Governments
+of Kazan, Viatka, Kostroma, Nijni-Novgorod, Orenburg and Perm).
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(c) To the Cis-Uralian Finns, who occupy the country from the borders
+of Finland to the Oural, belong the Permiaks (in the Governments of
+Viatka and Perm); Z&icirc;ranians (in the Governments of Archangel
+and Vologda); Votiaks (in the Governments of Viatka and Kazan);
+and Vogoulichi (in the Governments of Perm).
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(d) Among the Trans-Oural Finns are also to be numbered the
+Z&icirc;ranians and Vogoulichi (the first in the Government of
+Tobolsk, and the second in the Governments of Tobolsk and Tomsk);
+and the Ostiaks, who, according to the places of their habitation,
+are called Obski and Berezovski.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Finns amount altogether to 2,100,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+3. The Samoyeds, in number 70,000, live in the territory extending
+from the White Sea to the Yenesei; to these belong the Samoyeds
+properly so called, the Nar&icirc;mski and the Yenesei Ostiaks,
+the Olennie Choukchi, etc.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+4. The Mongolo-Manzhourian race amounting to 400,000. Among this
+race may be remarked the Mongolians properly so called, on the
+Selenga; the Kalmucks, a nomad people in the Government of Astrakhan,
+as also in Tomsk, in the country of the Don Cossacks, and partly
+in the Government of Stavropol. The Kalmucks appeared first on
+the eastern confines of Russia in the year 1630. About a century
+later we find them become the regular subjects of the Tsar. They
+seem, however, to have found the Russian yoke irksome, and resolved
+to return to their original home on the coasts of Lake Balkach,
+and at the foot of the Altai Mountains. Nearly the whole nation,
+amounting to almost 300,000 persons, began their march in the winter
+of 1770-71. The passage of this vast horde lasted for weeks, but the
+rear were prevented from escaping by the Kirghiz and Cossacks, who
+intercepted them. They were compelled to remain in Russia, where their
+territory was more accurately defined than had been done previously.
+The Kalmucks are obliged to serve with the Cossack troops, but
+their duties are mostly confined to looking after the cattle and
+horses which accompany the army. Their religion is Buddhism, and
+a conspicuous object in the aouls, or temporary villages which
+they construct, is the pagoda. Their personal appearance is by no
+means prepossessing&mdash;small eyes and high cheekbones, with
+scanty hair of a very coarse texture. In every sense of the word
+they are still strictly nomads; their children and tents are carried
+by camels, and in a few hours their temporary village, or oulous,
+is established. To these also belong the Bouriats, by Lake Baikal;
+the Toungusians from the Yenesei to the Amur; the Lamorets, by the
+Sea of Okhotsk; and the Olentzi, in the Government of Irkutsk.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+5. Races of eastern Siberia: the Koriaks, living in the north-eastern
+corner of Siberia; the Youkagirs, in the territory of Yakutsk; the
+Kamchadales, in Kamchatka. Their number amounts to 500,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+6. The Turko-Tartar race amount in number to 3,000,000. To their
+branch belong the Chouvashes, in the governments of Orenburg, Simbursk,
+Saratov and Samaria; the Mordvinians, in the same governments as the
+Chouvashes,[1] and in those of Tambov, Penza, and Nijni-Novgorod;
+the Tartars of the Crimea and Kazan; the Nagais, on the Kouban
+and Don; the Mestcheriaki, in the governments of Orenburg, Perm,
+Saratov, and Viatka; Koumki, in the Caucasus; Kirghizi, Yakouti,
+on the Lena; Troukhmentzi and Khivintzi; Karakalpaks (lit. Black
+Caps), Teleo&ucirc;ti, in the government of Tomsk, Siberia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[Footnote 1: Some writers consider the Chouvashes to belong to the
+Finnish race.]
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+7. The Caucasian races inhabiting Georgia, the valleys and defiles
+of the Caucasian Mountains have different appellations and different
+origins. Among them may be noticed the Armenians, Georgians,
+Circassians, Abkhasians, Lesghians, Osetintzi, Chechentzi, Kistentzi,
+Toushi, and others. Their number is about 2,000,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The languages of the Caucasus must be regarded as a group distinct
+both from the Aryan and Semitic families. They are agglutinative,
+and are divided into two branches.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(a) The Northern Division, extending along the northern slopes
+of the Caucasus, between the Caspian and the northern shores of
+the Black Sea, as far as the Straits of Yenikale; its subdivisions
+are Lesghian, Kistian, and Circassian, each with its dialects.
+Formerly the Circassians numbered about 500,000, but large numbers
+of them emigrated to European Turkey, where they were dexterously
+planted by the government to impede the social progress of their
+Bulgarian and Greek subjects.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(b) The Southern Division, comprising Georgian, Suanian, Mingrelian,
+and Lazian.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+8. The German race, in number about 1,000,000. The Germans are
+chiefly in the Baltic provinces, in the government of St. Petersburg,
+in the Grand Duchy of Finland, and the colonies, especially those on
+the lower Volga, the Don, the Crimea, and New Russia. The Germans
+have acquired great influence throughout the country; they are
+represented in the court, in the army, and in the administration.
+Here also may be mentioned the Swedes, amounting to 286,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+9. The Jews inhabit especially the former Kingdom of Poland, the
+Western Governments, and the Crimea. Their number amounts to 3,000,000.
+Among the Jews the Karaimite are noticeable, living in the governments
+of Vilno, Volinia, Kovno, Kherson, and the Taurida. Among the Europeans
+and Asiatics who have come in later times to settle in Russia, are
+Greeks, amounting to 75,000, in the governments of New Russia and
+Chernigov; French, Italians, and Englishmen, in the capitals and
+chief commercial towns; Wallachians or Moldavians (now generally
+included under the name of Roumanians), in Bessarabia; Albanians;
+Gipsies, especially in the territory of Bessarabia, amounting to
+50,000; Persians, to 10,000, etc.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_4">THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">W. R. MORFILL</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I shall follow the divisions given in his first volume by Oustrialov.
+He divides Russian history into two great parts, the ancient and
+modern.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I. Ancient history from the commencement of Russia to the time of
+Peter the Great (862-1689).
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+This first period is subdivided into (<i>a</i>) the foundation of
+Russia and the combination of the Sclavonians into a political unity
+under the leadership of the Normans and by means of the Christian
+Faith under Vladimir and the legislation of Yaroslav.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+According to the theory commonly received at the present day, the
+foundation of the Russian Empire was laid by Rurik at Novgorod.
+The name Russian seems to be best explained as meaning "the seamen"
+from the Finnish name for the Swedes or Norsemen, Ruotsi, which
+itself is a corruption of a Scandinavian word. It has been shown
+by Thomsen, that all the names mentioned in early Russian history
+admit of a Scandinavian explanation; thus Ingar becomes Igor, and
+Helga, Oleg. In a few generations the Scandinavian origin of the
+settlers was forgotten. The grandson of Rurik, Sviatoslav, has
+a purely Sclavonic name.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Christianity was introduced into the country by Vladimir, and the
+first code of Russian laws was promulgated by Yaroslav, called
+Rousskaia Pravda, of which a transcript was found among the chronicles
+of Novgorod.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(<i>b</i>) Breaking up of Russia, under the system of appanages,
+into some confederate principalities, governed by the descendants
+of Rurik. This unfortunate disruption of the country paved the
+way for the invasion of the Mongols, whose domination lasted for
+nearly two centuries.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+During their occupation the Russians were ingrafted with many oriental
+habits, which were only partially removed by Peter the Great, and in
+fact many of them have lasted till the present day. The influence
+of the Mongolians upon the national language has been greatly
+exaggerated, as the words introduced are confined almost exclusively
+to articles of dress, money, etc. Had the conquests of the Mongols
+been permanent, Russia would have become definitely attached to
+Asia, to which its geographical position seems to assign it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(<i>c</i>) Division of Russia into eastern and western under the
+Mongolian yoke 1228-1328. This is a very dreary period of the national
+history.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(<i>d</i>) Formation in Eastern Russia of the government of Moscow
+1328-1462, which by the energy of its princes became the nucleus
+of the future empire; and in Western Russia of the principality
+of Lithuania, and its union with Poland 1320-1569.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+(<i>e</i>) Consolidation of the Muscovite power under Ivan III.,
+who married the daughter of the Greek Emperor, and succeeded in
+expelling the Tartars, and making himself master of their city
+Kazan. He was followed by his son Vasilii, who was succeeded by
+Ivan IV., who has gained a very unenviable reputation on account
+of his cruelties. Already the yoke of the Tartars had begun to
+have a very deteriorating effect upon the Russian character, and
+the more sanguinary code of the Asiatics had effaced the tradition
+of the laws of Yaroslav. Mutilation, flagellation, and the abundant
+use of the knout prevailed. The servile custom of chelobitye, or
+knocking the head on the ground, which was exacted from all subjects
+on entering the royal presence, was certainly of Tartar origin, as
+also the punishment inflicted upon refractory debtors, called the
+pravezh. They were beaten on the shins in a public square every
+day from eight to eleven o'clock, till the money was paid. The
+custom is fully described by Giles Fletcher and Olearius.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Another strange habit, savouring too much of the Tartar servitude,
+was that recorded by Peter Heylin in his <i>Little Description of
+the Great World</i> (Oxford, 1629), who says: "It is the custom
+over all Muscovie, that a maid in time of wooing sends to that
+suitor whom she chooseth for her husband such a whip curiously by
+herself wrought, in token of her subjection unto him." A Russian
+writer also tells us that it was usual for the husband on the wedding
+day to give his bride a gentle stroke over the shoulders with his
+whip, to show his power over her. Herberstein's story of the German
+Jordan and his Russian wife will perhaps occur to some of my readers.
+She complained to her husband that he did not love her; but upon
+his expressing surprise at the doubt, she gave as her reason that
+he had never beaten her! Indeed the position of a woman in Russia
+till the time of Peter was a very melancholy one. Her place in
+society is accurately marked out in the Domostroi, or regulations
+for governing one's household, written at the time of Ivan the
+Terrible. As this book presents us with some very curious pictures
+of Russian family life in the olden time, a few words may be permitted
+describing its contents. It was written by the monk Sylvester,
+who was one of the chief counsellors of Ivan, and at one time in
+great favour with him, but afterwards fell into disgrace and was
+banished by the capricious tyrant to the Solovetzki monastery,
+where he died. The work was primarily addressed by the worthy priest
+to his son Anthemus and his daughter-in-law, Pelagia, but as the
+bulk of it was of a general character it soon became used in all
+households. Nothing escapes this father of the church from the
+duties of religion, down to the minor details of the kitchen and
+the mysteries of cookery. The wife is constantly recommended to
+practise humility, in a way which would probably be repulsive to
+many of our modern ladies. Her industry in weaving and making clothes
+among her domestics is very carefully dwelt upon. She lived in a kind
+of Oriental seclusion, and saw no one except her nearest relatives.
+The bridegroom knew nothing of his bride, she was only allowed to
+be seen a few times before marriage by his female relatives, and
+on these occasions all kinds of tricks were played. A stool was
+placed under her feet that she might seem taller, or a handsome
+female attendant, or a better-looking sister were substituted.
+"Nowhere," says Kotoshikhin, "is there such trickery practised
+with reference to the brides as at Moscow." The innovations of
+Peter the Great broke through the oriental seclusion of the terem,
+as the women's apartments were called. During the minority of Ivan
+IV. the regency was committed to the care of his mother Elena, and
+was at best but a stormy period. When I van came to the throne the
+country was not even yet free from the incursions of the Tartars.
+In Hakluyt's voyages we have a curious account of one of these
+devastations in a "letter of Richard Vscombe to M. Henrie Lane,
+touching the burning of the city of Mosco by the Crimme Tartar,
+written the fifth day of August, 1571." "The Mosco is burnt every
+sticke by the Crimme, the 24th day of May last, and an innumerable
+number of people; and in the English house was smothered Thomas
+Southam, Tosild, Waverley, Green's wife and children, two children
+of Rafe, and more to the number of twenty-five persons were stifled
+in oure beere seller, and yet in the same seller was Rafe, his
+wife, John Browne, and John Clarke preserved, which was wonderful.
+And there went to that seller Master Glover and Master Rowley also;
+but because the heat was so great they came foorth againe with much
+perill, so that a boy at their heeles was taken with the fire,
+yet they escaped blindfold into another seller, and there as God's
+will was they were preserved. The emperor fled out of the field,
+and many of his people were carried away by the Crimme Tartar.
+And so with exceeding much spoile and infinite prisoners, they
+returned home againe. What with the Crimme on the one side and
+his cruelties on the other, he hath but few people left" (Hakluyt,
+I. 402).
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 817px;">
+<a name="fig_6">
+<img src="images/fig006.jpg" width="817" height="549" alt="Fig. 6" /></a>
+<p class="image">ROOM OF THE TSAR MICHAILOWITCH, MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is well known that the English first became acquainted with
+Russia in the time of Ivan the Terrible. In the reign of Edward VI.
+a voyage was undertaken by Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor,
+who attempted to reach Russia by way of the North Sea. Willoughby
+and his crew were unfortunately lost, but Chancellor succeeded in
+reaching Moscow, and showing his letters to the Tsar, in reply to
+which an alliance was concluded and an ambassador soon afterwards
+visited the English court. In spite of his brutal tyrannies, for
+which no apologies can be offered, although some of the Russian
+authorities have attempted to gloss them over, the reign of Ivan
+was distinctly progressive for Russia. The introduction of the
+printing-press, the conquest of Siberia, the development of commerce,
+were all in advance of what had been done by his predecessors. He
+also had the leading idea afterwards fully carried out by Peter
+the Great of extending the dominions on the north, and ensuring
+a footing on the Baltic.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The relations of Ivan with England are fully described in the very
+interesting diary of Sir Jerome Horsey, the ambassador from this
+country, the manuscript of which is preserved in the British Museum.
+He was anxious to have an English wife, and Elizabeth selected one
+for him, Lady Mary Hastings, but when the bride-elect had been
+made acquainted with the circumstance that Ivan had been married
+several times before, and was a most truculent and blood-thirsty
+sovereign, she entreated her father with many tears not to send
+her to such a man.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The character given of Ivan by Horsey is very graphic, and is valuable
+as the narration of a person who had frequently been in intimate
+relations with the Tsar. We give it in the original spelling:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"Thus much to conclude with this Emperor Ivan Vasiliwich. He was a
+goodlie man of person and presence, well favoured, high forehead,
+shrill voice, a right Sithian, full of readie wisdom, cruell, blondye,
+merciless; his own experience mannaged by direction both his state and
+commonwealth affairs; was sumptuously intomed in Michell Archangell
+Church, where he, though guarded daye and night, remaines a fearfull
+spectacle to the memorie of such as pass by or heer his name spoken
+of [who] are contented to cross and bless themselves from his
+resurrection againe."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Passing over his feeble son, we come to the era of Boris Godunov,
+a man in many respects remarkable, but not the least that he saw
+the necessity of western culture. His plans for educating Russia
+were extensive, and several youths were sent abroad for this purpose,
+including some to England. But his reign ended gloomily, and was
+followed by the period of the Pretenders (Samozvantzi), during which
+Russia was rent by opposing factions; and almost ended in receiving
+a foreign sovereign, in the person of Ladislaus (Wladyslaw), the
+son of Sigismund III., the King of Poland. The Romanovs finally
+ascended the throne in the person of Michael in 1613. The son of
+Michael, Alexis, was a thoroughly reforming sovereign, and took
+many foreigners into his pay. With the reign of Ivan V., son of
+Alexis, closes the old period of Russian history.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+II. The new history from the days of Peter the Great to the present
+time.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The reforms introduced into Russia by Peter the Great are too well
+known to need recapitulation here. There will be always many different
+opinions about this wonderful man. Some have not hesitated to say
+that he "knouted" Russia into civilization; others can see traces
+of the hero mixed with much clay. One of the darkest pages in the
+annals of his reign, is that upon which is written the fate of his
+unfortunate son, Alexis. All Russia seems but one vast monument
+of his genius. He gave her six new provinces, a footing upon two
+seas, a regular army trained on the European system, a large fleet,
+an admiralty, and a naval academy; besides these, some educational
+establishments, a gallery of painting and sculpture, and a public
+library. Nothing escaped his notice, even to such minuti&aelig;
+as the alteration of Russian letters to make them more adapted
+to printing, and changing the dress of his subjects so as to be
+more in conformity with European costume. All this interference
+savoured of despotism, no doubt, but it led to the consolidation
+of a great nationality. The Russians belong to the European family,
+and must of necessity return to fulfil their destiny, although
+they had been temporarily diverted from their bondage under the
+Mongols. Owing to the mistake Peter had committed in allowing the
+succession to be changed at the will of the ruling sovereign, the
+country was for some time after his death in the hands of Russian
+and German adventurers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On the death of Peter he was succeeded by his wife Catherine, an
+amiable but illiterate woman, who was wholly under the influence
+of Menshikov, one of Peter's chief favourites. After a short reign
+of two years, she was succeeded by Peter II., son of the unfortunate
+Alexis, in whose time Menshikov and his family were banished to
+Berezov in Siberia. After his banishment, Peter, who was a weak
+prince, and showed every inclination to undo his grandfather's
+work, fell under the influence of the Dolgoroukis.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There is something very touching in the fate of this poor child&mdash;he
+was but fifteen years of age when he died&mdash;tossed about amidst
+the opposing factions of the intriguing courtiers, each of whom
+cared nothing for the good of the country, but only how to find
+the readiest means to supplant his rival. The last words of the
+boy as he lay on his death-bed were, "Get ready the sledge! I want
+to go to my sister!" alluding to the Princess Natalia, the other
+child of Alexis who had died three years previously.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On his death Anne, Duchess of Courland, and daughter of Ivan, the
+elder brother of Peter, was called to the throne. After her death,
+by a second <i>r&eacute;volution de palais</i>, Elizabeth, the
+daughter of Peter the Great, was made sovereign. In this reign her
+alliance was concluded with Maria Theresa of Austria, and during
+the Seven Years' War, a large Russian force invaded Prussia; another
+took Berlin in 1760.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+During the whole of her reign Elizabeth was under the influence
+of favourites, or <i>vremenstchiki</i>, as the Russians call them.
+She appears to have been an indolent, good-tempered woman, and
+exceedingly superstitious. During her reign Russia made considerable
+progress in literature and culture. A national theatre, of which
+there had been a few germs even at so early a period as the youth
+of Peter the Great, was thoroughly developed, and at Yaroslavl,
+Volkov, the son of a merchant, earned such a reputation as an actor,
+that he was summoned to St. Petersburg by Elizabeth, who took him
+under her patronage. Dramatists now sprang up on every side, but
+at first were merely translators of Corneille, Racine, and
+Moli&egrave;re. The Russian arms were successful during her reign,
+and the capture of Berlin in 1760, had a great effect upon European
+politics. Two years afterwards Elizabeth died, and her nephew Peter
+III. succeeded, who admired Frederick the Great, and at once made
+peace with him.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+This unfortunate man, however, only reigned six months, having been
+dethroned and put to death by order of his wife, who became Empress
+of Russia under the title of Catherine II. However unjustifiable the
+means may have been by which Catherine became possessed of the
+throne, and in mere justice to her we must remember that she had
+been brutally treated by her husband, and was in hourly expectation
+of being immured for life in a dungeon by his orders, she exercised
+her power to the advantage of the country.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In 1770, a Russian fleet appeared for the first time in the
+Mediterranean, and the Turkish navy was destroyed at Chesme. By the
+treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji (1774), Turkey was obliged to recognize
+the independence of the Crimea, and cede to Russia a considerable
+amount of territory. In 1783, Russia gained the Crimea, and in
+1793, by the last partition of Poland, a very large portion of that
+country.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The subsequent events of the history are well known. Paul, who
+succeeded Catherine, was assassinated in 1801. The reign of this
+emperor has been made very familiar to Englishmen by the highly
+coloured portrait given by the traveller Clarke, who laboured under
+the most aggravated Russophobia. That Paul did many cruel and capricious
+things does not admit of a doubt, but he was capable of generous
+feelings, and sometimes surprised people as much by his liberality
+as by his despotic conduct. Thus he set Kosciuscko at liberty as
+soon as he had ascended the throne; and there was a fine revenge in
+his compelling Orlov to follow the coffins of Peter and Catherine,
+when by his order they were buried together in the Petropavlovski
+church.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Alexander I., his son, added Finland to the Russian empire, and
+saw his country invaded by Napoleon in 1812. The horrors of this
+campaign have been well described by Segur, Wilson, and Labaume.
+At his death in 1825, his brother Nicholas succeeded, not without
+opposition, which led to bloodshed and the execution of the five
+Dekabrists (conspirators of December). The schemes of these men
+were impracticable; so little did the common people understand the
+very rudiments of liberalism, that when the soldiers were ordered
+to shout for Konstitoutzia (the constitution, a word the foreign
+appearance of which shows how alien it was to the national spirit),
+one of them naively asked, if that was the name of the wife of
+the Grand Duke Constantine.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The policy of the Emperor Nicholas was one of complete isolation of
+the country, and the prevention of his subjects as much as possible
+from holding intercourse with the rest of Europe, hence permission
+to travel was but sparingly given, nor were foreigners encouraged
+to visit Russia. In 1826, war broke out with Persia, the result
+of which was that the latter power was compelled to cede Erivan
+and the country as far as the Araxes (or Aras). Russia also made
+further additions to her territory by the treaty of Adrianople in
+1829, after Diebich had crossed the Balkans. In 1830, the great
+Polish rebellion broke out, which was crushed after much bloodshed
+in Sept. 1831, by the capture of Warsaw. In 1849, the Russians
+assisted Austria in crushing the revolt of her Hungarian subjects.
+In 1853 broke out the Crimean War, the details of which are so well
+known as to require no enumeration. Peace was concluded between
+Russia and the Allies, after the death of the Emperor Nicholas in
+1855, who was succeeded by his son, Alexander II. The two great
+events of the reign of this monarch have been the emancipation of
+the serfs in 1861, by which 22,000,000 received their liberty,
+and the war with Turkey.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_5">CHURCH SERVICE</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">ALFRED MASKELL</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The history of the introduction and early progress of Christianity
+in Russia is involved in obscurity and overlaid with legendary
+stories. There is little doubt that it came from Constantinople, and
+was not only rapidly spread, but firmly established in the country
+within a short space of time. The date most generally accepted is
+that of the reign of Vladimir, the great prince of Kief, grandson
+of Olga. As Dean Stanley remarks in his <i>Lectures on the Eastern
+Church</i>: "It coincides with a great epoch in Europe, the close
+of the Tenth Century, when throughout the West the end of the world
+was fearfully expected, when the Latin Church was overclouded with
+the deepest despondency, when the Papal See had become the prey
+of ruffians and profligates, then it was that the Eastern Church,
+silently and almost unconsciously, bore into the world her mightiest
+offspring."
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 782px;">
+<a name="fig_7">
+<img src="images/fig007.jpg" width="782" height="556" alt="Fig. 7" /></a>
+<p class="image">CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION, MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Eastern Church was then at the zenith of its splendour. The
+envoys sent by Vladimir to Constantinople to examine and report
+upon the religion which he had almost decided to adopt were dazzled
+with the magnificence of the ceremonial. They were wavering in
+their choice and weighing the merits of the different systems which
+had been brought before them. Rome they had not seen; Mohammedanism
+was foreign to their tastes; Judaism had been found wanting; but
+the Eastern Church appealed strongly to their imaginations and
+barbaric love of splendour. Hers was St. Sophia, magnificent now,
+but how much more gorgeous then! Every effort was made to win them,
+and the victory was easy.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The intercourse of the newly formed empire of Russia with Byzantium
+was at that time great. The change of religion had been very sudden
+and it was necessary to build at once new edifices for the new
+order of things. It was naturally to Byzantium that they turned
+for their form and ornament. Very quickly churches arose. Novgorod,
+the cradle of the Empire and the capital until the removal to Kief,
+was the Metropolitan See, and the first cathedral is said to have
+been built there as early as A. D. 989.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The form of a Russian Church underwent little change up to the
+Seventeenth Century. In the Thirteenth Century the architects imported
+from Lombardy brought to bear on the exterior the style of the
+Lombardic or Romanesque architecture which had so long prevailed
+in their own country. The gilded dome or cupola, of peculiar
+onion-shaped form which is so especially Russian, was added soon
+afterwards. The central cupola, which was adopted from the first,
+was afterwards surrounded by others; their number reached even
+to twenty or thirty, and it was not until the Sixteenth Century
+at the time of the establishment of the patriarchate (1589), that
+these were authoritatively restricted to five, which is now the
+orthodox and obligatory number.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The practice of having two, three, five, seven, nine and thirteen
+cupolas or spires is as early as the Eleventh Century. The numbers
+were figurative; two signifying the two natures of Jesus Christ,
+three, a symbol of the Trinity, five, our Lord and the four evangelists
+or the five wounds, seven, the seven sacraments, the seven gifts
+of the Holy Spirit, or the seven recumenical councils, nine, the
+nine celestial hierarchies, and thirteen, our Lord and the twelve
+apostles.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Within the dimensions are small and the light obscure. Still, the
+simple, nearly square disposition of the building, the enormous
+plain-shafted pillars which support the domes, the mass of gilding,
+the multitude of lamps, produce an undoubtedly grand effect. It
+is strikingly oriental; and as in Russian churches there are no
+seats, but the people stand in a mingled throng, now and then
+prostrating themselves and beating their foreheads on the ground,
+each as his own devotion may dictate, the resemblance is still
+more marked. All the interior is covered with fresco pictures;
+even the pillars have gigantic figures of the saints and doctors
+of the church painted upon them. From the high roof hang immense
+brass chandeliers of a peculiar form with many branches, capable
+of holding hundreds of candles. In the dim distance, seemingly a
+wall of gold, is the iconostas, the solid screen which in every
+church divides the sanctuary from the rest of the sacred edifice.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The iconostas is in all cases decorated with a large number of holy
+pictures or icons, arranged in formal rows one above the other.
+It is a solid erection from side to side, from floor to roof, and
+in the centre are the <i>royal doors</i>, through which none may
+pass but the consecrating priest, or the emperor: and the last
+once only, at the time of his coronation. At no time is any woman
+permitted to enter the sanctuary.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The iconostas contains sometimes as many as seven rows of images:
+that of the <i>Uspenski Sobor</i>[1] has five. Their arrangement is
+guided by certain rules and restrictions. Our Lord and the blessed
+Virgin must be represented on each side of the royal doors, and on
+the doors themselves the Annunciation and the four evangelists.
+On the side doors angels must be represented. Above must be the
+usual symbol of the Trinity figured by Abraham entertaining the
+three angels.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[Footnote 1: Cathedral of the Assumption, Moscow.]
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The whole of the space behind the screen is known as the altar.
+The altar itself is square, or rather a double cube. Above it four
+small columns with a canopy form a baldachino; and the cross is laid
+flat upon it. Here also is placed the tabernacle or <i>zion</i>
+which is often an architectural structure in pure gold with figures.
+There are five zions of this kind in the cathedrals of St. Sophia
+at Novgorod and at the Troitsa monastery.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the apse behind the altar and facing it is the <i>thronos</i>,
+the seat of the archbishop, with seats for priests on either side.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Besides the icons and holy pictures on the screen (and in the Cathedral
+of the Assumption the latter contains the most highly venerated
+in Russia) other smaller icons are set apart in various parts of
+the church. As is now the custom, though it is comparatively a
+recent one, the greater part of the picture, with the exception of
+the faces, hands and feet, is covered with an embossed and chased
+plaque in gold or silver-gilt representing the form and garments.
+Glories or nimbuses in high relief set thick with gems surround
+the faces, and sparkle as they reflect the light from the multitude
+of candles burnt in their honour. Some are covered to overloading
+with jewels, necklets, and bracelets; pearls, diamonds, and rubies
+of large size and value adorning them in profusion.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The ceremonial of the Greek church is excessively complex, and the
+symbolical meanings by which it represents the dogmas of religion
+are everywhere made the subjects of minute observance. During the
+greater part of the mass the royal doors are closed: the deacons
+remain for the most part without, now and again entering for a
+short time. From time to time a pope or popes pass throughout the
+church, amongst the crowds, incensing all the holy pictures in
+turn; the voice of the officiating priest is raised within, and
+is answered in deep tones by the deacons without. Now from one
+corner comes a chant of many voices, now for another a single one
+in tones (it may be), the epistle or gospel of the day. Now the
+doors fly open and a fleeting glimpse is gained of the celebrant
+through the thick rolling clouds of incense. Then they are closed
+again suddenly. To a stranger unable to follow and in ignorance
+of the meaning, the effect is bewildering.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In writing, even generally, of the arts in Russia some reference
+to religious music is excusable. That of Russia has a peculiar
+charm of its own, far above the barbarous discords that are to be
+heard in Greek and other churches of the East at the present day.
+There is a sweetness and attractiveness in the unaccompanied chanting
+of the choir, in the deep bass tones of the men mingling with the
+plaintive trebles of younger voices, which is indescribable in its
+harmony. It is unlike any other; yet underneath lies the original
+tinge of orientalism, the wailing semitones of all barbaric music.
+No accompaniment, no instrumental music of any kind is permitted.
+Bass voices of extraordinary depth and power are the most desired.
+It is said that the tones now used in the Russian church are
+comparatively modern.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The principal churches and monasteries in Russia possess rich stores
+of vestments; some of comparatively high antiquity which are preserved
+with scrupulous care and still used on occasions of great ceremony.
+In more modern vestments the ancient ornament is to a great extent
+strictly copied.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The <i>saccos</i>, formerly the principal vestment of the patriarchs
+and an emblem of sovereign power, is now common to all Russian
+bishops. It is in the shape of a dalmatic, formed of two square
+pieces of stuff joined together at the neck and open at the sides,
+having wide short sleeves. Many of the finest of these vestments
+are elaborately embroidered in gold and silver and ornamented with
+figures of saints; and in the stuffs themselves sacred subjects are
+often woven. They are also thickly sown with rows of seed-pearls
+which follow the lines and edgings of the vestment and border the
+sacred images. They are besides set with enamelled, nielloed, or
+jewelled plaques of gold or silver. Texts in Greek or Sclavonic often
+border the whole of the edges of the garment. These are elaborately
+worked in gold or silver, or the letters formed completely of
+seed-pearls. The <i>saccos</i> of the Metropolitan Peter (made
+in 1322), of Alexis (1364), of Photius (1414), and of Dionysius
+(made in 1583), are remarkable vestments of this character, to
+be found in the patriarchal sacristy at Moscow. The stoles, which
+usually correspond, are long, narrow, and nearly straight-sided to
+the bottom. A peculiar episcopal ornament is the <i>epigonation</i>.
+It is a large lozenge-shaped ornament embroidered and worked in
+a similar manner to the other vestments, and by bishops is worn
+hanging from the right side.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The usual form of mitre of a pope of the Russian church is well-known.
+The earlier kind was a sort of low cap with a border of fur, something
+like the cap of a royal crown, and probably not different in type
+from the head-dresses of bishops of the west. Some are sewn thick
+with pearls bordering and heightening the lines of the figures of
+saints, and forming the outlines of the Sclavonic inscriptions.
+Such is that of Joassof, first patriarch of the Russian church
+(1558). Those of later times are often of metal richly set with
+precious stones. Sometimes they assume a more conical form, surmounted
+by a cross, like an imperial crown, as that which is termed the
+Constantinople mitre, said to have been made in the time of Ivan
+the Terrible. The mitre of the celebrated Nikon (1655), who aspired
+to papal prerogatives, is diadem-shaped and remarkable for the
+richness of the precious stones with which it is set. The most
+usual shape recalls to some extent the favourite cupola, spreading
+out from the base to the top.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The form of the chalice used in the Russian church varies considerably,
+as it does also in that of the Latin church. In general characteristics
+the two have much in common. In early times the chalice was made of
+wood or crystal as well as of gold and silver. An ancient chalice
+of crystal is preserved in the Cathedral of the Assumption at Moscow,
+and the wooden ones of SS. Sergius and Nikon are in the sacristy
+at Troitsa. On some old icons our Lord is represented as giving
+the holy communion to the apostles out of narrow-necked vessels
+which appear to be made of alabaster.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Greek rite for the celebration of the holy eucharist requires
+three things which are not used in the western church. These are
+the knife or spear, the star or asterisk, and the spoon for the
+administration of the chalice as the sacrament is received by the
+laity under both kinds. It may naturally be supposed that such sacred
+objects would be the subjects of high artistic workmanship. The
+paten itself is often elaborately enamelled and otherwise decorated,
+whereas in the western church the rubrics require it to be plain.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The ceremonial of the preparation of the bread (which is leavened
+and in the form of a small loaf) is exceedingly complex. Portions
+are cut out for consecration, and for this purpose a knife called
+a "spear" is used. These portions placed on the paten are covered
+with a veil, and in order to prevent the latter from touching the
+elements a piece of metal is placed over them: two strips crossed,
+and bent so as to have four feet. The tabernacle, or perhaps more
+properly ciborium, is sometimes in the form of a hill or mount of
+gold or silver-gilt, or of a temple, and there are many remarkable
+examples. One at Troitsa is of solid gold with the exception of
+Judas, which is of brass. Another is in the sacristy of the church
+of the Assumption at Moscow. From its inscription we learn that
+it was made for the grand duke Ivan Vassilievitch in 1486, and
+it is a characteristic specimen of Russian art of the period.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A peculiar ornament or sacred vessel of the Russo-Greek church
+is known under the name of <i>panagia</i>, and of this there are
+two kinds. One is a jewel or pectoral worn suspended from the neck
+by bishops, and is an object on which much care and rich decoration
+are lavished. In a somewhat altered form it is worn by priests
+in the same way for carrying the holy sacrament on a journey or
+to the sick.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Pectoral crosses for the dignitaries of the church are of course
+not uncommon; not only priests, however, but every Russian man,
+woman or child carries a small cross, more or less ornamental. They
+are various in form and richness of decoration; from the simple
+bronze cross, rudely stamped, of the peasant, to the enamelled and
+jewelled one of the metropolitan or noble. Nearly always the plain
+three-armed cross is set in the centre of another more elaborate
+or conventional. Almost invariably also the sacred monograms and
+invocations in Sclavonic characters are engraved in the field.
+In some cases it is more a medallion than a cross, the form of
+the cross being indicated by cutting four segments in the manner
+of the ancient stone crosses to be seen in many parts of England.
+Besides the inscriptions, emblems such as the spear and nails and
+crown of thorns are often to be distinguished though conventionally
+indicated.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Crosses on church tops are made of silver, wood, lead, and even
+gold. The open-worked designs of many of them, although intended
+to be placed at great height, are extremely elegant. They were
+occasionally ornamented with coins, and those on churches erected
+by the Tsar are surmounted by an imperial crown.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A crescent as a symbol beneath the cross is very frequent. Various
+explanations of this symbol have been given. According to some it
+is in remembrance of the victory of the cross over the crescent
+on the deliverance from the Mongol yoke. Others think it to have
+originated simply in the freak of some goldsmith, afterwards copied
+by others until it came to be accepted as a necessity. It is certain
+that the use of the crescent is anterior to the Mongol invasion,
+and was an old symbol in Byzantium, as appears from coins.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The pastoral staff of Russian bishops is tau-shaped; and there
+are many good old examples, a few in ivory, but for the most part
+in silver-gilt. Processional crosses are also used.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The censer is a piece of church furniture in constant use in the
+Russo-Greek church, and we find several examples very characteristic
+of Russian art. As in the west, the application of architectural forms
+is very frequent, and it is not surprising that the peculiarities of
+Russian ecclesiastical ornament should be prominent and especially
+the dome which naturally suggests itself.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Amongst the objects kept in the sacristy of the patriarchs in the
+Cathedral of the Assumption, in Moscow, is one which is held in
+special veneration. This is the vase in which is preserved the
+deposit of holy chrism used in the annual preparation of holy oils
+for distribution to the various churches of the empire.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The preparation of this oil is an occasion of great ceremony in
+Holy Week. From the fourth week in Lent the preliminary mixings of
+oil, wine, herbs, and a variety of different ingredients begin. In
+the Holy Week these ingredient are prepared in a public ceremony:
+two large boilers, several bowls and sixteen vases together with
+other vessels being used. All of these are of great size of massive
+silver, and, presented by Catherine II. in 1767, are specimens of
+silver work of that time.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_6">THE CREEDS OF RUSSIA</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">ERNEST W. LOWRY</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A report was brought to Basil, the Metropolitan of Moscow, in the
+year 1340, by merchants of Novgorod, who asserted that they had
+beheld a glimpse of Paradise from the shores of the White Sea.
+Whether their vision were merely the dazzling reflection of some
+sunlit iceberg, or only the glow of poetic imagination, it so fired
+the ardour of the medi&aelig;val prelate that he longed to set sail
+for this golden gleam. Be the old legend true or false, it is certain
+that to this day the northern Mujik shows an even more marked religious
+enthusiasm than his brother of the central governments. Fanaticism,
+mysticism, and fatalism go ever hand in hand in Northern Russia.
+The Empire of the Tsars being so vast in area and so embracive of
+races affords space for all forms of belief, or want of belief,
+within her boundaries. All creeds are represented, from the pagan
+Samoyede of the <i>tundras</i> to the Mohammedan Tartar of the
+Steppes. Our concern is with but one of these&mdash;the Old Believers.
+But to understand their doctrine, we must glance at the clergy of
+the State Church from which they dissent.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 819px;">
+<a name="fig_8">
+<img src="images/fig008.jpg" width="819" height="519" alt="Fig. 8" /></a>
+<p class="image">A RELIGIOUS PROCESSION, LOKA.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The clergy of the Orthodox Russian Church are divided into Black
+or monks of St. Basil, and the White or parish priests. The latter
+must be married before they are ordained, and may not marry again
+(which has led to the saying, "A priest takes good care of his
+wife, for he cannot get another"), while the monasteries, of course,
+require celibacy. From the latter the bishops are elected, so that
+they&mdash;in contradistinction to the priests&mdash;must be single.
+This system is much condemned by the lower clergy, who ask pertinently,
+"How can the bishop know the hardships of our lives? for he is
+single and well paid, we poor and married." The rule, observed
+elsewhere, holds good in Russia, the poorer the priest, the larger
+the family. Few village priests receive any regular stipend, but
+are allowed a plot of land in the commune wherein they minister.
+This allowance is generally from thirty to forty dessiatines (eighty
+to one hundred and eight acres), and can only be converted into
+money, or food products, by the labour of the parson and his family
+upon it&mdash;very literally must they put their hand to the plough.
+Priests are paid for special services, such as christenings or
+weddings, at no fixed tariff, but at a sliding rate, according
+to the means of the payer, the price being arrived at by means of
+prolonged bargaining between the shepherd and his flock. Would-be
+couples often wait for months until a sum can be fixed upon with
+his reverence for tying the knot; and sometimes, by means of daily
+haggling, the amount first asked can be reduced by one-half, for
+the cost of the ceremony varies&mdash;according to the social status
+of the happy pair&mdash;from ten to one hundred roubles. Funerals,
+too, are at times postponed for most unhealthy periods during this
+process. Generally, however, the White Clergy[1] are so miserably
+poor that they cannot be blamed for making the best market they
+can for their priestly offices. Whether the system or the salary
+be at fault it is hard to say, but from whatever cause the fact
+remains that the parish clergy of the villages are not always all
+they might be; there are many among them who lead upright lives
+and gain the respect of their parishioners, but it would be idle to
+deny that there are many whose thoughts turn more to <i>vodka</i>
+than piety, the <i>kabak</i> than the Church. Such shepherds have
+little in common with the best elements of their flocks, and much
+with the worst, in whose company they are generally seen.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[Footnote 1: The White Clergy wear any colour but that from which
+they take their name&mdash;a deer-skin cap and long felt boots.]
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The poor "Pope" spends much of his time going from <i>izba</i>
+to <i>izba</i>, giving his blessing and receiving in return drink
+and a few copecks; from this come, all too easily, the proverbs
+of his parishioners, "Am I a priest, that I should sup twice?"
+etc. Count Tolstoi makes his hero remark in the trial scene of
+the <i>Resurrection</i>, when his fellow jurymen are more friendly
+than he would wish, "The son of a priest will speak to me next."
+But most of them have a side to their natures which, though not
+always to be seen, is, nevertheless, latent&mdash;the hour of need
+often lifts them to the lofty plane of their sublime functions;
+the labouring&mdash;often hungry&mdash;peasant of the weekdays
+becomes on Sunday exalted above the petty surroundings of Mujik
+life, and becomes indeed the "little father" of his people.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+From the Established Church of the State, the Church of the few in
+the North, let us turn to the old faith, the Church of the many.
+The Old Believers, Raskolniks, or dissenters, are indeed a numerous,
+although officially an uncounted, body in the North; half the trade
+of Moscow, most of that which is Russian at all, in the Port of
+Archangel, all the Pomor shipping lies in their hands.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The word Raskolnik means, literally, one who splits asunder, and
+that is just what the Old Believer is&mdash;one who has split off
+from the Orthodox Church.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Two hundred and fifty years ago Nikon, a friar of Solovetsk, an
+island monastery in the White Sea, having quarrelled alike with
+equal and superior, was set adrift in an open boat; he reached
+the mainland at Ki, a small cape in Onega Bay, wandered southward
+to Olonets, where he got together a band of followers, proceeded
+to Moscow, obtained the notice of the throne, got preferment, was
+soon made Patriarch. He ruled with an iron hand, made many enemies,
+and when at last he obtained from Mount Santo, in Roumelia, authentic
+Greek Church-service books, and, having had them translated into
+Sclavonic, forced their use upon the Church, with the aid of the
+Tsar Alexis, in the place of those previously in use, the revolt
+began in earnest. In addition to the altered service book, Nikon
+introduced a cross with but two beams, a new stamp for the holy
+wafer, a different way of holding the fingers in pronouncing the
+blessing, and a new way of spelling the name Jesus, to which the
+Church was unaccustomed. In each of these changes Nikon and his
+party really wished to go back to older and purer forms of Greek
+ritual, but many resisted the alterations, believing them to be
+innovations.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Such was the beginning of Raskol; the end is not yet. Those who
+could not accept these reforms, or returns to older forms, took
+up the name of "Staro-obriadtsi," or Old Believers, holding that
+theirs was indeed the true old faith of their fathers. For them
+began, in very truth a hard time; a time which has left its mark
+most clearly upon their descendants to-day. Excommunicated and
+persecuted under Alexis and Peter I., they were driven in thousands
+from their village homes to seek refuge where they could, in forest,
+mountain or island; a party reaching in the year 1767, even to
+Kolgueff Island, where, as might be expected, they perished during
+the following year from scurvy. To these brave bands of Old Believers,
+setting forth under their banner of the "Eight-ended Cross," to find
+new homes beyond the reach of persecution, is, in large part, due
+the colonization of the huge province of Archangel and the northern
+portion of Siberia. That it was not always easy for the Raskolnik
+to get beyond the range of official persecutions is shown by many
+an old "<i>ukas</i>," and by many an old entry in the books of
+far-distant communes. Farther north and farther east, from forest
+to <i>tundra</i> and Steppe were they driven, spreading as they
+went their Russian nationality over regions Asiatic; as exiles they
+settled among Polish Romanists, Baltic Protestants, and Caucasian
+Mussulmans, and with the heathen Lapp and Samoyede, and Ostiac,
+on the Murman coast of Russian Lapland, in the bleak Northern
+<i>tundra</i>, on the Petchora, and away beyond the Ural Spur, they
+found at last the rest they sought.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Their most dangerous enemy was not, however, the persecution of
+the dominant Church; they had placed themselves geographically
+beyond the reach of that: far more dangerous was further
+Raskol&mdash;splitting&mdash;among themselves, and it was not long
+before this overtook them. Cut off by their own faith, as well by
+excommunication, from the Orthodox Church, the supply of consecrated
+priests soon gave out; they had lost their apostolic succession and
+could not renew it, for the one Bishop&mdash;Paul of Kalomna&mdash;who
+had joined them, had died in prison, without appointing a successor.
+Without an episcopate they were soon without a priesthood; and
+the vital question, "How shall we get priests and through them
+Sacraments?" was answered in two ways, and according to the answer,
+so were the Old Believers divided into two main sects. One sect
+declared that, as there were no longer faithful priests, they were
+cut off from all the Sacraments except Baptism, which could be
+administered by laymen. These "Bespopoftsi," or priestless people,
+were unable to marry; and to this&mdash;in a land where the economic
+unit, is not man, but man and wife, where the ties of family life
+are so strong&mdash;was due their further splitting.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In 1846, however, they persuaded an outcast bishop to join their
+ranks, and founded a See at Bielokrinitzkaga, in Austrian Bukovina,
+beyond the Russian Empire; from thence the succession was handed
+down, and now after long decades of waiting, they have bishops
+and priests of their own.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The practice of hiring a priest from the Orthodox Church, to conduct
+a service for the Old Believers, is still very common in the far
+North, where all villages have not the means to keep a "Pope" of their
+own; and many an Orthodox clergyman thus adds considerably to his
+precarious income by officiating for those whom his great-grandfathers
+excommunicated as heretics; indeed, the Government now encourages
+this practice, and has made some attempt to heal up the schism by
+allowing its priests to adopt, to a slight extent, the old customs
+in villages where all the inhabitants are Raskolniks. This can
+the more readily be understood when it is remembered that the Old
+Believers hold in all essential points the same creed as the Orthodox;
+they are&mdash;and their name implies&mdash;believers in the old
+faith of the Russian branch of the Greek Church, as expressed since
+the day of St. Vladimir until the Seventeenth Century, but not
+in the so-called innovations of Nikon. The points of difference
+are so small that it seems impossible a Church should by them have
+been cleft in twain. The Orthodox sign the Cross with three fingers
+extended, the dissenters with two, holding that the two raised
+fingers indicate the dual nature of Christ, while the three bent
+ones represent the Trinity. It does not seem to have occurred to
+either party that the reverse holds true as well. The Orthodox
+Cross has but two beams, while that of the Raskolnik has four,
+and is made of four woods&mdash;cypress, cedar, palm, and olive;
+the latter, too, repeats his Allelujah thrice, the Orthodox but
+twice. Such are the points to which in all probability, the peopling
+of the outlying portions of the Empire of the Tsars is due.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Raskolniks have set a far higher value upon education than the
+Orthodox; the instruction given in their settlements often sheds
+a strong light upon the darkness of Orthodox ignorance around, and
+with the spread of education so does the sect extend and multiply.
+Their house can generally be distinguished by cleanliness, the
+presence of many Eicons, brass and silver crosses, and ancient
+books; its mistress by her greater thoughtfulness and capability.
+Old Believers are always glad to seize the opportunity, given so
+well by the long northern winter, with its almost endless night,
+of reading, and on their shelves are seen translations of our best
+authors, from whom, perhaps, it is that they have taken their advanced
+political views, and the outcome of whose perusal is that the hunter
+and fisherman will often propound to one questions which show a
+mind well trained in logical thought. The Raskolnik is generally
+fairly well to do, for, like the Quaker and the Puritan, he finds
+a turn for business not incompatible with religious exercise, and
+to this is in part due the superiority and comfort of their homes.
+Most of them in the far North are fishers and hunters, sealers and
+sailors, and in these and kindred trades they make use of better
+and more modern appliances than their neighbours, and so generally
+realize more for their commodities.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Far from civilization, in the impenetrable forests of the great
+lone land of Archangel, the fugitive Raskolniks were able to found
+retreats for themselves, untroubled and unobserved; these refuges
+still exist, and are called "Obitel" or cells. In the district of
+Mezen there are many such establishments, both for men and women;
+among the former the Anuphief Hermitage, or cells of Koida, stand
+in a splendid position, on the banks of both lake and river Koida,
+some 100 versts in summer by river, and 50 in winter, over ice,
+from the town of that name.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On Nonconformist, as on Orthodox, is laid the burden of severe
+fasting; as Master Chancellour tells us, in 1553, "This people
+hath four Lents,"&mdash;indeed, the eating working year is reduced
+to some 130 days. In the North, where vegetables and berries are few
+and fruit non-existent, the Mujik is left to fast on "<i>treska</i>,"
+rotten codfish&mdash;and the condition of the man who begins Lent
+underfed is indeed pitiable when he ends it. The endurance of the
+Old Believer is marvellous; no offer of food will tempt him from
+what he considers his duty.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Let us turn our attention from the Raskolniks, or Old Believers
+of the far North, who, as we have seen, so literally "forsook all"
+for their ancient Faith, to some few of the many new, or lately
+developed creeds whose followers are seeking after truth with equal
+earnestness and vigour, but along very different lines. Sect begets
+sect in the world of theology, much as cell begets cell in the
+economy of life. Change seems the active principle of all dissent;
+new cults are forever springing up in the mystic childlike minds of
+the Tsar's great peasant family, nor could one expect uniformity
+of confession, when the size and neighbours of that family are
+considered, for Mohammedan, Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, and
+Shamanist surround it, are made subject to it, and eventually become
+a part thereof. A Mosque stands opposite the Orthodox church in
+the great square which forms the centre of Nijni-Novgorod, a Roman
+Catholic and a German Lutheran church almost face the magnificent
+Kazan Cathedral, in the Nevski-Prospekt of St. Petersburg. The
+waiters of nearly all restaurants, from Archangel to Baku, are
+Mohammedan Tartars, the Jew is in every market-place, the native
+heathen races, Lapp, Samoyede, Ostiac, Yakout, and a score of others,
+are closely connected by the bonds of commerce: can it be wondered
+at if the ideas of the peasant become tinted by his surroundings?
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It cannot be gainsaid that the lifelessness and emptiness of the
+State Church, with its hireling and often ignorant priesthood,
+fails to satisfy the great mind of Russia&mdash;the peasant
+mind&mdash;but now awakening from its long infant slumber, as did
+the mind of Western Europe three centuries ago. Next perhaps to
+the extreme literalness with which the Mujik interprets Holy Writ,
+this dissatisfaction with the official Church is the greatest cause
+of the grip which the chameleon-like "dissent" has taken hold of
+the popular mind. With very few exceptions&mdash;notably the
+Skoptsy&mdash;the 150 sects which are stated to exist within the
+pale of Christianity and the borders of the Empire of the Tsar,
+begin and end with the Mujik; the official world is of necessity
+Orthodox, the wealthy world careless, and this fact, of the peasant
+origin and development of the denominations, must be carefully borne
+in mind when attempting to form any idea of the widely different
+meanings and shades of meaning which have been put upon the one
+Bible story.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of the strictly rational, and more or less Protestant, portion
+of Russian dissent, the Dukhobortsy, or "Wrestlers with the Holy
+Spirit," and their descendants in the faith, the Molokans, or "Milk
+Drinkers," are perhaps the best known to us, from the fact of their
+having emigrated to English-speaking lands, and from the valiant
+championing of their cause by Count L. D. Tolstoi. They form the
+antithesis of the Old Believers, as is well set forth in the
+conversation between A. Leroy-Beauleau (in the <i>Empire of the
+Tsars</i>) and a fisherman of the persuasion, who said, "The Raskolniks
+would go to the block for the sign of the Cross with two fingers. As
+for us, we don't cross ourselves at all, either with two fingers
+or with three, but we strive to gain a better knowledge of God";
+and, indeed, his words may stand for a declaration of the simple
+faith of his people, for their worship is marked by a deep contempt
+for tradition, dogma, and ceremony. They have even done away with
+the church, and, as a rule, use the house of their elders as a
+meeting-place. Communion has been simplified away, marriage reduced
+to a simple declaration, and invocation of God's blessing, the
+priesthood question, the rock which first split the Old Faith,
+solved by making every man a priest in his own family: surely their
+motto, "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life," has been
+well acted up to. Indeed, the whole theology of the Dukhobortsy
+may be summed up as a bold attempt to depart from the empty Greek
+formalism and arrive at a spiritual and unconventional worship,
+an enlargement of the outline given in the shortest and grandest
+of sermons.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Molokani are said to have obtained this name from taking milk
+and butter during fast times when they are forbidden to the Orthodox,
+but more probably from the fact of their having colonies on either
+bank of the river Molochnaia, so called from the whiteness of its
+waters, due to potassium salts. They are very closely akin to the
+Dukhobortsy, of which sect they are an offshoot. They hope for a
+millennium, and to this end tend all their communistic experiments;
+for each of their village settlements is striving to manufacture
+its own earthly Paradise and run it on its own lines.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 553px;">
+<a name="fig_9">
+<img src="images/fig009.jpg" width="553" height="791" alt="Fig. 9" /></a>
+<p class="image">SHRINE IN THE CONVENT SOLOVETSKII, KOLA.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Stunda is perhaps the largest and most rapidly developing faction
+of nonconformity, for it has ramified from Odessa&mdash;its starting
+point&mdash;throughout Tsarland, save in the extreme north and
+north-east. This faith can be traced directly to the influence of
+certain Lutherans who emigrated from W&uuml;rtemberg and settled
+in the fruitful "<i>tchenoziom</i>," or black earth lands, some
+half-century ago. The Stundist organization is much like that of
+the "Low Church" division of Protestantism, save that it has no
+ordained clergy, a body whom it regards as a somewhat expensive
+luxury, and replaces by elected elders, who lead the very simple
+services, at which any man or woman who feels called upon to do so
+may say what he or she will. These gatherings are more prayer-meetings
+than services, for there is no "Form of Prayer" to be used, but simply
+informal prayer, praise and song in the best room of a farmhouse,
+though, now that the Government are not so strict in their search
+after heretics, regular wooden "meeting-houses" have appeared in
+some of the Stundist villages.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+If few of the rational sects have committed their history and their
+views, or indeed their creeds, to writing, lest they should fall
+into the hands of spies and be used in evidence against them, much
+more is this the case with those whose search after truth has led
+them to forsake the lines of rationalism and enter the land of
+mysticism and spiritualism. But two of these mystic schisms need
+we touch upon in this article, in order to show to what lengths
+the Mujik will go in his efforts to escape from the trammels of
+Orthodoxy, and with what logic he will follow up any given line of
+thought. Most of the irrational sects are older than those already
+mentioned, and do not seem to have their roots in other lands,
+but to be the expression of the Mujik's own mind in its waking
+moments: thus the "Khlystsy"&mdash;the name is a nickname taken
+from the word "Khlyst" (a whip)&mdash;date back to the early days
+of the Seventeenth Century. They hold that Christ has made and
+still makes repeated appearances on earth and in Russia, and indeed
+they are seldom without an incarnate God present with them in flesh
+and blood.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Khlystsy meet by night, with the utmost secrecy, and are reported
+to dance, after the manner of the Dervishes, with ever-increasing
+rapidity, until their feelings are worked up to such a pitch that
+they are able to receive messages of inspiration, which they shout
+out to their fellows. If one of their number has a fit&mdash;not
+an uncommon event in some communes where close intermarriage among
+relations has been the practice for generations&mdash;he is safe to be
+regarded as an inspired messenger and duly honoured as such. Charges
+of every kind of vice have been laid at the door of the Khlystsy;
+their secret services have been called cloaks for immorality, and
+doubtless on occasion have been used as such; but, as the character
+of their congregation stands for high honesty and industry, it
+is surely more charitable to assume that their worst feature is
+their extreme secrecy, and that this, when added to the hatred of
+orthodox marriage which the sect shows, lies at the base of most
+of the accusations. Closely connected with these dancing Khlystsy
+are the jumping Shakuny, whose jumps are said to increase in height
+as do the circular movements of the former, until the proper state
+of mind for inspired prophecy is reached.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Among the stockbrokers and money-changers of Russian cities, as
+well as among peasants, may be seen the pale and almost hairless
+face, wavering voice, and mild manner of the "Skopets" who has put
+in practice upon himself the strange doctrine of self-mutilation.
+These "White Doves" as they call themselves, base their self-sacrifice
+upon the literal rendering of such texts as, "If thy right eye
+offend thee, pluck it out," "Except a man become as a little child,
+he shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven," and argue that
+in order to be pleasing to God, man&mdash;and in some instances
+woman&mdash;must become like the angels, whom they assert to be
+sexless, on the ground that "they neither marry nor are given in
+marriage."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We notice the hold which religion, in its vast variety of forms,
+has over the popular mind of Russia. No one who has visited, however
+casually, a Russian city can doubt this; the icon hangs in the
+station office, and men bow to it, the cabman crosses himself ere
+he drives over a bridge; shrines are interposed between shops, many
+of which latter are devoted to the sale of crucifixes, swinging
+lamps and sacred pictures; green cupolas and golden crosses gleam
+against the sky, look which way you will. So it is in the village,
+the white wooden church stands out in front of the black wooden
+houses, crosses are placed in the cattle pastures to ward off evil
+spirits, the folk cross themselves if they yawn, lest "chort,"
+the devil jump in at their mouth, and the drunkard, at the tavern
+door, kneels and uncovers as the procession passes on its way, may
+be to bless the waters but now released from the winter grip of
+ice, or may be to leave some neighbour in the communal graveyard.
+We notice, too, the stern logic with which the peasant theologian
+follows up the ideas of his sect, how he works out his own salvation
+along lines which he himself lays down, and in so doing invents
+some new creed almost daily; for a Russian newspaper can hardly
+ever be taken up without seeing the discovery of such in one corner
+or other of the vast Empire. That he has the full courage of his
+opinions, that he will suffer for conscience' sake&mdash;Russian
+officials only know how bitterly&mdash;that he will lay down his
+life, or&mdash;almost equal sacrifice for him&mdash;forsake his
+land and "<i>izba</i>," and face the future among the wild native
+races which bound European Tsarland on its north and east&mdash;not
+so very long ago&mdash;he suffered the knout and the stake rather
+than recant one iota of what he thinks to be the only true rendering
+of the Biblical text, all this must in common fairness be allowed
+to the poor Russian.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_7">ST. PETERSBURG</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Cronstadt, the strong fortress which stopped the advance of the
+English squadron in the last Russian war, is as the water-gate of
+St. Petersburg. A bright July sun made no unpleasing picture of
+the huge hulks of the men-of-war, and of the many-masted merchant
+ships which lay within the harbour, or behind the fortifications.
+Passing Cronstadt the capital soon comes in sight; the water is so
+smooth and shallow, and the banks are so low, that I was actually
+reminded of the lagoons of Venice. Far away in the distance glittered
+in the sunlight cupola beyond cupola, covered with burnished gold or
+sparkling with bright stars on a blue ground. The river, stretching
+wide as an estuary, was thronged with merchandise as the Tagus or the
+Thames: yachts were flying before the wind and steam-tugs laboured
+slowly against the stream, dragging behind the heavily-laden lighter.
+Warehouses and wharfs and timber-yards now begin to line either bank;
+yet the materials for a sketch-book are scanty and uninviting: an
+artist who, like Mr. Whistler, has etched at Battersea and Blackwell,
+would find by comparison on the Neva the forms without character,
+the surface without texture, the masses without light, shade, or
+colour. As the boat advances the imperial city grows in scale and
+pomp. The river view becomes imposing, the banks are lined on either
+side by granite quays, which for solidity, strength, and area, have
+no parallel in Europe. Beneath the bridges the unruly river rushes,
+bearing along rafts and merchandise, and in the broad-laid streets
+people hurry to and fro, as if the day were too short for the press
+of business: only in great commercial capitals, the centres of large
+populations, is life thus rapid and overburdened. Throughout Russia
+generally time hangs heavily, but here at the seat of empire, the
+focus of commerce, life under high pressure moves at full speed. I
+know of no European capital, excepting perhaps London and Vienna,
+which leaves on the mind so strong an impression of power, wealth,
+and ostentation, as the city of St. Petersburg.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Possibly the first idea which may strike the stranger on driving
+from the steamer to the hotel, is the large scale on which the
+city has been planned; the area of squares and streets seems
+proportioned to the vast dimensions of the Russian empire: indeed
+the silent solitudes of the city may be said to symbolize the desert
+tracks of central Russia and Siberia. Only on the continent of
+America is so much land at command, so large a sweep of territory
+brought within the circuit of city life. In the old world, Munich
+offers the closest analogy to St. Petersburg, and that not only
+by wide and half-occupied areas, but by a certain pretentious and
+pseudo-classic architecture, common to the two cities alike: the
+design of the Hermitage in fact came from Munich. St. Petersburg,
+like Munich too, has been forced into rapid growth; indeed while
+looking at the works raised by successive Tsars, I was reminded
+of the boast of Augustus that he found Rome of brick and left her
+of marble.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+St. Petersburg, though sometimes decried as a city of shams, is
+certainly not surpassed in the way of show by any capital in Europe.
+As to natural situation she may be said to be at once fortunate and
+infelicitous: the flatness of the land is not redeemed by fertility,
+the monotony of the panorama is not broken by mountains; the city
+rides as a raft upon the waters, so heavily freighted as to run the
+risk of sinking. And yet I know of no capital more imposing when
+taken from the strong points of view. Almost beyond parallel is the
+array of palaces and public buildings which meets the traveller's eye
+in a walk or sail from the English quay up to the Gardens of the
+Summer Palace. The structures it is true tend a little too much
+of what may be termed buckram and fustian styles; indeed there
+is scarcely a form or a detail which an architect would care to
+jot down in his note-book. And yet the general effect is grand:
+a big river rushing with large volume of water through the arches
+of bridges, along granite quays and before marble palaces, is a
+noble and living presence in the midst of city life. The waters of
+"the great Neva" and of "the little Neva" appear as an omnipresence;
+the rivers are in the streets, and great buildings, such as the
+Admiralty, the Fortress, and the Cathedral of St. Peter and St.
+Paul, ride as at anchor on a swelling flood. The views from the three
+chief bridges&mdash;Nicholas Bridge, Palace Bridge, and Troitska
+Bridge&mdash;are eminently palatial and imperial. The Academy of
+Arts, the Academy of Sciences, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Admiralty,
+the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, and the fortress and cathedral
+of St. Peter and St. Paul, give to the stranger an overpowering
+impression of the wealth and the strength of the empire. The Englishman,
+while standing on these bridges, will naturally recall analogous
+positions on the river Thames; such comparison is not wholly to the
+disadvantage of the northern capital, yet on the banks of the Neva
+rise no structures which in architectural design equal St. Paul's
+Cathedral, Somerset House, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of
+Parliament. Indeed, with the exception of the spire of the Admiralty,
+I did not find in St. Petersburg a single new idea.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 814px;">
+<a name="fig_10">
+<img src="images/fig010.jpg" width="814" height="521" alt="Fig. 10" /></a>
+<p class="image">ST. PETERSBURG.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of the famous Nevski-Prospekt, the chief street in St. Petersburg,
+it may be said as of our London Regent Street, that it can stand
+neither weather nor criticism. As to style of architecture, strictly
+speaking the Nevski-Prospekt has none: the buildings, consisting
+of shops, interspersed with a few churches and public edifices,
+so much partake of the modern and mongrel Italian manner, that
+the traveller might easily fancy himself in Paris, Brussels, or
+Turin. Few cities are so pretentious in outside appearances as St.
+Petersburg, and yet the show she makes is that of the whited sepulchre:
+false construction and rottenness of material, fa&ccedil;ades of
+empty parade, and plaster which feigns to be stone, constitute
+an accumulative dishonesty which has few parallels in the history
+of architecture. Classic pillars and porticos, which have been
+thrust in everywhere on slightest pretext, are often built up of
+brick covered with cement and coloured yellow. Columns, here the
+common and constant expedient, are mostly mismanaged; they are as
+it were gratuitous intrusions, they seem to be stuck on, they fail
+to compose with the rest of the building. Neither do the architects
+of St. Petersburg understand mouldings or the value of shadow,
+there is scarcely a moulding in the city which casts a deep, broad
+or delicate shadow: hence the fa&ccedil;ades look flat and thin
+as if built of cards. In the same way the details are poor and
+treated without knowledge; it thus happens that conceptions bold
+and grand are carried out incompletely. The great mistake is that
+the architects have made no attempt to gather together the scattered
+elements of a national style. With the noteworthy exception of the
+use of fine, fanciful and fantastic domes, often gilt or brightly
+coloured, the architecture of Russian capitals is either Classic
+or Renaissance of the most commonplace description.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I shall not think it worth while to dwell on the very many churches
+which adorn the northern capital, because, with few exceptions,
+there is nothing in point of art which merits to be recorded. Yet
+I can scarcely refrain from again referring to the fine fantasy
+played by many-coloured domes against the blue sky. The forms are
+beautiful, the colours decorative. The city in its sky outline
+presents a succession of strange pictures, at one point the eye
+might seem to range across a garden of gourds, at other positions
+peer above house-tops groups which might be mistaken for turbaned
+Turks; and when the sun shines vividly, and throws glittering light
+on the "patens of bright gold," over these many-domed churches,
+a stranger might almost fancy that above the city floated fire
+balloons or bright-coloured lanterns. The large cupola of St. Isaac,
+covered with copper overlaid with gold, has been said to burn on
+a bright day like the sun when rising on a mountain top. I can
+never forget the sight when I returned to St. Petersburg from the
+most brilliant civic and military spectacle I ever witnessed, the
+f&ecirc;te of the Empress at Tsarsko&eacute; S&eacute;lo. It was
+still dark, but before I reached my hotel for the short repose
+of a night which already brightened into morning, every cupola
+on the way was awakening into daylight; the sun, hesitating for a
+moment on the horizon, announced his coming as by electric light
+on the golden stars which shone on domes more blue than the grey
+sky of morning. In Moscow church cupolas playa part in the city
+panorama still more conspicuous than in St. Petersburg.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Cathedral of St. Isaac is the most costly and pretentious of
+Russian churches. The noble edifice has the advantage of a commanding
+situation; not, it is true, as to elevation&mdash;for that is impossible
+in a city set throughout on a dead level&mdash;but the surface area
+in its wide sweeping circuit at all events contrasts strikingly
+with that cribbed and cabined church-yard of St. Paul's in London,
+which the Englishman may have just left behind him. Yet St. Isaac's
+can scarcely venture on comparison with St. Paul's, though the style
+of the two buildings is similar. The great Cathedral of St. Petersburg
+has, however, the advantage of that concentration which belongs to
+the Greek as distinguished from the Latin Cross, a distinction
+which has always been to the disadvantage of St. Peter's in Rome.
+A cross of four equal arms, with columned porticos mounted nobly
+on steps at the four extremities, the whole composition crowned by
+central and surrounding cupolas, is assuredly an imposing conception,
+of which the French artist M. Montferrand has known how to make
+the most. I may here, by way of parenthesis, remark that the two
+works which do most honour to St. Petersburg, the Cathedral of
+St. Isaac and the adjacent equestrian statue of Peter the Great,
+are severally due not to Russian but to French artists. This is
+one example among many of the foreign origin of the arts in Russia.
+But at all events let it be admitted that the materials used, as
+well as the ideas often brought to bear, are local or national. For
+example, the grandest of all architectural conceptions, the idea
+of a dome, is here glorified in true Russian or Oriental manner,
+not so much by magnitude of proportion as by decorative splendour,
+heightened to the utmost by a surface of burnished gold. Then the
+four porticos which terminate each end of the Greek cross with
+stately columns and entablatures of granite from Finland, albeit
+in design mere commonplace complications, are wholly national in
+the material used. I do not now stop to mention the large and bold
+reliefs in bronze, which though French in design were, I believe,
+cast in St. Petersburg: indeed here, as in Munich, the government
+makes that liberal provision which only governments can make, for
+noble but unremunerative art. The great dome is said to be sustained
+by iron; indeed the science of construction brought to bear is great,
+yet again it must be acknowledged that whether the material be
+iron, bronze, or stone, the art, the skill, and even the commercial
+capital, are not Russian but foreign, and often English. Russian
+workmen, however, are employed as mechanics or machines, partly
+because in copyism and mechanism Russian artisans cannot throughout
+Europe be surpassed. When I got to St. Petersburg I could scarcely
+believe the statement to be true that the "English Magazine" and
+not any Russian factory had executed the eight stupendous malachite
+pillars within the church, weighing about 34,000 pounds and costing
+&pound;2,500 sterling. Yet while the organization might be English,
+the operatives were Russians. The unsurpassed malachite pillars
+combine in the grand altar-screen with columns of lapis-lazuli:
+the latter are said to have cost per pair &pound;12,000 sterling. I
+need scarcely observe that this parade of precious metals partakes
+more of barbaric magnificence than of artistic taste; indeed these
+columns of malachite and lapis-lazuli, which to the eye present
+themselves as solid and honest, have been built up as incrustations
+on hollow cast-iron tubes. Thus hollow are the most precious arts
+of Russia. Justice, however, demands that I should speak hereafter
+in fair appreciation of the interiors of Russian churches, whereof
+the Cathedral of St. Isaac is among the chief. Nevertheless, material
+rather than mind, money rather than art, is the governing power;
+malachite, lapis-lazuli, gold, and other precious substances are
+heaped together profusely, yet no architect in Europe of the slightest
+intellectual pretensions, would care to look a second time at the
+constructive or decorative conceptions which the churches of St.
+Petersburg display. St. Isaac's in fact is miraculous only in its
+monoliths. I could scarcely believe my eyes when first I stood
+beneath the stately porticos and looked from top to bottom of the
+very many columns, seven feet in diameter and sixty feet high,
+all polished granite monoliths from Finland. Already I had made
+the assertion that there was nothing new in St. Petersburg when
+these granite monoliths at once compelled a recantation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The monoliths in St. Petersburg are so exceptional in number and
+often so gigantic in dimension as to call for special mention. The
+monolith obelisks of ancient Egypt are scarcely more remarkable.
+In addition to the magnificent columns, each sixty feet high, which
+sustain the four porticos of the Cathedral of St. Isaac, are fifty-six
+monoliths, also of granite from Finland, thirty-five feet high
+in the Kazan Cathedral; likewise the noble entrance-hall of the
+Hermitage is sustained by sixteen monoliths, and the magnificent
+room which receives the treasures from the Cimmerian Bosphorus has
+the support of twenty monoliths. But the greatest single block of
+modern times stands in front of the Winter Palace, as a monument
+to Alexander I. The height is eighty-four feet, and the weight
+nearly four hundred tons. The story goes that the contractor in
+Finland, finding that he had exceeded the required length, actually
+cut off ten or fifteen feet. The vast granite quarries of Finland
+supply the Tsars with these stupendous columns, just as the granite
+quarries of Syene on the Nile furnished the Pharaohs with obelisks.
+These enormous masses are too heavy to be conveyed on wheels, the
+only practicable mode of transit is on rollers. In this way each of
+the sixty-feet columns for St. Isaac's was transported across country
+all the way from Finland. Each column represents so incredible an
+amount of labour as to make it evident that monoliths are luxuries
+in which only emperors can indulge. And even when these heavy weights
+have reached their destination the difficulty next occurs how to
+secure a solid foundation. St. Petersburg was once a swamp, and so
+rotten is the ground that it would be quite possible for a monolith
+to sink out of sight and never more be heard of. To provide against
+such contingencies a forest of piles was driven into the earth at
+the cost of &pound;200,000 as the foundation of St. Isaac, and yet
+the cathedral sinks. Like causes render the roads of St. Petersburg
+the worst in Europe; winter frosts, which penetrate several feet
+below the surface, seize on the imprisoned waters and tear up the
+streets. The surface thus broken is so destructive to wheels that
+I have known an Englishman, who, though he kept four carriages,
+had not one in a condition to use. The jolting on the roads is so
+great as to make it wise for a traveller to hold on fast, and when
+a lady and gentleman ride side by side, it is usual for the gentleman
+to protect the lady by throwing his arm round his companion's waist.
+This delicate attention is so much of a utilitarian necessity as
+in no way to imply further obligations.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+St. Petersburg is considerably indebted to the art of sculpture:
+public monuments adorn her squares and gardens. Indeed the art of
+sculpture has, like the sister arts of architecture and painting,
+been forced into preternatural proportions. In the large area within
+sight of the church of St. Isaac and of the Admiralty, stands
+conspicuously one of the few successful equestrian statues in modern
+or ancient times, the colossal bronze to Peter the Great. The huge
+block of granite, which is said to weigh upwards of 15,000 tons, was
+conveyed from a marsh, four miles distance from St. Petersburg, by
+means of ropes, pulleys, and windlasses, worked by men and horses.
+A drummer stationed on the rock itself gave the signal for onward
+movement. It would seem that the methods used in Russia to this
+day for transporting granite monoliths, are curiously similar to
+the appliances of the ancient Egyptians for moving like masses. In
+point of art this equestrian statue, though grand in conception,
+is, after the taste of barbarous nations, colossal in size. Peter
+the Great is eleven feet in stature, the horse is seventeen feet
+high. The nobility lies in the action, the horse rears on his hind
+legs after the favourite manner of Velasquez in well-known equestrian
+portraits of Ferdinand IV. The attitude assumed by the great Emperor
+is triumphant, the fiery steed has dashed up the rock and pauses as
+in mid-air on the brink of the precipice. The idea is that Peter
+the Great surveys from the height the capital of his creation, as
+it may be supposed to rise from the waters. His hand is stretched
+forth for the protection of the city. This work, like many other
+proud achievements in the empire, unfortunately is not Russian.
+The design is due to the Frenchman Falconet; Marie Callot is said
+to have modelled the head, and the casting was done by Martelli,
+an Italian. Falconet, in order to be true to the life, carefully
+studied again and again a fine Arab horse, mounted by a Russian
+general who was famous as a rider; the general day by day made a
+rush up a mound, artificially constructed for the purpose, and when
+just short of the precipice the horse was reined in and thrown on
+its hind legs. The artist watched the action and made his studies;
+the work accordingly has nature, movement, vigour. I may here mention
+that I have nowhere found such large masses of stone conveyed from
+place to place as here in St. Petersburg. It is true I have seen
+marble fresh from the mountains of Carrara tugged along by teams
+of bullocks, but I have nowhere witnessed so much power brought to
+bear as in the transit of the granite used in the immense memorial
+to the Empress Catherine.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The art collections in St. Petersburg may give the traveller pleasant
+occupation for several weeks; indeed if the tourist be an art student
+he will find work for months. The Winter Palace, adjoining the
+Hermitage, on the Neva, is like the palace at Versailles, conspicuous
+for rooms or galleries commemorative of military exploits. Here
+are well-painted battle-pieces by Willewalde and Kotzbue, also
+naval engagements by Aivasovsky, highly coloured as a matter of
+course. Likewise are hung the best battle-pieces I have ever seen,
+by Peter Hess, the renowned Bavarian painter, who appears to less
+credit in Munich than in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg. Also
+may be noted the portrait of Alexander I. by Dawe, the Englishman,
+who worked much in Russia. Here likewise is the imperial gallery
+of portraits of all the sovereigns of the reigning Russian house.
+I pass over these multitudinous works thus briefly, because, though
+the collection is of importance in the history of the empire, it
+has little value in art.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"The Crown Jewels" I shall not attempt to describe; no description
+of jewels can be worth much. I may venture to say, however, that
+after seeing all the royal jewellery in Europe, I found these Russian
+crowns, sceptres, etc., richer in diamonds than any other. Also
+pearls, rubies, Siberian aqua-marines, etc., add colour and splendour
+to the imperial treasure. The comparison on the spot, which I not
+unnaturally instituted, was with the imperial treasury at Vienna.
+Next, a word may be given to the room in which the proud, stern,
+and unrelenting Nicholas died, where all is kept intact as he left
+it. I have seldom been more impressed than with this small, simple,
+and almost penurious apartment, so striking in contrast with the
+splendour of the rest of the palace. Silence, solitude, and solemnity
+all the more attach to the spot from the statement to which credence
+is given that the great emperor, on learning of the reverses in
+the Crimea, here committed suicide. In other words, it is said
+that he directed his physician to prepare a medicine which after
+having taken he died. The sword, helmet, and grey military cloak
+are where he laid them. Here lies a historic tragedy which remains
+to be painted; one of the most dramatic pictorial scenes in Europe,
+the death of Wallenstein in Schiller's drama, painted by Professor
+Piloty and now in the new Pinakothek, Munich, might in the death
+of the great Nicholas find a parallel. The emperor lies buried
+with all the sovereigns of Russia since the foundation of St.
+Petersburg, in the cathedral fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul.
+Nothing in Europe is grander in the simplicity and silence which befit
+a sepulchre&mdash;not even the imperial tombs in Vienna&mdash;than
+this stately mausoleum of the Tsars. The Emperor Nicholas lies
+opposite to Peter the Great. In the Hermitage, or rather in the
+Winter Palace, is a gallery illustrative of the life and labours of
+Peter the Great. The collection, besides turning-lathes and other
+instruments with which the monarch worked, contains curiosities,
+knickknacks, as well as some works of real art value: the connecting
+point of the whole collection is in Peter himself. An analogous
+collection was some years ago opened in the Louvre as the Museum
+of Napoleon I. Dynasties all the world over thus seek to perpetuate
+their memories.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 817px;">
+<a name="fig_11">
+<img src="images/fig011.jpg" width="817" height="517" alt="Fig. 11" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Academy of Fine Arts is a noble institution, imposing in its
+architecture, and richly endowed. The Corps des Mines must also
+be visited, the collection of minerals proves the amazing riches
+of European and Asiatic Russia. I wish I had knowledge and space
+to describe this unexampled collection, which though not falling
+within my art province has direct art relations. Nothing beauteous
+or wondrous in nature lies beyond the sphere of art; the forms of
+crystals, the colours of precious stones are specially objects
+of delight to the artist's eye. The Imperial Public Library is
+one of the richest libraries in Europe; its literary treasures
+can hardly be overrated; I regret that I cannot enter into its
+contents. Private collections, though scarcely numerous, are choice;
+the celebrated Leuchtenberg Gallery, formerly in Munich, is the
+richest. The royal residences of Peterhof and Tsarsho&eacute;
+S&eacute;lo I also found to contain much in the way of art, and
+yet scarcely of sufficient importance to need special description.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Imperial Hermitage alone repays a journey to St. Petersburg;
+for a whole fortnight I visited almost every day the picture and
+sculpture galleries of this vast and rich museum, and in the end
+I left with the feeling that I had done but inadequate justice
+to these valuable and exhaust-less collections. I am tolerably
+well acquainted with the great museums in the south and west of
+Europe, and I was interested to find that the Hermitage does not
+suffer by comparison with the Vatican, the Museum of Naples, the
+Galleries of Florence, the Louvre in Paris, or the Great Picture
+Gallery in Madrid. In some departments, indeed, St. Petersburg has
+the advantage over other capitals; the collection of gold ornaments
+from Kertch is not surpassed by the gold work in the Etruscan room of
+the Vatican; the coins are not inferior to the numismatic collections
+in Paris, or in the British Museum; the Dutch pictures are not to be
+equalled save in Holland or in Dresden; the Spanish school has no
+competitor save in Madrid and Seville; the portraits by Vandyck, and
+the sketches by Rubens, are only surpassed in England and Bavaria.
+It is thus obvious that the collective strength of the assembled
+collections, is very great. The picture galleries contain more than
+1,500 works; the number of drawings is upwards of 500, the coins
+and medals amount to 200,000, the painted vases are above 1,700, the
+ancient marbles number 361, and the collection of gems is one of
+the largest in existence. The Hermitage has been enriched partly
+to the prejudice of other cities or palaces. From the Tauris Palace
+came classic sculpture. Tsarsho&eacute; S&eacute;lo also furnished
+contributions. The policy has been to make one astounding museum,
+which shall represent not a capital but an empire, and stand before
+the world as the exponent of the wealth, the resource, and the
+refined taste of the nation and its rulers.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_8">FINLAND</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">HARRY DE WINDT</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"What sort of a place is Finland?" asked a friend whom I met, on
+my return from that country, in London. "Very much the same as
+Lapland, I suppose? Snow, sleighs, and bears, and all that kind
+of thing?"
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+My friend was not singular in his idea, for they are probably those of
+most people in England. At present Finland is a <i>terra incognita</i>,
+though fortunately not likely to remain one. Nevertheless, it will
+probably take years to eradicate a notion that one of the most
+attractive and advanced countries in Europe, possessed in summer
+of the finest climate in the world, is not the eternal abode of
+poverty, cold, and darkness. It was just the same before the railway
+opened up Siberia and revealed prosperous cities, fertile plains,
+and boundless mineral resources to an astonished world. A decade
+ago my return from this land of civilization, progress, and, above
+all, humanity was invariably met by the kind of question that heads
+this chapter, with the addition, as a rule, of facetious allusions
+to torture and the knout! My ignorance, however, of Finland as she
+really is was probably unsurpassed before my eyes were opened by
+a personal inspection, so I cannot afford to criticise.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+What is Finland, and what are its geographical and climatic
+characteristics? I will try to answer these questions briefly and
+clearly without wearying the reader with statistics. In the first
+place, Finland (in Finnish, "Suomi") is about the size of Great
+Britain, Holland, and Belgium combined, with a population of about
+2,500,000. Its southern and western shores are washed by the Baltic
+Sea, while Lake Ladoga and the Russian frontier form the eastern
+boundary. Finland stretches northward far beyond the head of the
+Gulf of Bothnia, where it joins Norwegian territory. There are
+thirty-seven towns, of which only seven have a population exceeding
+10,000, viz., Helsingfors, Abo, Tammerfors, Viborg, Uleaborg, Vasa
+(Nikolaistad), and Bjorneborg.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Finland is essentially a flat country, slightly mountainous towards
+the north, but even her highest peak (Haldesjock, in Finnish Lapland)
+is under 4,000 feet in height. South of this a hill of 300 feet
+is called a mountain; therefore Alpine climbers have no business
+here. The interior may be described as an undulating plateau largely
+composed of swamp and forest, broken with granite rocks and gravel
+ridges and honeycombed with the inland waters known as "The Thousand
+Lakes" (although ten thousand would be nearer the mark), one of
+which is three times the size of the Lake of Geneva. The rivers
+are small and unimportant, the largest being only about the size
+of the Seine. On the other hand, the numerous falls and rapids on
+even the smallest streams render their ascent in boats extremely
+difficult and often impossible. But lakes and canals are the natural
+highways of the country; rivers are only utilized as a motive power
+for electricity, manufactories, and for conveying millions of logs
+of timber yearly from the inland forests to the sea. A curious fact
+is that, although many parts of the interior are far below the
+level of the Baltic, the latter is gradually but surely receding
+from the coast, and many hitherto submerged islets off the latter
+have been left high and dry by the waves. You may now in places
+walk from one island to another on dry land, which, fifty years ago,
+was many fathoms under water, while signs of primitive navigation
+are constantly being discovered as far as twenty miles inland!
+It is therefore probable that the millions of islands which now
+fringe these shores, formed, at some remote period, one continuous
+strip of land. How vessels ever find their way, say from Hang&ouml;
+to Nystad, is a mystery to the uninitiated landsman. At a certain
+place there are no less than 300 islands of various sizes crowded
+into an area of six square miles! Heaven preserve the man who finds
+himself there, in thick weather, with a skipper who does not quite
+know the ropes!
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The provinces of which the Grand Duchy is composed are as follows,
+running from north to south: (1) Finnish Lapland, (2) Ostrobothnia,
+(3) Satakunta, (4) Tavastland, (5) Savolax, (6) Karelia, (7) Finland
+proper, (8) Nyland, and (9) the Aland Islands.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Finnish Lapland may be dismissed without comment, for it is a wild,
+barren region, sparsely populated by nomad tribes, and during the
+summer is practically impassable on account of its dense forests,
+pathless swamps, and mosquitoes of unusual size and ferocity. In
+winter-time journeys can be made quickly and pleasantly in sledges
+drawn by reindeer, but at other times the country must be crossed
+in cranky canoes by means of a network of lakes and rivers; and
+the travelling is about as tough as monotony, short rations, and
+dirt can make it. I am told that gold has lately been discovered
+there, but it would need a considerable amount of the precious
+metal to tempt me into Finnish Lapland in summer-time.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Ostrobothnia, which lies immediately south of this undesirable
+district, contains the towns of Tornea and Uleaborg. We will pass
+on to the provinces of Central Finland, viz., Tavastland, Savolax,
+and Karelia. The Finns say that this is the heart of their country,
+while Helsingfors and Tammerfors constitute its brains. So crowded
+and complicated is the lake system in this part of Finland that
+water almost overwhelms dry land, and the district has been likened
+to one huge archipelago. Forests abound, especially in Tavastland,
+whence timber is exported in large quantities, while agriculture
+flourishes in all these provinces. Crops are generally grown in
+the valleys, while in other parts the sides and summits of the
+hills are usually selected for cultivation. Large tracts of country
+about here once laid out for arable are now converted into grazing
+grounds, for the number of cattle is yearly on the increase.
+Dairy-farming is found to be more profitable and less risky than
+the raising of wheat and barley in a land where one night of frost
+sometimes destroys the result of a whole year's patient care and
+labour. The land is cleared for cultivation by felling and burning,
+and it is then ploughed in primitive fashion and sown, but only
+one harvest is generally gathered on one spot. The latter is then
+deserted, and the following year another patch of virgin soil takes
+its place. There is thus a good deal of waste, not only in land,
+but also in trees, which are wantonly cut down for any trifling
+purpose, regardless of their value or the possible scarcity in
+the future of timber. Accidental forest fires also work sad havoc
+at times, destroying thousands of pounds' worth of timber in a
+few hours. Pine resin burns almost as fiercely as petroleum, and
+it sometimes takes days to extinguish a conflagration.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Many of the poorer people in the central provinces live solely
+by fishing in the lakes teeming with salmon, which find a ready
+market both salted and fresh. There is plenty of rough shooting to
+be had for the asking, but no wild animals of any size. In the far
+north bears are still numerous, and elk were formerly obtainable.
+A few of the latter still exist in the wilder parts of the country,
+but it is now forbidden to kill them. Some years ago the forests of
+Tavastland were infested with wolves, and during one fatal season
+a large number of cattle and even some children were devoured,
+but a <i>battue</i> organized by the peasantry cleared the brutes
+out of the country. You may now shoot hares here, and any number
+of wild fowl, but that is about all.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The remainder of Finland consists of Finland proper and Nyland
+on the south and south-western coasts, and as these comprise not
+only the capital, but also the large towns of Abo and Viborg, they
+may be regarded as the most important, politically, commercially,
+and socially, in the country. Here lakes are still numerous, but
+insignificant in size compared with those of the interior. On the
+other hand, the vegetation is richer, for the oak, lime, and hazel
+do well, and the flora, both wild and cultivated, is much more
+extensive than in the central and northern districts. Several kinds
+of fruit are grown, and Nyland apples are famous for their flavour,
+while very fair pears, plums, and cherries can be bought cheaply
+in the markets. Currants and gooseberries are, however, sour and
+tasteless. In these southern districts the culture of cereals has
+reached a perfection unknown further north, for the farms are usually
+very extensive, the farmers up to date, and steam implements in
+general use. Dairy-farming is also carried on with excellent results
+and yearly increasing prosperity. Amongst the towns, Bjorneborg,
+Nystad, Hang&ouml;, and Kotka will in a few years rival the capital
+in size and commercial importance.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The last on the list is the Aland archipelago, which consists of
+one island of considerable size surrounded by innumerable smaller
+ones, and situated about fifty miles off the south-western coast
+of Finland. Here, oddly enough, Nature has been kinder than almost
+anywhere on the mainland, for although the greater part of the island
+is wild and forest-clad, the eternal pines and silver birch-trees
+are blended with the oak, ash and maple, and bright blossoms such
+as may and hawthorn relieve to a great extent the monotonous green
+foliage of Northern Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+That the Alander has much of the Swede in his composition is shown
+by the neatness of his dwellings and cleanly mode of life. He is an
+amphibious creature, half mariner, half yeoman, a sober, thrifty
+individual, who spends half of his time at the plough-tail and
+the other half at the helm. Fishing for a kind of small herring
+called "str&ouml;mming" is perhaps the most important industry,
+and a lucrative one, for this fish (salted) is sent all over the
+country and even to Russia proper. Farming is a comparatively recent
+innovation, for the Alanders are born men of the sea, and were once
+reckoned the finest sailors in Finland. Less than a century ago
+Aland harboured a fine fleet of sailing-ships owned by syndicates
+formed amongst the peasantry, and engaged in a profitable trade
+with Great Britain and Denmark. But steamers have knocked all this
+upon the head, and the commercial future of the islands would now
+seem to depend chiefly upon the fishing and agricultural industries.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The population of these Islands is under 25,000, of which the small
+town of Mariehamm, the so-called capital, contains about 700 souls.
+Steamers touch here, so that there is no difficulty in reaching the
+place, which is certainly worth a visit not only for its antiquity
+(the Alands were inhabited long before the mainland), but on account
+of the interesting ruins it contains&mdash;amongst them the Castle
+of Castelholm, built by Birger Jarl in the Fourteenth Century, and
+the time-worn walls of which could tell an interesting history. A
+part of the famous fortress of Bomarsund, destroyed by an Anglo-French
+fleet in 1854, may also be seen not far from Mariehamm. Plain but
+decent fare may be obtained here, but the fastidious will do well
+to avoid the smaller villages, where the Alander's diet generally
+consists solely of seal-meat, salt fish, bread and milk. A delicacy
+eaten with gusto by these people is composed of seal-oil and the
+entrails of sea-birds, and is almost identical with one I saw amongst
+the Tchuktchis on Bering Straits. And yet the Alanders are cleanly
+enough in their habits and the smallest village has its bath-house.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At one time Aland was famous for sport, and in olden days Swedish
+sovereigns visited the island to hunt the elk, which were then
+numerous. But these and most other wild animals are now extinct
+and even wild fowl are scarce. Only one animal appears to
+thrive,&mdash;the hedgehog; but the natives do not appear to have
+discovered its edible qualities. An English tramp could enlighten
+them on this point.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 821px;">
+<a name="fig_12">
+<img src="images/fig012.jpg" width="821" height="535" alt="Fig. 12" /></a>
+<p class="image">HELSINGFORS, FINLAND</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The entire population of Finland amounts to rather over 2,500,000,
+including a considerable number of Swedes, who are found chiefly
+in the Aland Islands, Nyland, and Finland proper. Helsingfors,
+the capital, contains over 80,000 souls, and Kemi, the smallest
+town, near the northern frontier, under 400. Of the other cities,
+Abo has 30,000, Tammerfors, 25,000, and Viborg, 20,000 inhabitants.
+I should add that there is probably no country in creation where
+the population has so steadily increased, notwithstanding adverse
+conditions, as Finland. After the Russian campaign of 1721 the
+country contained barely 250,000 souls, and yet, although continually
+harassed by war and its attendant evils, these had increased thirty
+years later to 555,000. Fifty years ago the Finns numbered 1,500,000,
+and the latest census shows nearly double these figures, although
+in 1868 pestilence and famine swept off over 100,000 victims.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The languages spoken in the Grand Duchy are Finnish and Swedish,
+the former being used by at least eighty-five per cent. of the
+population. Russian-speaking inhabitants number about 5,000, while
+the Lapps amount to 1,000 only, other nationalities to under 3,000.
+Although Swedish is largely spoken in the towns, Finnish only is
+heard, as a rule, in the rural districts. There is scarcely any
+nobility in the country, if we except titled Swedish settlers. Most
+Finns belong to the middle class of life, with the exception of a
+few families ennobled in 1809 by the Tsar of Russia on his accession
+as Grand Duke of Finland. The lower orders are generally quiet and
+reserved in their demeanour, even on festive public occasions, and
+make peaceable, law-abiding citizens. "'Arry" is an unknown quantity
+here, and "'Arriet" does not exist. A stranger will everywhere
+meet with studied politeness in town and country. Drive along a
+country road, and every peasant will raise his hat to you, not
+deferentially, but with the quiet dignity of an equal. The high
+standard of education, almost legally exacted from the lowest classes
+in Finland, is unusually high, for the most illiterate plough boy
+may not marry the girl of his choice until he can read the Bible
+from end to end to the satisfaction of his pastor, and the same
+rule applies to the fair sex.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The climate of Finland is by no means so severe as is generally
+imagined. As a matter of fact, no country of a similar latitude,
+with the exception of Sweden, enjoys the same immunity from intense
+cold. This is owing to the Gulf Stream, which also imparts its genial
+influence to Scandinavia. In summer the heat is never excessive, the
+rainfall is insignificant, and thunderstorms are rare. July is the
+warmest, and January the coldest month, but the mean temperature of
+Helsingfors in mid-winter has never fallen below that of Astrakhan,
+on the Caspian Sea.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The weather is, however, frequently changeable, and even in summer
+the thermometer often rises or falls many degrees in the space
+of a few hours. You may sit down to dinner in the open air in
+Helsingfors in your shirt-sleeves, and before coffee is served be
+sending home for a fur coat. But this is an unusual occurrence, for
+a summer in Finland has been my most agreeable climatic experience
+in any part of the world.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The winter is unquestionably hard, and lasts about six months,
+from November till the middle of April. At Christmas time the sun
+is only visible for six hours a day. The entire surface of the
+country, land, lake, and river, then forms one vast and frozen
+surface of snow, which may be traversed by means of sledge, snowshoes,
+or ski. A good man on the last-named will easily cover his seven
+miles an hour. Although tourists generally affect this country
+in the open season, a true Finlander loves the winter months as
+much as he dislikes the summer. In his eyes boredom, heat, and
+mosquitoes are a poor exchange for merry picnics on ski, skating
+contests, and sledge expeditions by starlight with pretty women and
+gay companions, to say nothing of the nightly balls and theatre and
+supper parties. Helsingfors is closed to navigation from November
+until June, for the sea forms an icy barrier around the coast of
+Finland, now no longer impenetrable, thanks to the ice-breakers
+at Hang&ouml;. In the north the Gulf of Bothnia is frozen for even
+longer.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Towards April winter shows signs of departure. By the middle of
+May ice and snow have almost disappeared, except in the north,
+where Uleaborg is, climatically, quite three weeks behind any of
+the southern towns. Before the beginning of June verdure and foliage
+have reappeared in all their luxuriance, and birds and flowers
+once more gladden field and forest with perfume and song. Even now
+an occasional shower of sleet besprinkles the land, only to melt
+in a few minutes, and leave it fresher and greener than before.
+May and June are, perhaps, the best months, for July and August
+are sometimes too warm to be pleasant. October and November are
+gloomy and depressing. Never visit Finland in the late autumn, for
+the weather is then generally dull and overcast, while cold, raw
+winds, mist and sleet, are not the exception. Midwinter and midsummer
+are the most favourable seasons, which offer widely different but
+equally favourable conditions for the comfort and amusement of
+the traveller.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+And, if possible, choose the former, if only for one reason. No
+one who has ever witnessed the unearthly beauty of a summer night
+in Finland is likely to forget it. The Arctic Circle should, of
+course, be crossed to witness the midnight sun in all its glory,
+but I doubt if the quiet <i>cr&eacute;puscule</i> (I can think of
+no other word) of the twilit hours of darkness is not even more
+weird and fascinating viewed from amid silent streets and buildings
+than from the sullen dreariness of an Arctic desert, which is generally
+(in summer) as drab and as flat as a biscuit. In Arctic Lapland,
+where for two months the sun never sinks below the horizon, you may
+read small print without difficulty throughout the night between
+June and August. This would be impossible in Helsingfors, where
+nevertheless from sunset till dawn it is never quite dark. In the
+far north the midnight sun affords a rather garish light; down
+south it sheds grey but luminous rays, so faint that they cast
+no shadows, but impart a weird and mysterious grace to the most
+commonplace surroundings. No artist has yet successfully portrayed
+the indescribable charm and novelty of a summer night under these
+conditions, and, in all probability, no artist ever will!
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+His Majesty the Tsar's manifesto has not as yet (outwardly, at
+any rate) Russianized the capital of Finland. It will probably
+take centuries to do that, for Finland, like France, has an
+individuality which the combined Powers of Europe would be puzzled to
+suppress. A stranger arriving at the railway station of Helsingfors,
+for instance, may readily imagine himself in Germany, Austria, or
+even Switzerland, but certainly not within a thousand miles of
+Petersburg. Everything is so different, from the dapper stationmaster
+with gold-laced cap of German build down to the porters in clean
+white linen blouses, which pleasantly contrast with the malodorous
+sheepskins of unwashed Russia. At Helsingfors there is nothing,
+save the soldiery, to remind one of the proximity of Tsarland. And
+out in the country it is the same. The line from Mikkeli traverses
+a fair and prosperous district, as unlike the monotonous scenery over
+the border as the proverbial dock and daisy. Here are no squalid
+hovels and roofless sheds where half-starved cattle share the misery
+of their owners; no rotting crops and naked pastures; but snug
+homestead, flower gardens, and neat wooden fences encircling fields
+of golden grain and rich green meadow land. To travel in Southern
+Finland after Northern Russia is like leaving the most hideous
+parts of the Black Country to suddenly emerge into the brightness
+and verdure of a sunlit Devonshire.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_9">LAPLAND</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">ALEXANDER PLATONOVICH ENGELHARDT</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Peninsula of Kola, which forms the District of that name, extends
+about 650 versts, or 433 miles, from west to east, from the frontiers
+of Norway and Finland to the White Sea, and about 400 versts, or 266
+miles, from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of
+Kandalax, covering an area of 131,860 square versts, or 37,022,400
+acres. The coast belt from the Norwegian border-line to Holy Cape
+(or Sweet-nose), is called the Murman Coast, or simply the Murman;
+the eastern and south-eastern part, from Holy Cape along the White
+Sea to the mouth of the Varzuga, goes by the name of the Tierski
+Coast; and the southern part, from the Varzuga to Kandalax, the
+Kandalax Coast; whilst the whole of the interior bears the name of
+Russian Lapland. The surface of the Peninsula is either mountainous,
+or covered with <i>tundras</i> (i. e., moss-grown wilds), and swamps.
+The Scandinavian mountain range, which divides Sweden from Norway,
+extending to the Kola Peninsula, breaks up into several separate
+branches. Along the shores of the Murman they form craggy coast
+cliffs, rising at times to an elevation of 500 feet. Further to
+the east they become gradually lower, so that near the White Sea
+they seldom exceed fifty or one hundred feet, with less precipitous
+descents. The reach their greatest height further inland, to the
+east of Lake Imandra, where they form the Hibinski and Luiavrout
+chains, veiled in perpetual snow. Some of the peaks rise to 970
+feet above the level of the lake, which, in its turn, is 140 feet
+higher than the sea-level, so that the mountains surrounding the
+lake are over 1,000 feet above the level of the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Not far from Lake Imandra is the lofty Mount Bozia, (or Gods' Hill),
+at the foot of which, according to the traditions of the Lapps,
+their ancestors offered up sacrifices to their gods. Even at the
+present time the Lapps of the district speak of this site with
+peculiar veneration. Between the village of Kashkarantz and the
+Varzuga rises Mt. Korable, remarkable for its many caverns, studded
+with crystals of translucent quartz and amethyst, the former, together
+with fluor and heavy spar, being met with, too, in the eastern
+parts of the mountain. The Kola Peninsula was carefully explored
+by Finnish Expeditions in 1887-1892.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The climate of Lapland is not everywhere uniform, but in general
+it is bleak and raw. Winter begins about the end of September and
+continues till May. It is colder inland than by the ice-free shores
+of the Northern Ocean, where the warm currents of the Gulf Stream
+moderate the cold. And yet the severity of the weather does not
+injuriously affect the health or longevity of the inhabitants.
+The winter roads are well set in by the end of October (or early
+in November), the snow-fall during the winter months amounting
+to seven quarters, or four feet one inch. The Polar night lasts
+from the 25th of November to the 15th of January, but the darkness
+is not by any means so great as one would imagine. The white of
+the snow gives a certain glimmer of light, and the frequent and
+prolonged flashes of Aurora Borealis set the heavens in a blaze as
+with clouds of fire, turning night into twilight, as it were, and
+by their brilliancy and beauty making some amends to the natives
+for the absence of the sun's rays. It is easy even to read by their
+light; while each day, about noon, there is enough daylight for an
+hour or so to enable one to dispense with candles. So that under
+the name of Polar Night should be understood not the total absence
+of light, but rather the season when the sun no longer appears
+above the horizon. It begins to show itself again about the 17th
+of January, gradually rising higher and higher as the days advance.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 816px;">
+<a name="fig_13">
+<img src="images/fig013.jpg" width="816" height="557" alt="Fig. 13" /></a>
+<p class="image">REINDEER TRAVELLING</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Snow vanishes from the plains towards the middle (or end) of May,
+but remains the whole year round in the gorges of the mountains.
+The rivers are clear of ice about the beginning (or middle) of
+May, and within a month from that time the first shoots of verdure
+begin to appear on the meadows and hill-sides. The sun never sets
+from the 24th of May to the 21st of July. There is neither twilight
+nor night,&mdash;the long Arctic Day has set in. During this period
+the sun warms the soil only at noon, simply shining for the rest
+of the day, seemingly a golden orb without heat. Summer, beginning
+about the middle (<i>i. e.</i>, end) of June, barely lasts two
+months. By July flowers are already shedding their blossoms, their
+rapid growth being aided by the unbroken daylight.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Any attempts at agriculture in such a climate are, of course, foredoomed
+to failure, but along the river banks some fairly good meadows
+enable the settlers of the Murman to rear all the cattle they need.
+Turnips are the only vegetables that can be raised, with, here
+and there, a few potatoes.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The southern and western portions of the Peninsula are covered
+with pretty good timber, mostly pine (<i>Pinus silvestris</i>).
+As you go further north, the timber becomes more and more stunted,
+consisting chiefly of birchwood, till you reach the open <i>tundra</i>,
+which is clothed in moss and low-growing shrubs.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Lapps lead a semi-nomadic life. The settlements in which they
+live are called <i>pagosts</i>, each group of Lapps having its
+particular summer and winter <i>pagost</i>. The latter is usually
+inland near the forests, where they herd their deer in winter. In
+summer they wander nearer to the coasts and lakes for the sake
+of the fishing. The winter dwelling of the Lapp is called a
+<i>toopa</i>, a small smoky sod-covered hut, covering some 150 to
+200 square feet; whereas in summer he lives in his <i>vieja</i>, a
+large wigwam resembling a Samoyede <i>choom</i>, but covered over,
+not with skins as with the Samoyedes, but with branches, tree-bark
+and turfs.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The typical Lapp is dwarf-like and thick-set. He usually wears
+a grey cloth jacket, his head being encircled in a high woollen
+cap tapering to a tassel at the top, while his feet, wrapped up
+in rags, are then covered with big shoes. In general, his whole
+appearance, with his pointed beard, bears a striking resemblance
+to the familiar representations of "gnomes," as these denizens of
+the subterranean world are pictured to us in fairy books. Few of
+the Lapps, however, confine themselves to this characteristic type
+of Lapp costume, but wear whatever comes to their hands,&mdash;hats,
+caps, clothes "made in Germany" and so on.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Among the women, especially the younger ones, some fairly pretty
+faces may be met with. Their dress is usually a calico <i>sarafan</i>,
+and generally speaking, there is nothing specially distinguishing
+about their apparel.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Lapp race is evidently dying out, or rather, is gradually
+intermingling with, and being absorbed by, the neighbouring races.
+With neither written memorials nor a historic past to cling to,
+nor any particular religious belief, they are all of the Orthodox
+Faith. In assuming the customs and civilization of the Russians,
+the Lapps often abandon their own tribe, and assimilate with the
+stronger race. I have often heard such sayings as the following
+from Lapps who have more or less settled down: "I'm not a Lapp
+at all, I'm a Russian now," or "He's a good man" (<i>i. e.</i>,
+active, energetic) "and not a Lapp."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+So that they evidently have no particularly high opinion of themselves,
+and put no great value on their tribal individuality; and yet, as
+the free-born child of the broad and boundless <i>tundra</i>, the
+Lapp dearly loves his home and open roving life.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The chief occupations of the Lapps are reindeer-rearing and fishing,
+and in winter, the transport of goods by means of their deer. They
+are unfortunately bad husbandmen, utterly reckless about the increase
+of their herds, and never dreaming of looking upon them as sources
+of gain. Deer-herding is not, in their eyes, a regular business,
+they merely keep such head as are required for domestic uses, that
+is, for food, clothing and travelling. Very few Lapps own big herds,
+while most of them hardly know or care how many in reality they have.
+In summer, when the deer are not wanted for travelling purposes, they
+dismiss them to range at large, without any surveillance whatever. To
+escape the persecutions of gadflies and mosquitoes the deer generally
+flock to the Hibinski Mountains, or else wander to the sea-shore.
+When thus at large they multiply freely of themselves, and, by
+this time half wild, often stray away from the herds altogether.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The rearing of reindeer might easily be made such a profitable business
+as to be sufficient in itself to insure a comfortable livelihood to
+the Lapps. The deer itself hardly requires any looking after the
+whole year round. All through the summer it feeds on various grasses,
+and in winter on the <i>yagel</i>, or reindeer lichen (<i>Cladonia
+rangiferina</i>), which it scratches out from under the snow, with
+its hoofs. This lichen, or moss, grows in profusion all over the
+<i>tundras</i> and forests of the Kola Peninsula. It is his deer
+which supply the Lapp with food and clothing, convey his family
+and goods hundreds of versts in his wanderings, and, finally, give
+him the opportunity of adding to his income by acting as carrier,
+and by supplying teams to the government postal-stations, etc. Some
+years ago some Ziri&agrave;ns from the Petchora settled in the Kola
+Peninsula with their herds, numbering some 5,000 head. The Lapps
+welcomed them into their community, looking upon them, indeed,
+as benefactors, as the Ziri&agrave;ns, a smart and enterprising
+race, get everything needed for household purposes, which they
+obtain much cheaper than the Lapps themselves could before, at
+the same time giving good prices for the skins of reindeer and
+other wild animals killed by the Lapps. So far no want of grazing
+plots has been felt. The Ziri&agrave;ns have already over 10,000
+head of deer, deriving, comparatively speaking, enormous gains
+from them. But then, unlike the Lapps, the Ziri&agrave;ns go about
+their business in systematic and sensible fashion, safeguarding
+their stock from the incursions of beasts of prey, tending them
+carefully winter and summer, driving them from time to time to
+suitable pastures, etc.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_10">MOSCOW</a></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><b><i>The Kremlin and its treasuries. The Ancient
+Regalia. The Romanoff House</i></b></p>
+
+<p class="author">ALFRED MASKELL</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Moscow is the second capital of the Empire, but by ancient right
+the first, although now surpassed both in commerce and population by
+the modern city of Peter the Great. Moscow occupies almost exactly
+the geographical centre of European Russia. Artistically it is of
+far greater interest to us than its northern rival. It has preserved
+the old oriental type: in its palaces has been displayed the barbaric
+pomp of the Muscovite Tsars of which much yet remains, not only
+in their renovated halls but also in what is left of the plate,
+jewels and ornaments with which they once abounded.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The general plan resembles somewhat that of Paris; the different
+quarters have gradually developed around a centre, and the river
+Moskva meanders through them as the Seine. The centre is the Kremlin;
+in shape an irregular triangle surrounded by high walls, outside
+which is the first walled-in quarter&mdash;the Kitai-Gorod, that
+is the Chinese city, about the meaning of which term there is some
+dispute. It is not, nor ever has been, in any way Chinese.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The name of Moscow appears first in the chronicles in 1147, when
+Youri, a son of Vladimir Monomachus, built the first houses of a
+town on the hill where the Kremlin now stands, but it was not until
+at least a century later that the city became of any importance.
+In 1237, it was burned by the Tartars and the real founder was
+Daniel, a son of Alexander Nevski. He was the first prince buried
+in the church of St. Michael where, until the time of Peter the
+Great, all the sovereigns of Russia have been buried; as in the
+metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption, but a few steps distant,
+they have all been crowned up to the present day. From the Fifteenth
+to the Seventeenth Centuries, at the time when the arts flourished
+in Russia, in the greatest profusion and magnificence, Moscow was
+endowed with her richest monuments. It was then the numerous churches
+arose, the Kremlin, and the palaces of the boyars. At that time the
+city consisted of the Kremlin and the three walled-in enclosures
+which encircle it and each other as the several skins and shell
+inclose the kernel of a walnut. It appears to have been built in a
+haphazard fashion, though the old plans, with the houses sketched
+in rows, exhibit an uniformity of streets and buildings. They show
+us also that the houses were for the most part of wood, having each
+a covered outside staircase leading to the upper stories. Built
+so much of wood it was exposed to frequent conflagrations, the last
+being the great burning at the time of the French invasion in 1812.
+But so quickly was it always rebuilt and on the same lines that it
+has ever retained its original and irregular aspect. The Kremlin
+was at first of wood, but under the two Ivans it was surrounded by
+the solid stone walls of white stone cut in facets, which have
+given to the city the name "White Mother," or "Holy Mother Moscow
+with the white walls."
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 827px;">
+<a name="fig_14">
+<img src="images/fig014.jpg" width="827" height="558" alt="Fig. 14" /></a>
+<p class="image">MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Kremlin is at the same time a fortress and a city contained
+within itself, with its streets and palaces, churches, monasteries,
+and barracks. Eighteen towers and five gateways garnish the long
+extent of the inclosing wall; two of the gateways are interesting;
+that of the Saviour built by Pietro Solario in 1491, and that of
+the Trinity by Christopher Galloway in the Seventeenth Century.
+Here, among the churches are those of the Assumption and of St.
+Michael; here are the new palace of the Tsar, the restored Terem
+(what is left of the old palace), the sacristy and library of the
+patriarchs, the treasure and regalia, the great tower of Ivan Veliki
+in which hangs the largest bell in the world that will ring, and
+beneath it the "Tsar Kolokol," the king of bells, which it is supposed
+has never been rung and the king of cannons which has never been
+fired.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The ancient "Kazna," or treasury of the Kremlin, where the riches
+of the Tsars have been preserved from time immemorial was in the
+reign of Ivan III. situated within the walls of the Kremlin, between
+the Cathedrals of St. Michael and of the Annunciation. Here it
+remained until the great fire of 1737. The treasure had already
+suffered a heavy loss: in the early part of the Seventeenth Century,
+at the time of the war with Poland, a large quantity of plate was
+melted down to provide for the payment of the troops. The fire
+of 1737 caused a further and greater loss and destroyed also a
+large part of the armoury. At the time of the French invasion in
+1812 the whole of the treasure, together with the regalia, was
+removed to Novgorod, and thus escaped destruction of seizure. On
+its return to Moscow in 1814, systematic arrangements were made
+for its preservation, and for the formation and arrangement of
+the museum in which it is now exhibited. In the year 1850 the new
+building of the Oruj&eacute;naia Palata which forms part of the
+modern palace of the Kremlin was completed, and to this the entire
+collection was transferred.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The treasury of Moscow has been almost from the time of the
+establishment of the Russian Empire the place where the riches
+of the Tsars have been kept; consisting of the regalia, of the
+state costumes, of the plate and vases used in the service of their
+table, of their most magnificent armour and horse-trappings, of
+their state carriages and sledges and of the presents which from
+time to time the sovereigns of other countries sent through their
+ambassadors, of whose embassies so many interesting accounts have
+come down to us.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The collection of plate is exposed on open stands arranged in tiers
+round the pillars, or otherwise displayed in a vast hall of the
+new building of the Oruj&eacute;naia Palata.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The riches thus brought together have suffered many changes. The
+court was frequently moved, the state of the empire was continually
+disturbed, fires were of frequent occurrence, and necessity at times
+caused much treasure to be melted down. The Tsar's favourites received
+no doubt from time to time acceptable marks of his approbation in
+the shape of rich presents, and many specimens of plate found their
+way probably in a similar manner to the churches and monasteries. But
+notwithstanding all this, there still remains permanently installed
+and carefully guarded in the treasury of the Kremlin a collection
+of plate which, for extent, variety, and interest, may rival that
+in any other palace in the world.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It appears to have been customary during the last two centuries
+at least to make a grand display of this treasure on the occasion
+of the visit of the sovereign, and especially during the ceremonies
+of the coronation. Then, in the centre of the hall in the ancient
+<i>Terem</i>, known as the gold room, where the Tsar dines in solitary
+state, a kind of buffet is arranged and other stands disposed,
+loaded and groaning with this rich accumulation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Great splendour and richness of material, the lavish use of jewels in
+the decoration, and the brilliant colour derived from the employment
+of enamels are characteristics of eastern art in the precious metals.
+But while we are struck by the delicacy and refinement with which
+these are employed by many eastern countries, and while we admire
+the taste and harmony of colour displayed by the workmen of India
+or of Persia, it must be confessed that the Russian tempted by the
+glitter and display which are so much in accordance with his own
+taste, has been unable to use the same judgment as those whom he has
+taken as his models. Few would deny that there reigns throughout his
+work that quality which is best expressed by the term&mdash;barbaric
+magnificence. This is not vulgarity: such a term is not applicable;
+it is the outcome of the desire which is to be found amongst all
+nations who have attained a certain degree of civilization and
+riches to impose respect and awe by a lavish display of material
+wealth or by the use of gorgeous colour, which always calls forth
+the admiration of the multitude.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the plate and jewelled ornament which we find in the treasury
+of the Kremlin, we shall find that Russian taste was fond of solid
+material and ornament, enriched with many and large precious stones
+of value. All Oriental nations have ever loved to accumulate riches
+of this description which, at the same time that they are of use
+as ornament, are also of intrinsic value. The crowns, and thrones,
+and sceptres, the ornaments of the imperial costume, the gold and
+silver plate and vases and other precious objects of the court
+of the Tsars have, therefore, a character of solid splendour, a
+want of refinement and delicacy, which is almost uniformly
+characteristic. Still they are not deficient in a certain grandeur
+and even elegance, and in details there is much that is admirable,
+much that is strikingly original.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+By far the greater number of pieces that we shall find in the Kremlin
+and elsewhere belong to the Seventeenth Century. In the treasury
+of the Kremlin we have but one piece of the Twelfth Century and
+some few of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. All the rest
+are later.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The entire number of pieces in the Kremlin amounts to sixteen hundred.
+After the disasters of 1612, all the ancient plate for the service
+of the Tsar's table was melted down and converted into money; many
+objects in gold and silver and jewelled work being at the same time
+given in pledge to the troops of Vladislas IV. There are therefore
+few examples earlier than the dynasty of the Romanoffs.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The treasure contains also some of the most highly venerated icons,
+crosses, and reliquaries in Russia. As regards many of these it
+is difficult to assign a date or a place of production. Many of
+them have histories more or less legendary, but while some may
+appear to belong absolutely to the Greek school, we must not forget
+that Russia sent its workmen to Mount Athos to be instructed and
+to work there, and on their return the traditions and models of
+the school were scrupulously observed in the workshops of Moscow.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The regalia of the ancient Tsars scarcely yield in interest to
+that of any other country. They consist of a large number of crowns
+or jewelled caps of peculiar form, of orbs and sceptres, of the
+imperial costume, and especially of that peculiar part of the latter,
+a kind of collar or shoulder ornament, known as the <i>barmi</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Other important pieces of the regalia of Alexis Michailovitch are
+the orbs and sceptres, the bow and arrow case of the same description
+of workmanship. These are gorgeous specimens of jewelled and enamelled
+work attributed to Constantinople. The sceptre of the Tsar Michailovitch
+is of similar enamelled work, and is probably a good specimen of
+the effect of western influence on the goldsmiths of Moscow. The
+figures especially appear to be of the Italian renaissance. Another
+sceptre is unmistakably Russian work, and if not of pure taste is
+at least of fine workmanship and imposing magnificence.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The thrones are of high interest from more than one point of view.
+We must content ourselves with choosing two from amongst them,
+viz.: the ivory throne of Ivan III. (<i>Antiquities of the Russian
+Empire</i>, ii. 84-100), and the throne known as the Persian throne
+(<i>Ibid</i>, ii. 62-66).
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The first was brought from Constantinople in 1472 by the Tsarina
+Sophia Paleologus, who, by her marriage with Ivan III., united
+the coats of arms of Byzantium and Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There is a certain resemblance between this throne and that known
+as the chair of St. Peter at Rome. The general form is the same, as
+is the manner in which the ivory plaques and their borderings are
+placed. The second throne is a magnificent work, which, according
+to a register as the <i>Book of Embassies</i>, was sent from Persia
+in the year 1660 to the Tsar Alexis by a certain Ichto Modevlet, of
+the Shah's court. M. Weltman, in his enumeration of the treasury of
+the Kremlin, says: "It was therefore probably made in the workshops of
+Ispahan about the same time that the globe, sceptre, and <i>barmi</i>
+were ordered from Constantinople."
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 764px;">
+<a name="fig_15">
+<img src="images/fig015.jpg" width="764" height="513" alt="Fig. 15" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Kremlin contains a large number of pieces of decorative plate
+of all kinds made for the service of the table of the Tsars, or
+displayed on buffets on state occasions. Much of it is the production
+of other countries, presented by their ambassadors or purchased
+for the Tsar. The frequent fires and the melting down of treasure
+during the Polish disturbances have much diminished this collection,
+and possibly also many of the finest pieces have disappeared. Of
+the large service of gold plate of the Tsar Alexis, which consisted
+of 120 covers, two plates are all that remain. These are, however,
+sufficient evidence of the skill and taste of the Moscow goldsmiths
+of the period and of their dexterity in the use of enamel.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Treasury of the Kremlin contains a large number of cups or
+vases of silver-gilt, for table use, of Russian work. There is
+no great variety in the cups, but some forms are peculiar to the
+country. There are especially the cups called <i>bratini</i> (loving
+cups, from <i>brat</i>, a brother), the bowls or ladles termed
+<i>kovsh</i>, and the small cups with one flat handle for strong
+liquors. Tall beakers expanding at the lip and contracted at the
+middle are also favourite forms, but the bulbous shape is the most
+frequent. Indeed, that form of bulb or cupola which we see upon
+the churches is peculiarly characteristic. We find it with more
+or less resemblance, in the ancient crowns, in the mitres of the
+popes, in the bowls of chalices and in vases and bowls for drinking.
+In the <i>bratini</i> and <i>kovsh</i> the bulging form of ornament,
+the coving up of the bottoms of the bowls, and the use of twisted
+lobes are very common.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Cathedral of the Assumption is one of the many churches situated
+within the precincts of the Kremlin. It was reconstructed by Fioraventi
+in 1475 after the model of the Cathedral of Vladimir, and in spite
+of the frequent calamities and fires which have half ruined Moscow
+still preserves in a great measure its primitive character. The
+church of the Assumption has five domes resting in the centre of
+the building on four massive circular pillars, and the sanctuary
+is composed of four hemicycles. The Cathedral of the Archangel
+Michael is close by and was built in 1507 in imitation of it. Near
+this again is the Cathedral of the Annunciation. This, which was
+built in 1416, is more original in style and recalls the churches of
+Mount Athos, or that of Kertch, which dates from the Tenth Century.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Mention must be made of an ancient building, the house known as
+the Romanoff House in Moscow. It was the birthplace of the Tsar
+Michael Theodorovitch, founder of the now reigning family, and
+also of his father Theodore Nikitisch, who became patriarch under
+the name of Philaret. In its restored state the Romanoff House
+is still perhaps the most remarkable ancient building existing
+in Russia as a perfect specimen of the old dwelling-houses of the
+boyards. It is built of stone, and the solid exterior walls are
+as they originally stood. The interior restoration, completed by
+the emperor Alexander in 1859, has been carried out with great
+care in the exact style of the time, the furniture and ornaments
+being authentic and placed as they would have been.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_11">VASSILI-BLAGENNOI</a></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><b>(<i>St. Basil the Blessed</i>)</b></p>
+
+<p class="author">TH&Eacute;OPHILE GAUTIER</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We soon reached the Kitai-Gorod, which is the business quarter,
+upon the Krasnaia, the Red Square, or rather the beautiful square,
+for in Russia the words red and beautiful are synonymous. Upon one
+side of this square is the long fa&ccedil;ade of the Gostinnoi-Dvor,
+an immense bazaar with streets enclosed by glass-like passages,
+and which contains no less than 6,000 shops. The outside wall of
+the Kremlin rears itself on another side, with gates piercing the
+towers of sharply peaked roofs, permitting you to see above it the
+turrets, the domes, the belfries and the spires of the churches and
+convents it encloses. On another side, strange as the architecture
+of dreamland, stands the chimerical and impossible church of
+Vassili-Blagennoi, which makes your reason doubt the testimony of
+your eyes. Although it appears real enough, you ask yourself if
+it is not a fantastic mirage, a building made of clouds curiously
+coloured by the sunlight, and which the quivering air will change
+or cause to dissolve. Without any doubt, it is the most original
+building in the world; it recalls nothing that you have ever seen
+and it belongs to no style whatever: you might call it a gigantic
+madrepore, a colossal formation of crystals, or a grotto of stalactites
+inverted.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+But let us not search for comparisons to give an idea of something
+that has no prototype. Let us try rather to describe Vassili-Blagennoi,
+if indeed there exists a vocabulary to speak of what had never been
+imagined previously.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There is a legend about Vassili-Blagennoi, which is probably not
+true, but which nevertheless expresses with strength and poetry
+the sense of wondering stupefaction felt at the semi-barbarous
+period when that singular edifice, so remote from all architectural
+traditions, was erected. Ivan the Terrible had this cathedral built
+as a thank-offering for the conquest of Kasan, and when it was
+finished, he found it so beautiful, wonderful and astounding, that
+he ordered the architect's eyes to be put out&mdash;they say he was
+an Italian&mdash;so that he could never erect anything similar.
+According to another version of the same legend, the Tsar asked
+the originator of this church if he could not erect a still more
+beautiful one, and upon his reply in the affirmative, he cut off his
+head, so that Vassili-Blagennoi might remain unrivalled forever. A
+more flattering exhibition of jealous cruelty cannot be imagined, but
+this Ivan the Terrible was at bottom a true artist and a passionate
+dilettante. Such ferocity in matters of art is more pleasing to me
+than indifference.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Imagine on a kind of platform which lifts the base from the ground,
+the most peculiar, the most incomprehensible, the most prodigious
+heaping up of large and little cabins, outside stairways, galleries
+with arcades and unexpected hiding-places and projections, unsymmetrical
+porches, chapels in juxtaposition, windows pierced in the walls at
+haphazard, indescribable forms and a rounding out of the interior
+arrangement, as if the architect, seated in the centre of his work
+had produced a building by thrusting it out from him. From the
+roof of this church which might be taken for a Hindu, Chinese, or
+Thibetan pagoda, there springs a forest of belfries of the strangest
+taste, fantastic beyond anything else in the world. The one in the
+centre, the tallest and most massive, shows three or four stories
+from base to spire. First come little columns, and toothed
+string-courses, then come some pilasters framing long mullioned
+windows, then a series of blank arches like scales, overlapping
+one another, and on the sides of the spire wart-like ornaments
+outlining each spire, the whole terminated by a lantern surmounted
+by an inverted golden bulb bearing on its tip the Russian cross.
+The others, which are slenderer and shorter, affect the form of the
+minaret, and their fantastically ornamented towers end in cupolas
+that swell strangely into the form of onions. Some are tortured
+into facets, others ribbed, some cut into diamond-shaped points
+like pineapples, some striped with fillets in spirals, others again
+decorated with lozenge-shaped and overlapping scales, or honeycombed
+like a bee-hive, and all adorned at their summit with the golden
+ball surmounted by the cross.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 820px;">
+<a name="fig_16">
+<img src="images/fig016.jpg" width="820" height="521" alt="Fig. 16" /></a>
+<p class="image">VASSILI-BLAGENNOI (ST. BASIL THE BLESSED), MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+What adds still more to the fantastic effect of Vassili-Blagennoi,
+is that it is coloured with the most incongruous tones which
+nevertheless produce a harmonious effect that charms the eye. Red,
+blue, apple-green and yellow meet here in all portions of the building.
+Columns, capitals, arches and ornaments are painted with startling
+shades which give a strong relief. On the plain spaces of rare
+occurrence, they have simulated divisions or panels framing pots
+of flowers, rose-windows, wreathing vines, and chim&aelig;ras.
+The domes of the bell-towers are decorated with coloured designs
+that recall the patterns of India shawls; and, displayed thus on
+the roofs of the church, they recall the kiosks of the Sultans.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The same fantastic genius presided over the plan and ornamentation
+of the interior. The first chapel, which is very low and in which
+a few lamps glimmer, resembles a golden cavern; unexpected stars
+throw their rays across the dusky shadows and make the stiff images
+of the Greek saints stand out like phantoms. The mosaics of St.
+Mark's in Venice alone can give an approximate idea of the effect
+of this astonishing richness. At the back, the iconostas looms up
+in the twilight shot through with rays like a golden and jewelled
+wall between the faithful and the priests of the sanctuary.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Vassili-Blagennoi does not present, like other churches, a simple
+interior composed of several naves communicating and cut at certain
+points of intersection after the laws of the rites followed in
+the temple. It is formed of a collection of churches, or chapels,
+in juxtaposition and independent of each other. Each bell-tower
+contains a chapel, which arranges itself as it pleases in this
+mass. The dome is the terminal of the spire or the bulb of the
+cupola. You might believe yourself under the enormous casque of
+some Circassian or Tartar giant. These calottes are, moreover,
+marvellously painted and decorated in the interior. It is the same
+with the walls covered with those barbaric and hieratic figures,
+the traditional designs for which the Greek monks of Mount Athos
+have preserved from century to century, and which, in Russia, often
+deceive the careless observer regarding the age of a building.
+It is a peculiar sensation to find yourself in these mysterious
+sanctuaries, where personages familiar to the Roman Catholic cult,
+mingle with the saints peculiar to the Greek Calendar, and seem in
+their archaic Byzantine and constrained appearance to have been
+translated awkwardly into gold by the childish devotion of a primitive
+race. These images that you view across the carved and silver-gilt
+work of the iconostas, where they are ranged symmetrically upon
+the golden screen opening their large fixed eyes and raising their
+brown hand with the fingers turned in a symbolic fashion, produce, by
+means of their somewhat savage, superhuman and immutable traditional
+aspect, a religious impression not to be found in more advanced
+works of art. These figures, seen amid the golden reflections and
+twinkling light of the lamps, easily assume a phantasmagorical
+life, capable of impressing sensitive imaginations and of creating,
+especially at the twilight hour, a peculiar kind of sacred awe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Narrow corridors, low arched passages, so narrow that your elbows
+brush the walls and so low that you have to bend your head, circle
+about these chapels and lead from one to the other. Nothing could
+be more fantastic than these passages; the architect seems to have
+taken pleasure in tangling up their threading ways. You ascend, you
+descend, you seem to go out of the building, you seem to return,
+twisting about a cornice to follow the curves of a bell-tower,
+and walking through thick walls in tortuous passages that might
+be compared to the capillary tubes of madrepores, or to the roads
+made by insects in the barks of trees. After so many turnings and
+windings, your head swims, a vertigo seizes you, and you wonder if
+you are not a mollusk in an immense shell. I do not speak of the
+mysterious corners, of inexplicable c&oelig;cums, low doors opening no
+one knows whither, dark stairways descending into profound depths;
+for I could never finish talking of this architecture, which you
+seem to walk through as if in a dream.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_12">POLAND</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">THOMAS MICHELL</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Tsar still bears the title of King of Poland, but the constitutional
+kingdom created at the great settlement of political accounts in
+1815 has been officially styled "The Cis-Vistula Provinces," ever
+since the absolute incorporation with the Russian empire in 1868.
+The provinces in question, ten in number, have an aggregate area
+of 49,157 English square miles, and a population of eight millions,
+composed to the extent of sixty-five per cent. of Poles, the remainder
+being Jews (in the proportion of thirteen per cent., and settled
+chiefly in towns), Lithuanians, Russians, Germans, and other aliens.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Poles (the Polacks of Shakespeare), are a branch of the Sclav
+race, their language differing but little from that of the Russians,
+Czechs (Bohemians), Servians, Bulgarians, and other kindred remnants.
+Contact and co-operation with Western civilization, and escape
+from Tartar subjugation, permitted the Poles to work out their
+own development on lines so widely apart from those pursued by
+their Russian brethren, that the complete amalgamation of these
+two great Sclav branches has long been a matter of practical
+impossibility.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Polish history begins, like that of Russia, with Scandinavian invasion;
+Szainocha, a reliable authority of the present century, asserted
+that the Northmen descended on the Polish coast of the Baltic,
+and became, as in Russia, ancestors of the noble houses. On the
+other hand, it is on record that the first Grand Duke of Poland
+(about A. D. 842), was Piastus, a peasant, who founded a dynasty
+that was superseded only in 1385 by the Lithuanian Jagellons.
+Christianity was introduced by the fourth of the Piasts, A. D. 964,
+and it was a sovereign of the same House, Boleslas I., the Brave,
+who gave a solid foundation to the Polish State. He conquered Dantzig
+and Pomerania, Silesia, Moravia, and White Russia, as far as the
+Dnieper. After being partitioned, in accordance with the principle
+that long obtained in the neighbouring Russian principalities,
+the component territories of Poland were reunited by Vladislaf
+(Ladislaf) the Short, who established his capital, in 1320, at
+Cracow, where the Polish kings were ever after crowned. Casimir
+the Great, the Polish Justinian (1334-1370), gained for himself the
+title of <i>Rex Rusticorum</i>, by the bestowal of benefits on the
+peasantry, who were <i>adscripti gleh&oelig;</i>, and by the limitation
+of the power of the nobles, or freeholders. On his death, Louis,
+King of Hungary, his sister's son, was called to the throne; but
+in order to insure its continued possession he was compelled to
+reinstate the nobles in all their privileges, under a <i>Pacta
+Conventa</i>, which, subject to alterations made at Diets, was
+retained as part of the Coronation Oath so long as there were Polish
+kings to be consecrated. He was the last sovereign of the Piast
+period. After compelling his daughter to marry, not William of
+Austria, whom she loved, but Jagellon, Duke of Lithuania, who offered
+to unite his extensive and adjacent dominions with those of Poland,
+and to convert his own pagan subjects to Christianity, the nobles,
+in virtue of their Magna Charta, elected Jagellon (baptized under
+the name of Ladislas) to the throne of Poland, which thus became
+dynastically united (1386), with that of Lithuania.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On the death, in 1572, of Sigismund II., Augustus, the last of
+the Jagellons, the power of the king, already limited by that of
+two chambers, was still further diminished, and the crown became
+elective. While occupied in besieging the Huguenots at Rochelle,
+and at a time when Poland enjoyed more religious liberty than any
+other country in Europe, Henry of Valois was elected to the throne,
+in succession to Sigismund II.; but he quickly absconded from Cracow
+in order to become Henry III. of France. The Jesuits, introduced in
+the next reign, that of Stephen Bathori, brought strong intolerance
+with them, and one of the reasons that led the Cossacks of the Polish
+Ukraine to solicit Russian protection was the inferior position to
+which their Greek religion had been reduced in relation to Roman
+Catholicism. The Russians and Poles had been at war with each other
+for two centuries. Moscow had been occupied in 1610 by the Poles in
+the name of Ladislas, son of Sigismund III., of the Swedish Wasa
+family, elected to the Muscovite throne by the Russian boyars, but
+soon expelled by the patriots, under Minin and Pojarski. Sobieski,
+who had saved Vienna for the Austrians, could not keep Kief and
+Little Russia for the Poles. Such was the outcome of disorders and
+revolutions in the State, and of wars with Muscovy, Turkey, and
+Sweden, as well as with Tartars and Cossacks. Frederick Augustus
+II., Elector of Saxony, succeeded Sobieski, and reigned until 1733,
+with an interval of five years, during which he was superseded by
+Stanislas I.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 819px;">
+<a name="fig_17">
+<img src="images/fig017.jpg" width="819" height="523" alt="Fig. 17" /></a>
+<p class="image">NOWO ZJAZD STREET, WARSAW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Dissension and anarchy became still more general, in the reign of
+the next sovereign, Augustus III. Civil war, in which the question
+of the rights of Lutherans, Calvinists, and other "dissidents"
+obnoxious to the Roman Catholic Church played a great part, resulted
+in the intervention of Russia and Prussia, and in 1772 the first
+partition of Poland was consummated. The second followed in 1793,
+under an arrangement between the same countries, which had taken
+alarm at a liberal constitution voted by the Polish Diet in 1791,
+especially as it had provided for the emancipation of the <i>adscripti
+gleb&oelig;</i>. The struggle made by Thaddeus Kosciuszko ended in the
+entry of Suvoroff into Warsaw over the ashes of the Prague suburb,
+and in the third dismemberment (1795), of ancient Poland, under
+which even Warsaw was absorbed by Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Previous to these several partitions, Poland occupied a territory
+much more extensive than that of France. In addition to the kingdom
+proper, it included the province of Posen and part of West Prussia,
+Cracow, and Galicia, Lithuania, the provinces of Volhynia and Podolia,
+and part of the present province of Kief. In 1772, Dantzig was a
+seaport of Poland, Kaminets, in Podolia, its border stronghold
+against Turkey; while to the west and north its frontier extended
+almost to the walls of Riga, and to within a short distance from
+Moscow. In still earlier times, Bessarabia, Moldavia, Silesia,
+and Livonia were embraced within the Polish possessions.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+These successive partitions gave the most extensive portion of
+Polish territory to Russia, the most populous to Austria, and the
+most commercial to Prussia. Napoleon I. revived a Polish state
+out of the provinces that had been seized by Prussia and Austria.
+This was first constituted into a Grand Duchy under the King of
+Saxony, and in 1815, when Galicia (with Cracow) was restored to
+Austria, and Posen to Prussia, Warsaw became again a kingdom under
+a constitution granted by Alexander I. The old Polish provinces
+that had fallen to the share of Catherine II. at the partitions
+remained incorporated with the Russian Empire, but were not fully
+subjected to a Russian administration until after the great Polish
+insurrection of 1830, when also the constitution of 1815 was withdrawn,
+the national army abolished, and the Polish language proscribed in
+the public offices.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Notwithstanding the wide measures of Home Rule introduced by Alexander
+II. into the administration of the kingdom, and which, in combination
+with many liberal and pregnant reforms in Russia Proper appeared
+to offer to the Poles the prospect of no inconsiderable influence
+over the destinies of the Russian Empire, the old spirit of national
+independence began to manifest itself, and in 1862, not without
+encouragement from Napoleon III., an insurrection broke out at
+Warsaw.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Outside Warsaw and its immediate vicinity there is little in Russian
+Poland to interest the tourist. The country is generally level
+and monotonous, with wide expanses of sand, heath, and forest,
+and it is only towards the north and east that the ground may be
+said to be heavily timbered. Dense forests stretch down from the
+Russian, anciently Polish, province of Grodno, and now form the
+last retreat in Europe of the <i>Bison Europeans</i>, the survivor
+of the Aurochs (<i>Bos primigenius</i>), which is supposed to have
+been the original stock of our horned cattle. Although much worried
+by the wolf, the bear, and the lynx, the bison is strictly preserved
+from the hunter, and are not therefore likely to disappear like the
+<i>Bos Americanus</i>, or buffalo, which has so long been ruthlessly
+slaughtered in the United States.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Interspersed among these barren or wooded tracts are areas containing
+some of the finest corn-bearing soil in Europe, supplying from
+time immemorial vast quantities of superior grain for shipment
+from ports in the Baltic. It is produced on the larger estates of
+two hundred to fifteen hundred acres, belonging to more than eight
+thousand proprietors. The peasantry, who hold more than 240,000
+farms&mdash;seldom exceeding forty acres&mdash;contribute next
+to nothing towards exportation, their mode of agriculture being
+almost as rude as that of the Russian peasantry, and their habits
+of life but little superior, especially in the matter of drink.
+Towns, large and small, occur more frequently than in Russia, and
+while some are rich and industrial, others&mdash;we may say the
+great majority&mdash;are poor and squalid, affording no accommodation
+that would render possible the visit of even the least fastidious
+traveller.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Consequently we confine ourselves to Warsaw, which we take on our way
+by rail to or from St. Petersburg or Moscow. Founded in the Twelfth
+Century, and, during the Piast period, the seat of the appanaged
+Dukes of Masovia, Warszawa, replaced Cracow as the residence of the
+Polish kings and therefore as the capital of Poland, on the election
+of Sigismund III. (1586). It has now a population of about 445,000,
+not including the Russian garrison of 31,500 officers and men. The
+left bank of the Vistula, on which Warsaw is chiefly built, is
+high, and the pretty, gay, and animated city, with its stately lines
+of streets, wide squares, and spacious gardens, is picturesquely
+disposed along the brow of the cliff and on the plains above. Across
+the broad sandy bed of the stream, here "shallow, ever-changing,
+and divided as Poland itself," and which is on its way from the
+Carpathians to the Baltic, is the Prague suburb, which, formerly
+fortified, has never recovered from the assault by Suvoroff in
+1794, when its sixteen thousand inhabitants were indiscriminately
+put to the sword. A vast panorama spreads out in every direction
+from this melancholy and dirty point of vantage. Opposite is the
+Zamek, or castle, built by the Dukes of Masovia, and enlarged and
+restored by several of the Polish kings, from Sigismund III. to
+Stanislas Augustus Poniatovski. Its pictures and objects of art
+are now at St. Petersburg, and Moscow, and the old royal apartments
+are occupied by the Governor-General. The square in front of the
+castle was the scene of the last Polish "demonstrations," in 1861,
+when it was twice stained with blood.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the Stare Miasto, or Old Town, strongly old German in aspect,
+stands the cathedral, built in the Thirteenth Century, and restored
+on the last occasion by King John Sobieski. A still more ancient
+sacred edifice is the Church of Our Lady in the Nove Miasto, or New
+Town; but it certainly retains no traces of deep antiquity. Beyond
+the great Sapieha and Sierakovski Barracks towers the Alexander
+Citadel, with its outlying fortifications, built in 1832-35, at the
+expense of the city, as a penalty for the insurrection in 1830.
+In the same direction, but a considerable distance from the town,
+is Mariemont, the country seat of the consort of John Sobieski;
+also Kaskada, a place of entertainment much frequented by the
+inhabitants of Warsaw, and Bielany, a pretty spot on the Vistula
+commanding a fine view. The churches and chapels, mostly Roman
+Catholic, are numerous (eighty-five), and so are the monasteries
+and convents (twenty-two).
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Near Novi Sviat (New World) Street, we find the Avenues, or <i>Champs
+Elys&eacute;es</i>, bordered by fine lime-trees, in front of elegant
+private residences. Crossing a large square, in which the troops
+are exercised, and the military hospital at Uiazdov, formerly a
+castle of the kings of Poland, we reach the fine park of Lazienki,
+a country seat of much elegance built by King Stanislas Augustus,
+and now the residence of the Emperor when he visits Warsaw. The
+ceilings of this <i>ch&acirc;teau</i> were painted by Bacciarelli,
+and its walls are hung with portraits of numerous beautiful women.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Contiguous to the Lazienki Park are the extensive gardens of the
+Belvedere Palace, in which the Poles attempted in 1830 to get rid
+of their viceroy, the Grand Duke Constantine. We drive hence in
+less than an hour to one of the most interesting places near Warsaw.
+This is the Castle of Villanov, built by John Sobieski, who died
+in it. To this retreat he brought back the trophies of his mighty
+deeds in arms, and here sought repose after driving the Turks from
+the walls of Vienna. The <i>ch&acirc;teau</i>, now the property of
+Countess Poto&ccedil;ka, is full of historical portraits, objects
+of art, and other curiosities, of which the most interesting is
+the magnificent suit of armour presented by the Pope to Sobieski
+in memory of his great victory. The apartments of his beautiful
+consort are of great elegance. In the gallery of pictures we notice
+an admirable Rubens&mdash;the <i>Death of Seneca</i>; although
+we are more strongly attracted by an original portrait of Bacon,
+which is but little known in England.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 825px;">
+<a name="fig_18">
+<img src="images/fig018.jpg" width="825" height="523" alt="Fig. 18" /></a>
+<p class="image">HOTEL DE VILLE, WARSAW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+For want of space, again we must plead guilty of omitting to describe
+many palatial residences, and several noticeable monuments, among
+which is one to Copernicus, the Polish founder of modern astronomy.
+On the same ground we pass over handsome public buildings, theatres,
+gardens and cemeteries, in one of which, the Evangelical Cemetery, is
+buried John Cockerell, to whom Belgium owes so much of her industrial
+prosperity.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_13">KIEF, THE CITY OF PILGRAMAGE</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Kief, the Jerusalem of Russia, is by nature marked for distinction;
+she rises like an Etruscan city from the plain; she is flanked by
+fortifications; she is pleasantly clothed by trees, and height
+beyond height is crowned by castle or by church. Fifty thousand
+pilgrims annually, many of whom are footsore from long and weary
+journeying, throw themselves on their knees as they see the sacred
+city from afar: her holy places shine in the sun as a light set
+upon a hill which cannot be hid. Three holy shrines which I can
+recall to mind&mdash;Kief, Assisi, and Jerusalem&mdash;are alike
+fortunate in command of situation; the approach to each is most
+impressive. In Kief particularly the natural landscape is heightened
+in pictorial effect by the picturesque groups of pilgrims, staves
+in hand and wallets on back, who may be seen at all hours of the
+day clambering up the hill, resting under the shadow of a tree,
+or reverently bowing the head at the sound of a convent bell.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Kief is not one city, but three cities, each with its own fortification.
+The old town, strong in position, and enclosing within its circuit
+the Cathedral of St. Sophia and the Palace of the Metropolitan,
+was in remote ages a Sclavonian Pantheon, sacred to the Russian
+Jupiter and other savage gods. The new town, separated from the
+old town by a deep ravine, stands on a broad platform which rises
+precipitously from the banks of the Dnieper. The walls are massive,
+the fort is strong, and the famous monastery, the first in rank
+in Russia, with its gilt and coloured domes, shines from out the
+shade of a deep wood. The third division, "the Town of the Vale,"
+situated between the hills and the river, is chiefly devoted to
+commerce. Without much stretch of fancy it might be said that Kief,
+like Rome, Lisbon and some other cities, is built on seven hills.
+And thus the pictorial aspect changes almost at every step; a winding
+path will bring to view an unsuspected height, or open up a valley
+previously hid. The traveller has in the course of his wanderings
+often to feel thankful that a kind providence has planted sacred
+places in the midst of lovely scenery. The holy mountain at Varallo,
+the sacred hill at Orta, are, like the shrines of Kief, made doubly
+pleasant for pilgrimage through the beauties of nature by which
+they are surrounded. It is said that at the monastery of the Grande
+Chartreuse the monks do not permit themselves to look too much at
+the outward landscape, lest their hearts should by the loveliness
+of earth be estranged from heaven. I do not think that Russian
+priests or pilgrims incur any such danger. When they are neither
+praying nor eating they are sleeping; in short, I did not among
+the motley multitude see a single eye open to the loveliness of
+colour in the sky above, or to the beauty of form in the earth
+beneath. It is singular how obtuse these people are; I have noticed
+in a crowded railway carriage that not a face would be turned to
+the glory of the setting sun, but if a church tower came into view
+on the distant horizon, every hand was raised to make the sign
+of the cross. While taking my observations among the pilgrims at
+Kief I was struck with the fact, not only that a superstitious
+faith, but that a degraded art blinds the eye to the beauty of
+nature. It is one of the high services of true art to lead the mind
+to the contemplation, to the love and the better understanding,
+of the works of creation. But, on the contrary, it is the penalty
+of this Byzantine art to close the appointed access between nature
+and nature's God. An art which ignores and violates truth and beauty
+cannot do otherwise than lead the mind away from nature. This seemed
+one of the several lessons taught by Kief, the city of pilgrimage.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Sketchers of character and costume will find excellent studies
+among the pilgrims of Kief. The upper and educated classes, who
+in Russia are assimilating with their equals in other nations, and
+are therefore not tempting to the pencil or the brush, do not, as
+we have already seen, come in any numbers to these sacred shrines.
+It is the lower orders, who still preserve the manners and customs of
+their ancestors, that make these church festivals so attractive to
+the artist. The variety of races brought together from afar&mdash;a
+diversity only possibly within an empire, like Russia, made up
+of heterogeneous materials&mdash;might serve not only to fill a
+portfolio, but to illustrate a volume; the ethnologist equally with
+the painter would find at the time of great festivities curious
+specimens of humanity. I remember some years ago to have met with
+the French artist, M. Th&eacute;odore Valerio, when he had brought
+home the <i>Album Ethnographique</i> from Hungary, Croatia, and
+the more distant borders of the Danube. It was quite refreshing,
+after the infinite number of costume-studies I had seen from Italian
+peasantry, to find that art had the possibility of an entirely new
+sphere among the Sclavonic races. A like field for any painter of
+enterprise is now open in Russia. The large and famous composition,
+<i>The Butter Week (Carnival) in St. Petersburg</i>, by C. Makowski,
+may serve to indicate the hitherto undeveloped pictorial resources
+of the empire. When the conditions are new there is a possibility
+that the art may be new also. The ethnology, the physical geography,
+the climate, the religion, the products of the animal and vegetable
+kingdoms, so far as they are peculiar to Russia, will some day become
+reflected into the national art. It is true that the painter may
+occasionally feel a want of colour, the costumes of the peasant are
+apt to be dull and heavy, yet not unfrequently rags and tatters bring
+compensation by picturesque outlines and paintable surface-textures.
+At Kief, however, the traveller is sufficiently south and east to
+fall in with warm southern hues and Oriental harmonies, broken and
+enriched, moreover, among the lower orders by that engrained dirt
+which I have usually noted as the special privilege and prerogative
+of pilgrims in all parts of the world. The use of soap would seem to
+be accounted as sacrilege on religious sentiment. What with dust,
+and what with sun, the wayfarers who toil up the heights leading to
+the holy hill have gained a colour which a Murillo would delight
+in. The face and neck bronzed by the hot sun tell out grandly from
+a flowing mass of hair worthy of a patriarch.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 825px;">
+<a name="fig_19">
+<img src="images/fig019.jpg" width="825" height="519" alt="Fig. 19" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE DNIEPER AT KIEF.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Beggars, who in Russia are as thick about the churches as the pigeons
+that pick up crumbs in front of St. Mark's, are almost essential
+to the histrionic panoramas at these places of pilgrimage. I have
+never seen so large or so varied a collection of professional and
+casual mendicants as within and about the sacred enclosures of Kief.
+Some appeared to enjoy vested rights; these privileged personages
+would as little endure to be driven from a favoured post as with us
+a sweeper at a crossing would tolerate a rival broom. Several of
+these waiters upon charity might be termed literary beggars; their
+function is to read aloud from a large book in the hearing of the
+passers-by. They are often infirm, and occasionally blind, but they
+read just the same. Another class may be called the incurables; in
+England they would be kept out of sight, but here in Russia, running
+sores, mutilated hands and legs, are valuable as stock-in-trade.
+Loathsome diseases are thrust forward as a threat, distorted limbs
+are extortionate for alms; it is a piteous sight to see; some of
+these sad objects are in the jaws of death, and come apparently that
+they may die on holy ground. Another class may be called the pious
+beggars; they stand at the church doors; they are picturesque and
+apostolic; long beards and quiet bearing, with a certain professional
+get-up of misery and desolation, make these sacred mendicants grand
+after their kind. Such figures are usually ranged on either side of
+the chief entrance; they are motionless as statues, save when in
+the immediate act of soliciting alms; indeed I have sometimes noticed
+how beggars standing before a church fa&ccedil;ade are suggestive of
+statuary, the want of which is so much felt in the unsculpturesque
+architecture of Russia. Pilgrims and beggars&mdash;the line of
+demarcation it is not always easy to define&mdash;have an Oriental
+way of throwing themselves into easy and paintable attitudes; in
+fact posture plays a conspicuous part in the devotions of such
+people; they pray bodily almost more than mentally,&mdash;the figure
+and its attendant costume become instruments of worship.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Cathedral of St. Sophia, which dates back to the Eleventh Century,
+is of interest from its resemblance to St. Mark's, Venice, in the plan
+of the Greek cross, in the use of domes and galleries, and in the
+introduction of mosaics as surface-decorations. I saw the galleries
+full of fashionable worshippers; the galleries in St. Mark's on the
+contrary, are always empty and useless, though constructed for use.
+In the apse are the only old mosaics I have met with in Russia; it
+is strange that an art which specially pertains to Byzantium was
+not turned to more account by the Greco-Russian Church. There is
+in the apse, besides, a subject composition,&mdash;a noble female
+figure, colossal in size, the arms upraised in attitude of prayer,
+the drapery cast broadly and symmetrically. In the same interior
+are associated with mosaics, frescoes, or rather wall-paintings in
+<i>secco</i>. On the columns which support the cupola are frescoes
+which, though of no art value, naturally excited curiosity when
+they were discovered some few years since, after having been hid
+for two or more centuries by a covering of whitewash. Some other
+wall-pictures are essentially modern, and others have been restored,
+after Russian usage, in so reckless and wholesale a fashion as to be
+no longer of value as arch&aelig;ologic records. In the staircase
+leading to the galleries are some further wall-paintings, said to
+be contemporaneous with the building of the cathedral; the date,
+however, is wholly uncertain. These anomalous compositions represent
+a boar-hunt and other sports, with groups of musicians, dancers,
+and jugglers, intervening. In accord with the secular character of
+the subjects is the rude naturalism of the style. Positive knowledge
+as to date being wanting, it is impossible to speak of these works
+otherwise than to say that they cannot be of Byzantine origin.
+If of real antiquity they will have to join company with other
+semi-barbaric products in metal, etc., which prove, as we have
+seen, that Russia has two historic schools, the Byzantine, on the
+one hand, debilitated and refined, as of periods of decline, and,
+on the other, a non-Byzantine and barbarous style, strong and coarse
+as of races still vital and vigorous. A like conflict is found in
+the North of Italy between the Byzantine and the Lombard manner;
+and even in England the west front of Wells Cathedral presents the
+same unresolved contradictions. It would seem that over the greater
+part of Europe, Eastern as well as Western, these two hostile arts
+were practiced contemporaneously; at all events the same buildings
+are found to display the two opposite styles. It would appear probable,
+however, that the respective artists or artisans belonged to at
+least two distinct nationalities.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Pecherskoi Monastery, or Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, at Kief, the
+Kremlin in Moscow, and the grand monastery of Troitza, have this
+in common, that the situation is commanding, the site elevated.
+Also, these three venerable sanctuaries are strongholds, for though
+the holy places at Kief are not on all sides fortified, yet the
+approach from the old city, which is the most accessible, lies
+along bastions and walls. In fact, here we have again a semblance
+to the ancient idea of a church, a citadel, and a palace united, as
+in an acropolis&mdash;the Church and the State being one; the arm
+of the flesh sustaining the sword of the spirit,&mdash;a condition
+of things which has always given to the world its noblest art. The
+walk to this most ancient monastery in Russia passes pleasantly
+by the side of a wood; then opens a view of the vast plain beneath,
+intersected by the river Dnieper, over which is flung the great
+suspension-bridge built by the English engineer, Charles Vignolles,
+at the cost of &pound;350,000. The immediate approach is lined with
+open shops or stalls for the sale of sacred pictures, engravings
+of saints, and other articles which pilgrims love to carry back
+to their homes. Within the enclosure trees throw a cool shade,
+under which, as in the courtyards of mosques in Constantinople,
+the hot and weary may repose.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The cathedral dedicated to the ascension of the Virgin, has not
+the slightest pretence to external architecture. The walls are
+mostly whitewashed, and some of the windows have common square
+heads crowned by mean pediments; the intervening pilasters and
+floral decorations in relief, and all in the midst of whitewash,
+are of the poorest character. The seven gilded cupolas or domes
+may be compared to inverted cups surmounted by crosses. The form
+resembles the cup commonly combined in the fantastic towers and
+spires of Protestant churches in Germany, where, however, it has
+been supposed to signify that the laity partake of the chalice.
+These domes are made further decorative at the point of the small
+circular neck which connects the cupola with the upper member or
+finial; around this surface is painted a continuous series of single
+saints standing; the effect of these pictures against the sky,
+if not quite artistic, is striking. Other parts of the exterior
+may indicate Italian rather than Oriental origin, but the style
+is far too mongrel to boast of any legitimate parentage. Here,
+as in the Kremlin, are external wall-paintings of saints, some
+standing on solid ground, others sitting among clouds; the Madonna
+is of course of the company, and the First and Second Persons of
+the Trinity crown the composition. The ideas are trite and the
+treatment is contemptible&mdash;the colours pass from dirty red
+into brown and black. These certainly are the worst wall-paintings
+I have ever met with, worse even than the coarsest painted shrines
+on the waysides of Italy; indeed no Church save the Greek Church
+would tolerate an art thus debased. A year after my journey to Kief
+I travelled through the Tyrol on my way from the Ammergau Passion
+Play. The whole of this district abounds in frescoes, many being on
+the external walls of private dwellings. This village art of the
+Bavarian Highlands, though often the handiwork of simple artisans,
+puts to shame both the external and the internal wall-paintings at
+Kief, Troitza, and the Kremlin. Yet this contrast between Russia
+and Southern nations does not arise so much from the higher ability
+of the artists, as from the superiority of the one school to the
+other school. The pictorial arts fostered by the Western Church
+are fundamentally true, while the arts which the Eastern Church has
+patronized and petrified are essentially false and effete.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The scene which strikes the eye on entering this parti-coloured
+Cathedral of the Assumption, though strange, is highly picturesque.
+To this holy shrine are brought the halt, the lame, and the blind,
+as to the moving of the waters. Some press forward to kiss the
+foot of a crucifix, others bow the head and kiss the ground, a
+servile attitude of worship, which in the Greco-Russian Church
+has been borrowed from the Mohammedans. The groups which throng
+the narrow, crowded floor, are wonderfully effective; an artist
+with sketch-book in hand would have many a good chance of catching
+graphic heads and costumes, and all the more easily because these
+pilgrims are not so lively as lethargic. Still, for grand scenic
+impression, I have never in Russia witnessed any church function so
+striking as the piazza in front of St. Peter's on Easter Day, when
+all Rome flocks to receive the Pope's blessing from the balcony.
+Yet the whole interior of this cathedral is itself a picture, or
+rather a countless succession of pictures; as to the architecture
+there is not the minutest space that has not been emblazoned by
+aid of a paint-pot.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+But the greatest marvel in this Cathedral of the Assumption is
+the iconostas, or screen for the sacred pictures, a structure
+indispensable to all Russian churches, of which I have withheld
+the description till now, when I find myself in front of a large
+and more astounding erection than can be found in St. Petersburg,
+Moscow, or Troitza. In small churches these sacred placards, bearing
+the character of drop-scenes, are apt to be paltry, indeed the
+irreverent stranger may even be reminded of painted caravans at
+village fairs. But in large cathedrals the screen which stands
+between the people in the nave and the priests in the holy of holies,
+presents a vast fa&ccedil;ade, upon which are ranged, in three, four,
+or five stories, a multitude of sacred pictures covered with gold and
+decked with jewels. These elaborate contrivances correspond to the
+reredos in Western churches, only with this important difference, that
+they are not behind the holy place but in front of it. They might,
+perhaps, with more correctness be compared to the rood-screens which
+in our churches stand between the altar and the people. The sacred
+screen now before me mounts its head into the dome, and presents an
+imposing and even an architectonic aspect, but certain details,
+such as classic mouldings of columns, and a broken entablature,
+pronounce the edifice to be comparatively modern. The summit is
+fitly crowned by a crucifix, almost in the flat, in order not to
+evade the law of the Russian Church, which prohibits statues in the
+round; the figure of Christ is silver, the cross and the drapery
+of gold or silver-gilt. On either side of the crucifix stand in
+their prescriptive stations the Madonna and St. John. On the story
+beneath comes the entombment, all covered with gold and silver,
+in a low-relief which indicates the forms of the figures beneath;
+the heads, which are not in relief but merely pictorial, are the
+only portions of the picture actually visible.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+These altar-screens, which in Russia are counted not by tens but
+by hundreds and thousands, are highly ornate. Silver and gold and
+jewellery are conjoined with painting after the nursery and doll-like
+fashion approved in the South of Spain and at Naples. Only in the
+most corrupt of Roman Catholic capitals does ecclesiastical art
+assume the childish forms common in Russia. Resuming the description
+of the above altar-screen, we find next in range below the entombment
+a large composition, comprising God the Father surrounded by cherubs,
+with two full-grown seraphs, encircled by six gold wings, standing
+on either side. Again, the only parts of the picture permitted to
+be seen are the heads, crossed hands, black legs and feet. Christ
+with the open book of judgment is another conspicuous figure; also a
+companion head, gigantic in size, is the Madonna, directly Byzantine
+in type, though its smooth and well-kept surface gives little sign of
+age. The Christ, too, must be accounted but as modernized Byzantine;
+here is none of the severity or of the tenuity of the early periods.
+The type is poor though refined, debilitated though ideal. The hair,
+parted on the forehead, falls thickly on the shoulders. The face is
+youthful, not more than thirty, and without a wrinkle; the cheeks
+are a little flushed, the prevailing expression is placidity. The
+accessories of glory, drapery, and open book are highly decorative;
+here embossed patterns on the gold coverings enhance the richness
+of the surface-ornament. Once again the Russians appear supreme
+in metal-work, especially in the elaboration of decoration in the
+flat. Most of the pictures above mentioned are evidently supremely
+holy; they are black and highly gilded; moreover, they move most
+deeply all sorts and conditions of men, women, and children.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I may here again mention that one purpose of my Russian journey was
+to discover whether there were heads of Christ in the possession
+of the Russian Church older or nobler than the ivory carvings, the
+frescoes, or easel pictures which are found in Italy and other
+Southern or Western nations. And I was, I confess, disappointed not
+to meet with any data which could materially enlarge or enrich this
+most interesting of subjects. As to priority of date, it seems to be
+entirely on the side of the Roman catacombs and the Latin Church;
+moreover, in Russia, as I before frequently remarked, chronology
+is untrustworthy, inasmuch as comparatively modern works assume
+and parody the style of the most ancient. The heads of Christ in
+Russia, one of which has been just described, are, as already said,
+more or less servile reproductions of Byzantine types. Still the
+typical form is found under varying phases; the general tendency
+in these replicas of anterior originals would appear to be towards
+the mitigation of the asperities in the confirmed Byzantine formulas.
+Thus the more recent heads of the Saviour in the churches of St.
+Petersburg, Moscow, Troitza and Kief, assume a certain modern manner,
+and occasionally wear a smooth, pretty and ornamental aspect. In
+these variations on the prescriptive Eastern type, the hair usually
+flows down upon the shoulders, as with the Greek and Russian Priests
+in the present day. As to the beard, it is thick and full, or short
+and scant, but the cheeks are left uncovered, and show an elongated
+face and chin.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+These Russian heads of the Saviour in softening down the severe and
+aged type common to Byzantium, assume a physiognomy not sufficiently
+intellectual for the Greatest of Teachers. These "images" in fact
+inspire little reverence except with blind worshippers; they are
+mostly wrought up and renovated, so as to fulfil the preconceived
+conditions of sanctity: undefined generality, weakness, smoothness,
+and blackness, are the common characteristics of these supposititious
+heads of the Saviour. It will thus again be easily understood how
+opposite has been the practice of the Eastern and Western Churches;
+it is a striking fact that at the time when, in Italy, under Leonardo
+da Vinci, Raphael and others, the mystery of a God manifest in the
+flesh had been as it were solved by a perfected art, this Russian
+Church was still under bondage to the once accepted but now discarded
+notion that the Redeemer ought to be represented as one who had no
+form or comeliness. Art in the Western world gained access to the
+beautiful, the perfect, and the divine, as soon as it was permitted
+to the painter or the sculptor to develop to uttermost perfection
+the idea of the Man-God. All such conceptions of the infinite,
+whether it be that of Jupiter in pagan periods, or of Christ under
+our divine dispensation, have always been the life and inspiration
+of the arts. But in Russia ignoble heads of Christ convinced me that
+such life and inspiration were denied. And I look upon the head
+of Christ as the turning point in the Christian art of a nation.
+If that head be conceived of unworthily there is no possibility
+that prophets, apostles, martyrs, shall receive their due.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 820px;">
+<a name="fig_20">
+<img src="images/fig020.jpg" width="820" height="554" alt="Fig. 20" /></a>
+<p class="image">LA LAVRA, KIEF.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_14">NIJNI-NOVGOROD</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">ANTONIO GALLENGA</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Nijni-Novgorod, or Lower New-town, is older than Moscow, and only
+not so old as Novgorod the Great, which was a contemporary of Venice,
+and was still new when the semi-fabulaus Ruric and his Varangians
+are supposed to have given their name to Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Nijni-Novgorod, which everybody here calls simply "Nijni," dates
+from 1222; and mention of its fair occurs, we are told, in 1366,
+since which epoch its celebration has suffered very rare and only
+violent interruption.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+To understand why this venerable spot should have been for so many
+years, and should be still, so extensively favoured by the world's
+trade, it is hardly necessary to see it. We only need bear in mind
+that Nijni lies near the confluence of the Oka and the Volga, two
+of the greatest rivers of this Russia which alone of all countries
+of Europe may be said to have great rivers; the Volga having a
+course of 2,320 miles, and the Oka, a mere tributary, of 850 miles.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is the position which the Sa&ouml;ne and the Rhone have made
+for Lyons; the position for which St. Louis is indebted to the
+Mississippi and Missouri; the position which Corientes will soon
+owe to the Parana and the Paraguay.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Nijni lies at the very centre of that water communication which
+joins the Caspian and the Black Sea to the White Sea and the Baltic,
+and which, were it always summer, might almost have enabled Russia
+to dispense with roads and railroads.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+But Nijni is, besides, the terminus of the railway from Moscow.
+That line places this town and its fair in communication with all
+the lines of Russia and the Western World, while the Volga, with
+its tributary, the Kama, leads to Perm, and the Pass of the Ural
+Mountains, and the vast regions of Siberia and Central Asia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Nijni-Novgorod is thus one of the most important links between
+the two great continents, the point of contact between Asiatic
+wealth and European industry; and its fair the best meeting-place
+for the interchange of commodities between the nations that still
+walk, ride, or row at the rate of three to five miles an hour,
+and those who fly on the wings of steam at the rate of thirty to
+fifty.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The site of Nijni is somewhat like what I still remember of St.
+Louis after a seventeen years' interval. We travelled from Moscow
+over a distance of 273 miles in thirteen hours. For the last hour
+or two before we reached our journey's end, we had on our right
+the river Oka and a hilly ridge rising all along it and forming
+its southern bank.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On alighting at the station we drove through a flat, marshy ground,
+intersected by broad canals, to a triangular space between the
+Oka and the Volga at their confluence, where the fair is held.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We went through the maze of bazaars and market buildings, of rows
+of booths, shops and stalls, eating and drinking sheds, warehouses
+and counting-houses. We struggled through long lines of heavy-laden
+country carts, and swarms of clattering <i>droskies</i>, all striving
+to force their way along with that hurry-skurry that adds to confusion
+and lessens speed; and we came at last to a long pontoon bridge, over
+which we crossed the Oka, and beyond which rises the hill-range or
+ravine, on the top and at the foot of which is built the straggling
+town of Nijni-Novgorod.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Nijni-Novgorod is a town of 45,000 inhabitants, and, like most
+Russian towns, it occupies a space which could accommodate half a
+million of people. Like many old Russian towns, also, it is laid
+out on the pattern of Moscow, as far as its situation allowed; and,
+to keep up the resemblance, it boasts a Kremlin of its own, a grim,
+struggling citadel with battlemented walls and medi&aelig;val towers
+over its gates, with its scores of Byzantine churches, most of them
+with their five cupolas <i>de rigueur</i>, clustering together
+like a bunch of radishes&mdash;one big radish between four little
+radishes&mdash;but not as liberally covered with gilding as those
+which glisten on the top of sacred buildings in St. Petersburg or
+Moscow; down the slopes and ravines are woods and gardens, with
+coffee-houses and eating-houses, and other places of popular
+entertainment.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is a town to be admired on the outside and at a distance as a
+picture, but most objectionable as a residence on account of its
+marvellous distances and murderous pavement, a stroll on which
+reminds you of the martyrdom of those holy pilgrims who, to give
+glory to God, walked with dry peas in their shoes.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The pavements are bad in Nijni town, but worse in Nijni fair, for
+if in the former all is hard, sharp, uneven flint, in the latter,
+what is not wood is mud, and what is not mud is dust, for heavy
+showers alternate with stifling heat; and, after a three hours'
+drought one would say that these good people, who live half in
+and half out of a swamp, and who drink anything rather than water,
+can never spare a poor drop to slake the pulverized clay of their
+much trodden thoroughfares.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+With all these drawbacks, however, and even with the addition of
+its villainous smells, this is an interesting and striking spot.
+No place can boast of a more sublime view than one can get here
+from the Imperial Palace and Terrace, or from the church-domes
+or spires on the Kremlin; or, even better, from the Esplanade of
+Mouravief's Folly&mdash;a tower erected by the well-known General of
+that name on the highest and foremost ravine, and on the summit of
+which he had planned to place a fac-simile of the famous Strassburg
+clock, but constructed on so gigantic a scale that hours and minutes,
+the moon's phases, the planets' cycles and all besides, should be
+distinctly visible from every locality of the town and fair for
+miles and miles around.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+From any of those vantage-grounds on the hill look down. The town is
+at your feet; the fair&mdash;a city, a Babylon of shops&mdash;stretches
+beyond the bridge; the plain, a boundless ocean of green, field and
+forest, dotted here and there with church-spires and factory-shafts
+at prodigious distances; and the two broad rivers, bearing the
+tribute of remote regions from north and south in numberless boats
+and lighters, and neat gallant steamers; the two streams meeting
+here at right angles just below the pontoon-bridge where an immense
+five-domed church of recent construction has been reared to mark
+and hallow the spot.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Down at the fair, in the centre of its hubbub, rises the governor's
+summer-place. The governor dwells there with his family during the
+few weeks of the fair (mid-August to mid-September), coming down
+hither from the Imperial Palace in the town Kremlin, and occupying
+the upper floor. The whole basement, the entrance-hall, and all
+passages&mdash;with the exception of a narrow, private, winding
+staircase&mdash;are invaded by the crowd and converted into a bazaar,
+the noisiest in the fair, where there is incessant life and movement,
+and music and hurly-burly at every hour between noon and night&mdash;a
+lively scene upon which his Excellency and his guests and friends
+look down from the balcony after their five o'clock dinner, smoking
+their cigarettes, and watching the policemen as they pounce like
+trained hawks on the unwary pick-pockets prowling among the crowd.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of this immense mass of strangers now in Nijni, the town itself,
+and especially the upper town, sees and hears but little.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The fair has its own ground, on its own side of the bridge, its
+own hotels and lodging-houses, its own churches, chapels, theatres,
+eating, gambling, and other houses, its long straight streets and
+boulevards, and pleasure as well as business resorts.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It has its fine Chinese Row, though Chinamen have lately discontinued
+their attendance; it has rich traders' temporary homes, fitted up
+with comfort, and even taste and luxury; and it has its charity
+dormitory, a vast wooden shed, built by Court Ignatieff, and bearing
+his name, intended to accommodate 250 houseless vagrants, but alas! in
+a place where there must be 20,000, if not 200,000 persons answering
+that description.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of women coming to this market the number is comparatively
+small&mdash;one, I should say, for every 100 men; of ladies not
+one in 10,000, or 100,000.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of those who muster sufficiently strong at the evening promenade
+on the Boulevard, indigenous or resident, for the most part, rather
+the look than the number is formidable; and it is here in Nijni,
+as it is generally in Russia, that a Mussulman becomes convinced
+of the wisdom of his Arabian prophet, who invented the yashmak
+as man's best protection, and hallowed it; for of the charms of
+most Russian women, blessed are those who believe without seeing!
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In working hours only men and beasts are to be seen&mdash;a jumble
+and scramble of men and beasts: car-loads of goods; piles of hogsheads,
+barrels, bales, boxes, and bundles, merchandise of all kinds, of
+every shape, colour, or smell, all lying in a mass topsy-turvy,
+higgledy-piggledy; the thoroughfares blocked up, the foot-paths
+encumbered; chaos and noise all-pervading; and yet, by degrees, almost
+imperceptibly, you will see everything going its way, finding its own
+place; for every branch of trade has, or was at least intended to
+have, here its appointed abode; and there are Tea Rows; Silversmiths
+and Calico Streets; Fur Lanes; Soap, Candle, and Caviare Alleys;
+Photograph, Holy Images, and Priestly Vestments Bazaars; Boot, Slop,
+Tag and Rag Marts and Depositories&mdash;all in their compartments,
+kin with kin, and like with like; and everything is made to clear
+out of the way, and all is smoothed down; all subsides into order
+and rule, and not very late at night&mdash;quiet.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Tartars do the most of the work.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+They are the descendants of the old warriors of Genghis Khan and
+Timour the Lame, of the ruthless savages who for 200 years overran
+all Russia, spreading death and desolation wherever their coursers'
+hoofs trod, making slaves of the people, and tributary vassals of
+their Princes; but, who by their short-sighted policy favoured the
+rise of that dynasty of Moscow Grand Princes, who presently became
+strong enough to extend their sway both over Russ and Tartar.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The great merchants of Moscow and St. Petersburg or their
+representatives and partners come here for a few days, partners and
+clerks taking up the task by turns, according as business allows
+them absence from their chief establishments.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+They bring here no goods, but merely samples of goods&mdash;tea,
+cotton, woollen and linen tissues, silk, cutlery, jewellery, and
+generally all articles of European (home Russian) manufacture.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+They have most of them good apartments in the upper floors of their
+warehouses; they see their customers, mostly provincial retail
+dealers; they show their samples, drive their bargains, receive
+orders, attend on 'Change (for they have a <i>Bourse</i> at the
+fair, near the bridge), smoke indoors (for in the streets that
+indulgence is forbidden all over the fair for fear of fire), lunch
+or dine together often by mutual invitation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+They are gentlemenly men, young men for the most part (for their
+elders are at home minding the main business), young Russians or
+Russified Germans, some of whom adopt and even affect and exaggerate
+Russian feeling and habits; young men to whom it seems to be a
+principle that easy-made money should be readily spent; leisurely,
+business young men, who sit up late and get up later, take the world
+and its work and pleasure at their ease; understand little and
+care even less about politics; profess to be neither great readers
+nor great thinkers; but are, as a rule, free-handed, hospitable,
+sociable, most amiable, and anything rather than unintelligent men.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of all the articles of trade which come to court public favour
+in Nijni, the most important and valuable is tea; and although
+the Moscow merchants, by the excellence of their sea-faring tea,
+chiefly imported from Odessa or through England, have almost entirely
+driven from the market the caravan tea, still about one-tenth of
+the enormous quantity of tea sold here is grown in the north of
+China, and comes overland from Kiakhta, the city on the border
+between the Asiatic-Russian and the Celestial Empire.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I was curious to compare the taste of some of the very best qualities
+of both kinds, and was brought to the conclusion, confirmed by the
+opinion of gentlemen interested in the sale of sea-faring tea,
+that, although some of their own is more high-flavoured and stronger,
+there is in the Kiakhta tea an exquisite delicacy, which will always
+receive in its favour a higher price. The difference, I am told,
+mainly arises from the fact that the caravan tea, exposed to the
+air during its twelve months' journey in loose and clumsy and
+much-shaken paper and sheep-skin bundles, gets rid of the tannin
+and other gross substances, a process of purification which cannot
+be effected in the necessarily sealed and hermetically-closed boxes
+in which it reaches Europe by the sea-route; so that if sea-faring
+tea, like port-wine, easily recommends itself to the taste and
+nerves of a strong, hard-working man, a dainty, refined lady will
+give preference to a cup of Kiakhta tea, as she would to a glass
+of Ch&acirc;teau Yquem.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The interest of a European, however, would be chiefly attracted
+by what is less familiar in his own part of the world; and, short
+of an actual journey to the remote regions of Siberia and Central
+Asia, nothing is calculated to give him a more extensive idea of
+the produce of those Trans-Uralian Russian possessions than a survey
+of the goods they send here for sale.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+What astonishes a stranger at first sight is the quantity. You may
+walk for hours along yards and sheds, the repositories of iron from
+Siberia. You pass hundreds of shops of malachite and lapis-lazuli,
+and a variety of gold and silver work and precious stones from the
+Caucasus, cut with all the minute diligence of Asiatic skill. You
+will see Turkish carpets, Persian silks, and above all things the
+famous Orenburg shawls, so finely knitted, and with such patience
+that one can (they say, but I have not made the experiment), be
+made to pass through a lady's ring, though they be so broad on
+all sides as to wrap the lady all around from head to foot.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+One may, besides, have his choice of hundreds and thousands of
+those delightful curiosities and knickknacks, recommendable less
+for their quaintness than for the certainty one feels that there
+is no possible use in the world they may be put to.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There is no novelty at Nijni; no new shape, pattern, or colour
+just coming out to catch popular favour; no unknown mechanical
+contrivance; no discovery likely to affect human progress and brought
+here for the entertainment of the intelligent, un-commercial visitor.
+There are only the shop-keeper and his customer, though it is a
+wholesale shop and on a very large scale.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The fair, moreover, has not the duration that is generally allowed
+for an Exhibition.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 820px;">
+<a name="fig_21">
+<img src="images/fig021.jpg" width="820" height="525" alt="Fig. 21" /></a>
+<p class="image">NIJNI-NOVGOROD (BRIDGE OF THE FAIR).</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Though officially opened on the 27th of July, the fair does not
+begin in good earnest till the 18th of August; and it reaches its
+height on the 27th, when accounts are settled, and payments ensue;
+after which, goods are removed, and the grounds cleared; only a
+portion of the business lingering throughout September.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+About half a score of days, out of the two months during which the
+fair is held, are all that may have attraction for the generality
+of strangers. And although many come from all parts of Russia, and
+from foreign countries, I do not think they tarry here for pleasure
+beyond two or three days.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It would be interesting to anticipate what change a few weeks will
+effect in this scene which is now so full of life, bustle, and
+gaiety; this stage, where so great a variety of human beings from
+nearly all regions of the world, with their money or money's worth,
+with their hopes and fears, their greed and extravagance, all their
+good and evil instincts and faculties at play.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In a few weeks the flags will be furled, the tents struck; the
+pontoon-bridge removed; the shops closed; hotels, bazaars, and
+churches, all private and public edifices, utterly deserted and
+silent; and every house stripped of the last stick of valuable
+furniture; every door locked, barred, and sealed; the place left
+to take care of itself.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+For autumn rains and spring thaws must set in, when the seven or
+eight square miles of the ground of the fair, as well as the country
+to an immense extent, will be under water.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_15">THE VOLGA BASIN</a></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><b><i>The Great River&mdash;Kasan,
+Tsaritzin&mdash;Astrakhan</i></b></p>
+
+<p class="author">ANTONIO GALLENGA</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is hardly possible to travel on the Volga without falling in
+love with the great river at first sight.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The range of low hills which we had on our right as we descended
+the Oka continued now on the same side as we came down the Volga.
+The Volga, however, has nothing of the wild, erratic instincts
+of its tributary. It is a grand, calm, dignified stream, keeping
+to its course as a respectable matron, and gliding down in placid
+loveliness, without weir or leap, fall or rapids, or break of any
+kind&mdash;a fine, broad, almost unrippled sheet of water, with
+an even, steady, and grandly monotonous flow, like that of the
+stanzas of Tasso.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Its width, so far as eye can judge, does not greatly exceed that
+of the Thames at Gravesend, but it is always the same from the
+bridge at Twer above Moscow to the only other bridge, one mile
+in length, between Syzran and Samara; everywhere the same "full
+bumper" for a run of 2,000 English miles.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Though the Volga is numbered among the European rivers, and has
+its sources on the Valda&iuml; hills between the European cities,
+St. Petersburg and Moscow, it is a frontier stream, and seemed
+intended to form the natural line of demarcation between two parts
+of the world&mdash;between two worlds.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Up to the middle of the Sixteenth Century, Kasan was the advanced
+guard of the Tartar hordes. These wandering tribes, which, profiting
+by dissensions among the Russian princes, overcame and overran
+all Russia, weakened in their turn by division, fell back from
+the main part of the invaded territory, but still held for some
+time their own on the Volga, from Kasan to Astrakhan, till they
+were utterly routed and brought under Russian sway by Ivan the
+Terrible.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Even then, however, though their strength was broken, their spirit
+was untamed. The men of high warrior caste who survived their defeat
+sought a refuge among their kindred tribes further east, at Samarkand,
+Bokhara, and Khiva, where the Russians have now overtaken them;
+but a large part of the mere multitude laid aside without giving
+up their arms, passively accepted without formally acknowledging
+the Tsar's sway, and abided in their tents,&mdash;swallowed at
+once, but very leisurely digested, by the all-absorbing Russian
+civilization.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Large bodies of the nation, however, migrated <i>en masse</i> from
+time to time, the lands they left vacant being rapidly filled up
+by bands of Cossacks, and by foreign (chiefly German), colonists.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+For more than three centuries, though already mistress of Siberia
+and victorious in remote Asia, Russia proper might be considered as
+ending at the Volga; so that most of the older and most important
+towns south of Kasan and north of Astrakhan, such as Simbirsk,
+Syzran, Volsk, Saratof, Kamyshin, and Tsaritzin, lie on the right,
+or Russo-European bank of the stream.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Tsaritzin is at the head of the Delta of the Volga, and it lies 580
+versts above Astrakhan, which is said to be at the river's mouth,
+but which is still 150 versts from the roadstead or anchorage,
+called the Nine Feet Station; the spot on the Caspian where sea
+navigation really begins.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At Tsaritzin we might have fancied ourselves in some brand-new
+town in one of the remote backwoods of America. It was nothing of
+a place before the railway reached it. No one can foretell what
+it may become before the locomotive travels past it. For under
+present circumstances all the postal service, the light goods and
+time-saving passenger traffic from all parts of Russia to Astrakhan,
+the Caspian and the Trans-Caspian region, or <i>vice vers&acirc;</i>,
+must pass between the Tsaritzin pier on the Volga and the platforms
+of the Tsaritzin railway station.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We did not see much of the upstart town, for the horrible clouds
+of thick, dung-impregnated dust would not allow us to keep our
+eyes open. But we perceived that almost every trace of what was
+once little better than a second rate fortress and a village was
+obliterated; the old inhabitants were nowhere, and a bustling set
+of new settlers were sharing the broad area among themselves, taking
+as much of it as suited their immediate wants, and extending it to
+the utmost limits of their sanguine expectations; drawing lines
+of streets at great distances, tracing the sides of broad squares
+and crescents, and laying the foundations of what would rise in
+time into shops and houses, hotels, bazaars, theatres and churches.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Tzaritzin when we saw it was merely the embryo of a city. Those
+that may visit it a score of years hence will tell us what they
+find it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Two more nights and a day down the sluggish waters of the main
+channel of the Volga landed us on the tenth day after our departure
+from Nijni-Novgorod, at Astrakhan, where we stayed a whole week.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+From Tsaritzin to Astrakhan the Volga flows through the Steppe,
+the great Asiatic grass desert extending from the Caucasus to the
+frontier of China. The wild tenants of this wilderness, the various
+tribes of Tartars, once the terror of East and West, were like a vast
+ocean of human beings swayed to and fro by nomadic and predatory
+instincts, which for centuries threatened to overwhelm and efface
+every vestige of the world's civilization.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russians who were first invested and overpowered by the flood,
+were able by the valour and more by the craft of their princes,
+first to stem the tide, then to force it back, and in the end to
+rear such bulwarks as might for ever baffle its fury, and prevent
+its further onset.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Such bulwarks were once the strong places of Kasan and Astrakhan,
+the former seats of Tartar hordes, which the Tsars of Moscow made
+their bases of operations for the indefinite extension of their
+civilized empire over Tartar barbarism.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+For the experience of centuries had proved that the Steppe was not
+everywhere and altogether an irreclaimable land, nor the Tartars
+an utterly untameable race.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Astrakhan, like Kasan, is a Russian town, of whose 50,000 inhabitants
+one-fourth or one-fifth at least are tamed Tartars, and the sands
+around which can be made to yield grapes and peaches, and a profusion
+of melons and watermelons. Beyond the immediate neighbourhood,
+over the whole province or "Government" of Astrakhan, stretches
+the vast land of the Steppe, the wide and thin pasture-grounds on
+which the Tartar tribes roam at will with their flocks; a pastoral
+set of men; without fixed homes, and, in our sense of the word,
+without laws; and yet perfectly harmless and peaceful&mdash;exempt,
+at least till very lately, from military service, and only paying
+a tribute of 45,000 roubles, at so much a head for each horse,
+ox, or camel, ranging over an extent of 7,000,000 dessiatines
+(20,000,000 acres) of land, an area of 224,514 kilometers, or about
+half of that of France, with a population, including that of the
+capital, of 601,514 inhabitants.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Astrakhan is a modern town, with the usual broad, straight streets,
+most of them boasting no other pavement than sand, with brick
+side-walks, much worn and dilapidated, and, like those of Buenos
+Ayres and many other American cities, so raised above the roadway
+as to require great attention from those who do not wish to run
+the risk of broken shins.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The town has its own Kremlin, apart from the citadel. The Kremlin
+is a kind of cathedral-close, with the cathedral and the archbishop's
+palace, and several monasteries and priests' habitations. The whole
+town, besides, and the environs, as usual in Russia, muster more
+churches than they can number priests or worshippers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In a walk of two or three miles I took outside the town and as
+far as the cemeteries, I had a scattered group of at least half
+a score of churches all around me, but there was scarcely a human
+habitation within sight.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The governor's palace is a low building over a row of shops in the
+main square of the city. The square itself and the thoroughfares were
+enveloped in thick clouds of blinding dust, almost as troublesome as
+that of Tsaritzin; but on the whole, the place is less unclean than
+one might expect from a population made up of Russians, Tartars,
+Calmucks, Persians, Armenians and Jews.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Volga and the hundred channels which constitute its delta,
+and the northern shores of the Caspian Sea into which they flow,
+yield more fish than the coasts of Norway and Newfoundland put
+together. The nets employed in catching them would, if laid side by
+side on the ground in all their length, extend over a line of 40,000
+versts, or twice the distance from St. Petersburg to Tashkend and
+back. The annual produce of these Astrakhan fisheries&mdash;sturgeon,
+sterlet, salmon, pike, shad, etc.&mdash;amounts to 10,000,000 puds
+of fish (the pud thirty-six English pound weight) of the value of
+20,000,000 roubles, the herrings alone yielding a yearly income
+of 4,000,000 roubles. With the exception of the caviare, which is
+sold all over the world, the produce of these fisheries, salted
+or pickled, is destined for home consumption, and travels all over
+the empire, although as far as I have been, I have found everywhere
+the waters equally well-stocked by nature with every description
+of fish; a provident dispensation, since the Russian clergy, like
+the Roman Catholic, are indefatigable in their promotion of what
+they call "the Apostles' trade," by their injunction of 226 fast
+or fish days throughout the year.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Delta of the Volga and the Caspian Sea lie twenty-five metres
+below the level of the Black Sea.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The city of Astrakhan, placed on the left bank of the main channel
+of the Delta, and, as I said, 150 versts above its anchorage, becomes
+like an island in the midst of a vast sea when the Volga comes down
+in its might with the thaw of the northern ice in late spring;
+and most of its lowest wards would be overwhelmed were it not for
+the dikes that encompass it like a town in Holland.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The eight principal branches and the hundred minor channels and
+outlets of the Delta, breaking up the land into a labyrinth of
+hundreds of islets, are then blended together in one watery surface,
+out of which only the crests of these islets emerge with isolated
+villages, with log-huts and long whitewashed buildings, and high-domed
+churches, all dammed and diked up like the town itself&mdash;Tartar
+villages, Calmuck villages, Cossack villages, all or most of them
+fishers' homes and fishing establishments&mdash;a population of
+20,000 to 30,000 souls being thus scattered on the bare sand-hills
+and dunes; men of all race, colour, and faith, all employed in the
+same fishing pursuit; the Tartars and Calmucks usually as rank
+and file, the Russians and other Europeans as overseers, foremen,
+and skilled labourers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+From Astrakhan, the queen of the Steppes, to Tiflis the queen of
+the Caucasus, we had a choice of routes.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Tourists from England, or from any part of Western Europe, may
+easily visit the great mountain-chain on which Prometheus was found,
+by crossing the Black Sea from Constantinople or from Odessa, and
+landing at Poti, where the Russians have constructed a railway
+to Tiflis, once the capital of Georgia, now the residence of the
+Governor-General of the whole Caucasus region.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A traveller from the north, bound to the same goal, can take the
+train at Moscow, and come down by rail, <i>via</i> Rostov-on-the-Don,
+all the way to Vladikavkas, a distance of 1,803 versts; and about
+200 additional versts, by post, over a good military road, and
+across the main Caucasian chain, will bring him from Vladikavkas
+to Tiflis.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+But we had descended the Volga, and were now near its mouth. We
+had to go down the Volga to the Nine Feet Station below Astrakhan,
+embark there on the Caspian Sea, and cross over either to Baku,
+whence we could go by post round the mountain-chain at its southern
+extremity as far as Tiflis; or land at Petrofsk, and travel along
+the chain to Vladikavkas and the good military road across the
+chain to Tiflis.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We gave our preference to the last-named route.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We left Astrakhan at ten in the evening on board a heavy barge
+belonging to the Caucasus and Mercury steam-navigation company,
+towed by a tug down stream at the rate of five or six miles an
+hour.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We were all that afternoon and night, and part of the following
+day, descending the main channel of the Volga, and it was past
+noon before we reached the Nine Feet Station, for so they call
+the roadstead above which vessels of more than nine feet draught
+dare not venture.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+All sight of land, of the seventy larger islands of the Delta,
+and even of the minor islets, and of the lowest sand-banks, had
+been lost for several hours, and we were here in the open sea,
+though scarcely beyond the boundary that the Creator has elsewhere
+fixed between land and water. For the Station which, if I can allow
+myself an apparent Irishism, is a moveable one, has to be pushed
+forward almost day by day as the sands of the Volga silt up far
+beyond the choked-up lands of the Delta, encroaching with a steady
+inroad on the depths of the waves; the Steppe everywhere widening
+as the sea dwindles, and suggesting the thought that the whole
+region that is now Steppe must in remote ages have been sea, and
+that whatever is now sea, must in time become Steppe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Indeed, it seems not impossible to calculate how many years or
+centuries it may take for the sands of the Volga, aided by those of
+the Ural and the Emba on the eastern, and of the Kuma, the Terek,
+and the Kur or Kura, with its tributary the Aras, on the western
+shore, to fill up the land-locked Caspian, though its extreme depth,
+according to the Gazetteers, is 600 feet, and the area covered by
+it probably exceeds 180,000 square miles, a surface as large as
+that of Spain.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Kasan, once the residence of a redoubted horde, was probably, under
+Tartar sway, in a great measure a mere encampment, chiefly a city of
+tents; for whatever the guide-books may say, there is no positive
+evidence of its present buildings belonging to a date anterior to
+the Russian Conquest.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Its situation probably recommended itself to the Tartars chiefly
+on the score of strength; for although it stands high above the
+river, its present distance from it is at least three miles, and
+it is surrounded by a sandy and marshy plain, intersected by the
+channels of the Kasana river, erratic water-courses which may have
+proved sufficient obstacles to the onset of an invader, but which
+raise no less serious hindrances to the conveyance of goods from
+the landing-place to the town; an inconvenience hitherto not removed
+by the tramway, as it as yet only carries passengers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Kasan is on the main line of communication between Central Russia
+and Siberia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The travellers bound to that bourne embark here on steamers that go
+down the Volga as far as its confluence with the Kama, a tributary
+stream, and thence ascend the Kama, which is navigable all the
+way to Perm. From Perm a railway runs up to the Pass of the Ural
+mountains to Ekaterinenburg, probably to be in course of time continued
+to Tiumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk, the Baikal Lake, the Chinese
+frontier at Kiakhta, the banks of the Amoor, and the shores of
+the Pacific Ocean.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Along this route it is calculated that some &pound;3,000,000 worth
+of merchandise are brought yearly from Siberia down the Kama and
+up the Volga to the Nijni-Novgorod fair.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Kasan is a highly flourishing city. It has a population of 90,000
+to 100,000 inhabitants, one-fourth of whom are Tartars.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+These descendants of the old Nomad race are now here at home, and
+live in the city perfectly at peace with their Russian fellow-subjects,
+though being Mahometans, they have distinct, if not separate, quarters,
+and mosques and a burial-ground of their own. It would seem impossible
+for two races which have so little reason for mutual good-will, to
+show so little disposition to quarrel. But it should be remembered
+that Sclav and Tartar were not in former times so far asunder in
+manners, in language, in polish, nor so free from admixture in
+blood as the Russians fondly believe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The town has its Kremlin, on the site of the old citadel, with
+its cathedral and other churches, and several "telescope towers,"
+if they may be so called, built on several stories, dwindling in
+size from floor to floor as they rise one above the other, so that
+one can conceive how they might easily sink into one another and
+shut up like a spy-glass. The great brick tower of Pier Crescenzi
+in Rome is such a tower; and here are many in the same style at
+Moscow and in most other old Russian cities. Kasan has several public
+edifices of some pretension: the Admiralty; the University&mdash;one
+of the seven of the Empire, etc. But we had enough of it all after
+two or three hours, and were glad to shun the heat of the rest
+of the day in the cool sitting-room of Commonen's Hotel, which
+alone may be taken as a voucher for the high degree of civilization
+reached by Kasan.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We gave even less time to the other cities of the Volga, not thinking
+it always worth while to alight at all the stations, though the
+steamer stopped at some of these for many a long, weary hour.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+With the exception of Kasan, Samara, and Astrakhan, the most important
+cities are, as I said, on the right or Russian bank of the River;
+and three of them, Syzran, Saratof, and Tsaritzin, are connected
+by various railways with Moscow and all the other important centres
+of life in the Empire.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Volga, which between Nijni-Novgorod and Kasan flows in an almost
+straight easterly direction, takes a turn to the southward after
+leaving Kasan and the confluence of the Kama; but it makes a loop
+below Simbirsk, turning eastward to Samara, and again west to Syzran,
+after which it resumes its southerly course to Saratof, Tsaritzin,
+and Astrakhan.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The railway from Moscow to Syzran, upon reaching Syzran, crosses
+the Volga on an iron bridge, one verst and a half, or one English
+mile, in length, and high enough to allow the largest steamer pass
+without lowering its funnel&mdash;a masterpiece of engineering
+greatly admired by the people here, who describe it as the longest
+bridge in Russia and in the world.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We went under it at midnight by a dim moonlight which barely allowed
+us to see it looming in the distance not much bigger than a
+telegraph-wire drawn all across the valley, the gossamer line of
+the bridge and all the landscape round striking us as dreamlike
+and unreal.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+After crossing the river the railway proceeds to Samara, and hence
+419 versts further to Orenburg, a large and thriving place on the
+Ural river, the spot from which the straightest and probably the
+shortest way is, or will be, open to all parts of Siberia or Central
+Asia; preferable, I should think, to that of Perm and Ekaterinenburg
+above-mentioned, which is now the most frequented route.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Beyond Syzran and Samara the river scenery, which has hitherto
+been verdant, assumes a southerly aspect; the hill-sides sloping
+to the river have a parched and faded brown look; the hill-tops are
+bared and seamed with chalky ravines; every trace of the forests
+has disappeared; and it is only at rare intervals that the banks
+are clad with the verdure of the new growth.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 819px;">
+<a name="fig_22">
+<img src="images/fig022.jpg" width="819" height="523" alt="Fig. 22" /></a>
+<p class="image">FROM THE RAMPARTS OF THE KREMLIN NIJNI-NOVGOROD.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+From Nijni to Tsaritzin we have stopped at more than thirty different
+stations, and no pen could describe the stir and bustle of goods
+and passengers that awaited us at every wharf and pier.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Several of these stations are towns of 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants,
+and, besides their corn trade and tobacco, they all deal in some
+articles of necessity or luxury, of which they produce enough for
+their own, if not always for their neighbours', consumption.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Everywhere one sees huge buildings&mdash;steam flour-mills,
+tobacco-factories, salt-mines, soap and candle factories,
+tanneries&mdash;and last, not least, palaces for the sale of
+<i>koumiss</i> or fermented mare's milk, a sanitary beverage; and
+extensive establishments, especially near Samara, for the <i>koumiss</i>
+cure,&mdash;fashionable resorts as watering-places, frequented
+by persons affected by consumption, and other real or imaginary
+ailments.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There is something appalling in the thought that all this busy,
+and, on the whole, merry life on the banks of the Volga must come
+to a dead stand-still for six or seven months in the year. I have
+been vainly taxing my brain to guess what may become of the captains,
+mates and crews of the 700 steamers, and of the 5,000 heavy barges
+with which the river is now swarming; of the porters, agents, clerks,
+and other officials at the various stations; of the thousands of
+women employed to carry all the firewood from the piers to the
+steam-boats. What becomes of all these, and of the men and horses
+toiling at the steam-row and tow-boats on the Oka, the Kama, the Don,
+the Dnieper, and a hundred other rivers during the long season in
+which the vast plains of Russia are turned into a howling wilderness
+of snow and ice from end to end?
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Railway communication and sledge-driving may, by doubling their
+activity, afford employment to some of the men and beasts who would
+otherwise be doomed to passive and torpid hybernation. But much of
+the work that is practicable in other countries almost throughout
+the year&mdash;nearly all that is done in the open air&mdash;suffers
+here grievous interruption.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+What should we think in England of a six months' winter, in which
+the land were as hard as a rock, in which all the cattle had to
+be kept within doors, in which the bricklayer's trowel and the
+road-mender's roller had to be laid aside?
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+And, by way of compensation, what mere human bone and muscle can
+stand the crushing labour by which the summer months, with their
+long days of twenty hours' sunlight, must make up for the winter's
+forced idleness; in a climate too, where, as far as my own experience
+goes, the heat is hardly less oppressive and stifling than in the
+level lands of Lombardy or the Emilia?
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_16">ODESSA</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">ANTONIO GALLENGA</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+From Yalta to Sebastopol there are two routes. One strikes across
+the Ya&iuml;la hills to Simpheropol, whence we could proceed by
+rail to Sebastopol; the other runs along the coast, high up on the
+hills, to the Baidar Gate and through the Baidar Valley leading
+to Balaclava and the other well-known spots encompassing the ruins
+of what was once the great naval station of the Russians on the
+Black Sea.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We chose the coast route, and travelled for five hours in the afternoon
+over forty-eight versts of the most singular road in the world.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It rambles up and down along the side of the hills&mdash;as a road did
+once on the beautiful Cornice along the Ligurian Riviera&mdash;midway
+between the upper hill crest and the sea, having on the right the
+mountains, a succession of wall-like, perpendicular, hoary cliffs,
+between 1,500 feet and 2,000 feet high, a great wall riven into
+every variety of fantastic shapes of bastions, towers, and pyramids,
+all bare and rugged, crumbling here and there into huge boulders,
+strewn along the slopes down to the road, across the road, and further
+down to the water-edge, a scene which might befit the battle-field
+of the Titans against the gods; and on the left the wide expanse of
+the waters, with a coast like a fringe of little glens and creeks
+and headlines, and the sun's glitter on the waves like Dante's
+"<i>tremolar della marina</i>" on the shore of Purgatory.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Between the road and the sea far below us, in the distance, embosomed
+in woods still untouched by the autumn frosts, lay the marine villas
+of Livadia, Orianda, Alupka, etc., very Edens, where on their first
+annexation of the Crimea the wealthy Russians sought a refuge against
+the horrors of their wintry climate; more recently, Imperial
+residences&mdash;Livadia, the darling of the late Emperor; Orianda,
+now a mere wreck from the recent conflagration, the seat of the
+Grand Duke Constantine; Alupka, the abode of Prince Woronzoff, the
+son of the benevolent genius of these districts, the road-maker,
+the patron of Yalta, the second founder of Odessa.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A scene of irresistible enchantment is the whole of what the Russians
+emphatically call their "southern coast." And, as if to enhance
+its charm by contrast, everything changes as you pass the Baidar
+Gate, and when you have crossed the Baidar Valley the balmy air
+becomes raw and chill, the bald mountains tame and common-place,
+and the long descent is through an ashy-gray country, swept over by
+an icy blast, saddened by a lowering sky, unrelieved by a flower, a
+bush, or a cottage. So marvellous is the power of mere position, so
+great the difference between the two sides of the same mountain-wall!
+You pass at once from a garden to a steppe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Away from these sheltering rocks, away from the southern slopes
+of the Caucasian ridges, you are in Russia. The only mountains
+throughout all the rest of the Tsar's European territories are
+the Urals, which nowhere reach even the heights of the Apennines,
+which do not form everywhere a continuous chain, and which run in
+almost a straight line from north to south. From the icy pole the
+wind sweeping over the frozen ocean and the snowy wastes of the
+northern provinces finds nowhere a hindrance to its cruel blasts,
+and spreads its chill over the whole land with such steady keenness
+as to make the climate of the exposed parts of the Black Sea coast
+almost as wintry as that of the White Sea. At Odessa in the early
+days of October both our hotel and the private houses we had occasion
+to enter had already put up double doors and windows, and people
+lived in apartments as hermetically closed as if their homes had
+been in St. Petersburg.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We slept at Baidar, a Tartar village, where a maiden of that Moslem
+race was the only attendant at the Russian inn, and on the morrow
+we drove in three hours to Sebastopol, a distance of forty-two
+versts.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Sebastopol has still not a little of that Pompeian look which it
+bore on the day after its surrender to the Western Allies in 1856.
+We drove through miles of ruins, the roofless walls staring at
+us from the dismantled doors and windows, the dust from the
+rubbish-heaps of brick and mortar blinding us at every turning
+of the streets, though, we were told, the city is looking up and
+thriving, and both house-rent and building-ground are rising in
+price from day to day.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We had to wait two days for the "Olga," detained by stress of weather,
+and it was with a hope of enlivening ourselves that, under the
+escort of the English Consul, a Crimean veteran who takes care of
+the heroic dead, and actually lives with as well as for them, we
+drove out to some of the eleven English cemeteries, to the house
+where Lord Raglan died, and the monument marking the spot where "the
+six hundred rode into the jaws of death"&mdash;those localities
+made forever memorable by a war than which none was ever undertaken
+with less distinct aims, none fought with greater valour, none
+brought to an end with less important results.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We left Sebastopol at three in the afternoon in the "Olga," and
+landed at Odessa in the morning at ten. Throughout the first week
+after our arrival, we never caught a single glimpse of the sun.
+Odessa, like Sebastopol, like Kertch, like Astrakhan, and other
+places lying on the edge of the Russian Steppe, seems habitually,
+under the influence of the wind in peculiar quarters, to be haunted
+by fogs that set in at sunrise and only sometimes clear off after
+sunset. During this gloomy state of the atmosphere the night is
+usually warmer than the day.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 817px;">
+<a name="fig_23">
+<img src="images/fig023.jpg" width="817" height="549" alt="Fig. 23" /></a>
+<p class="image">PLACE TUREMNAJA ODESSA.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Odessa has a magnificent position, for it lies high on ravines,
+which give it a wide command over its large harbour, lately improved,
+as well as on the open sea and coast, the striking feature of the
+place being its <i>boulevard</i>, a terrace or platform about 500
+yards in length, laid out and planted as a promenade, looking out
+seawards and accessible by a flight of stairs of 150 steps from
+the landing-place.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Odessa is not an old town, but it looks brand-new, for there has
+been of late a great deal of building, and the crumbling nature
+of the stone keeps the mason and white-washer perpetually at work.
+It is lively, though monotonous, for its broad, straight streets
+are astir with business, and the rattle of hackney-carriages,
+heavy-laden vans, and tramway-cars is incessant. It boasts many
+private palaces and has few public edifices, and in its municipal
+institutions it is, or used to be, taxed with consulting rather
+more the purposes of luxury and ornament than the real wants of
+the people or the interests of charity.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Odessa is in Russia, but not of Russia, for among its citizens, we
+are told, possibly with exaggeration, more than one-third (70,000)
+are Jews, besides 10,000 Greeks and Germans, and Italians in good
+number. It is unlike any other Russian city, for it is tolerably well
+paved, has plenty of drinking-water, and rows of trees&mdash;however
+stunted, wind-nipped, and sickly&mdash;in every street. It is not
+Russian, because few Russians succeed here in business; but strenuous
+efforts are made to Russify it, for the names of the streets, which
+were once written in Italian as well as in Russian, are now only
+set up in Russian, unreadable to most foreign visitors; and the
+so-called "Italian Street" (Strada Italiana), reminding one of
+what the town owes to its first settlers, has been rebaptized as
+"Pushkin Street." Of the three French newspapers which flourished
+here till very lately, not one any longer exists, for whatever
+is not Russian is discountenanced and tabooed in a town which,
+in spite of all, is not and never will be, Russian. French is,
+nevertheless, more generally understood than in most Russian cities,
+but Italian is dying off here as in all the Levant and the north
+coast of Africa, Italy losing as a united nation such hold as she
+had as a mere nameless cluster of divided states.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is difficult to foresee what results the great change that is
+visibly going on in the economical and commercial conditions of
+the Russian Empire may have on the destinies of Odessa.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Half a century ago, if we may trust the statistics of the <i>Journal
+d' Odessa</i>, this city had only the third rank among the commercial
+places of Russia. At the head of all then was St. Petersburg, whose
+harbour was frequented by 1,500 to 2,000 vessels, the exports being
+100,000,000 to 120,000,000 roubles, and the imports 140,000,000
+to 160,000,000 roubles. Next in importance came Riga, with 1,000
+to 1,500 vessels, 35,000,000 to 50,000,000 roubles exports, and
+15,000,000 to 20,000,000 roubles imports; and Odessa, as third,
+received 600 to 800 vessels, her exports amounting from 25,000,000
+to 30,000,000 roubles, and her imports from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000
+roubles. The relative commercial importance of the three ports
+was, therefore, as twenty-five to six and five.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Matters have undergone a considerable alteration since then. St.
+Petersburg, whose imports and exports doubled in amount those of
+all the other ports of the Empire put together, has been gradually
+declining, the ports of Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland threatening
+to deprive her inconvenient harbour of a great part of the Baltic
+trade, and the centre of general business being rapidly removed
+from the present seat of Government to the old capital, Moscow.
+Riga, also, has been and is slowly sinking from its high position
+in the Baltic, and may, perhaps, eventually succumb to the active
+rivalry of Revel and Libau. Odessa, on the contrary, has been looking
+up for these many years, absorbing nearly all the Russian trade in
+the Black Sea, and rapidly rising from the third to the second
+rank as a seaport.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The main cause of the rise and progress of Odessa was owing to the
+development of agricultural enterprise in the provinces of what
+is called "Little" and "New Russia," or the "Black Earth Country"
+the granary of the Empire and for a long time of all Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Beyond the steppes which encompass the whole southern seacoast of
+Russia, from the Sea of Azof to the Danube, there spreads far inland
+a fertile region, embracing the whole or part of the Governments
+of Podolia, Poltava, Kharkof, Kief, Voronei, Don Cossacks, etc.,
+including the districts of what was once known as the "Ukraine,"
+which was for many years debatable land between Poland, Turkey,
+and Russia, and on which roamed the mongrel bands of the Cossacks,
+an uncouth population recruited among the many tramps and vagabonds
+from the northern provinces, mixed with all the races of men with
+whom they came into contact, settling here and there in new, loose,
+and almost lawless communities, organized as military colonies,
+and perpetually shifting their allegiance from one to the other
+of these three Powers, till the policy and good fortune of Peter
+the Great and Catherine II. extended the sway of Russia over the
+whole territory.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At the close of the last century, and contemporaneously with the
+foundation of Odessa (1794), the bountiful nature of the soil of
+this region became known, and the country was overrun by colonists
+from "Great" or "Northern Russia," from Germany, and from Bulgaria
+and Wallachia; and its rich harvests were soon sufficient, not
+only to satisfy, but to exceed the wants of the whole Empire.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Odessa, endowed by its founder, Catherine II., with the privilege
+of a free port, which it enjoyed till after the war of the Crimea,
+monopolized during that time the export of the produce of this
+southern land, consisting chiefly of grain and wool; and its prosperity
+went on, always on the increase&mdash;affected only temporarily
+by wars and bad harvests&mdash;to such an extent that the total
+value of the exports, which was, in round numbers, about 52,000,000
+roubles in 1871, rose to 86,000,000 roubles in 1878, to 88,000,000
+roubles in 1879, and fell, owing to the bad harvest, to 56,000,000
+roubles in 1880.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Odessa trade was for a long time in the hands of Greek and Italian
+merchants, the original settlers in the town at its foundation, the
+produce being, before the invention of steamers, conveyed to Italy,
+France and England in Italian bottoms. But, of late years, preference
+being given to steamers over sailing vessels, and the Italians,
+either failing to perceive the value of time and the importance
+of the revolution that steam had effected, or lacking capital to
+profit by it, allowed the English to have the lion's share of the
+Black Sea trade, so that, in 1879, the English vessels entering
+the port of Odessa were 549 steamers and four sailing vessels, with
+500,000 tons, while the Italians had only fifty steamers and 119
+sailing vessels, with 85,700 tons. Next to the English were, in
+the same year, the Austrians (eighty-seven steam and 119 sailing
+vessels, 119,000 tons). The Russians, at home here, had 150 steam
+and eight sailing vessels and 180,000 tons.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Odessa, however, though she had so much of the trade to herself,
+had not of late years the whole of it. As the means of land and
+water conveyance improved, and especially after the construction
+of railways, a number of minor rivals arose all along the
+coast&mdash;Rostov, at the mouth of the Don; Taganrog, Mariupol
+or Marianopolis, and Berdianski, on the north coast of the Sea of
+Azof, where Greek colonies are flourishing; Kherson, at the mouth
+of the Dnieper; Nicolaief, at the mouth of the Bug; and others.
+Odessa was thus reduced to the trade of the region to the west of
+the last-named river, having lost that of the provinces of Poltava,
+Kharkof, Kursk, Orel, Ekaterinoslaf, etc., and only retaining Kherson,
+Bessarabia, Volhynia, Kief, etc., which would still be sufficient
+for her commercial well-being.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+But Odessa is threatened with a new and far more formidable rival
+in Sebastopol. Sebastopol, with all its inlets, is by far the most
+perfect harbour in the Black Sea, and has the inestimable advantage
+that it never freezes, while in Odessa the ice brings all trade
+to a standstill for two or three weeks every winter, and all the
+ports of Azof and the mouths of the rivers are frozen from November
+to March or even mid-April. Sebastopol has the additional advantage
+of being in the most direct and nearest communication by rail with
+Kharkof, the very heart of the Black Earth Country, and with Moscow,
+the centre of the Russian commercial and industrial business.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The people in Sebastopol have hopes that the Imperial Government,
+giving up all thought of bringing back their great Black Sea naval
+station from Nicolaief to its former seat, may not be unwilling that
+their fine harbour be turned to the purposes of trading enterprise,
+and even to favour it for a few years with the privileges of a free
+port.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 816px;">
+<a name="fig_24">
+<img src="images/fig024.jpg" width="816" height="552" alt="Fig. 24" /></a>
+<p class="image">SEBASTOPOL.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The citizens of Odessa, on the other hand, scout such expectations
+as over-sanguine, if not quite chimerical, laugh to scorn the idea
+that the Government may at any time lay aside its intention of
+going back with its naval establishment to Sebastopol; and, in
+that case, they contend that the juxtaposition of a commercial
+with an Imperial naval port would be as monstrous a combination
+as would be in France that of Marseilles and Toulon, or in England
+that of Portsmouth and Liverpool, in one and the same place.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+They add that the railway between Moscow and Sebastopol is
+ill-constructed and almost breaking down; that, although it is
+by some hundred miles shorter than that from Odessa to Moscow,
+the express and mail trains are so arranged that the most rapid
+communication between north and south is effected between Odessa
+and St. Petersburg, which route is travelled over in less than
+three days.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Whichever of the contending parties may have the best of the argument,
+there is no doubt that, were even the Government to be favourable
+to the wishes of the people of Sebastopol, there would be no just
+reason for jealousy between the two cities, for Odessa has already
+proved that she can manage to grow richer than ever upon one-half
+of the trade of Southern Russia, while Sebastopol might safely
+rely on carrying on the other half&mdash;that other half which is
+now already in the hands of Taganrog, Mariupol, Nicolaief, etc.
+For all these ports of Azof and the mouths of the rivers, besides
+being closed by ice for at least four months in the year, are so
+shallow that no amount of dredging can keep back the silting sands,
+and vessels must anchor at distances of ten to twenty and even
+thirty miles outside the harbours.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_17">THE DON COSSACKS</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">THOMAS MICHELL</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Coming from the north, the first town of any importance in Southern
+Russia is Kursk, three hundred and thirty-five miles from Moscow
+in an almost direct line, the railway passing through the cities
+of Tula (the Russian Birmingham), and Orel, the centre of a rich
+agricultural district connected by rail, on the west, with Riga
+on the Baltic, and on the south-east with Tsaritzin on the Volga.
+Authentic records attest the existence of Kursk in 1032, and in
+1095 it was held by Isiaslaf, son of Vladimir Monomachus, from
+whom it passed alternately to the Princes of Chernigof and of
+Pereyaslasl. In the Thirteenth Century it was razed to the ground
+by the Tartars. In 1586 the southern frontiers of Moscovy were
+fortified, and Kursk became one of the principal places on that
+line of defence against the Crimean Tartars and the Poles. Its
+disasters and sufferings as a military outpost ceased only towards
+the end of the Seventeenth Century, after Little Russia (the more
+southerly districts watered by the Dnieper), submitted to the Tsar
+Alexis.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We are now almost in the heart of the <i>Chernozem</i>, or black
+soil country, so called from the rich black loam of which its surface
+is composed to a depth of two and three yards and more. These vast
+plains were known to Herodotus, Strabo, and other ancient geographers
+only in their present <i>Steppe</i>, or flat and woodless condition.
+It is a great relief to the eye to see at last a handsomely-built
+city like Kursk, perched, relatively to the surrounding flatness,
+on an elevation and almost smothered in the verdure of numerous
+gardens. There is, however, not much to see within it, for even the
+churches are mostly not older than the second half of the Eighteenth
+Century.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The more southerly part of the province of Kursk is in the
+<i>Ukraine</i>, or ancient border country. Its semi-nomadic population
+obtained in early days the designation of Cossacks. This word is
+not Sclavonic, but Turkish; and although it long denoted in Russia
+a free man, or, rather, a man free to do anything he chose, it
+had been used by the Tartar hordes to designate the lower class
+of their horsemen. From the princes of the House of Rurik these
+southerly districts passed into the possession of Lithuania, and,
+later, into those of Poland. Little Russia was another arbitrary
+name anciently given to a great part of what has been also known
+as the Ukraine. No fixed geographical limits can be assigned to
+either of these designations, and especially to the Ukraine of
+the Poles or the Muscovites; for as the borders or marshes became
+safe and populated, they were absorbed by the dominant power, and
+ultimately incorporated into provinces. Little Russia is, in fact, a
+term now used only to denote the Southern Russians as distinguished
+principally from the Great Russians of the more central part of
+the empire.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There is a strongly-marked difference in the outward appearance, the
+mode of life, and even the cast of thought of these two branches of
+the Sclav race. The language of the Little Russian, or <i>Hohol</i>,
+as he is contemptuously called by his more vigorous northern brother,
+is a cross between the Polish and the Russian, although nearer
+akin to the Muscovite than to the Polish tongue. Ethnographically,
+also, the Little Russians become gradually fused with the White
+Russians of the north-west (Mohilef and Vitebsk) and with the Slovaks
+of the other side of the Carpathians. The <i>Malo-Ros</i> (Little
+Russian) is physically a better, though a less muscular man than the
+<i>Veliko-Ros</i>, or Great Russian. He is taller, finer-featured,
+and less rude and primitive in his domestic surroundings. The women
+have both beauty and grace, and make the most of those qualities by
+adorning themselves in neat and picturesque costumes, resembling
+strongly those of the Roumanian and Transylvanian peasantry. Their
+houses are not like those of other parts of Russia&mdash;log huts,
+full, generally, of vermin and cockroaches; but wattled, thatched,
+and whitewashed cottages, surrounded by gardens, and kept internally
+in order and cleanliness.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Their lives are altogether more happy, although their songs, full
+of deep feeling, and not without a vein of romance are, like those
+of all Sclavs, plaintive and in the minor key. The men sing of
+the daring exploits of their Cossack forefathers, who were not
+free-booters like the old Cossacks of the Volga, but courageous
+men engaged in a life-and-death struggle with nomadic hordes, and
+later with internal enemies, Poles and rebels. The greater refinement
+of the women of Little Russia is attributable to the comparative
+ease of their lives in a fertile country, with a climate more genial
+than that of the more northerly parts of the empire. There the
+Great and the White Russians had to contend with a soil much less
+productive, with swamps which had to be drained, with thick forests
+which had to be cleared, with wild beasts which had to be destroyed
+or guarded against, and with frost and snow that left scarcely
+four months in the year for labour in the field.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The upper classes of South Russia, enriched by the cultivation of
+large and fertile estates, and favoured in their social development
+by long contact with the ancient Western civilization of Poland,
+exhibit a similar superiority over the bulk of their compeers in
+Great Russia. Except, however, in the case of the larger landed
+proprietors, the everyday life of the Southern Russian bears a
+strong resemblance to that of the Irish squireen. There is a strong
+tinge of the same <i>insouciance</i> as to the material future, and
+an equal propensity to reckless hospitality, to sport (principally
+coursing), social jollification, and to a great extent to card-playing.
+Indeed, there are well-appointed country seats in the South of Russia
+in which the long summer days are entirely spent in card-playing,
+with interruptions only for meals. There are horses in plenty in
+the stable, and vehicles of every description to which they can be
+harnessed; but "taking a drive" through endless cornfields along
+natural roads or tracks, parched, cracked, and dusty one day, and
+presenting the next a surface of black mud, offers but few attractions
+to the ladies, and vehicular locomotion is therefore resorted to
+only as a matter of necessity, on journeys to estates or towns
+often fifty to one hundred miles distant. Country life, indeed, has
+no great attractions in any part of Russia Proper, and ever since
+the Emancipation of the Serfs and the accompanying extinction of the
+power and authority of the proprietary classes, absenteeism has been
+largely on the increase, to the advantage solely of the principal
+provincial towns, and of certain capitals and watering-places in
+Western Europe. Thus, while Kursk and Kharkof owe much of their
+riches and progress to the immigration of landed proprietors from
+the northerly and eastern districts of the "Black Soil Zone," Kief is
+the resort of more princely landlords of the south-western districts,
+strongly and favourably affected by Polish culture.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Kharkof, to the east of Kief, is the principal seat of trade in
+South Russia, being a centre from which the products and manufactures
+of Northern and Central Russia are spread throughout the provinces
+to the east and south, down even to the Caucasus.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Sugar, largely produced in this part of Russia from beet-root and
+"bounty-fed," and corn, brandy, wool and hides from the central
+provinces, are largely sold at the five fairs held each year at
+Kharkof, which has also reason to be proud of its university with
+upwards of six hundred students, and of its connection by rail with
+the shores of the Baltic and those of the Black and Azof Seas.
+In 1765, Kharkof became the capital of the Ukraine, after having
+been a Cossack outpost town since 1647, when Poland finally ceded
+the province to Muscovy. Anciently, this was the camping-ground of
+nomadic tribes, particularly of the Khazars, and later the high
+road of the Tartar invaders of Russia, whether from the Crimea or
+the shores of the Caspian. In the province of Kharkof are found
+those remarkable idols of stone which we have seen in the Historical
+Museum at Moscow, and a vast number of tumuli, which have yielded
+coins establishing the fact of an early intercourse both with Rome
+and Arabia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Poltava, also a place of extensive trade, principally in wool,
+horses, and cattle, is familiar to us in connection with the defeat
+of Charles XII. by Peter the Great in 1709. The centre of the field
+so disastrous to the Swedes is marked by a mound which covers the
+remains of their slain. Two monuments commemorate the victory.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At Ekaterinoslaf we are again on the great Dnieper. It was only
+a village when Catherine II., descending the river from Kief in a
+stately barge accompanied by Joseph II. of Austria, King Stanislaus
+Augustus of Poland and a brilliant suite, raised it to the dignity
+of a town bearing her own name. On that occasion she laid the first
+stone of a cathedral which was not destined to be completed on
+the imposing scale she had projected, and which has been reduced
+to one-sixth in the edifice that was consecrated only in 1835.
+The town consists of only one row of buildings, almost concealed
+in gardens and running for nearly three miles parallel with the
+Dnieper. Catherine's Palace, a bronze statue which represents her
+clad in Roman armour and crowned, and the garden of her magnificent
+favourite, Prince Potemkin, constitute the "sights" of Ekaterinoslaf,
+the more striking feature of which, however, is its Jewish population,
+huddled together in a special quarter between the river and the
+bazaar. A considerable number of them pursue the favourite Jewish
+occupation of money-changing, and the Ekaterinoslaf Prospekt is
+dotted with their stands and their money-chests, painted blue and
+red.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A drive over forty miles of Steppe, somewhat relieved in its monotony
+by numerous ancient tumuli, bring those who do not proceed by steamer
+to the great naval station and commercial port of Nicolaief, at
+the junction of the Ingul with the Bug. It was the site until 1775
+of a Cossack <i>setch</i>, or fortified settlement, and in 1789 it
+received its present appellation in commemoration of the capture of
+Otchakof from the Turks on the feast-day of St. Nicholas. Destined
+from the first by Potemkin to be the harbour of a Russian fleet in
+the Black Sea, temporarily neglected by the naval authorities,
+Nicolaief reasserted its claim to that proud position after the
+fall of Sebastopol. It owes much of its present affluence to the
+sound administration of Admiral Samuel Greig, son of the admiral
+of Scotch parentage who, with the aid of some equally gallant
+countrymen, won for the Russians the naval battle of Chesm&eacute;
+in 1769. Next to Odessa, Nicolaief is the handsomest town in New
+Russia, as this part of the country was called after its conquest
+from the Turks and Tartars. Its large trade, mostly in grain, has been
+greatly promoted by the railway, which now connects this important
+harbour with Kharkof and other rich agricultural centres.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of the six ports on the neighbouring Sea of Azof, Taganrog, where
+Alexander I. died in 1825, is the most considerable, although steamers
+have to anchor at a considerable distance from it, owing to the
+shallowness of the roadstead. The annual value of its exports of
+corn, wool, tallow, etc., is about five millions sterling, and, as
+at Nicolaief, British shipping is chiefly employed in the trade.
+Much of the produce shipped here comes from Rostov-on-the-Don, the
+chief centre of inland trade in the south-east provinces of Russia,
+and one in which many industries (especially the manipulation of tobacco
+grown in the Caucasus and the Crimea), are pursued. A short distance
+above this great mart is Novocherkask, the capital of the "Country
+of the Don Cossacks," anciently the abode of Scythians, Sarmatians,
+Huns, Bolgars, Khazars and Tartars. The present population dates
+from the Sixteenth Century, when renegades from Muscovy and vagrants
+of every description formed themselves into Cossack, or robber
+communities. They attacked the Tartars and Turks, and in 1637 took
+the Turkish fortress of Azof. Under the reign of Peter the Great
+the powerful and independent Cossacks were not much interfered with,
+but from 1718 they were gradually brought under subjection to the
+Tsar, whom they powerfully assisted in subsequent wars. The town
+was founded in 1804, and is adorned with a bronze monument to the
+famous Hetman (Ataman or chief) Platof, leader of the Cossacks between
+1770 and 1816. It is usual to bestow on the Russian heir-apparent
+the title of "Ataman" of the Don Cossacks. The last investiture
+with Cossack <i>b&acirc;ton</i> took place in 1887, when also the
+reigning Emperor confirmed, at a "circle," or open-air assemblage,
+all the ancient rights and privileges of the warlike Cossacks of
+the Don.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 826px;">
+<a name="fig_25">
+<img src="images/fig025.jpg" width="826" height="553" alt="Fig. 25" /></a>
+<p class="image">KHARKOF.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The chief town of the Kuban district is Ekaterinodar, a name which
+signifies, literally, "Catherine's gift," from having been founded
+by the sovereign of that name and bestowed, in 1792, together with
+the adjacent territory, on the Zaporogian, subsequently known as the
+Black Sea Cossacks. Catherine mistrusted their power and influence,
+and tempted them to the Kuban with grants of land and other privileges.
+The first service of some 20,000 of those new warrior settlers
+consisted in barring all egress from the mountains, by means of a
+"first fortified line" of stations that extended to Vladikavkas,
+where they united with the descendants of the Grebenski Cossacks,
+with whom they are not to be confounded. The predominant type amongst
+the Zaporogians is still that of the Little Russians, the Grebenski
+continuing to preserve their identity with the natives of Great
+Russia, whence their origin; and although the whole of this imposing
+force, maintained at half a million, has long since adopted the
+dress of the Caucasian mountaineers, the Cossacks remain true to
+the orthodox faith and to the customs of their forefathers, whose
+vernacular tongue has never been forgotten by them. The dress so
+universally worn by the male sex, even from boyhood, in all parts
+of the Caucasus, consists of a single-breasted garment, like a
+frock-coat, but reaching almost to the ankles, tightened in closely
+at the waist, with a belt from which are suspended dagger, sword,
+and frequently a pistol, and having on either breast a row of ten
+or twelve sockets, each of a size to hold a cartridge. A rifle,
+which every man possesses, is slung across the back; and a tall
+sheep-skin hat finished off at its summit with a piece of coloured
+cloth completes the costume.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The number of Cossacks in Transcaucasia being very limited, for
+a few only are stationed in each principal town, chiefly as an
+escort to the governor of the province, their duties are performed
+by <i>Chapars</i>, an irregular force, equally dashing horsemen, and
+trained in like manner from early youth in those singular exercises
+and breakneck evolutions for which the Cossacks of the Caucasus
+have become so famous. Setting their horses at full gallop, they
+will stand on the saddle and fire all around at an imaginary enemy;
+or throw the body completely over to the right, with the left heel
+resting on their steed's hind quarter, and fire as if at an enemy
+in pursuit, or turn clean round, and sitting astride facing the
+horse's tail, keep up a rapid fire. A favourite feat, among many
+others, is to throw their hat and rifle to the ground, wheel, and
+pick them up whilst going at the horse's fullest speed.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Should the traveller elect to proceed eastward, but north of the
+great range, he will meet with the Kabardines, the first amongst the
+Circassians to enter into friendly relations with Russia; they are
+the "blood" of the Caucasus, a noble race, thoroughly domesticated,
+hospitable to strangers, and useful breeders of cattle. To the
+south of the Circassians, and occupying about one hundred miles of
+the coast in the Black Sea, are the Abkhases, who have enjoyed the
+reputation, from time immemorial, of being an indolent and lawless
+race, anciently given to piracy, now addicted to thieving when the
+opportunity is afforded them, for they are determinedly inimical
+to strangers. Their mountains abound in forests of magnificent
+walnut and box, where the enthusiastic sportsman will find the
+bear, hyena, and wolf, and plenty of smaller game, with seldom a
+roof to cover him other than the vault of heaven; but the ordinary
+traveller is likely to encounter difficulties and delays that he would
+prefer to avoid. Christianity was here introduced by Justinian, who
+constructed many churches that would have been notable specimens of
+Byzantine architecture, had the Abkhases not destroyed them in their
+struggles against the Russians, every such edifice being occupied and
+converted by the latter into a military post. One church, at Pitzunda
+on the coast, remarkable as being the place to which John Chrysostom
+was banished at the instance of Empress Eudoxia&mdash;although
+the exile never reached his destination&mdash;having escaped the
+general destruction, has been thoroughly restored of late years,
+and is a striking object to passing vessels. Being the mother church
+in the Caucasus, Pitzunda, then Pityus, continued to be the seat of
+the Catholics of Abkhasia until the Twelfth Century. Practically,
+the Abkhases are at present heathens.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Farther south, and extending some way inland from the sea, is the
+principality of Mingrelia, where we again tread classic ground,
+inasmuch as our wanderings have brought us to the &AElig;a of Circe
+and the Argonauts. In a Mingrelian landscape we are struck at the
+aspect afforded by the numerous whitewashed cottages as they dot
+the well-wooded hills. The Mingrelians, too, like their neighbours
+whom we have just quitted, are incurably given to indolence, except
+in the making of wine from their abundant vineyards; otherwise they
+are content to live on the produce of their orchards, prolific
+through the interposition of a beneficent Providence rather than
+to any agricultural diligence on their part. They may certainly be
+included amongst the handsomest people in Transcaucasia, with their
+well-defined features and usually raven black hair. The Dadian, or
+prince, is the wealthiest of the dispossessed rulers: the foresight
+of his predecessor and his own European training having taught
+him the danger of disposing of land and squandering the proceeds,
+rather than preserving the property and contenting himself with
+a smaller income.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Between Mingrelia and Abkhasia courses the Ingur, and if we ascend
+to near its water-shed&mdash;a journey easily accomplished on
+horse-back, say from Sougdidi, the well-known military station&mdash;we
+should find ourselves amongst a very wild and singular people,
+the Svanni, whose complete subjugation dates back no farther it
+may be said than 1876, although they made a formal submission in
+1833. They occupy some forty or fifty miles of the upper valley
+of the Ingur, at no part exceeding ten miles in width, and are
+cut off from all outside communication between the beginning of
+September and the end of May, in consequences of the passes being
+blocked with snow. "The scenery in this valley," writes a recent
+traveller, "is of great beauty and wildness, and grand beyond
+description; amid the most profuse vegetation, every imaginable
+flower is seen in its wild state, and bank, meadow, hill-side and
+grass plot are literally covered with all that is most lovely; in
+every forest and grove, and all undergrowth even, indeed wherever
+the pure air of heaven and its divine light is not obstructed,
+the earth is thus gorgeously arrayed."
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_18">IN THE CAUCASUS</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">J. BUCHAN TELLER</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Returning to Mingrelia, we find it bounded on the south by the river
+Rion, the ancient Phasis, which flows through the country whence
+was introduced into Europe the Phasian bird&mdash;our pheasant. The
+Rion divides Mingrelia from Guria, another principality, where
+is situated Batoum, a somewhat pestiferous but important military
+station and commercial port, that has tended in no small degree,
+since its annexation to Russia in 1878, towards the development
+of the resources of this beautiful country, intersected with good
+roads through valleys highly cultivated with maize, corn, and barley,
+the hills and their declivities being overspread with the oak and
+box, exported in large quantities, and yielding handsome returns.
+Ozurgheti, the chief town, attractively situated, was the residence
+of the rulers who lie interred at the ancient monastery and episcopal
+church, Chemokmedy, about six miles distant.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Passengers from Odessa and the Crimea landing at Batoum find the
+train in readiness to convey them to Tiflis, the capital of the whole
+Transcaucasia, reached in about fifteen hours, the train travelling
+slowly enough, but through a land of much interest, historically
+and pictorially. On the right, in the distance, are the highlands
+of the old kingdom of Armenia, to the left is Imeritia, a glory,
+like Mingrelia and Guria, of the past. If so inclined, the traveller
+may exchange, at Rion station, the main for a branch line, which
+will take him to Kuta&iuml;s, the chief town of the old kingdom
+of Imeritia, where he may tarry for a while to great advantage. It
+is the ancient Khyt&aelig;a, the residence of &AElig;tes; at any
+rate a city of great antiquity, beautifully situated on the banks
+of the Rion.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Between Kuta&iuml;s and Tiflis is the Pass of Suram, at an altitude
+of three thousand and twenty-seven feet, over which are laid the
+lines of rail by gradients of one in twenty-two feet over a distance
+of about eight miles; a triumph of engineering skill due, as is the
+entire railway, to British capital and enterprise. Beyond this Pass
+the train stops at Gori, situated at the limits of a glorious plain,
+watered by the Kur and its tributaries. Since fairly good accommodation
+is obtainable, it were well to halt at this station for the purpose
+of visiting the unique rock-cut town, Uplytztzykh&eacute;, some eight
+miles off. Here is a town&mdash;there can be no other designation
+for it&mdash;consisting of public edifices&mdash;if such a term may
+be employed&mdash;of large habitations, presumably for the great,
+smaller dwellings for others, each being conveniently divided, and
+having doorways, openings for light, and partitions, while many
+are ornamented with cornices, mouldings, beams and pillars. The
+groups are separated by streets and lanes, and grooves have been
+cut, unquestionably for water-courses, and yet the whole has been
+entirely hewn and shaped out of the solid rock. Tradition is replete
+with incidents in the history of these remarkable excavations, but
+faithful historiographers have hitherto refrained from endorsing
+any of the tales that have been handed down by romancers of Georgia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Tiflis, the chief seat of Government and residence of the
+Governor-General, having a population of about one hundred thousand
+souls, is unpleasantly situated between ranges of perfectly barren
+hills, and but for the River Kur, on the banks of which it is built,
+would be almost uninhabitable. Having driven through the suburbs
+on his way from the railway terminus, the traveller crosses the
+Kur over the Woronzoff Bridge, which at once brings him to the
+principal street, where he passes in succession the public gardens,
+gymnasium, law-courts, palace of the Governor-General, the main
+guard-house, public library, museum, etc.; by which time he will
+have reached Palace Street and Erivan Square, where are situated
+the best hotels and restaurants, and the National Theatre. From the
+square three main thoroughfares lead to as many separate quarters,
+viz.: the European, where the wealthy live in well-built houses of
+elegant construction; the native bazaars, and the marketplace and
+Russian bazaar. An extensive view of the city and an interesting
+sight is obtained from the eminence crowned by the old fortress
+which immediately overlooks the Asiatic quarter and bazaars, whence
+rise the confused sounds of human cries and the din from the iron,
+brass, and copper-workers. As is the custom elsewhere in the East,
+those of one trade congregate together, apart from the other trades,
+and so are passed a succession of silversmiths in their stalls,
+of furriers, armourers, or eating and wine-shops, the wine of the
+country being kept in buffalo, goat, or sheep-skins laid on their
+back, and presenting the disagreeable appearance of carcases swollen
+after lengthened immersion in water. The Georgians are merry folk,
+rarely allowing themselves to be depressed by the troubles of life.
+They love wine and music, and ever seek to drive away dull care by
+indulging in their favourite Kakhety&mdash;two bottles being the
+usual allowance to a man's dinner, an allowance, however, greatly
+exceeded when, of an evening, friends meet together to join in the
+national dance, called the Lezghinka.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Cathedral of Zion was formerly the church of the Patriarch of
+Georgia. It dates from the Fifth Century, and encloses that most
+precious relic, with which the nation was converted to Christianity
+in the Fourth Century&mdash;nothing less than a cross of vine stems
+bound with the hair of St. Nina, the patron saint, who first preached
+the truth! The patriarchate has long been suppressed, and is replaced
+by a Russian Exarch, so that the Georgian Church may be considered
+in all respects identical with that of Russia. The palace of the
+kings has entirely disappeared, for not a vestige remains. George
+XIII. signed his renunciation of the crown in favour of the Emperor
+Paul in 1800, and died shortly afterwards amid the execrations of
+his subjects, for having ignominiously betrayed them. Many of his
+descendants are in the service of Russia, and are the representatives
+of one of the most ancient monarchies of the world&mdash;for the
+Bagrations first rose to power in 587; and if allowance be made
+for interregnums it will be found that their reign extended over
+1092 years, during the twelve centuries that elapsed from their
+earliest election.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+As Georgia is the land of wine and song, so is Armenia essentially
+the land of legend and tradition, for which must be held in great
+part responsible the magnificent mountain that exhibits itself
+suddenly at a dip in the road long before the plains are in sight.
+Well may the Armenians glory in "their" Ararat, peerless among the
+mighty works of the Creator, almost symmetrical in its outlines,
+and rising to an altitude of 16,916 feet above the sea, Lesser
+Ararat, 12,840 feet, looking almost dwarfed by the side of its mighty
+neighbour.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At Erivan, the largest city in Russian Armenia, the traveller will
+find fairly good accommodation, but the place is dull enough, whether
+in the Persian quarter, where crooked lanes are lined with high walls,
+that mask the dwellings within like the defences of a fortress, or
+in the broad streets and unpaved quarter laid out by the Russians
+since their occupation of the province in 1829, even though enlivened
+by a boulevard and gardens fair to look upon. The population is
+Armenian and Persian, for Persia ruled here during a considerable
+period until vanquished by Russia; but at the bazaar one meets
+with other nationalities, such as Tartars from the Steppes, Kurds,
+Greeks, and Turkish dealers in search of good horses, upon which
+they will fly across the frontier, defying Cossacks and custom
+officers alike.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Within a short distance of Erivan, and the post-station nearest
+to the Persian frontier, is Nahitchevan, the first abode of Noah
+after he came forth from the ark, and probably also his last, since
+his tomb is reverently shown by the inhabitants, who eagerly escort
+strangers to see it. Other still more important towns in Armenia,
+available by carriage-road, are Alexandropol and Kars, the former
+being the largest and most powerful fortress and the principal
+arsenal in Transcaucasia; the latter, long a Turkish fortress town,
+was gallantly defended in 1855 by Sir Fenwick Williams and a few
+British officers, until the garrison was starved into surrender
+by General Mouravieff. Kars was finally ceded to Russia by the
+Treaty of Berlin in 1878.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 820px;">
+<a name="fig_26">
+<img src="images/fig026.jpg" width="820" height="559" alt="Fig. 26" /></a>
+<p class="image">TIFLIS.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A Tartar city brought into prominence of late years through the
+introduction of railways is Elizavetpol, on the line between Tiflis
+and the Caspian, where we must now pick ourselves up after having
+retraced our steps from the plains, to journey by rail to dismal
+looking Bak&ugrave;&mdash;a town of recent creation, approached
+through a desert of sand and stones, where neither vegetable nor
+animal life can possibly find an existence. Viewed from the sea,
+Bak&ugrave; presents a distinctly picturesque appearance, with its
+sombre citadel, numerous minarets, and the palace of the princes
+of bygone days towering above the old town, where the houses look
+as if they were piled the one above the other&mdash;the new or
+Russian quarter being at the base, and lining the shore of the pretty
+little bay. Modern Bak&ugrave; contains some handsome residences and
+well-paved streets, the principal being the busy quay, constructed
+of massive blocks of greystone masonry, where the naphtha, the
+wealth of Bak&ugrave;, is embarked for transport to the interior
+of Russia by the Volga, or for conveyance across the Caspian to
+Central Asia. Numerous refineries, worth inspecting, at the west end
+of Bak&ugrave; compose the Black Town, so called from its begrimed
+condition, and from being ever enveloped in clouds of the densest
+smoke. Since a remote period has this neighbourhood been considered
+holy by fire-worshippers, because of the many naphtha springs that
+were constantly burning, some even perpetually; indeed, the fires
+at Surakan, a suburb of Bak&ugrave;, continued to be guarded by
+fire-worshippers from Yezd in Persia, and even from India, until,
+with the connivance of the government, they were hustled away some
+ten years ago by the increasing number of speculators engaged in a
+trade which has now completely driven out of the market all American
+produce.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In Daghestan is Gunib, the last stronghold of the brave Shamyl,
+whom the strength of Russia was unequal to subdue during the space
+of thirty years. "Do the Russians say that they are numerous as
+the grains of sand? Then are we the waves that will carry away
+that sand," said the great Tartar chief addressing the numerous
+tribes who placed themselves under his leadership to repel the
+invader. The mountaineers posted themselves on the heights, and,
+hidden by trees, shot down their enemies in scores as they advanced
+in column up the narrow defiles.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The great thoroughfare between Transcaucasia and Russia is from
+Tiflis to Vladikavkaz, the terminus of the Moscow-Rostof railway, by
+way of the Dariel road, a stupendous engineering success completed
+in the reign of Nicholas. This road winds over a pass 7,977 feet
+above the sea, and is kept in repair and clear for traffic in winter
+by the Ossets, whose country it traverses, in return for which
+service they are exempt from all taxes.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+When the traveller will have completed the journey from Tiflis to
+Vladikavkaz, he will have arrived at the d&eacute;p&ocirc;t and
+point of transit for all goods brought by rail from Russia, and
+there transferred, for conveyance to the Transcaucasian provinces,
+to clumsy, unwieldly carts or vans drawn by horses or oxen; those in
+charge of the caravans never being in a hurry, completely indifferent
+as to when they start, or when they arrive at their destination,
+and rejoicing in a lengthened stay at Mlety station, after having
+accomplished the most tiresome part of the distance&mdash;the ascent
+and descent of the pass. Vladikavkaz was founded in 1785 on the
+site of an Osset village, and became the headquarters and chief
+military d&eacute;p&ocirc;t of the Russians during their lengthened
+struggle for supremacy with the stout-hearted hillmen; it is now
+the chief town and seat of government for the province of Kuban,
+and still an important military station. The population is made up
+of Circassians, Armenians, and Russians, and a few Ossets at the
+bazaars, for the natives made off long ago. The chief industries
+are the manufacture of silver and gold lace, arms, <i>burkas</i>,
+the Caucasian's all-weathers cloak, silver ornaments, etc. The
+hotels are fairly good, but there being nothing at Vladikavkaz
+itself sufficiently inviting to encourage a longer stay than is
+absolutely necessary, the following choice of routes lays before
+the stranger. He may post through Eastern Caucasus and embark at
+Petrovsk for Astrakhan and the tedious voyage up the Volga; or
+take the railway to Rostof <i>en route</i> to Moscow; or travel
+by rail to Novorossisk on the Black Sea, and there embark; or,
+following that line as far as Ekaterinodar, post thence to Taman
+and cross the straits to Kertch.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_19">KHIVA</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">FRED BURNABY</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We were now fast nearing Khiva, which could be just discerned in
+the distance, but was hidden, to a certain extent, from our view by
+a narrow belt of tall, graceful trees; however, some richly-painted
+minarets and high domes of coloured tiles could be seen towering
+above the leafy groves. Orchards surrounded by walls eight and ten
+feet high, continually met the gaze, and avenues of mulberry-trees
+studded the landscape in all directions.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The two Khivans rode first; I followed, having put on my black
+fur pelisse instead of the sheep-skin garment, so as to present
+a more respectable appearance on entering the city. Nazar, who
+was mounted on the horse that stumbled, brought up the rear. He
+had desired the camel-driver to follow in the distance with the
+messenger and the caravan; my servant being of opinion that the
+number of our animals was not sufficient to deeply impress the
+Khivans with my importance, and that on this occasion it was better
+to ride in without any caravan than with the small one I possessed.
+We now entered the city, which is of an oblong form, and surrounded
+by two walls: the outer one is about fifty feet high: its basement
+is constructed of baked bricks, the upper part being built of dried
+clay. This forms the first line of defense, and completely encircles
+the town, which is about a quarter of a mile within the wall. Four
+high wooden gates, clamped with iron, barred the approach from
+the north, south, east, and west, while the walls themselves were
+in many places out of repair.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The town itself is surrounded by a second wall, not quite so high
+as the one just described, and with a dry ditch, which is now half
+filled with ruined <i>d&eacute;bris</i>. The slope which leads from
+the wall to the trench has been used as a cemetery, and hundreds
+of sepulchres and tombs were scattered along some undulating ground
+just without the city. The space between the first and second walls
+is used as a market-place, where cattle, horses, sheep, and camels
+are sold, and where a number of carts were standing, filled with
+corn and grass.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Here an ominous-looking cross-beam had been erected, towering high
+above the heads of the people with its bare, gaunt poles. This was
+the gallows on which all people convicted of theft are executed;
+murderers being put to death in a different manner, having their
+throats cut from ear to ear in the same way that sheep are killed.
+This punishment is carried out by the side of a large hole in the
+ground, not far from the principal street in the centre of the
+town. But I must here remark that the many cruelties stated to
+have been perpetrated by the present Khan previous to the capture
+of his city did not take place. Indeed, they only existed in the
+fertile Muscovite imagination, which was eager to find an excuse for
+the appropriation of a neighbour's property. On the contrary, capital
+punishment was only inflicted when the laws had been infringed; and
+there is no instance of the Khan having arbitrarily put any one
+to death.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The two walls above mentioned appear to have made up the defenses
+of the city, which was also armed with sixteen guns. These, however,
+proved practically useless against the Russians, as the garrison
+only fired solid shot, not being provided with shell. The Khan
+seemed to have made no use whatever of the many inclosed gardens
+in the vicinity of the city during the Russian advance, as, if he
+had, and firmly contested each yard of soil, I much doubt whether
+the Tsar's troops could have ever entered the city.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is difficult to estimate the population of an Oriental city
+by simply riding round its walls; so many houses are uninhabited,
+and others again are densely packed with inhabitants. However, I
+should say, as a mere guess, that there are about 25,000 human
+beings within the walls of Khiva. The streets are broad and clean,
+while the houses belonging to the richer inhabitants are built of
+highly polished bricks and coloured tiles, which lend a cheerful
+aspect to the otherwise somewhat sombre colour of the surroundings.
+There are nine schools: the largest, which contains 130 pupils,
+was built by the father of the present Khan. These buildings are
+all constructed with high, coloured domes, and are ornamented with
+frescoes and arabesque work, the bright aspect of the cupolas first
+attracting the stranger's attention on his nearing the city.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Presently we rode through a bazaar similar to the one at Oogentch,
+thin rafters and straw uniting the tops of the houses in the street,
+and forming a sort of roof to protect the stall-keepers and their
+customers from the rays of a summer sun. We were followed by crowds
+of people; and as some of the more inquisitive approached too closely,
+the Khivans who accompanied me, raising their whips in the air,
+freely belaboured the shoulders of the multitude, thus securing
+a little space. After riding through a great number of streets,
+and taking the most circuitous course&mdash;probably in order to
+duly impress me with an idea of the importance of the town&mdash;we
+arrived before my companion's house. Several servants ran forward
+and took hold of the horses. The Khivan dismounted, and, bowing
+obsequiously, led the way through a high door-way constructed of
+solid timber. We next entered a square open court, with carved
+stone pillars supporting a balcony which looked down upon a marble
+fountain, or basin, the general appearance of the court being that
+of a <i>patio</i> in some nobleman's house in Cordova or Seville.
+A door of a similar construction to the one already described,
+though somewhat lower, gave access to a long, narrow room, a raised
+da&iuml;s at each end being covered with handsome rugs. There were
+no windows, glass being a luxury which has only recently found
+its way to the capital; but the apartment received its light from
+an aperture at the side, which was slightly concealed by some
+trellis-work, and from a space left uncovered in the ceiling, which
+was adorned with arabesque figures. The two doors which led from
+the court were each of them handsomely carved, and in the middle
+of the room was a hearth filled with charcoal embers. My host,
+beckoning to me to take the post of honour by the fire, retired
+a few paces and folded his arms across his chest; then, assuming
+a deprecatory air, he asked my permission to sit down.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Grapes, melons, and other fruit, fresh as on the day when first
+picked, were brought in on a large tray and laid at my feet, while
+the host himself, bringing in a Russian tea-pot and cup, poured
+out some of the boiling liquid and placed it by my side; I all
+this time being seated on a rug, with my legs crossed under me,
+in anything but a comfortable position.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+He then inquired if I had any commands for him, as the Khan had
+given an order that everything I might require was instantly to
+be supplied.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the afternoon two officials arrived from the Khan's palace,
+with an escort of six men on horseback and four on foot. The elder
+of the two dignitaries said that His Majesty was waiting to receive
+me, and my horse being brought round, I mounted, and accompanied
+him towards the palace. The six men on horseback led the way, then
+I came between the two officials, and Nazar brought up the rear
+with some attendants on foot, who freely lashed the crowd with
+their whips whenever any of the spectators approached our horses
+too closely.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The news that the Khan was about to receive me had spread rapidly
+through the town, and the streets were lined with curious individuals
+all eager to see the Englishman. Perhaps in no part of the world is
+India more talked of than in the Central Asian khanates; and the
+stories of our wealth and power, which have reached Khiva through
+Afghan and Bokharan sources, have grown like a snow-ball in its
+onward course, until the riches described in the garden discovered
+by Aladdin would pale if compared with the fabled treasures of
+Hindoostan.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+After riding through several narrow streets, where, in some instances,
+the house-tops were thronged with people desirous of looking at
+our procession, we emerged on a small, flat piece of ground which
+was not built over, and which formed a sort of open square. Here
+a deep hole was pointed out to me as the spot where criminals who
+have been found guilty of murder had their throats cut from ear
+to ear.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Khan's palace is a large building, ornamented with pillars
+and domes, which, covered with bright-coloured tiles, flash in
+the sun, and attract the attention of the stranger approaching
+Khiva. A guard of thirty or forty men armed with cimeters stood
+at the palace gates. We next passed into a small court-yard. The
+Khan's guards were all arrayed in long flowing silk robes of various
+patterns, bright-coloured sashes being girt around their waists, and
+tall fur hats surmounting their bronzed countenances. The court-yard
+was surrounded by a low pile of buildings, which are the offices
+of the palace, and was filled with attendants and menials of the
+court, while good-looking boys of an effeminate appearance, with
+long hair streaming down their shoulders, and dressed a little like
+the women, lounged about, and seemed to have nothing in particular
+to do.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A door at the farther end of the court gave access to a low passage,
+and, after passing through some dirty corridors, where I had
+occasionally to stoop in order to avoid knocking my head against the
+ceiling, we came to a large, square-shaped room. Here the treasurer
+was seated, with three moullahs, who were squatted by his side, while
+several attendants crouched in humble attitudes at the opposite
+end of the apartment. The treasurer and his companions were busily
+engaged in counting some rolls of ruble-notes and a heap of silver
+coin, which has been received from the Khan's subjects, and were
+now to be sent to Petro-Alexandrovsk as part of the tribute to
+the Tsar.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The great man now made a sign to some of his attendants, when a
+large wooden box, bearing signs of having been manufactured in
+Russia, was pushed a little from the wall and offered to me as a
+seat. Nazar was accommodated among the dependents at the other end
+of the room. After the usual salaams had been made, the functionary
+continued his task, leaving me in ignorance as to what was to be
+the next part of the programme; Nazar squatting himself as far as
+possible from one of the attendants, who was armed with a cimeter,
+and whom he suspected of being the executioner.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+After I had been kept waiting for about a quarter of an hour, a
+messenger entered the room and informed the treasurer that the
+Khan was disengaged, and ready to receive me. We now entered a
+long corridor, which led to an inner court-yard. Here we found the
+reception-hall, a large tent, or <i>kibitka</i>, of a dome-like
+shape. The treasurer, lifting up a fold of thick cloth, motioned
+to me to enter, and on doing so I found myself face to face with
+the celebrated Khan, who was reclining against some pillows or
+cushions, and seated on a handsome Persian rug, warming his feet by
+a circular hearth filled with burning charcoal. He raised his hand
+to his forehead as I stood before him, a salute which I returned
+by touching my cap. He then made a sign for me to sit down by his
+side.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Before I relate our conversation, it may not be uninteresting if
+I describe the sovereign. He is taller than the average of his
+subjects, being quite five feet ten in height, and is strongly built:
+his face is of a broad, massive type, he has a low, square forehead,
+large dark eyes, a short straight nose with dilated nostrils, and
+a coal-black beard and mustache; while an enormous mouth, with
+irregular but white teeth, and a chin somewhat concealed by his
+beard, and not at all in character with the otherwise determined
+appearance of his face, must complete the picture.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+He did not look more than eight-and-twenty, and has a pleasant,
+genial smile, and a merry twinkle in his eye, very unusual among
+Orientals; in fact, to me an expression in Spanish would better
+describe his face than any English one I can think of. It is very
+<i>simpatica</i>, and I must say I was greatly surprised, after
+all that has been written in Russian newspapers about the cruelties
+and other iniquities perpetrated by this Khivan potentate, to find
+the original such a cheery sort of fellow.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+His countenance was of a very different type from his treasurer's.
+The hang-dog expression of the latter made me bilious to look at
+him, and it was said that he carried to great lengths these peculiar
+vices and depraved habits to which Orientals are so often addicted.
+The Khan was dressed in a similar sort of costume to that generally
+worn by his subjects, but it was made of much richer materials,
+and a jewelled sword was lying by his seat. His head was covered
+by a tall black Astrakhan hat, of a sugar-loaf shape; and on my
+seeing that all the officials who were in the room at the same
+time as myself kept on their fur hats, I did the same.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The sovereign, turning to an attendant, gave an order in a low
+tone, when tea was instantly brought, and handed to me in a small
+porcelain tea-cup. A conversation with the Khan was now commenced,
+and carried on through Nazar and a Kirghiz interpreter who spoke
+Russian, and occasionally by means of a moullah, who was acquainted
+with Arabic, and had spent some time in Egypt.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_20">THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">WILLIAM DURBAN</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The general characteristics of the Trans-Siberian Railroad may
+be described in a few words. It is by far the longest railway on
+earth. It is very much more solidly constructed, for the most part,
+than is generally supposed. The road bed is perfectly firm, and
+the track is well ballasted. Though in certain of the sections
+far to the east great engineering difficulties had to be contended
+with, the gradients on the greater part of the route are remarkably
+easy.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Uniformity of gauge is the keynote of Russian railway engineers.
+Accordingly in possessing a five-foot guage, the Great Siberian
+is uniform with all the railroads throughout the Russian Empire.
+Thus, the ample breadth of the cars harmonizes with the luxury
+which astonishes the traveller who visits Russia for the first time,
+no matter in what region of the Empire he happens to be touring.
+The great height of the carriages, proportionate with the width,
+adds to the imposing aspect of the trains. It is necessary to bear
+these considerations in mind, for the idea prevails throughout the
+world outside Russia that this colossal road was carried through,
+not only with great haste, but also on a flimsy and superficial
+system. The bridges are necessarily very numerous, for Siberia
+is a land of mighty rivers with countless tributaries. All the
+permanent bridges are of iron. Those which were temporarily made
+of timber are being in every case reconstructed, and the Great
+Siberian includes some of the most magnificent bridges in the world.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The bridge over the Irtish is unrivalled. Being nearly four miles
+long, it is on that account phenomenal; but its stupendous piers,
+designed specially to resist the fearful pressure of the ice, would
+alone convince any sceptic of the determination of the Russian
+administration to spare none of the resources of the Empire in order
+to make this railway absolutely efficient, alike for mercantile
+and military purposes. The Trans-Siberian Railway is intended to
+create a new Siberia. It is already fulfilling that aim, as I shall
+show. The most potent of the civilizing factors of the Twentieth
+Century is in this enterprise presented to the world, and in a very
+few years people will realize with astonishment what this railway
+means.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Trans-Siberian nominally begins in Europe. It is inaugurated
+by the magnificent iron bridge which spans the Volga at Samara
+in East Russia. The Volga is here a giant river, and this noble
+bridge joins the European railway system with the new Asiatic line.
+But practically the Asian line commences in the heart of the Ural
+Mountains, if that long and broad chain of low and pretty hills
+ought to be dignified with the name of mountains. Here lies the
+little town of Cheliabinsk, which in 1894 was the terminus of the
+European system.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is an interesting fact that Americans and Englishmen were the
+real authors of this splendid and romantic scheme for spanning the
+Asiatic continent with a railway from west to east. In 1857, an
+American named Collins came forward with a scheme for the formation
+of an Amur Railway Company, to lay a line from Irkutsk to Chita.
+Although his plan was not officially adopted, it was carefully
+kept in mind, and it actually forms the main and central part of
+the present line. An English engineer offered to lay a tramroad
+across Siberia, after Muravieff had carried Russia to the Pacific
+by his brilliant annexation of the mouths of the Amur. In 1858,
+three Englishmen offered to construct a railway from Moscow through
+Nijni-Novgorod to Tartar Bay. Though all proposals by foreigners
+have been courteously shelved, they have in reality formed the
+bases of native enterprise. It is to the credit of Russia that
+she has determined to depend on the energy and ability of her own
+sons to carry out this colossal undertaking.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+One of the chronic troubles of the Russian Government arises from
+the uneven distribution of the population. It happens that those
+are the most thickly inhabited districts which are the least able
+to support a dense population. For instance, an immense number of
+villages are scattered through the vast forest regions of Central
+and Western Russia, where birch trees grow by millions, while the
+great wheat-growing plains of the west centre and south-west are
+but sparsely inhabited. Then again, the infatuation of the military
+oligarchy has been evidenced in the plan by which all the railways
+except this new Siberian line have been designed for purely military
+purposes. The Emperor Nicholas insisted on all the lines being
+developed without the slightest regard to the wants of the towns
+and the conveniences of commerce. Even the natural facilities for
+engineering operations were not allowed by that autocrat to be
+for a moment taken into consideration. His engineers were once
+consulting him as to the expediency of taking the line from St.
+Petersburg to Moscow by a slight detour, to avoid some very troublesome
+obstacles. The Tsar took up a ruler, and with his pencil drew a
+straight line from the old metropolis. Handing back the chart,
+he peremptorily said: "There, gentlemen, that is to be the route
+for the line!" And certainly there is not a straighter reach of
+600 miles on any railroad in the world, as every tourist knows who
+has journeyed between the two chief cities of the Russian Empire.
+For instance, not very far beyond the Urals there is one magnificent
+stretch of perfectly straight road for 116 versts, or nearly eighty
+miles.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The traveller who expects that on the great Siberian route he will
+speedily find himself plunged into semi-savagery, or that he will
+on leaving Europe begin to realize the solitude of a vast forlorn
+wilderness, will be agreeably disappointed. This great line is
+intended to carry forward in its progress all the comforts of modern
+civilization. Every station is picturesque and even artistic. No
+two stations are alike in style, and all are neat, substantial,
+comfortable, and comparable to the best rural stations anywhere in
+Europe or America. In one respect Russian provision for travellers
+is always far in advance of that in other countries. Those familiar
+with the country will know at once that I refer to the railway
+restaurants. The Great Siberian follows the rule of excellence
+and abundance. There, at every station, just as on the European
+side of the Urals, the traveller sees on entering the handsome
+dining-room the immense buffet loaded with freshly cooked Russian
+dishes, always hot and steaming, and of a variety not attempted in
+any other land excepting at great hotels. You select what fancy
+and appetite dictate, without any supervision. To dine at a railway
+restaurant anywhere in the Russian Empire is one of the luxuries of
+travel. Your dinner costs only a rouble&mdash;about two shillings,
+and what a dinner you secure for the money! Soup, beef, sturgeon,
+trout, poultry, game, bear's flesh, and vegetables in profusion
+are supplied <i>ad libitum</i>, the visitor simply helping himself
+just as he pleases. I mention these little details to prove that
+the longest railway in the world is to push civilization with it
+as it goes forward.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Readers who will glance at any map of the new line will notice
+that the track runs across the upper waters of the great rivers,
+just about where they begin to be navigable. All through the summer,
+at any rate, America and England will, by the Arctic passage and
+by these mighty rivers, communicate with the heart of Asia, the
+railway in the far interior completing the circle of commerce. Other
+results will follow. Siberia at present contains a population of
+four million&mdash;less by more than a million than London reckons
+within its borders. Millions of the Russian peasantry in Europe are
+in a condition of chronic semi-starvation. Ere long thousands of
+these will weekly stream to the new Canaan in the East. Within the
+borders of Siberia, the whole of the United States of America could
+be enclosed, with a great spare ring around for the accommodation
+of a collection of little kingdoms. In the wake of the new line
+towns are springing up like mushrooms. Many of these will become
+great cities. There are several reasons for this development. The
+first is that the railway runs through South Siberia, where the
+climate is delightfully mild compared with the rigorous conditions
+of the atmosphere further north. The next reason is that all the
+chief gold-fields are in this southern latitude.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+One characteristic worthy of note is the absolute security aimed
+at by the administration of the line. Train and track are protected
+by an immense army of guards. The road is divided into sections
+of a verst each, a verst being about two-thirds of a mile. Every
+section is marked by a neat cottage, the home of the guard and
+his family. Night and day the guard or one of his household must
+patrol the section. A train is never out of sight of the guards,
+several of whom are employed wherever there are heavy curves. There
+are nearly 4,000 of these guards on the stretch between the Urals
+and Tomsk. All sense of solitude is thus removed from the mind of
+the traveller. The old post road through Siberia is one of the
+most dangerous routes in the world, being infested by murderous
+"brodyags," or runaway convicts; but the Siberian line is as safe
+as Cheapside or Oxford Street. With the fact of perfect safety
+is soon blended in the mind of the observer that of plenty. All
+along this wonderful route grass is seen growing in rank luxuriance
+that can hardly be equalled in any other part of the globe, Siberia
+being emphatically a grass-growing country. It is the original home
+of the whole graniferous stock. Wheat is indigenous to Siberia.
+Here is the largest grazing region in existence. Through this the
+train rolls on hour after hour, as in European Russia it goes on and
+on through interminable birch forests. Countless herds of animals in
+superb condition are everywhere seen roaming over these magnificent
+flowering Steppes, over which the Muscovite Eagle proudly floats.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Parts of the great railway, however, traverse regions other than
+these. To make the reader understand the general characteristics
+of Siberia and the importance of the railway in the light of these
+characteristics, a few words must be said about the three great zones
+which mainly make up the country. The first is the <i>tundra</i>, the
+vast region which stretches through the northern sub-arctic latitudes.
+This desolate belt is not less than 5,000 miles in extent. In breadth
+it varies from 200 to 500 miles. In winter the <i>tundra</i> is, of
+course, one vast frozen sheet. In the brief summer it is swampy,
+steaming, and swarming with mosquitoes. Treeless and sterile, the
+<i>tundra</i> is the home of strange uncouth tribes, but it is a
+valuable training ground for hardy hunters. To the minds of most people
+the <i>tundra</i> is Siberia. This mischievous fallacy is difficult
+to dispel. In a few years the Siberian railway will have completely
+dissipated it. Much more valuable is the far wider zone called the
+<i>taiga</i>, the most wonderful belt of forest on the surface
+of the earth. I can testify to the profound impression of mingled
+mystery and delight produced on the mind by riding a thousand miles
+through Russian forests as they still exist in European Russia,
+where myriads of square miles in the north and centre of the land
+are covered by birch, spruce, larch, pine, and oak plantations.
+Where do these forests begin and where do they have an end? That is
+the traveller's thought. He finds that they thicken and broaden,
+and deepen as they sweep in their majestic gloom across the Urals,
+and make up for thousands of miles the grand Siberian arboreal
+belt. In this <i>taiga</i> the Tsar possesses wealth beyond all
+computation; and the railway will put it actually at his disposal.
+The third zone, the most valuable of all, is that which mainly
+constitutes Southern Siberia. It is the region of the Steppes, that
+endless natural garden which again makes Siberia an incomparable
+land. Sheeted with flowers, variegated by woodlands, it holds in its
+lap ranges of mountains, all running with fairly uniform trend from
+north to south, while in its heart lies the romantic and mysterious
+Baikal, the deepest of lakes. Through the spurs of the <i>taiga</i>,
+running irregularly through the lovely Steppes, passes the new
+railroad, which thus taps the chief resources of the land. It will
+open up the forests, the arable country land, the cattle-breeding
+districts, and, above all, the mineral deposits. Here is a fine
+coming opportunity for the capitalists of the world.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Siberian railway starts at Cheliabinsk, just across the Ural
+Mountains, which it reaches through Samara on the Volga from the
+European side, coming over the boundary hills through Ufa, Miass
+and Zlatoust. Shortly after leaving the latter town, which is the
+centre of the Uralian iron industry, the train passes that pathetic
+"Monument of Tears," which marks the boundary between Europe and
+Asia. The triangular post of white marble, which thousands of weeping
+exiles every year embrace as they pay their sad farewell to Europe,
+is simply inscribed on one of its three sides, "Asia," on another,
+"Europe." Passing down the eastern slopes of the Urals the train
+soon reaches Cheliabinsk, running beside the Isset, a tributary
+of the Irtish, one of the main branches of the grand Obi river.
+On leaving Cheliabinsk, the traveller begins to realize that he
+is in Siberia. In the near future this section of the line will
+be traversed by many an explorer and many a hunter, who will in
+summer come to seek fresh fields on the course of the Obi, to track
+out towards the north the haunts of the seal, the walrus, and the
+white bear. The line crosses the Tobol at Kurgan, the Ishim at
+Patropavlosk, and the Irtish at Omsk, where the majestic new bridge
+spans a stream of two hundred yards. The three fine rivers are
+confluents of the Obi. Kurgan lies embosomed in the finest and
+richest, as well as the largest pasturage in the world. The magnitude
+of this undertaking may be imagined from the fact that the Yenisei
+river is only reached after a ride of 2,000 miles from Cheliabinsk,
+and then the traveller has not traversed half the distance across
+the continent which this railroad spans.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We arrive at the main stream of the Obi when the train rolls into
+the station at Kolivan. Thus Tomsk, one of the chief cities of
+Siberia, is missed, for it lies further north on the Obi. In the
+same way does the line ignore Tobolsk, the Siberian capital, as it
+touches the Irtish far south of the city. These important places
+will be served by branch lines. Indeed, the branch to Tomsk is
+already finished. It is eighty miles long, and runs down the Tom
+valley northward to the city, which is the largest and most important
+in all Siberia. Tomsk will become the "hub" of Asia. It lies near
+the centre of the new railway system. It has a telephone system, is
+lighted by electricity, and possesses a flourishing university with
+thirty professors and 300 students. Tomsk, Tobolsk, and Yeniseisk
+would be difficult to reach by the main line as they are surrounded
+by vast swamps, and therefore the line is thus laid considerably
+south of these great towns. They are accessible with ease by side
+lines down their respective rivers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Siberian line is designed to run through the arable lands of
+the fertile zone. The adjacent land will be worth countless millions
+of roubles to a Government which has not had to pay a single copeck
+for it. On for many hundreds of versts rolls the train through the
+pasture lands of the splendid Kirghiz race. The Kirghiz are by
+far the finest of the Tartars. They are a purely pastoral people,
+frugal, cleanly, and hospitable, living mainly on meats, and milk
+and cheese, the products of their herds. Both for pasture and for
+the culture of cereals, the vast territory between the Obi and
+the Yenisei will be unrivalled in the whole world. Kurgan is the
+capital. It will become an Asiatic Chicago.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On the Shim river, a fairly important though minor tributary of
+the Obi, is Patropavlosk, with a population already of 20,000.
+It is growing rapidly, and fine buildings are springing up, in
+attestation of the immense influence of the new line. This city was
+once the frontier fortress erected by Russia against the Kirghiz.
+It was of commercial importance before the railroad was thought
+of, as the emporium of the brisk trade with Samarkand and Central
+Asia; great camel caravans constantly reaching it. All the old towns
+which are traversed by the Great Siberian are being transformed as
+if by magic. From Patropavlosk to Omsk is a distance equal to that
+between London and Edinburgh, about 400 miles. New and promising
+villages are frequently espied in the midst of the level, fertile
+flowery plains, varied by great patches of cultivated land. All
+along the track the land is being taken up on each side, and crops
+are being raised. We are in the midst of the great future granary
+of the whole Russian Empire, and not of that Empire alone.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Reaching the Yenisei river, the grandest stream in Siberia, the
+train crosses a bridge 1,000 yards in length. But some time before
+this a stoppage is made at the town of Obb, which is a striking
+sample of the magical results of the railway. The whole country was
+till recently a scene of wild desolation. The thriving community,
+busy with a prosperous trade, is typical of the coming transformation
+of Siberia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A short distance beyond Irkutsk the line reaches one of the most
+remarkable places in the world&mdash;Lake Baikal. This grand lake
+is as long as England. It is nearly a mile deep, and covers an
+area of 13,430 square miles. Its surface is 1,500 feet above the
+level of the sea. On every side it is hemmed in by lofty mountains,
+covered with thick forest. Only a few tiny villages relieve its
+dreary solitude. The early Russian settlers, impressed by the mystic
+silence and gloomy grandeur of Baikal, named it the "Holy Sea."
+It abounds in fish of many species, and every season thousands of
+pounds' worth of salmon are caught and dried. At the north end great
+numbers of seals have their habitat, the Buriat hunters sometimes
+taking as many as 1,000 in a single season. Baikal is the only
+fresh-water sea in the world in which this animal is found.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Transbaikalian section takes the line from Lake Baikal to the
+great Amur River. The line gradually ascends to the crest of the
+Yablonoi Mountains, reaching a height of 3,412 feet above the sea
+level. This is the greatest altitude of the Siberian Railway. In
+this province of Transbaikalia lies the interesting city of Chita,
+the far-off home of the most famous and estimable Socialist exiles
+sent from Russia. From this point to the Amur, where Manchuria is
+reached, the line is carried down the Pacific slope, through one
+of the wildest and most romantic tracks ever penetrated by railway
+engineers. It is not generally remembered that the Great Siberian
+Railway was begun at the Pacific end, and that the present Tsar
+Nicholas II., when Tsarevitch, inaugurated the colossal enterprise
+by laying the first stone of the eastern terminus at Vladivostock,
+on May 12, 1891.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_21">HIGH LIFE IN RUSSIA</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">THE COUNTESS OF GALLOWAY</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russian aristocracy and plutocracy have few powers or privileges
+beyond that of serving their sovereign, and their position depends
+entirely on the will of the emperor. Official rank is the only
+distinction, and all ranks or "tchin," as it is called, is regulated
+according to the army grades. By this "tchin" alone is the right of
+being received at Court acquired. Society is, therefore, subservient
+to the Court, and occupies itself more with those whose position can
+best procure them what they desire than with any other ideas. The
+Court itself is very magnificent, and its entertainments display
+unbounded splendour, taste, and art. In the midst of winter the
+whole palace is decorated for the balls with trees of camellias,
+drac&aelig;nas and palms. The suppers seem almost to be served
+by magic. Two thousand people sup at the same moment: they all
+sit down together, and all finish together in an incredibly short
+space of time. The palace is lit by the electric light, the tables
+are placed under large palm-trees, and the effect is that of a grove
+of palms by moonlight. At these Court balls, besides the Royal Family
+of Grand Dukes and Duchesses, with gorgeous jewels, may be seen many
+of the great generals and governors of the provinces who come to
+St. Petersburg to do homage to their sovereign; a splendid-looking
+Circassian Prince, whose costume of fur and velvet is covered with
+chains of jewels and gold; the commander of the Cossack Guard,
+Tch&eacute;r&eacute;vine, who watches over the Emperor's safety,
+dressed in what resembles a well-fitting scarlet dressing-gown,
+with a huge scimitar in his belt sparkling with precious stones;
+Prince Dondoukoff Korsakoff, the Governor of the Caucasus, also
+in Cossack attire, with the beard which is the privilege of the
+Cossack birth. M. de Giers, whose civilian blue coat with gold
+buttons is remarkable among the numberless brilliant uniforms, talks
+to the Ambassadors with the wearied anxious expression habitual
+to his countenance. The Empress dances, but not the Emperor; he does
+not sit down to supper either, but walks about, after the Russian
+fashion of hospitality, to see that all his guests are served.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 820px;">
+<a name="fig_27">
+<img src="images/fig027.jpg" width="820" height="547" alt="Fig. 27" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE WINTER PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+If, to the outsider, society seems to lack the serious side, science,
+learning, and politics, it gains energy from its contact with men who
+are continually engaged in distant provinces, carrying Russian rule and
+civilization to the conquered Eastern tribes. Notwithstanding the great
+ease and luxury, the fact that so much of the male portion is composed
+of officers, who wear no other clothes than their uniforms, gives
+something of a business-like air, and produces a sense of discipline
+at the entertainments. Individually, the Russians have much sympathy
+with English ways and habits, and the political antagonism between
+the two nations does not appear to affect their social intercourse.
+They are exceedingly courteous, hospitable, and friendly, throwing
+themselves with much zest into the occupation or amusement of the
+moment. In these days of rapid communication social life is much
+the same in every great capital. St. Petersburg is a very gay society,
+and the great troubles underlying the fabric do not come to the
+surface in the daily life. There are of course representatives
+of all the different lines of thought and policy, and because they
+cannot govern themselves, it must not be supposed that they have
+not predilections in favour of this or that line of action.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The season in St. Petersburg begins on the Russian New Year's Day,
+which is thirteen days late, for they adhere to what the Western
+nations now call the Old Style. It lasts till Lent, which the Eastern
+Church fixes also by a different calculation from the Western, and
+during that time there are Court balls twice a week and dancing at
+private houses nearly every other night, Sundays included. Private
+balls begin, as in London, very late and end very late. The dancing
+is most vigorous and animated. The specially Russian dance is the
+Mazurka, of Polish origin, and very pretty and graceful. Like the
+Scotch reel, it is a series of different figures with numerous
+and varied steps. The music, too, is special and spirited. The
+supper, which is always eaten sitting down, is a great feature
+of the evening, and there is invariably a cotillon afterwards.
+The pleasantest and most sociable entertainments are the little
+suppers every evening, where there is no dancing, and where the
+menu is most <i>recherch&eacute;</i> and the conversation brilliant.
+The houses are well adapted for entertainments, and those we saw
+comfortable and luxurious as far as the owners are concerned. The
+bedrooms were prettily furnished, and the dressing-rooms attached
+fitted up with a tiled bath, hot and cold water, and numberless
+mirrors. The wives of the great Court and State officials, as well
+as many other ladies, have one afternoon in the week on which they
+sit at home and receive visitors. There is always tea and Russian
+bonbons, which are most excellent. What strikes an English-woman
+is the number of men, officers of the army, and others, who attend
+these "jours," as they are called in French. Many of noted activity,
+such as General Kaulbars, may be seen quietly sipping their tea
+and talking of the last ball to the young lady of the house. A
+f&ecirc;te given by Madame Polovtsoff, wife of the Secr&eacute;taire
+de l'Empire, was wonderfully conducted and organized. It took place
+at a villa on the Islands, as that part of St. Petersburg which
+lies between the two principal branches of the Neva is called. It
+is to villas here that the officials can retire after the season
+when obliged to remain near the capital. The rooms and large
+conservatories were lit by electricity. At the further end of the
+conservatory, buried in palm-trees were the gipsies chanting and
+wailing their savage national songs and choruses, while the guests
+wandered about amongst groves of camellias, and green lawns studded
+with lilies-of-the-valley and hyacinths; rose-bushes in full flower
+at the corners. When the gipsies were exhausted, dancing began, and
+later there was an excellent supper in another still more spacious
+conservatory. The entertainment ended with a cotillon, and for
+the stranger its originality was only marred by the fact that it
+had been thawing, and the company could not arrive or depart in
+"<i>troikas</i>,"&mdash;sleighs with three horses which seem to
+fly along the glistening moonlit snow. A favourite amusement, even
+in winter, is racing these "<i>troikas</i>," or sleighs, with fast
+trotters. The races are to be seen from stands, as in England, and
+are only impeded by falling snow. The pretty little horses are
+harnessed, for trotting races, singly, to a low sleigh (in summer
+to a drosky) driven by one man, wearing the colours of the owner.
+Two of these start at once in opposite directions on a circular or
+oblong course marked out on a flat expanse of snow and ice, which
+may be either land or water, as is found most convenient. It is
+a picturesque sight, and reminds one of the pictures of ancient
+chariot races on old vases and carved monuments.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The character of a nation can scarcely fail to be affected by the
+size of the country it inhabits, and a certain indifference to time
+and distance is produced by this circumstance. There is also a
+peculiar apathy as regards small annoyances and casualties. Whatever
+accident befalls the Russian of the lower orders, his habitual remark
+is "<i>Nitchivo</i>" ("It is nothing"). Nevertheless, Northern
+blood and a Northern climate have mixed a marvellous amount of
+energy and enterprise with this Oriental characteristic. Take for
+example the Caspian railway, undertaken by General Annenkoff. This
+general completes fifteen hundred miles of railway in the incredibly
+short space of time of a year and a half, and almost before the
+public is aware of its having been commenced, he is back again in
+St. Petersburg dancing at a Court ball in a quadrille opposite the
+Empress. The railway made by him runs at present from the Caspian
+Sea to the Amou-Daria River, and will be continued to Bokhara,
+Samarkand, and Tashkend, in a northerly direction, while on the
+south it is to enter Persia. Should European complications, by
+removing the risk of foreign interposition, make it possible for
+a Russian army to reach the Caspian by way of the Black Sea and
+the Caucasus, this railway gives it the desired approach to India.
+By attacking us in India, which they possibly do not desire to
+conquer, the Panslavists and Russian enthusiasts believe they would
+establish their empire at Constantinople, and unite the whole Sclav
+race under the dominion of the Tsar.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The one preponderating impression produced by a short visit to
+Russia is an almost bewildering sense of its vastness, with an
+equally bewildering feeling of astonishment at the centralization
+of all government in the hands of the Emperor. This impression is
+perhaps increased by the nature of the town of St. Petersburg. Long,
+broad streets, lit at night by the electric light, huge buildings,
+public and private, large and almost deserted places or squares, all
+tend to produce the reflection that the Russian nation is emerging
+from the long ages of Cimmerian darkness into which the repeated
+invasions of Asiatic hordes had plunged it, and that it is full
+of the energy and aspirations belonging to a people conscious of
+a great future in the history of mankind.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_22">RURAL LIFE IN RUSSIA</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">LADY VERNEY</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The amount of territory given up to the serfs by the Emancipation
+Act of 1861 was about one-half of the arable land of the whole
+empire, so that the experiment of cutting up the large properties
+of a country, and the formation instead of a landed peasantry,
+has now been tried on a sufficiently large scale for a quarter of
+a century to enable the world to judge of its success or failure.
+There is no doubt of the philanthropic intentions of Alexander
+the First, but he seems to have also aimed (like Richelieu) at
+diminishing the power of the nobles, which formed some bulwark
+between the absolute sway of the Crown and the enormous dead level
+of peasants.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The serfs belonged soul and body to the landowner: even when they
+were allowed to take service or exercise a trade in distant towns,
+they were obliged to pay a due, "<i>obrok</i>," to their owner,
+and to return home if required; while the instances of oppression
+were sometimes frightful, husbands and wives were separated, girls
+were sold away from their parents, young men were not allowed to
+marry. On the other hand, when the proprietor was kind, and rich
+enough not to make money of his serfs, the patriarchal form of
+life was not unhappy. "See now," said an old peasant, "what have
+I gained by the emancipation? I have nobody to go to to build my
+house, or to help in the ploughing time; the Seigneur, he knew what
+I wanted, and he did it for me without any bother. Now if I want
+a wife, I have got to go and court her myself; he used to choose for
+me, and he knew what was best. It is a great deal of trouble, and
+no good at all!" Under the old arrangements three generations were
+often found living in one house, and the grandfather, who was called
+"the Big One," bore a very despotic sway. The plan allowed several
+of the males of the family to seek work at a distance, leaving
+some at home to perform the "<i>corv&ecirc;e</i>" (forced labour)
+three days a week; but the families quarrelled among themselves,
+and the effect of the emancipation has been to split them up into
+different households. A considerable portion of the serfs were
+not really serfs at all. They were coachmen, grooms, gardeners,
+gamekeepers, etc., while their wives and daughters were nurses,
+ladies'-maids, and domestic servants. Their number was out of all
+proportion to their work, which was always carelessly done, but
+there was often great attachment to the family they served. The
+serfs proper lived in villages, had houses and plots of land of
+their own, and were nominally never sold except with the estate.
+The land, however, was under the dominion of the "<i>Mir</i>";
+they could neither use it nor cultivate it except according to the
+communal obligations.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The outward aspect of a Russian village is not attractive, and
+there is little choice in the surrounding country between a wide
+grey plain with a distance of scrubby pine forest, or the scrubby
+pine forest with distant grey plains. The peasants' houses are
+scattered up and down without any order or arrangement, and with
+no roads between, built of trunks of trees, unsquared, and mortised
+into each other at the corners, the interstices filled with moss
+and mud, a mode of building warmer than it sounds. In the interior
+there is always an enormous brick stove, five or six feet high,
+on which and on the floor the whole family sleep in their rags.
+The heat and the stench are frightful. No one undresses, washing
+is unknown, and sheepskin pelisses with the wool inside are not
+conducive to cleanliness. Wood, however, is becoming very scarce,
+the forests are used up in fuel for railway engines, for wooden
+constructions of all kind, and are set fire to wastefully&mdash;in
+many places the peasants are forced to burn dung, weeds, or anything
+they can pick up&mdash;fifty years, it is said, will exhaust the
+peasant forests, and fresh trees are never planted.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The women are more diligent than the men, and the hardest work is
+often turned over to them, as is generally the case in countries
+where peasant properties prevail. "They are only the females of
+the male," and have few womanly qualities. They toil at the same
+tasks in the field as the men, ride astride like them, often without
+saddles, and the mortality is excessive among the neglected children,
+who are carried out into the fields, where the babies lie the whole
+day with a bough over them and covered with flies, while the poor
+mother is at work. Eight out of ten children are said to die before
+ten years old in rural Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the little church (generally built of wood) there are no seats,
+the worshippers prostrate themselves and knock their heads two or
+three times on the ground, and must stand or kneel through the
+whole service. The roof consists of a number of bulbous-shaped
+cupolas; four, round the central dome, in the form of a cross is
+the completed ideal, with a separate minaret for the Virgin. These
+are covered with tiles of the brightest blue, green, and red, and gilt
+metal. The priest is a picturesque figure, with his long unclipped
+hair, tall felt hat largest at the top, and a flowing robe. He must
+be married when appointed to a cure, but is not allowed a second
+venture if his wife dies. Until lately they formed an hereditary
+caste, and it was unlawful for the son of a pope to be other than
+a pope. They are taken from the lowest class, and are generally
+quite as uneducated, and are looked down upon by their flocks.
+"One loves the Pope, and one the Popess" is an uncomplimentary
+proverb given by Gogol. "To have priests' eyes," meaning to be
+covetous or extortionate, is another. The drunkenness in all classes
+strikes Russian statesmen with dismay, and the priests and the
+popes, are among the worst delinquents. They are fast losing the
+authority they once had over the serfs, when they formed part of
+the great political system, of which the Tsar was the religious and
+political head. A Russian official report says that "the churches
+are now mostly attended by women and children, while the men are
+spending their last kopeck, or getting deeper into debt, at the
+village dram shop."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Church festivals, marriages, christenings, burials and fairs, leave
+only two hundred days in the year for the Russian labourer. The
+climate is so severe as to prevent out-of-door work for months,
+and the enforced idleness increases the natural disposition to
+do nothing. "We are a lethargic people," says Gogol, "and require
+a stimulus from without, either that of an officer, a master, a
+driver, the rod, or <i>vodki</i> (a white spirit distilled from
+corn); and this," he adds in another place, "whether the man be
+peasant, soldier, clerk, sailor, priest, merchant, seigneur or
+prince." At the time of the Crimean War it was always believed
+that the Russian soldier could only be driven up to an attack,
+such as that of Inkermann, under the influence of intoxication.
+The Russian peasant is indeed a barbarian at a very low stage of
+civilization. In the Crimean hospitals every nationality was to be
+found among the patients, and the Russian soldier was considered
+far the lowest of all. Stolid, stupid, hard, he never showed any
+gratitude for any amount of care and attention, or seemed, indeed,
+to understand them; and there was no doubt that during the war he
+continually put the wounded to death in order to possess himself
+of their clothes.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Greek Church is a very dead form of faith, and the worship of
+saints of every degree of power "amounts to a fetishism almost as
+bad as any to be found in Africa." I am myself the happy possessor
+of a little rude wooden bas-relief, framed and glazed, of two saints
+whose names I have ungratefully forgotten, to whom if you pray
+as you go out to commit a crime, however heinous, you take your
+pardon with you&mdash;a refinement upon the whipping of the saints
+in Calabria and Spanish hagiolatry. The icons, the sacred images,
+are hung in the chief corner, called "The Beautiful," of a Russian
+<i>izba</i>. A lamp is always lit before them, and some food spread
+"for the ghosts to come and eat." The well-to-do peasant is still
+"strict about his fasts and festivals, and never neglects to prepare
+for Lent. During the whole year his forethought never wearies;
+the children pick up a number of fungi, which the English kick
+away as toadstools, these are dried in the sun or the oven, and
+packed in casks with a mixture of hot water and dry meal in which
+they ferment. The staple diet of the peasant consists of buckwheat,
+rye meal, sauerkraut, and coarse cured fish" (little, however,
+but black bread, often mouldy and sauerkraut, nearly putrid, is
+found in the generality of Russian peasant homes). No milk, butter,
+cheese, or eggs are allowed in Lent, all of which are permitted to
+the Roman Catholic, and the oil the peasant uses for his cooking
+is linseed instead of olive oil, which last he religiously sets
+aside for the lamps burning before the holy images. "To neglect
+fasting would cause a man to be shunned as a traitor, not only
+to his religion, but to his class and country."
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 824px;">
+<a name="fig_28">
+<img src="images/fig028.jpg" width="824" height="535" alt="Fig. 28" /></a>
+<p class="image">RUSSIAN FARM SCENE.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In a bettermost household, the samovar, the tea-urn, is always
+going. If a couple of men have a bargain to strike, the charcoal
+is lighted inside the urn, which has a pipe carried into the stone
+chimney, and the noise of the heated air is like a roaring furnace.
+They will go on drinking boiling hot weak tea, in glasses, for hours,
+with a liberal allowance of <i>vodki</i>. The samovar, however, is
+a completely new institution, and the old peasants will tell you,
+"Ah, Holy Russia has never been the same since we drank so much
+tea."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The only bit of art or pastime to be found among the peasants seems
+to consist in the "circling dances" with songs, at harvest, Christmas,
+and all other important festivals, as described by Mr. Ralston.
+And even here "the settled gloom, the monotonous sadness," are
+most remarkable. Wife-beating, husbands' infidelities, horrible
+stories of witches and vampires, are the general subjects of the
+songs. The lament of the young bride who is treated almost like
+a slave by her father and mother-in-law, has a chorus: "Thumping,
+scolding, never lets his daughter sleep"; "Up, you slattern! up,
+you sloven, sluggish slut!" A wife entreats: "Oh, my husband, only
+for good cause beat thou thy wife, not for little things. Far away
+is my father dear, and farther still my mother." The husband who
+is tired of his wife sings: "Thanks, thanks to the blue pitcher
+(<i>i. e.</i>, poison), it has rid me of my cares; not that cares
+afflicted me, my real affliction was my wife," ending, "Love will I
+make to the girls across the stream." Next comes a wife who poisons
+her husband: "I dried the evil root, and pounded it small;" but in
+this case the husband was hated because he had killed her brother.
+The most unpleasant of all, however, are the invocations to
+<i>vodki</i>. A circle of girls imitate drunken women, and sing
+as they dance: "<i>Vodki</i> delicious I drank, I drank; not in a
+cup or a glass, but a bucketful I drank.... I cling to the posts
+of the door. Oh, doorpost, hold me up, the drunken woman, the tipsy
+rogue."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The account of the Baba Zaga, a hideous old witch, is enough to
+drive children into convulsions. She has a nose and teeth made
+of strong sharp iron. As she lies in her hut she stretches from
+one corner to the other, and her nose goes through the roof. The
+fence is made of the bones of the people she has eaten, and tipped
+with their skulls. The uprights of the gate are human legs. She
+has a broom to sweep away the traces of her passage over the snow
+in her seven-leagued boots. She steals children to eat them.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Remains of paganism are to be found in some of the sayings. A curse
+still existing says, "May Perun (<i>i. e.</i>, the lightning) strike
+thee." The god Perun, the Thunderer, resembles Thor, and like him
+carries a hammer. He has been transformed into Elijah, the prophet
+Ilya, the rumbling of whose chariot as he rolls through heaven,
+especially on the week in summer when his festival falls, may be
+heard in thunder. There is a dismal custom by which the children are
+made to eat the mouldy bread, "because the Rusalkas (the fairies)
+do not choose bread to be wasted." Inhuman stories about burying
+a child alive in the foundation of a new town to propitiate the
+earth spirit; that a drowning man must not be saved, lest the water
+spirit be offended; that if groans or cries are heard in the forest,
+a traveller must go straight on without paying any attention, "for
+it is only the wood demon, the lyeshey," seem only to be invented
+as excuses for selfish inaction. Wolves bear a great part in the
+stories. A peasant driving in a sledge with three children is pursued
+by a pack of wolves: he throws out a child, which they stop to
+devour; then the howls come near him again, and he throws out a
+second; again they return, when the last is sacrificed; and one
+is grieved to hear that he saves his own wretched cowardly life
+at last.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Emancipation was doubtless a great work. Twenty million serfs
+belonging to private owners, and 30,000,000 more, the serfs of
+the Crown were set free. They had always, however, considered the
+communal land as in one sense their own. "We are yours but the
+land is ours," was the phrase. The Act was received with mistrust
+and suspicion, and the owners were supposed to have tampered with
+the good intentions of the Tsar. Land had been allotted to each
+peasant family sufficient, as supposed, for its support, besides
+paying a fixed yearly sum to Government. Much of it, however, is
+so bad that it cannot be made to afford a living and pay the tax,
+in fact a poll tax, not dependent on the size of the strip, but on
+the number of the souls. The population in Russia has always had a
+great tendency to migrate, and serfdom in past ages is said to have
+been instituted to enable the lord of the soil to be responsible for
+the taxes. "It would have been impossible to collect these from
+peasants free to roam from Archangel to the Caucasus, from St.
+Petersburg to Siberia." It was therefore necessary to enforce the
+payments from the village community, the Mir, which is a much less
+merciful landlord than the nobles of former days, and constantly
+sells up the defaulting peasant.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The rule of the Mir is strangely democratic in so despotic an empire.
+The Government never interferes with the communes if they pay their
+taxes, and the ignorant peasants of the rural courts may pass sentences
+of imprisonment for seven days, inflict twenty strokes with a rod,
+impose fines, and cause a man who is pronounced "vicious or pernicious"
+to be banished to Siberia. The authority of the Mir, of the Starosta,
+the Whiteheads, the chief elders, seems never to be resisted, and
+there are a number of proverbs declaring "what the Mir decides
+must come to pass"; "The neck and shoulders of the Mir are broad";
+"The tear of the Mir is cold but sharp." Each peasant is bound
+hand and foot by minute regulations; he must plough, sow and reap
+only when his neighbours do, and the interference with his liberty
+of action is most vexatious and very injurious.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The agriculture enforced is of the most barbarous kind. Jensen,
+Professor of Political Economy at Moscow, says: "The three-field
+system&mdash;corn, green crops and fallow&mdash;which was abandoned
+in Europe two centuries ago, has most disastrous consequences here.
+The lots are changed every year, and no man has any interest in
+improving property which will not be his in so short a time. Hardly
+any manure is used, and in many places the corn is threshed out
+by driving horses and wagons over it. The exhaustion of the soil
+by this most barbarous culture has reached a fearful pitch."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The size of the allotments varies extremely in the different climates
+and soils, and the country is so enormous that the provinces were
+divided into zones to carry out the details of the Emancipation
+Act&mdash;the zone without black soil; the zone with black soil; and,
+third, the great steppe zone. In the first two the allotments range
+from two and two-thirds to twenty acres, in the steppes from eight
+and three-quarters to thirty-four and one-third. "Whether, however,"
+says Jensen, "the peasants cultivate their land as proprietors at
+1<i>s</i>. 9<i>d</i>. or hire it at 18<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. the
+result is the same&mdash;the soil is scourged and exhausted, and
+semi-starvation has become the general feature of peasant life."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Usury is the great nightmare of rural Russia, at present, an evil
+which seems to dog the peasant proprietor in all countries alike.
+The "Gombeen Man" is fast getting possession of the little Irish
+owners. A man who hires land cannot borrow on it; the little owner
+is tempted always to mortgage it at a pinch. In Russia he borrows
+to the outside of its value to pay the taxes and get in his crop.
+"The bondage labourers," <i>i. e.</i>, men bound to work on their
+creditor's land as interest for money lent, receive no wages and
+are in fact a sort of slaves. They repay their extortioners by
+working as badly as they can&mdash;a "level worst," far inferior
+to that of the serfs of old, they harvest three and a half or four
+stacks of corn where the other peasants get five. The Koulaks and
+Mir-eaters, and other usurers, often of peasant origin, exhaust the
+peasant in every way; they then foreclose the mortgages, unite the
+small pieces of land once more, and reconstitute large estates. A
+Koulak is not to be trifled with; he finds a thousand occasions for
+revenge; the peasant cannot cheat the Jew as he does the landlord,
+and is being starved out&mdash;the mortality is enormous.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The peasant class comprises five-sixths of the whole population&mdash;a
+stolid, ignorant, utterly unprogressive mass of human beings. They
+have received in gift nearly half the empire for their own use,
+and cling to the soil as their only chance of existence. They
+consequently dread all change, fearing that it should endanger
+this valuable possession. A dense solid stratum of unreasoning
+conservatism thus constitutes the whole basis of Russian society
+backed by the most corrupt set of officials to be found in the
+whole world. The middle and upper classes are often full of ardent
+wishes for the advancement of society and projects for the reform
+of the State. These are generally of the wildest and most terrible
+description, but their objects are anything but unreasonable. They
+desire to share in political power and the government of their
+country, as is the privilege of every other nation in Europe, and
+they hope to do something for the seething mass of ignorance and
+misery around them. The Nihilists have an ideal at least of good,
+and the open air of practical politics would probably get rid of
+the unhealthy absurdities and wickedness of their creeds. But the
+Russian peasant cares neither for liberty nor politics, neither
+for education, nor cleanliness, nor civilization of any kind. His
+only interest is to squeeze just enough out of his plot of ground
+to live upon and get drunk as many days in the year as possible.[1]
+With such a base to the pyramid as is constituted by the peasant
+proprietors of Russia, aided by the enormous army, recruited almost
+to any extent from among their ranks, whose chief religion is a
+superstitious reverence for the "great father," the Tsar is safe
+in refusing all concessions, all improvements; and the hopeless
+nature of Russian reform hitherto, mainly hangs upon the conviction
+of the Government that nothing external can possibly act upon this
+inert mass. "Great is stupidity, and shall prevail." But surely
+not forever!
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[Footnote 1: "When God created the world He made different nations
+and gave them all sorts of good things&mdash;land, corn and fruit.
+Then He asked them if they were satisfied, and they all said 'Yes'
+except the Russian, who had got as much as the rest, but simpered
+'Please Lord, some <i>vodki</i>.'"&mdash;<i>Russian Popular Tale</i>.]
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_23">FOOD AND DRINK</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The essential point in the service of the Russian dinner is&mdash;as
+is now generally known throughout Europe&mdash;that the dishes
+should be handed round instead of being placed on the table, which
+is covered throughout the meal with flowers, fruit, and the whole
+of the dessert. One advantage of this plan is, that it makes the
+dinner-table look well; another, that it renders the service more
+rapid, and saves much trouble to the host. The dishes are brought
+in one by one; or two at a time, and of the same kind, if a large
+number are dining. The ordinary wines are on the table, and nothing
+has to be changed except the plates. At the end of dinner, as the
+cloth is not removed, the dessert is ready served; and this has
+always been one of the great glories of a Russian banquet.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"I was particularly struck," says Archdeacon Coxe, "with the quantity
+and quality of the fruit which made its appearance in the dessert.
+Pines, peaches, apricots, grapes, pears, and cherries, none of
+which can in this country be obtained without the assistance of
+hot-houses,[1] were served," he tells us, "in the greatest profusion.
+There was a delicious species of small melon, which had been sent
+by land-carriage from Astrakhan to Moscow&mdash;a distance of a
+thousand miles. These melons," he adds, "sometimes cost five pounds
+apiece, and at other times may be purchased in the markets of Moscow
+for less than half-a-crown apiece." One "instance of elegance"
+which distinguished the dessert, and which appears to have made
+an impression on the Archdeacon, is then mentioned. "At the upper
+and lower ends of the table were placed two china vases, containing
+cherry-trees in full leaf, and fruit hanging on the boughs which
+was gathered by the company." This cherry-tree is also a favourite,
+and certainly a very agreeable ornament, in the present day. At
+the conclusion of the dessert coffee is served as in France and
+England. Men and women leave the table together, and after dinner
+no wine is taken. Later in the evening tea is brought in, with
+biscuits, cakes, and preserved fruits.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[Footnote 1: That is to say, not in the winter. In the summer,
+pears and cherries abound in Moscow, and every kind of fruit ripens
+in the south.]
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The reception-rooms in Russian houses are all <i>en suite</i>;
+and instead of doors you pass from room to room through arches
+hung with curtains. The number of the apartments in most of the
+houses I remember varied from three to six or seven; but in the
+clubs and in large mansions there are more. Grace before or after
+dinner is never said under any circumstances; but all the guests
+make the sign of the cross before sitting down to table, usually
+looking at the same time towards the eastern corner of the room, where
+the holy image hangs. This ceremony is never omitted in families,
+though in the early part of the century, when the Gallomania was
+at its height, it is said to have been much neglected. In club
+dinners, when men are dining alone, it will be easily believed
+that the same importance is not attached to it; but the custom
+may be described as almost universal among the rich, and quite
+universal among the poor. Indeed, a peasant or workman would not
+on any account eat without first making the sign of the cross. In
+Russia, with its "patriarchal" society (as the Russians are fond
+of saying), it is usual to thank the lady of the house, either
+by word or gesture, after dining at her table; and those who are
+sufficiently intimate kiss her hand.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 819px;">
+<a name="fig_29">
+<img src="images/fig029.jpg" width="819" height="554" alt="Fig. 29" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE TSAR'S DINING-ROOM, MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We now come to the composition of the Russian dinners; and here I
+must repeat with Archdeacon Coxe, that although the Russians have
+adopted many of the delicacies of French cookery, they "neither
+affect to despise their native dishes nor squeamishly reject the
+solid joints which characterize our own repasts." I was astonished,
+at one Russian dinner, which I was assured was thoroughly national
+in style, to meet with the homely roast leg of mutton and baked
+potatoes of my native land. Like the English, the Russians take
+potatoes with nearly every dish&mdash;either plain boiled, fried,
+or with parsley and butter over them. Plum-pudding, too, and boiled
+rice-pudding with currants in it, and with melted butter, are known
+in Russia&mdash;at all events in Moscow and St. Petersburg; and
+goose is not considered complete without apple-sauce. As in France,
+every dinner begins with soup; but this custom has not been borrowed
+from the French. It seems to date from time immemorial, for all
+the Russian peasants, a thoroughly stationary class, take their
+soup daily. The Russians are very successful with some kinds of
+pickles, such as salted cucumbers and mushrooms; and they excel
+in salads, composed not only of lettuce, endive, and beetroot, but
+also of cherries, grapes, and other fruits, preserved in vinegar.
+The fruit is always placed at the top, and has a very picturesque
+effect in the midst of the green leaves. Altogether it may be said
+that the Russian <i>cuisine</i> is founded on a system of eclecticism,
+with a large number of national dishes for its base. Of course, in
+some Russian houses, as in some English ones, the cooking is nearly
+all in the French style; but even then there are always a few dishes
+on the table that might easily be recognized as belonging to the
+country. We need scarcely remark, that only very rich persons dine
+every day in the sumptuous style described by Archdeacon Coxe, though
+the rule as to service may be said to be general&mdash;one dish at a
+time, and nothing on the table but flowers and the dessert. In the
+winter, when it is difficult and expensive to get dessert, those who
+are rich send for it where it <i>can</i> be obtained&mdash;perhaps
+to their own hot-houses; and those who are not rich, as in other
+countries, go without. At the <i>traktirs</i>, or <i>restaurants</i>,
+the usual dinner supplied for three-quarters of a rouble consists
+of soup, with a pie of mince-meat, or minced vegetables, an
+<i>entr&eacute;e</i>, roast meat, and some kind of sweet. That,
+too, may be considered the kind of dinner which persons of moderate
+means have every day at home. Rich proprietors, who keep a head-cook,
+a roaster, a pastry-cook, and two or three assistant-cooks, would
+perhaps despise so moderate a repast; but from a little manual
+of cookery which a friend has been kind enough to send me from
+Russia, it would appear that the generality of persons do not have
+more than four dishes at each meal.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The most ancient and popular drinks in Russia are hydromel or mead
+(called by the same name in Russia), beer, and <i>kvass</i>. Mead,
+the fine old Scandinavian drink, is mentioned as far back as the
+Tenth Century; and in a chronicle of Novgorod of the year 989, it
+is stated that "A great festival took place, at which a hundred
+and twenty thousand pounds of honey were consumed." Hydromel is
+flavoured with various kinds of spices and fermented with hops.
+Gerebtzoff states that beer is mentioned (under the name of
+<i>oloul</i>&mdash;the present word being <i>pivo</i>) in the <i>Book
+of Ranks</i>, written in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. But
+no drink is so ancient as <i>kvass</i>, which, according to the
+chronicle of Nestor, was in use among the Sclavonians in the first
+century of our era. Among the laws of Yaroslaff there is an old
+edict determining the quantity of malt to be furnished for making
+<i>kvass</i> to workmen engaged in building a town.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russians learnt to drink wine from the Greeks, during their
+frequent intercourse with the Eastern Empire, long before the Mongol
+invasion. During the Tartar domination there was less communication
+with Constantinople and the consumption of wine decreased, but
+it became greater again during the period of the Tsars. In the
+beginning of the Seventeenth Century wine was supplied to ambassadors,
+but the Russians for the most part still preferred their native
+drinks. The cultivation of the vine was introduced at Astrakhan
+in 1613, and a German traveller named Strauss, who visited the
+city in 1675, found that it had been attended with great success;
+so much so, that, without counting what was sold in the way of
+general trade, the province supplied to the Tsar alone every year
+two hundred tuns of wine, and fifty tuns of grape brandy. The wines
+of Greece were at the same time replaced by those of Hungary, which
+were in great demand when Peter came and introduced the vintage
+of France. This by many persons will be considered not the least
+of his reforms.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russians acquired the art of distilling from grain in the Fourteenth
+Century from the Genoese established in the Crimea, and seem to
+have lost no time in profiting by their knowledge. They soon began
+to invent infusions of fruit and berries, which under the name of
+"<i>nalivka</i>" have long been known to travellers, and which I
+for my part found excellent. "<i>Raki</i>," about the consumption
+of which by the Russian soldiers so much was written during the
+Crimean war, is a Turkish spirit, and is unknown in Russia. The
+Russian grain-spirit is called "<i>vodka</i>." The best qualities
+are more like the best whiskey than anything else, only weaker;
+but it is of various degrees of excellence as of price. The new
+common <i>vodka</i>, like other new spirits, is fiery; but when
+purified, and kept for some time, it is excellent and particularly
+mild. Travellers to Moscow who are curious on the subject of
+<i>vodka</i> may visit a gigantic distillery in the neighbourhood,
+to which it is easy to gain admission, and where they can obtain
+information and samples in abundance. <i>Vodka</i> is sometimes
+made in imitation of brandy, and there are also sweet and bitter
+<i>vodkas</i>; and, indeed, <i>vodka</i> of all flavours. But the
+British spirit which the ordinary <i>vodka</i> chiefly resembles
+is whiskey. There is one curious custom connected with drinking
+in Russia which, as far as I am aware, has never been noticed. The
+Russians drink first and eat afterwards, and never drink without
+eating. If wine and biscuits are placed on the table, everyone
+takes a glass of wine first, and then a biscuit; and at the
+<i>zakouska</i> before dinner, those who take the customary glass
+of <i>vodka</i> take an atom of caviare or cheese after it, but
+not before. It may also be remarked that, as a general rule, the
+Russians, like the Orientals, drink only at the beginning of a
+repast.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A hospitable Englishman entertaining a Russian, on seeing him eat
+after drinking, would press him to drink again, and having drunk
+a second time, the Russian would eat once more on his own account;
+which would involve another invitation to drink on the part of the
+Englishman. As a hospitable Russian, on the other hand, entertaining
+an Englishman, would endeavour to prevail upon him to eat after
+drinking, and as it is the Englishman's habit to drink after eating,
+it is easy to see that too much attention on either side might
+lead to very unfortunate results.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A great deal is said about the enormous quantity of champagne consumed
+in Russia. Champagne, however, costs five roubles (from sixteen to
+seventeen shillings) a bottle&mdash;the duty alone amounting to
+one rouble a bottle&mdash;and is only drunk habitually by persons
+of considerable means. Nor does the champagne bottle go round so
+frequently at Russian as at English dinners. It is usually given,
+as in France, with the pastry and dessert, and no other wine is
+taken after it. The rich merchants are said to drink champagne
+very freely at their evening entertainments; but the only merchant
+at whose house I dined had, unfortunately, adopted Western manners,
+and gave nothing during the evening but tea. However, at festivals
+and celebrations of all kinds&mdash;whether of congratulation, of
+welcome, or of farewell&mdash;champagne is indispensable. What
+Alphonse Karr says of women and their toilette&mdash;that they
+regard every event in life as an occasion for a new dress&mdash;may
+certainly be paraphrased and applied to the Russians in connection
+with champagne. Besides the champagne which is given as a matter
+of course at dinner-parties and balls, there must be champagne at
+birthdays, champagne at christenings, champagne at, or in honour
+of, betrothals, champagne in abundance at weddings, champagne at
+the arrival of a friend, and champagne at his departure. For those
+who cannot afford veritable champagne, Russian viniculture supplies
+an excellent imitation in the shape of "<i>Donskoi</i>" and
+"<i>Crimskoi</i>,"&mdash;the wines of the Don and of the Crimea. As
+"<i>Donskoi</i>" costs only a fifth of the price of real champagne,
+it will be understood that it is not seldom substituted for the genuine
+article, both by fraudulent wine merchants and economic hosts. However,
+it is a true wine, and far superior to the fabrications of Hamburg,
+which, under the name of champagne, find their way all over the north
+of Europe. It has often been said that the Russians drink champagne
+merely because it is dear. But the fact is, they have a liking for
+all effervescing drinks, and naturally, therefore, for champagne,
+the best of all. Among the effervescing drinks peculiar to Russia,
+we may mention apple <i>kvass, kislya shchee</i>, and <i>voditsa.
+Kislya shchee</i> is made out of two sorts of malt, three sorts
+of flour, and dried apples; in apple <i>kvass</i> there are more
+apples and less malt and flour. <i>Voditsa</i> (a diminutive of
+<i>voda</i>, water), is made of syrup, water, and a little spirit.
+All these summer-drinks are bottled and kept in the ice-house.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_24">CARNIVAL-TIME AND EASTER</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">A. NICOL SIMPSON</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Lent is heralded by carnival, called by Russians "Maslanitza"&mdash;the
+"<i>Butter Wochen</i>" of the Germans. <i>Maslanitza</i> is held during
+the eighth week preceding Easter, the fast proper is observed during
+the intervening seven weeks. During Maslanitza every article of diet,
+flesh excepted, is allowed to be partaken of, but over-indulgence
+in other articles, including drinks, is not forbidden.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Carnival commences on Sunday at noon and continues till the close
+of the succeeding Sunday. The salutation during the week is
+"<i>Maslanitza</i>," or "<i>Sherokie Maslanitza</i>," "<i>Sherokie</i>"
+meaning, literally "broad," indicating a full amount of pleasure,
+and the facial expression accompanying this salutation shows plainly
+that unrestrained enjoyment is the aim and object for the week.
+Upon the discharge of the time gun at noon, there emerge from all
+parts of the city tiny sleighs driven by peasants, chiefly Finns,
+who for the time are allowed to ply for hire by the payment of a
+nominal tax imposed by the police or city corporation. Most of
+these Finns are unable to speak Russian intelligibly, although
+living at no great distance from the capital. It is said that from
+5,000 to 10,000 of these jehus come annually to St. Petersburg
+for <i>Maslanitza</i>, and they add materially to the gaiety of
+the city as they drive along the streets. These Finns are mostly
+patronized by the working-classes, for the simple reason that their
+charges are lower than the ordinary <i>isvozchick</i>, or cabby.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+During the festivities the great centre of attraction for the working
+population is the "Marco Polo," or "Champ de Mars," an immense
+plain on the banks of the Neva. Here a huge fair is held, with
+the usual assortment of stalls, loaded with sweetmeats and similar
+dainties. Actors from the city theatres are upon the ground, with
+smaller booths where the stage-struck hero acts the leading part.
+There are dwarfs, fat women, giants, and the renowned ubiquitous
+Punch and Judy, merry-go-rounds, card-sharpers, cheap-jacks, and
+a medley crowd of men and women all catering for the roubles of
+the crowd. What are termed the "ice-hills" are perhaps the most
+attractive feature of the gathering.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the city feasting and visiting are the order of the day. There
+is no limit to the consumption of "<i>bleenies</i>," a kind of
+pancake made of buckwheat flour, and eaten with butter sauce or
+fresh caviare, according to the circumstances of the families.
+Morn, noon, and night <i>bleenies</i> are cooked and eaten by the
+dozen, moistened, of course, with the indispensable <i>vodka</i>
+or native gin, which is distilled from rye.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+When midnight of the second Sunday arrives, all gaieties are supposed
+to vanish, and a subdued and demure aspect must be assumed, and
+the form of congratulation between friends and acquaintances
+is&mdash;"<i>Pozdravlin vam post</i>," or "I congratulate you on
+the fast." The church bells toll mournfully at brief intervals
+from 4 or 5 A. M., when early mass is celebrated until about 8 P.
+M., when evening service closes.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Before the Passion&mdash;like the Jews, who at Passover search
+diligently for and cast out the old leaven&mdash;the Russian housewife
+likewise searches out every corner, most remorselessly sweeps from
+its hiding-place every particle of dust. Everything is done to make
+the house and its contents fit to meet a risen Saviour. The streets,
+always very clean, receive special attention, even the lamp-posts
+are carefully washed down and the kerbs sanded. Everything that
+will clean has brush and soap-and-water applied to it. The reason
+of this is the belief that our Saviour invisibly walks about the
+earth for forty days after Easter, that is, until Ascension Day.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On the Thursday of Passion Week "<i>Strashnaya Nedelli</i>," <i>i.
+e.</i>, "<i>Terrible Week</i>," is enacted in a very realistic
+fashion one of the last acts of our Saviour&mdash;"the washing of
+the Disciples' feet." After the close of the second diet of worship
+at St. Isaac's Cathedral this ceremony is performed.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The most important day of the week is that of "<i>Strashnaya
+Piatnitsa</i>," or Good Friday, when the burial of our Lord is
+enacted before the people in a truly solemn and impressive manner.
+In every church there is a sarcophagus in imitation of our Saviour's
+tomb, and many of these sarcophagi are of elaborate workmanship
+with gorgeous gilt and otherwise ornamented. The lid is adorned
+with a painting representing our Saviour in death. At dawn this
+lid is carried into the chapel, and by 3 P. M. the sarcophagus
+is in its place on the da&iuml;s ready to receive the body of our
+Lord. Shortly before the service is concluded, all the worshippers
+have their tapers lighted, the flame being procured from a candelabrum
+in front of the sacred icon. This is done by those nearest to the
+candelabrum lighting their tapers, while those behind them get
+the sacred flame from them, and in this way all get their tapers
+lit. Many endeavour to carry their burning tapers home, so that
+they may have the holy flame in their dwellings.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 827px;">
+<a name="fig_30">
+<img src="images/fig030.jpg" width="827" height="561" alt="Fig. 30" /></a>
+<p class="image">ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL, ST. PETERSBURG.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Leaving the chapel the crowd musters in the street. Then there
+emerges a church dignitary bearing a large brightly-burnished crucifix,
+followed by others bearing bannerettes and other symbols, the names
+and uses of which are to us a mystery. Last of all come forth four
+priests, clad in their gorgeous canonical vestments, bearing the
+lid of the sarcophagus which is supported on brass rods. Under
+the lid walks an aged priest clad in his clerical vestments,
+representing the dead Christ being carried to his tomb. Slowly,
+sadly, and reverently he is borne to the tomb, the worshippers
+crossing themselves most devoutly. A sudden rush is made for the
+church to witness the interment, the big bell meanwhile tolling
+mournfully as the procession moves on. The sad procession enters
+the church, and, going up to where the sarcophagus is placed with
+all the external appearances of love, mourning, and lamentation,
+the lid is placed on the sarcophagus and the last obsequies of
+the crucified "Christ" are over.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Preparations are now industriously made for the due celebration of
+the Resurrection morn. Shopping, shopping, shopping goes on without
+intermission. Those who can, prepare to adorn their bodies with one
+or more articles of new clothing, but all make preparations for a
+sumptuous feast. It is interesting to watch the shops, especially in
+the public markets, to see the avidity with which every article of
+food is bought up. The butchers come in, perhaps, for the largest
+share of custom, as flesh, especially smoked ham, is in universal
+demand. Ham among all classes of the community is indispensable for
+the breaking of the fast and the due celebration of the feast. Dyed
+eggs are in universal request. The exchange of eggs, accompanied with
+kissing on the lips and cheeks in the form of the cross, accompanies
+all gifts or exchange. The <i>koolitch</i> and <i>paska</i> have
+also to be bought. The <i>koolitch</i> is a sweet kind of wheaten
+bread, circular in form, in which there are raisins. It is ornamented
+with candied sugar and usually has the Easter salutation on it:
+"<i>Christos vozkress</i>"&mdash;"Christ is risen"&mdash;the whole
+surmounted with a large gaudy red-paper rose. The <i>paska</i>
+is made of cords, pyramidal in shape, and contains a few raisins,
+and, like the former, has also a paper rose inserted on the top.
+These are the <i>sine qua non</i> for the due observance of Easter,
+but what relation they may have, if any, to the Jewish Feast of the
+Passover, it is difficult to see, although in many other respects
+there is a striking resemblance to the service of the Temple in
+Jerusalem in the ritual of the Russo-Greek Church. The <i>koolitch</i>
+and <i>paska</i> and dyed eggs are brought to, but not into, the
+church on the Saturday evening. Some have burning tapers inserted
+into them, while a pure white table napkin is spread on the ground,
+or on benches specially provided for the purpose, awaiting the
+priests' blessing. The hours for this purpose are six, eight, and
+ten o'clock. The priests sprinkle the <i>koolitch, paska</i>, and
+dyed eggs at these hours, those to whom they belong slipping a
+silver or copper coin into his hand as a reward for his services.
+These articles are then carried home, and along with the other
+necessities for the feast are laid out on a table, there to lie
+untouched till the resurrection of the "Saviour" is an accomplished
+fact. Meanwhile the lessons are being read over the tomb of "Christ,"
+and the devotees, still in large numbers, kiss His face and feet.
+About 11 P. M. the sarcophagus is wheeled to its usual place in
+the church, where it remains until the following Easter.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+All the churches by this time are densely packed with worshippers,
+silently waiting with eager expectancy the time when their "Saviour"
+will break the bonds of death and rise from the tomb in which he
+has now lain for three days.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+As if by magic, everyone has lighted his or her taper, and looks
+anxiously towards the altar-screen, where preparations are being
+made by the priests to go to Joseph of Arimathea's garden, as the
+disciples and women did of old to visit the tomb where Christ was
+buried. This they do by forming a procession with the crucifix,
+bannerettes, etc., each carrying a lighted candle in his hand.
+There is a rush among the worshippers to join the procession. They
+walk thrice round the church, searching diligently by the aid of
+their candles for "Christ," and not finding Him, they go to bring
+the disciples word that He is risen from the dead.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+When the procession enters the threshold of the church, the royal
+gates are thrown back, suddenly displaying a marvellously beautiful
+stained glass window, and all eyes behold an enchanting representation
+of the Saviour in the act of rising from the cold grave.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The priests with the choristers, as they enter the church, proclaim
+in joyful tones, "<i>Christos vozkress</i>" ("Christ is risen"), the
+response being "<i>Voestenno vozkress</i>" ("Truly He is risen").
+It is really a jubilant song of praise they sing&mdash;the finely
+trained voices of the choir and priests, joined with those of the
+worshippers, making it most impressive. Every face in the vast
+crowd bears the joyous expression of gladness, for to these men
+and women a really dead Christ has risen, and is now invisibly
+in their midst. Relatives and friends kiss each other and shake
+hands, and the salutation, "<i>Christos vozkress</i>," with the
+refrain, "<i>Voestenno vozkress</i>," is heard on every side. The
+officiating priest begins the usual early morning service (celebrated
+on ordinary Sundays at 5 A. M.), which continues until nearly three
+o'clock, when the churches are closed for the day.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Immediately after midnight a salute of one hundred and one guns is
+given from the fortress to greet the sacred morn. The whole city
+is stirred as the loud peal of cannon reverberates, proclaiming
+to the faithful that Christ is indeed risen from the dead. Some
+few worshippers remain in church until the early service is over,
+but the majority retire to their homes to tender the greetings
+of the day.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Then families and friends assemble at the domestic board that groans
+under a load of the good things of this life, according to their
+circumstances, and to make reparation to their stomachs for the
+privation they have endured during the seven weeks of Lent. And
+full compensation their stomachs get, as the feast is a literal
+gorge of meat and drink. Ham is on the table of prince and peasant
+alike, and it is first partaken of. The table of the rich is spread
+with all gastronomical luxuries, <i>vodka</i> and wines, cold roast
+beef, eggs, etc. These dainties remain on the table for several
+days; indeed a free table is kept, and all who call to congratulate
+are expected to partake of the hospitality. Not to do so is regarded
+in the light of an insult.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On Easter Sunday only gentlemen pay visits of congratulation; ladies
+remain at home for that day to receive and entertain visitors.
+Presents are dispensed to domestic and other servants. A good drink
+is as indispensable to the feast among the peasant class as a good
+feed, and they neither deny themselves the one nor the other, their
+potations lasting for several days.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+To the Western mind the continual kissing and giving of eggs on
+the streets appear strangely out of keeping with the solemnity
+of the hour. To see a couple of bearded men hugging and kissing
+each other and each other's wives on the public streets, with the
+salutation, "<i>Christos vozkress</i>," is indeed peculiar. But
+use and wont justify this, and it would be a breach of courtesy to
+withhold the lips and cheeks, and would be regarded as indicating
+indifference to the great feast of the Church. Present-giving,
+although on somewhat similar lines to our Christmas greetings,
+is a much heavier tax on a Russian household than Christmas gifts
+are with us. In the ordinary house in St. Petersburg, the master,
+on gaining his breakfast-room, is saluted by his domestic servant
+with "<i>Prazdnik</i> (holiday), <i>Christos vozkress</i>," which
+involves a new dress for the female, or a money equivalent. Then
+the <i>dvorniks</i>, or house-porters, resplendent in clean white
+aprons, make their appearance, giving the usual salutation, and
+one or two roubles must be given. They have scarcely vanished when
+a couple of chimney-sweepers put in an appearance, necessitating
+another appeal to the purse; postmen follow, and in their rear
+come the juvenile representatives of your butcher, greengrocer,
+etc., all bent upon testing your liberality. You go to church and
+the doorkeeper gravely says, "<i>Christos vozkress</i>," while
+he of the cloak-room echoes the sentiment to the impoverishment
+of one's exchequer. But this seeming mendicancy is not confined
+to these classes, for even the reverend fathers and brethren walk
+in the same footsteps unblushingly. Either on foot or by carriage
+they call upon the well-to-do of their church, give the usual
+salutation, "<i>Christos vozkress</i>," and the kiss, partake of
+the general hospitality, and get their gratuity or "<i>Na Chai</i>,"
+as it is called, and retire. They are scarcely gone when the
+"<i>Staroste</i>," or elders, put in an appearance, followed by the
+"<i>Pyefche</i>," or choristers, all of whom share in the bounty
+and hospitality of those on whom they call. The priests, of course,
+come in for the largest share, and, generally speaking, they know
+the value of the adage, "First come first served."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At mid-day of Easter Sunday a salute is fired from the fortress,
+and carnival begins again. It is a repetition of the same amusements
+as in carnival before Lent, and continues until the following Sunday
+evening.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_25">RUSSIAN TEA AND TEA-HOUSES</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A true Russian <i>restaurant</i>, or <i>traktir</i> (probably from
+the French <i>traiteur</i>), is not to be found in St. Petersburg,
+whose <i>caf&eacute;s</i> and <i>restaurants</i> are either German
+or French, or imitated from German or French models. One of the large
+Moscow <i>traktirs</i> is not only very much larger, but at least
+twelve times larger than an ordinary French <i>caf&eacute;</i>. The
+best of them is the Troitzkoi <i>traktir</i>, where the merchants
+meet to complete the bargains they have commenced on the
+Exchange&mdash;that is to say&mdash;in the street beneath, where
+all business is carried on, summer and winter, in the open air.
+St. Petersburg is more fortunate, and has a regular bourse, with
+a chapel attached to it. The merchants always enter this chapel
+before commencing their regular afternoon's work ('Change is held
+at four o'clock in St. Petersburg), and remain for several minutes
+at their devotions, occasionally offering a candle to the Virgin or
+some saint. Now and then it must happen that a speculator for the
+rise and a speculator for the fall enter the chapel and commence
+their orisons at the same time. Probably they pray that they may
+not be tempted to cheat one another.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There is no special chapel for the Moscow merchants, nor is there
+one attached to the Troitzkoi <i>traktir</i>, which I am inclined
+to look upon after all as the real Moscow Exchange. But in each of
+the rooms, of which the entrances as usual are arched, and which
+together form an apparently interminable suite, the indispensable
+holy picture is to be seen; and no Russian goes in or out without
+making the sign of the cross. No Russian, to whatever class he
+may belong, remains for a moment with his hat on in any inhabited
+place; whether out of compliment to those who inhabit it, or from
+respect to the holy pictures, or from mixed reasons. The waiters,
+of whom there are said to be a hundred and fifty at the Troitzkoi
+<i>traktir</i>, are all dressed in white, and it is facetiously
+asserted that they are forbidden to sit down during the day for
+fear of disturbing the harmony and destroying the purity of their
+spotless linen. The service is excellent. The waiters watch and
+divine the wishes of the guests, instead of the guests having to
+watch, seek, and sometimes scream for the waiters, as is too often
+the case in England. Here the attendants do everything for the
+visitor; cut up his <i>pirog</i> (meat, or fish patty), so that he
+may eat it with his fork; pour out his tea, fill his <i>chibouk</i>,
+and even bring it to him ready lighted. The reader perceives that
+there is a certain Oriental style about the Russian <i>traktirs</i>.
+The great article of consumption in them is tea. Every one orders
+tea, either by itself, or to follow the dinner; and the majority
+of those who come into the place take nothing else. You can have
+a tumbler of tea, or a pot of tea; but in ordering it you do not
+ask for tea at all, but for so many portions of sugar. The origin
+of this curious custom it is scarcely worth while to consider;
+but it apparently dates from the last European war, when, during
+the general blockade, the price of sugar in Russia rose to about
+four shillings a pound.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+All sorts of stories have been told about the quantity of tea consumed
+by Russian merchants, nor do I look upon any of them as exaggerated.
+From twelve to twenty cups are thought nothing of. I have seen
+two merchants enter a <i>traktir</i>, order so many portions of
+sugar, and drink cup after cup of tea, until the tea-urn before
+them is empty; yet the ordinary tea-urn of the <i>traktir</i> holds
+at least a gallon, or a gallon and a half.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"Tea," says M. Gerebtzoff, "has become, for every one, an habitual
+article of consumption, and replaces, advantageously for morality,
+brandy and beer; for on all occasions when a bargain has to be
+concluded, or when a companion has to be entertained, or on receiving
+or taking leave of a friend, tea is given instead of wine or brandy."
+Indeed, I not only observed that in the Moscow <i>traktirs</i>
+nearly every one drank tea, but that it was a favourite beverage
+with all classes on all occasions. The middle and upper classes
+take tea twice or three times a day,&mdash;always in the morning,
+and often twice in the evening. The <i>isvostchik</i>, who formerly
+had a reputation for drunkenness, which travellers of the present
+day continue to ascribe to him, appears to prefer tea to every
+other drink. Such, at least, was my experience; and his mode of
+asking for a <i>pour boire</i> seems to confirm it. Some years
+since travellers used to tell us of the <i>isvostchik</i> asking at
+the end of his drive for <i>vodka</i> money ("<i>na votkou</i>"); at
+present the invariable request is for tea-money ("<i>na tchai</i>").
+Even in roadside inns, where I have seen from twelve to twenty
+coachmen and postilions sitting down together, nothing but tea was
+being drunk. A well-known tourist has told us that every Russian
+peasant possesses a tea-urn, or <i>samovar</i>; but this is not
+the case. The majority of the peasants are too poor to afford such
+a luxury as tea, except on rare occasions, but a tea-urn is one
+of the first objects that a peasant who has saved a little money
+buys; and it is true, that in some prosperous villages there is
+a samovar in every hut; and in all the post-houses and inns each
+visitor is supplied with a separate one.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 821px;">
+<a name="fig_31">
+<img src="images/fig031.jpg" width="821" height="555" alt="Fig. 31" /></a>
+<p class="image">ST. ANNE RESTAURANT, WIBORG.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The samovar, which, literally, means "self-boiler," is made of brass
+lined with tin, with a tube in the centre. In fact, it resembles
+the English urn, except that in the centre-tube red-hot cinders are
+placed instead of the iron heater. Of course, the charcoal, or
+<i>braise</i>, has to be ignited in a back kitchen or court-yard;
+for in a room the carbonic acid proceeding from it would prove
+injurious. It has no advantage then, whatever, over the English
+urn, except that it can be heated with facility in the open air,
+with nothing but some charcoal, a few sticks of thin dry wood,
+and a lucifer; hence its value at picnics, where it is considered
+indispensable. In the woods of Sakolniki, in the gardens of Marina
+Roschia, and in the grounds adjoining the Petrovski Palace, all close
+to Moscow, large supplies of samovars are kept at the tea-houses, and
+each visitor, or party of visitors, is supplied with one. Indeed,
+the quantity of tea consumed at these suburban retreats in the
+spring and summer is prodigious. In Russia there is no interval
+between winter and spring. As soon as the frost breaks up the grass
+sprouts, the trees blossom, and all nature is alive. In that country
+of extremes there is sometimes as much difference between April and
+May as there is in England between January and June. The summer is
+celebrated by various promenades to the country, which take place
+at Easter, on the first of May, Ascension Day, Trinity Sunday,
+and other occasions. The great majority of these promenades are of
+a festive nature, but some, like that which is made on the 19th of
+May to the monastery and cemetery of the Don, have a penitential, or,
+at least, a mournful character. The samovar, however, is present even
+in the churchyard. I never joined in one of the funeral pilgrimages
+to the Donskoi convent; but in other cemeteries outside Moscow and
+St. Petersburg (intramural burial not being tolerated), I noticed
+that the custodians kept in their lodges a supply of samovars for the
+benefit of visitors. And, after all, what can be more appropriate
+than an urn in a cemetery?
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Between St. Petersburg and Kovno or Tauroggen, there are upwards of
+fifty "stations," at each of which tea can be procured. Travellers
+whose route does not lie along the government post-roads, take
+samovars with them in their carnages; and small samovars that can
+be packed into the narrowest compass are made for the use of officers
+starting on a campaign, and other persons likely to find themselves
+in places where it may be difficult to procure hot water. Small
+tea-caddies are also manufactured with a similar object. Each caddy
+contains one or more glasses; for men among themselves usually drink
+their tea, not out of tea-cups, but out of tumblers. Not many years
+since it was the fashion to give cups to women and tumblers to
+men in the evening; but the tumbler is gradually being banished,
+at least from the drawing-room.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russians never take milk in their tea; they take either cream,
+or a slice of lemon or preserved fruit, or simply sugar without
+the addition of anything else. They hold that milk spoils tea,
+and they are right. Tea with lemon or preserves (forming a kind
+of tea-punch, well worthy the attention of tea-totallers), is only
+taken in the evening. Sometimes the men add rum.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_26">HOW RUSSIA AMUSES ITSELF</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">FRED WHISHAW</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+If I were asked to state what a Russian schoolboy does with his
+spare time after working hours are over, I should be much puzzled
+what to say.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Unfortunately young Russia has not the faintest glimmering of knowledge
+of the practice or even of the existence of such things as football,
+cricket, fives, rackets, golf, athletic sports, hockey, or any other
+of the numerous pastimes which play so important a part in the
+life of every schoolboy in this merry land of England. Therefore
+there is no question, for him, of staying behind at the school
+premises after working hours, in order to take part in any game.
+He goes home; that much is certain; most of his time is loafed
+away&mdash;that, too, is beyond question. He may skate a little,
+perhaps, in the winter, if he happens to live near a skating ground,
+but he will not go far for it; and in the summer, which is holiday
+time for him, from June to September, he walks up and down the
+village street clothed in white calico garments, or plays cup and
+ball in the garden; fishes a little, perhaps, in the river or pond
+if there happen to be one, and lazies his time away without exertion.
+Of late years "lorteneece," as lawn-tennis is called in the Tsar's
+country has been slightly attempted; but it is not really liked:
+too many balls are lost and the rules of the game have never yet
+been thoroughly grasped. A quartette of men will occasionally rig
+up their net, which they raise to about the height of a foot and
+a half, and play a species of battledore and shuttlecock over it
+until the balls disappear; but it is scarcely tennis. As a matter
+of fact, a Russian generally rushes at the ball and misses it; on
+the rare occasions when he strikes the object, he does so with
+so much energy that the ball unless stopped by the adversary's
+eye, or his partner's, disappears forever into "the blue."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Croquet is a mild favourite, too; but it is played very languidly
+and unscientifically.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Most gardens in Russian country houses contain a swing, a rotting
+horizontal bar for the gymnastically (and suicidally) inclined, and
+a giant stride. Occasionally there is a flower-bed in the centre,
+in which our dear old British friend the rhubarb, monopolizes the
+space, and makes a good show as an ornamental plant; for he is
+not known in that benighted country as a comestible, though, of
+course, children are acquainted with and hate him in his medicinal
+capacity. Besides the swings and the rhubarb, there are sand or gravel
+paths; and built out over the dusty road is an open summer-house,
+wherein the Muscovitish householder and his ladies love to sit and
+sip their tea for the greater part of each day&mdash;this being
+their acme of happiness. The dust may lie half-an-inch thick over
+the surface of their tea and bread and butter, but this does not
+detract from the delights of the fascinating occupation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I should point out that in all I have said above, I refer not so
+much to the highest or to the lowest classes of Russian society,
+as to that middle stratum to which belong the families of the
+<i>Chinovnik</i>, of the infantry officer, or the well-to-do merchant.
+The aristocracy amuse themselves very much in the same way as our
+own. They shoot, they loaf and play cards in their clubs, they
+butcher pigeons out of traps, they have their race-meetings, they
+dance much and well; some have yachts of their own. Many of them
+keep English grooms, and their English&mdash;when they speak
+it&mdash;for this reason smacks somewhat of the stable, though
+they are not usually aware that this is the case. If a Russian
+autocrat has succeeded in making himself look like an Englishman,
+and behaves like one, he is happy.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of winter sports&mdash;in which, however, but a small minority
+of the Russian youth care to take part&mdash;there are skating,
+ice-yatching, snow-shoeing, and ice-hilling. The skating ought,
+naturally, to be very good in Russia. As a matter of fact the ice
+is generally dead and lacking in that elasticity and spring which is
+characteristic of our English ice. It is too thick for elasticity,
+though the surface is beautifully kept and scientifically treated
+with a view to skating wherever a space is flooded or an acre or
+two of the Neva's broad bosom is reclaimed to make a skating-ground.
+Some of the Russian amateurs skate marvellously, as also do many of
+the English and other foreign residents. Ice-yachting is confined
+almost entirely to these latter, the natives not having as yet
+awakened to the merits of this fine pastime. Ice-hilling, however,
+at fair-time&mdash;that is, during the carnival week, preceding
+the "long fast" or Lent&mdash;is much practised by the people.
+This is a kind of cross between the switchback and tobogganing,
+and is an exceedingly popular amusement among the English residents
+of St. Petersburg.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Snow-shoeing, again, is a fine and healthful recreation; it is
+the "ski"-running of Norway, and is beloved and much practised by
+all Englishmen who are fortunate enough to be introduced to its
+fascinations. It is too difficult and requires too much exertion,
+however, for young Russia, and that indolent individual, in consequence,
+rarely dons the snow-shoe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russians are a theatre-loving people, and the acting must be
+very good to please their critical taste. Many of their theatres
+are "imperial," that is, the state "pays the piper" if the receipts
+of the theatre so protected do not balance the expenditure. In
+paying for good artists, whether operatic or dramatic, the Russians
+are most lavish, and the Imperial Italian Opera must have been a
+source of considerable expense to the authorities in the days of
+its state endowment.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Nearly every Russian is a natural musician, and cannot only sing in
+tune, but can take a part "by ear." The man with the <i>balaleika</i>,
+or <i>garmonka</i>, is always sure of an admiring audience, whether
+in town or village; and there is not a tiny hamlet in the empire but
+resolves itself, on holidays, into a pair of choral societies&mdash;one
+for male and one for female voices&mdash;which either parade up
+and down the village street, singing, without, of course, either
+conductor or accompaniment, or sit in rows upon the benches outside
+the huts, occupied in a similar manner.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Occasionally, but very rarely, you may see a party of Russian children,
+or young men and women, playing, in the open air, at one of two games.
+The first is a variant of "prisoner's base"; the other is a species
+of ninepins, or skittles, played with a group of uprights at which
+short, thick clubs are thrown. The Russian youth&mdash;those who
+are energetic enough to practise the game&mdash;sometimes attain
+considerable proficiency with these grim little weapons, and make
+wonderful shots at a distance of some thirty yards or so.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+As for the middle-class Russian sportsman, he forms a class by
+himself, and is a very original person indeed, unless taught the
+delights of the chase by an Englishman. In his eyes the be-all and
+end-all of a true sportsman is to purchase the orthodox equipment
+of a green-trimmed coat, Tyrolese hat, and long boots, and to pay
+his subscription to a shooting club. He rarely discharges a gun;
+the rascally thing kicks, he finds; and the birds <i>will</i> fly
+before he can point his weapon at them as they crouch in the heather
+at his feet; of course he is not such a fool as to fire after they
+are up and away. As a rule, however, he goes no farther afield than
+the card-table of the club-house. Why should he? He has bought
+all the clothes; and what more does a man need to be a sportsman?
+I cannot honestly affirm that I ever saw one of these good fellows
+actually fire off a gun; for whenever I have been informed that
+such an event is about to take place, I have always done my best
+to put two or three good miles, or a village or two, between myself
+and the Muscovitish "sportsman."
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_27">THE KIRGHIZ AND THEIR HORSES</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">FRED BURNABY</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The aspect of the country now underwent an entire change. We had
+left all traces of civilization behind us, and were regularly upon
+the Steppes. Not the Steppes as they are described to us in the
+summer months, when hundreds of nomad tribes, like their forefathers
+of old, migrate from place to place, with their families, flocks,
+and herds, and relieve the dreary aspect of this vast flat expanse
+with their picturesque <i>kibitkas</i>, or tents, while hundreds
+of horses, grazing on the rich grass, are a source of considerable
+wealth to the Kirghiz proprietors.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A large dining-table covered with naught but its white cloth is not
+a cheery sight. To describe the country for the next one hundred
+miles from Orsk, I need only extend the table-cover. For here,
+there, and everywhere was a dazzling, glaring sheet of white, as
+seen under the influence of a mid-day sun; then gradually softening
+down as the god of light sunk into the west, it faded into a vast,
+melancholy-looking, colourless ocean. This was shrouded in some
+places from the view by filmy clouds of mist and vapour, which
+rose in the evening air and shaded the wilderness around&mdash;a
+picture of desolation which wearied, by its utter loneliness, and
+at the same time appalled by its immensity; a circle of which the
+centre was everywhere, and the circumference nowhere. Such were
+the Steppes as I drove through them at night-fall or in the early
+morn; and where, fatigued by want of sleep, my eye searched eagerly,
+but in vain, for a station.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+On arriving at the halting-place, which was about twenty-seven
+versts from Orsk, Nazar came to me, and said, "I am very sleepy; I
+have not slept for three nights, and shall fall off if we continue
+the journey."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+When I began to think of it, the poor fellow had a good deal of
+reason on his side. I could occasionally obtain a few moments'
+broken slumber, which was out of the question for him. I felt rather
+ashamed that in my selfishness I had over-driven a willing horse,
+and the fellow had shown first-class pluck when we had to pass
+the night out on the roadside; so, saying that he ought to have
+told me before that he wanted rest, I sent him to lie down, when,
+stretching his limbs alongside the stove, in an instant he was
+fast asleep.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The inspector was a good-tempered, fat old fellow, with red cheeks
+and an asthmatic cough. He had been a veterinary surgeon in a Cossack
+regiment, and consequently his services were much in request with
+the people at Orsk. He informed me that land could be bought on
+these flats for a rouble and a half a <i>desyatin</i> (2,700 acres);
+that a cow cost &pound;3 2s. 6d.; a fat sheep, two years old, 12s.
+6d.; and mutton or beef, a penny per pound. A capital horse could
+be purchased for three sovereigns, a camel for &pound;7 10s., while
+flour cost 1s. 4d. the pood of forty pounds. These were the prices
+at Orsk, but at times he said that provisions could be bought at
+a much lower rate, particularly if purchased from the Tartars
+themselves. The latter had suffered a great deal of late years
+from the cattle-pest, and vaccinating the animals had been tried
+as an experiment, but, according to my informant, with but slight
+success.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Kirghiz themselves have but little faith in doctors or vets.
+It is with great difficulty that the nomads can be persuaded to
+have their children vaccinated; the result is, that when small-pox
+breaks out among them it creates fearful havoc in the population.
+Putting this epidemic out of the question, the roving Tartars are
+a peculiarly healthy race. The absence of medical men does not seem
+to have affected their longevity, the disease they most suffer
+from being ophthalmia, which is brought on by the glare of the snow
+in the winter, and by the dust and heat in the summer months.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The country now began to change its snowy aspect, and party-coloured
+grasses of various hues dotted the Steppes around. The Kirghiz had
+taken advantage of the more benignant weather, and hundreds of
+horses were here and there to be seen picking up what they could
+find. In fact, it is extraordinary how any of these animals manage
+to exist through the winter months, as the nomads hardly ever feed
+them with corn, trusting to the slight vegetation which exists
+beneath the snow. Occasionally the poor beasts perish by thousands,
+and a Tartar who is a rich man one week may find himself a beggar the
+next. This comes from the frequent snow-storms, when the thermometer
+sometimes descends to from forty to fifty degrees below zero,
+Fahrenheit; but more often from some slight thaw taking place for
+perhaps a few hours. This is sufficient to ruin whole districts,
+for the ground becomes covered with an impenetrable coating of
+ice, and the horses simply die of starvation, not being able to
+kick away the frozen substance as they do the snow from the grass
+beneath their hoofs. No horses which I have ever seen are so hardy
+as these little animals, which are indigenous to the Kirghiz Steppes;
+perhaps for the same reason that the Spartans of old excelled all
+other nations in physical strength, but with this difference, that
+nature doles out to the weakly colts the same fate which the Spartan
+parents apportioned to their sickly offspring.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Kirghiz never clothe their horses, even in the coldest winter.
+They do not even take the trouble to water them, the snow eaten
+by the animals supplying this want. Towards the end of the winter
+months the ribs of the poor beasts almost come through their sides;
+but once the snow disappears and the rich vegetation which replaces
+it in the early spring comes up, the animals gain flesh and strength,
+and are capable of performing marches which many people in this
+country would deem impossible, a hundred-mile ride not being at all
+an uncommon occurrence in Tartary. Kirghiz horses are not generally
+well shaped, and cannot gallop very fast, but they can traverse
+enormous distances without water, forage, or halting. When the
+natives wish to perform any very long journey they generally employ
+two horses: on one they carry a little water in a skin, and some
+corn, while they ride the other, changing from time to time, to
+ease the animals.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is said that a Kirghiz chief once galloped with a Cossack escort
+(on two horses) 200 miles in twenty-four hours, the path extending
+for a considerable distance over a mountainous and rocky district.
+The animals, however, soon recovered from the effects of the journey,
+although they were a little lame for the first few days.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+An extraordinary march was made by Count Borkh to the Sam, in May,
+1870. The object of his expedition was to explore the routes across
+the Ust Urt, and if possible to capture some Kirghiz <i>a&aacute;ls</i>
+(villages), which were the headquarters of some marauding bands
+from the town of Kungrad. The Russian officer determined to cross
+the northern Tchink, and by a forced march to surprise the tribes
+which nomadized on the Sam. Up to that time only small Cossack
+detachments had ever succeeded in penetrating to this locality. To
+explain the difficulties to be overcome, it must be observed that
+the Ust Urt plateau is bounded on all sides by a scarped cliff,
+known by the name of the Tchink. It is very steep, attaining in
+some places an elevation of from 400 to 600 feet, and the tracks
+down its rugged sides are blocked up by enormous rocks and loose
+stones. Count Borkh resolved to march as lightly equipped as possible,
+and without baggage, as he wished to avoid meeting any parties of
+the nomad tribes on his road. His men carried three days' rations
+on their saddles, while the artillery took only as many rounds as
+the limber-box would contain. The expedition was made up of 150
+Orenburg Cossacks, sixty mounted riflemen, and a gun, which was
+taken more by way of experiment than for any other reason, the
+authorities being anxious to know if artillery could be transported
+in that direction.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The detachment reached Ak-Tiube in six days without <i>contretemps</i>,
+after a march of 333 miles, and with the loss of only two lame
+horses.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_28">WINTER IN MOSCOW</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russia in the summer is no more like Russia in the winter than a
+camp in time of peace is like a camp in the presence of the enemy.
+Moreover, snow is one of the chief natural productions of the country;
+and without it Russia is as uninteresting as an orchard without fruit.
+One always thinks of Russia in connection with its frosts, and of
+its frosts in connection with such great events as the campaign of
+1812, or the winter of 1854 in the Crimea. Accordingly, a foreigner
+in Russia naturally looks forward to the winter with much interest,
+mingled perhaps with a certain amount of awe. He waits for it,
+in fact, as a man waits for a thief, expecting the visitor with
+a certain kind of apprehension, and not without a due provision
+of life-preservers in the shape of goloshes, seven-leagued boots,
+scarves, fur coats, etc.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The house I lived in was in the middle of Moscow; and with the
+exception of the stoves, the internal arrangement seemed like that
+of most other dwellings in Europe. The Russian stoves, however, are,
+in fact, thick hollow party-walls, built of brick, and sometimes
+separating, or connecting, as many as three or four rooms, and
+heating them all from one common centre. The outer sides of these
+lofty intramural furnaces are usually faced with a kind of white
+porcelain, though in some houses they are papered like the rest
+of the wall, so that the presence of the stove is only known in
+summer by two or three apertures like port-holes, which have been
+made for the purpose of admitting the hot air, and which, when
+there is no heat within, are closed with round metal covers like
+the tops of canisters. Sometimes, especially in country houses,
+the stove, or <i>peitchka</i> as it is called, is not only a wall,
+but a wall which, towards the bottom, projects so as to form a kind
+of dresser or sofa, and which the lazier of the inmates use not
+infrequently in the latter capacity. In the huts the <i>peitchka</i>
+is almost invariably of this form; and the peasants not only lie and
+sleep upon it as a matter of course, but even get inside and use
+it as a bath. Not that they fill their stoves with water&mdash;that
+would be rather difficult. But the Russian bath is merely a room
+paved with stone slabs and heated like an oven, in which the bather
+stands to be rubbed and lathered, and to have buckets of water poured
+over him, or thrown at him, by naked attendants; and accordingly a
+stove makes an excellent bath on a small scale. As a general rule,
+every row of huts has one or more baths attached to it, which the
+inhabitants support by subscription; but when this is not the case,
+the peasant, after carefully raking out the ashes, creeps into the
+hot <i>peitchka</i>, and is soon bathed in his own perspiration.
+He would infallibly be baked alive but for the pailfuls of water
+with which he soon begins to cool his heated skin. Thanks, however,
+to this precaution, he issues from the fiery furnace uninjured,
+and, it is to be hoped, benefited.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 817px;">
+<a name="fig_32">
+<img src="images/fig032.jpg" width="817" height="555" alt="Fig. 32" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE RED SQUARE, MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+When a stove is being heated, the port-holes are kept carefully
+shut, to prevent the egress of carbonic-acid gas. But after the
+wood has become thoroughly charred, and every vestige of flame
+has disappeared, the chimney is closed on a level with the garret
+floor, the covers are removed from the apertures in the side of
+the stove, and the hot air is allowed to penetrate freely into the
+room; which, if enough wood has been put into the <i>peitchka</i>,
+and the lid of the chimney closes hermetically, will, by this one
+fire, be kept warm for twelve or fourteen hours.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Occasionally it happens that the port-holes are opened while there
+still flickers a little blue flame above the whitening embers. In
+this case there is death in the stove. The carbonic-acid gas, which
+is still proceeding from the burning charcoal, enters the room, and
+produces asphyxia, or at all events some of its symptoms. If you
+have not time, or if you are already too weak, to open the door
+when you find yourself attacked by <i>ougar</i> (as the Russians
+call this gas), you had better throw the first thing you have at
+hand through the window; and the cold air, rushing rapidly into the
+room, will save you. A foreigner unaccustomed to the hot apartments
+of Russia will scarcely perceive the presence of <i>ougar</i> until
+he is already seriously affected by it; and in this manner the son
+of the Persian ambassador lost his life, some years since, in one
+of the principal hotels of Moscow. A native, however, if the stove
+should chance to be "covered" before the wood is thoroughly charred,
+will detect the presence of the fatal gas almost instantaneously;
+and having done so, the best remedy he can adopt for the headache
+and sickness, which even then will inevitably follow, is to rush
+into the open air, and cool his temples by copious applications
+of snow. Persons who are almost insensible from the effect of
+<i>ougar</i> have to be carried out and rolled in the snow,&mdash;a
+process which speedily restores them to their natural condition.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+One morning there was a fall of snow; and the cream was brought
+in from the country in jars wrapped carefully round with matting
+to prevent its freezing. Hundreds of cabbages and thousands of
+potatoes, similarly protected, were purchased and stowed away.
+Furlongs of wood (in Russia wood is sold by the foot), were laid
+up in the courtyard; an inspector of stoves arrived to see that
+every <i>peitchka</i> was in proper working order; and an examiner
+and fitter-in of windows was summoned to adjust the usual extra
+sash. At last the windows had been made fast, each pane being at
+the same time reputtied into its frame. On the window-sill, in the
+space between the outer and inner panes, was something resembling
+a long deep line of snow, which was, however, merely a mass of
+cotton-wool placed there as an additional protection against the
+external air. Indeed, the winds of the Russian winter have such
+powers of penetration that, in a room guarded by <i>triple</i>
+windows, besides shutters closed with the greatest exactness, I
+have seen the curtains slightly agitated when the howling outside
+was somewhat louder than usual. "The wind," says Gregorovitch in his
+<i>Winter's Tale</i>, "howls like a dog; and like a dog will bite
+the feet and calves of those who have not duly provided themselves
+with fur-goloshes and doubly-thick pantaloons." Such a wind must not
+be suffered to intrude into any house intended to be habitable.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Besides the cotton-wool, which is a special provision against draughts,
+the space between the two sashes is usually adorned with artificial
+flowers; indeed, the fondness of the Russians for flowers and green
+leaves during the winter is remarkable. The corridors are converted
+into greenhouses, by means of trellis-work covered with creepers. The
+windows of many of the apartments are encircled by evergreens, and
+in the drawing-rooms, flower-stands form the principal ornaments. At
+the same time enormous sums are paid for bouquets from the hot-houses
+which abound in both the capitals. Doubtless the long winters have
+some share in the production of this passion for flowers and green
+plants, just as love of country is increased by exile, and love
+of liberty by imprisonment.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There are generally at least two heavy snow-storms by way of warning
+before winter fairly commences its reign. The first fall of snow
+thaws perhaps a few days afterwards, the second in about a week,
+the third in five months. If a lady drops her bracelet or brooch
+in the street during the period of this third fall, she need not
+trouble herself to put out handbills offering a reward for its
+discovery, at all events not before the spring; for it will be
+preserved in its hiding-place, as well as ice can preserve it,
+until about the middle of April, when, if the amount of the reward
+be greater than the value of the article lost, it will in all
+probability be restored to her. The Russians put on their furs at
+the first signs of winter, and the sledges make their appearance
+in the streets as soon as the snow is an inch or two thick. Of
+course at such a time a sledge is far from possessing any advantage
+over a carriage on wheels; but the Russians welcome their appearance
+with so much enthusiasm, that the first sledge-drivers are sure of
+excellent receipts for several days. The <i>droshkies</i> disappear
+one by one with the black mud of autumn; and by the time the gilt
+cupolas of the churches, and the red and green roofs of the houses,
+have been made whiter than their own walls, the city swarms with
+sledges. It is not, however, until near Christmas, when the "frost
+of St. Nicholas" sets in, that they are seen in all their glory.
+The earlier frosts of October and November mayor may not be attended
+to without any very dangerous results ensuing; but when the frigid
+St. Nicholas makes his appearance,&mdash;staying the most rapid
+currents, forming bridges over the broadest rivers, and converting
+seas into deserts of ice,&mdash;then a blast from his breath, if
+not properly guarded against, may prove fatal.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It has been said that it is not until the <i>Nik&ograve;lskoi Maros</i>,
+or Frost of St. Nicholas, that the sledges fly through the streets in
+all their glory. By that time the rich "boyars"[1] (as foreigners
+persist in styling the Russian proprietors of the present day),
+have arrived from their estates, and the poor peasants, who have
+long ceased to till the ground, and have not thrashed all the corn,
+begin to come in from theirs; for, humble and dependent as he may
+be, each peasant has nevertheless his own patch of land. For the
+former are the elegant sledges of polished nut-wood, with rugs
+of soft, thick fur to protect the legs of the occupants; whose
+drivers, in their green caftans fastened round the waist with red
+sashes, and in their square thickly-wadded caps of crimson velvet,
+like sofa-cushions, urge on the prodigiously fast trotting horses,
+at the same time throwing themselves back in their seats with
+outstretched arms and tightened reins, as though the animals were
+madly endeavouring to escape from their control. The latter bring
+with them certain strongly-made wooden boxes, with a seat at the
+back for two passengers and a perch in front for a driver. These
+boxes are put upon rails, and called sledges. The bottom of each
+box (or sledge), is plentifully strewn with hay, which after a
+few days becomes converted, by means of snow and dirty goloshes,
+into something very like manure. The driver is immediately in front
+of you, with his brass badge hanging on his back like the label
+on a box of sardines. He wears a sheepskin; but it is notorious
+that after ten years' wear the sheepskin loses its odour, besides
+which it is winter, so that your sense of smell has really nothing
+to fear. The one thing necessary is to keep your legs to yourself,
+or at all events not to obtrude them beneath the perch of the driver,
+or you will run the chance of having your foot crushed by that
+gentleman's heel. Sometimes the horse is fresh from the plough,
+and requires a most vigorous application of the driver's thong
+to induce him to quit his accustomed pace; but for the most part
+the animals are willing enough, and as rapid as their masters are
+skilful. The driver is generally much attached to his horse, whom
+he affectionately styles his "dove" or his "pigeon," assuring him
+that although the ground is covered with snow, there is still grass
+in the stable for his <i>galo&ugrave;pchik</i>&mdash;as the favourite
+bird is called, etc., etc.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[Footnote 1: It would be equally correct to speak of the English
+nobility of the present day as "the barons."]
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+As for the real pigeons and doves, they are to be found
+everywhere,&mdash;on the belfries of the churches, in the courtyards
+of the houses, in the streets blocking up the pavement, and above
+all, beneath the projecting edges of the roofs, where you may see
+them clustering in long deep lines like black cornices.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At home we associate snow with darkness and gloom; but, when once
+the snow has fallen, the sky of Moscow is as bright and as blue as
+that of Italy; the atmosphere is clear and pure; the sun shines for
+several hours in the day with a brightness from which the reflection
+of the snow becomes perfectly dazzling; and if the frost be intense,
+there is not a breath of wind. The breath that really does attract
+your notice is that of the pedestrians, who appear to be blowing
+forth columns of smoke or steam into the rarefied atmosphere, and
+who look like so many walking chimneys or human locomotives. And if
+breath looks like smoke, smoke itself looks almost solid. Rise early,
+when the fires are being lighted which are to heat the stoves through
+the entire day, and if the thermometer outside your window marks
+more than 15&deg;, you will see the grey columns rising heavily into
+the air, until at a certain height the smoke remains stationary, and
+hangs in clouds above the houses. Looking from some great elevation,
+such as the tower of Ivan Veliki in the Kremlin, you see these
+clouds beneath you, agitated like waves, and forming a kind of
+nebulous sea, which is, however, soon taken up by the surrounding
+atmosphere.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It is astonishing how much cold one can support when the sky is
+bright and the sun shining; certainly ten or fifteen degrees more
+by R&eacute;aumur's thermometer, than when the day is dark and
+gloomy. And the effect is the same on all. On one of these fine
+frosty days there is unwonted cheerfulness in the look, unwonted
+energy in the movements of everyone you meet. If there were the
+slightest wind with so keen a temperature, you would feel, every
+time it grazed your face, as if you were being shaved with a blunt
+razor,&mdash;for to be cut with a sharp one is comparatively nothing.
+But the air is calm; and as the day exhilarates you generally, it
+makes you walk more briskly than you are in the habit of doing
+in your <i>shouba</i> of cloth, wadding, and fur; and the result
+is, you are so warm and so surrounded by sunshine, that, but for
+seeing the cold, you might fancy yourself on the shores of the
+Mediterranean instead of on the banks of the Moskva, which is now
+a long, shiny, serpent-like path of ice. In London, on a damp,
+foggy, sunless winter's day, when the thermometer is not quite down
+to freezing-point, the system is so depressed by the atmosphere
+and the cheerless aspect of the streets, that you feel the cold
+more acutely than you would do on a sunshiny morning in Moscow
+with ten degrees of frost. In St. Petersburg, where the winter
+sun is, "as in northern climes, but dimly bright," and where the
+city is frequently enveloped in a mist (which is, however, ethereal
+vapour compared to the opaque fogs of London), the cold is, on the
+same principle, more severely felt than in Moscow. Nevertheless,
+in St. Petersburg people go about far more lightly clad than in the
+more southern towns of the empire,&mdash;for St. Petersburg is half
+a foreign city, and the numerous pedestrians have found it necessary
+to reject the ponderous <i>shouba</i> for a long wadded paletot
+with a fur-collar. The real Russian <i>shouba</i> is undoubtedly
+very warm; for it enables the Moscow merchant to go upon 'Change,
+which in the old capital, during the coldest weather, is held in
+the open air.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In considering the advantages and disadvantages of a Russian winter,
+one should not forget the question of rain. It is evident, then,
+that where there is frost there can be no rain; and accordingly,
+for nearly six months in the year, you can dispense altogether
+with that most unpleasant encumbrance, the umbrella. For it must
+be remembered that in Russia the snow does not fall in the soft
+feathery flakes to which we are accustomed in the more temperate
+latitudes. It comes down in showers of microscopic darts, which,
+instead of intercepting the light of the sun, like the arrows of
+Xerxes' army, glitter and sparkle in the rays as they reflect them
+in every direction. The minute crystals, or rather crystalline
+fragments, can be at once shaken from the collars of fur, on the
+points of which they hang like needles, but above all like Epsom
+salts; and on the cloth of the men's <i>shoubas</i> and the satin
+of the women's cloaks they have scarcely any hold.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The most pleasant time of the whole winter is during the moonlight
+nights, when the wind is still and the snow deep on the ground. In
+the streets the sparkling <i>trottoir</i>, which appears literally
+paved with diamonds, is as hard as the agate floor of the Cathedral
+of the Annunciation in the Kremlin. In the country, where alone you
+can enjoy the night in all its beauty, the frozen surface crunches,
+but scarcely sinks, beneath the sledge, as your <i>troika</i> tears
+along the road as fast as the centre horse can trot and the two
+outsiders gallop. For it is a peculiarity of the <i>troika</i>
+that the three horses that constitute it are harnessed abreast;
+and that while the one in the shafts, whose head is upheld by a
+bow, with a little bell suspended from the top, is trained to trot,
+and never to leave that pace, however fast he may be driven, the
+two who are harnessed outside must gallop, even if they gallop but
+six miles an hour; though it is far more likely that they will be
+called upon to do twelve. Lastly, the <i>troika</i> must present
+a fan-like front; to produce which the driver tightens the outside
+reins till the heads of the outriggers stand out at an angle of
+forty or fifty degrees from that of the horse in the shafts. At
+the same time the centre horse trots with his head high in the
+air, while the two who have their existences devoted to galloping
+have their noses depressed towards the ground, like bulls running
+at a dog.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There may be enough moonlight to read by when the moon itself is
+obscured by clouds. But if it shines directly on the white ermine-like
+snow, which covers the vast plains like an interminable carpet, the
+atmosphere becomes full of light, and the night in its brightness,
+its solitude, and its silence, broken only by the bells of some
+distant team, reminds you of the calmness of an unusually quiet
+and beautiful day. As you turn away from the main road towards
+the woods, you pass groups of tall slender birch-trees, with their
+white silvery bark, and their delicate thread-like fibres hanging
+in frozen showers from the ends of the branches, and clothing the
+birch with a kind of icy foliage, while the other trees remain
+bare and ragged. The birch is eminently a winter tree, and its
+tresses of fibres, whether petrified and covered with crystal by
+the frost, or waving freely in the breeze which has stripped them
+of their snow, are equally ornamental. The ground is strewed with
+the shadows of the trees, traced with exquisite fineness on the
+white snow, from which these lunar photographs stand forth with
+wonderful distinctness. To drive out with an indefinite number of
+<i>troikas</i> to some village in the environs, or to the first
+station on one of the Government roads, is a common mode of spending
+a fine winter's night, and one which is equally popular in Moscow
+and St. Petersburg. These excursions, which always partake more or
+less of the nature of a picnic, form one of the chief pleasures
+of the cold season. Of course such expeditions also take place
+during the day, but, whatever the hour of the departure, if there
+happen to be a moon that night, the return is sure not to take
+place before it has made its appearance.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_29">A JOURNEY BY SLEIGH</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">FRED BURNABY</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"Bring out another sleigh," said my friend. "How the wind cuts!
+does it not?" he continued, as the breeze, whistling against our
+bodies, made itself felt in spite of all the precautions we had
+taken. The vehicle now brought was broader and more commodious than
+the previous one, which, somewhat in the shape of a coffin, seemed
+especially designed so as to torture the occupants, particularly
+if, like my companion and self, they should happen to be endowed
+by nature with that curse during a sleigh journey&mdash;however
+desirable appendages they may be when in a crowd&mdash;long legs.
+Three horses abreast, their coats white with pendent icicles and
+hoar-frost, were harnessed to the sleigh; the centre animal was in
+the shafts and had his head fastened to a huge wooden head-collar,
+bright with various colors. From the summit of the head-collar was
+suspended a bell, while the two outside horses were harnessed by
+cord traces to splinter-bars attached to the sides of the sleigh.
+The object of all this is to make the animal in the middle trot at
+a brisk pace, while his two companions gallop, their necks arched
+round in a direction opposite to the horse in the centre, this
+poor beast's head being tightly reined up to the head-collar.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A well-turned-out <i>troika</i> with three really good horses,
+which get over the ground at the rate of twelve miles an hour,
+is a pretty sight to witness, particularly if the team has been
+properly trained, and the outside animals never attempt to break
+into a trot, while the one in the shafts steps forward with high
+action; but the constrained position in which the horses are kept
+must be highly uncomfortable to them, and one not calculated to
+enable a driver to get as much pace out of his animals as they
+could give him if harnessed in another manner.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Off we went at a brisk pace, the bell dangling from our horse's
+head-collar, and jingling merrily at every stride of the team.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The sun rose high in the heavens: it was a bright and glorious
+morning in spite of the intense cold, and the amount of oxygen we
+inhaled was enough to elevate the spirits of the most dyspeptic of
+mankind. Presently, after descending a slight declivity, our Jehu
+turned sharply to the right; then came a scramble and a succession of
+jolts and jerks as we slid down a steep bank, and we found ourselves
+on what appeared to be a broad high-road. Here the sight of many
+masts and shipping which, bound in by the fetters of a relentless
+winter, would remain imbedded in the ice till the ensuing spring,
+showed me that we were on the Volga. It was an animated spectacle,
+this frozen highway, thronged with peasants who strode beside their
+sledges, which were bringing cotton and other goods from Orenburg
+to the railway. Now a smart <i>troika</i> would dash by us, its
+driver shouting as he passed, when our Jehu, stimulating his steeds
+by loud cries and frequent applications of the whip, would vainly
+strive to overtake his brother coachman. Old and young alike seemed
+like octogenarians, their short thick beards and mustaches being
+white as hoar-frost from the congealed breath. According to all
+accounts the river had not been long frozen, and till very recently
+steamers laden with corn from Southern Russia had plied between
+Sizeran and Samara. The price of corn is here forty copecks the
+pood of forty pounds, while the same quantity at Samara could be
+purchased for eighteen copecks. An iron bridge was being constructed
+a little farther down the Volga. Here the railroad was to pass,
+and it was said that in two years' time there would be railway
+communication, not only between Samara and the capital, but even
+as far as Orenburg.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Presently the scenery became very picturesque as we raced over the
+glistening surface, which flashed like a burnished cuirass beneath
+the rays of the rising sun. Now we approach a spot where seemingly
+the waters from some violent blast or other had been in a state
+of foam and commotion, when a stern frost transformed them into a
+solid mass. Pillars and blocks of the shining and hardened element
+were seen modelled into a thousand quaint and grotesque patterns.
+Here a fountain, perfectly formed with Ionic and Doric columns,
+was reflecting a thousand prismatic hues from the diamond-like
+stalactites which had attached themselves to its crest. There a
+huge obelisk, which, if of stone, might have come from ancient
+Thebes, lay half buried beneath a pile of fleecy snow. Farther
+on we came to what might have been a Roman temple or vast hall in
+the palace of a C&aelig;sar, where many half-hidden pillars and
+monuments erected their tapering summits above the piles of the
+<i>d&eacute;bris</i>. The wind had done in that northern latitude
+what has been performed by some violent pre-adamite agency in the
+Berber desert. Take away the ebon blackness of the stony masses
+which have been there cast forth from the bowels of the earth, and
+replace them on a smaller scale by the crystal forms I have faintly
+attempted to describe, and the resemblance would be striking.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Now we came to some fishing-huts, which were constructed on the
+frozen river, the traffic in the finny tribe which takes place in
+this part of Russia being very great, the Volga producing the sterlet
+(a fish unknown in other rivers of Europe), in large quantities. I
+have often eaten them, but must say I could never appreciate this
+so-called delicacy. The bones are of a very glutinous nature, and
+can be easily masticated, while the taste of a sterlet is something
+between that of a barbel and a perch, the muddy flavour of the
+former predominating. However, they are an expensive luxury, as,
+to be perfection for the table, they should be taken out of the
+water alive and put at once into the cooking-pot. The distance to
+St. Petersburg from the Volga is considerable, and a good-sized
+fish will often cost from thirty to forty roubles, and sometimes
+even a great deal more.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+We were now gradually nearing our first halting-place, where it
+was arranged that we should change horses. This was a farm-house
+known by the name of Nijnege Pegersky Hootor, twenty-five versts
+distant from Sizeran. Some men were engaged in winnowing corn in a
+yard hard by the dwelling; and the system they employed to separate
+the husks from the grain probably dates from before the flood,
+for, throwing the corn high up into the air with a shovel, they
+let the wind blow away the husks, and the grain descended on to a
+carpet set to catch it in the fall. It was then considered to be
+sufficiently winnowed, and fit to be sent to the mill. The farm-house
+was fairly clean, and, for a wonder, there were no live animals
+inside the dwelling. It is no uncommon thing in farm-houses in
+Russia to find a calf domesticated in the sitting-room of the family,
+and this more particularly during the winter months. But here the
+good housewife permitted no such intruders, and the boards were
+clean and white, thus showing that a certain amount of scrubbing
+was the custom.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The habitation, which was of a square shape, and entirely made of
+wood, contained two good-sized but low rooms, a large stove made
+of dried clay being so arranged as to warm both the apartments.
+A heavy wooden door on the outside of the building gave access to
+a small portico, at the other end of which there was the customary
+<i>obraz</i>, or image, which is to be found in almost every house
+in Russia. These <i>obrazye</i> are made of different patterns, but
+generally take the form of a picture of saints or of the Trinity.
+They are executed in silver-gilt or brass relief, and adorned with
+tawdry fringe or other gewgaws. The repeated bows and crosses made by
+the peasantry before these idols is very surprising to an Englishman,
+who may have been told that there is little difference between the
+Greek religion and his own; but if this is the case, the sooner
+the second commandment is omitted from our service, the better. It
+may be said that the Russian peasantry only look upon these images
+as symbols, and that in reality they are praying to the living God.
+Let any one who indulges in this delusion travel in Russia and
+talk to the inhabitants with reference to the <i>obrazye</i>, or
+go to Kief at the time of a pilgrimage to the mummified saints
+in that sanctuary, and I think he will then say that no country
+in the world is so imbued with superstitious credences as Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Above the stove, which was about five feet high, a platform of
+boards had been erected at a distance of about three feet from
+the ceiling. This was the sleeping resort of the family, and
+occasionally used for drying clothes during the day. The Russian
+<i>moujik</i> likes this platform more than any other part of the
+habitation, and his great delight is to lie there and perspire
+profusely, after which he finds himself the better able to resist
+the cold of the elements outside. The farm-house in which I now found
+myself had cost in building two hundred roubles, about twenty-six
+pounds of our money, and her home was a source of pride to the good
+housewife, who could read and write, an accomplishment not often
+possessed by the women of this class in the province of Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+By this time our former team had been replaced by three fresh horses,
+and the driver who was to accompany us had nearly finished making
+his own preparations for the sleigh journey. Several long bands
+of cloth, first carefully warmed at the stove, were successively
+wound round his feet, and then, having put on a pair of thick boots
+and stuffed some hay into a pair of much larger dimensions, he
+drew the latter on as well, when, with a thick sheep-skin coat,
+cap, and <i>vashlik</i>, he declared that he was ready to start.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The cold was very intense when we quitted the threshold, and the
+thermometer had fallen several degrees during the last half-hour;
+the wind had also increased, and it howled and whistled against the
+eaves of the farm-house, bearing millions of minute snowy flakes
+before it in its course. Presently the sound of a little stamping on
+the bottom of the sleigh announced to me that the cold had penetrated
+to my companion's feet, and that he was endeavouring to keep up the
+circulation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Very soon that so-called "pins-and-needles" sensation, recalling
+some snow-balling episodes of my boyish days, began once more to make
+itself felt, and I found myself commencing a sort of double-shuffle
+against the boards of the vehicle. The snow was falling in thick
+flakes, and with great difficulty our driver could keep the track,
+his jaded horses sinking sometimes up to the traces in the rapidly
+forming drifts, and floundering heavily along the now thoroughly
+hidden road. The cracks of his whip sounded like pistol-shots against
+their jaded flanks, and volumes of invectives issued from his lips.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"Oh, sons of animals!"&mdash;[whack].
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"Oh, spoiled one!"&mdash;[whack]. This to a brute which looked as
+if he never had eaten a good feed of corn in his life. "Oh, woolly
+ones!" [whack! whack! whack!].
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"O Lord God!" This as we were all upset into a snowdrift, the sleigh
+being three parts overturned, and our Jehu precipitated in the
+opposite direction.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"How far are we from the next halting-place?" suddenly inquired
+my companion, with an ejaculation which showed that even his good
+temper had given way under the cold and our situation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"Only four versts, one of noble birth," replied the struggling Jehu,
+who was busily engaged endeavouring to right the half-overturned
+sleigh. A Russian verst about night-fall, and under such conditions
+as I have endeavoured to point out to the reader, is an unknown
+quantity. A Scotch mile and a bit, an Irish league, a Spanish
+<i>legua</i>, or the German <i>stunde</i>, are at all times calculated
+to call forth the wrath of the traveller, but in no way equal to the
+first-named division of distance. For the verst is barely two-thirds
+of an English mile, and when, after driving yet for an hour, we
+were told that there were still two versts more before we could
+arrive at our halting-place, it began fully to dawn upon my friend
+that either our driver's knowledge of distance, or otherwise his
+veracity, was at fault.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At last we reached a long, struggling village, formed of houses
+constructed much in the same way as that previously described, when
+our horses stopped before a detached cottage. The proprietor came
+out to meet us at the threshold. "<i>Samovar, samovar!</i>" (urn),
+said my companion. "Quick, quick! <i>samovar!</i>" and hurrying by
+him, and hastily throwing off our furs, we endeavoured to regain
+our lost circulation beside the walls of a well-heated stove.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russian peasants are not ignorant of the good old maxim that
+the early bird gets the worm, and the few hours' daylight they
+enjoy during the winter months makes it doubly necessary for them
+to observe this precept. We were all up a good hour before sunrise,
+my companion making the tea, while our driver was harnessing the
+horses, but this time not three abreast, for the road was bad and
+narrow; so we determined to have two small sleighs with a pair of
+horses to each, and put our luggage in one vehicle while we travelled
+in the other.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Off we went, a motley crew. First, the unwashed peddler who had
+wished to be my companion's bedfellow the night before; then our
+luggage sleigh; and, finally, my friend and self, who brought up
+the rear, with a careful eye upon our effects, as the people in
+that part of the country were said to have some difficulty in
+distinguishing between <i>meum</i> and <i>tuum</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The sun was bright and glorious, and in no part of the world hitherto
+visited have I ever seen aurora in such magnificence. First, a pale
+blue streak, gradually extending over the whole of the eastern
+horizon, arose like a wall barring the unknown beyond; then, suddenly
+changing colour until the summit was like lapis-lazuli, and its
+base a sheet of purple waves of grey and crystal, radiating from
+the darker hues, relieved the eye, appalled by the vastness of
+the barrier; the purple foundations were in turn upheaved by a
+sea of fire, which dazzled the eye with its glowing brilliancy,
+and the wall of colours floating in space broke up into castles,
+battlements, and towers, which were wafted by the breeze far away
+from our view. The sea of flame meanwhile had lighted up the whole
+horizon; the eye quailed beneath the glare. The snowy carpet at
+our feet reflected like a camera the wonderful panorama overhead.
+Flakes of light in rapid succession bound earth to sky, until the
+globe of sparkling light arising from the depths of this ocean of
+flame dimmed into insignificance the surroundings of the picture.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Presently a sudden check and exclamation of our Jehu told us that
+the harness had given way, and a conversation, freely interlarded
+with epithets exchanged between the driver and the peddler, showed
+that there was decidedly a difference of opinion between them. It
+appeared that the man of commerce was the only one of the party
+who knew the road, and having discovered this fact, he determined
+to make use of his knowledge by refusing to show the way unless
+the proprietor of the horses who drove the vehicle containing our
+luggage would abate a little from the price he had demanded for
+the hire of the horse in the peddler's sleigh. "A bargain is a
+bargain!" cried our driver, wishing to curry favour with his master,
+now a few yards behind him. "A bargain is a bargain. Oh, thou son
+of an animal, drive on!" "It is very cold," muttered my companion.
+"For the sake of God," he shouted, "go on!" But neither the allusion
+to the peddler's parentage nor the invocation of the Deity had
+the slightest effect upon the fellow's mercenary soul.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+"I am warm, and well wrapped up," he said; "it is all the same to
+me if we wait here one hour or ten;" and with the most provoking
+indifference he commenced to smoke, not even the manner in which
+the other drivers aspersed the reputation of his mother appearing
+to have the smallest effect. At last the proprietor, seeing it
+was useless holding out any longer, agreed to abate somewhat from
+the hire of the horse, and once more the journey continued over a
+break-neck country, though at anything but a break-neck pace, until
+we reached the station&mdash;a farm-hause&mdash;eighteen versts
+from our sleeping quarters, and, as we were informed, forty-five
+from Samara.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_30">RUSSIAN ARCHITECTURE</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">EUG&Egrave;NE EMMANUEL VIOLLET-LE-DUC</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russian people, composed of diverse elements in which the Sclav
+predominated at the moment when that vast empire began to be established
+under great princes and amid incessant struggle, was in too close
+communication with Byzantium not to have been to a certain extent
+in submission to Byzantine art; but nevertheless each of these
+elements was in possession of certain notions of art which we must
+not neglect.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Sclavs, like the Varangians, knew scarcely anything but construction
+by wood, but at a comparatively early period they had already carried
+the art of carpentry very far, and in many different channels.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Sclavs (as extant traditions show), proceeded by piles in their
+wooden buildings: and the Scandinavians resorted to joining and
+dove-tailing. Thus, the latter early attained great skill in naval
+construction.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+These two methods of construction in wood have persisted till the
+present day, which fact is easily established on examining the
+rural dwellings of Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Sclavs, moreover, as well as the Varangians, possessed certain
+art expressions which denote an Asiatic origin.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Even in Byzantine art, so far as ornamentation is concerned, there
+were origins that were evidently common to those that are felt in
+the Sclav arts; and these original elements are again found in
+Central Asia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+That ornamentation, composed of interlacings and conventional floral
+motives, dry and metallic, which was adopted at Byzantium, where it
+very soon destroyed the last vestiges of Roman art, also appears
+on the most ancient monuments of the Sclavs, and even on objects
+that in France are attributed to the Merovingians, that is to say,
+the Franks who came from the shores of the Baltic.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Thus, Russia was to take her arts, as regards ornamentation, from
+branches that are far apart from one another in time and distance,
+but which sprang from a common trunk.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+About the Tenth Century, the Russian buildings were of wood; all
+texts agree on this point, and consequently these constructions
+could have no part in Byzantine architecture, which does not recall
+even the traditions of carpentry work.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Towards the Eleventh Century, when the Russians began to build
+religious edifices of masonry, the structure of which, particularly
+in the vaulting, is inspired by Byzantine art, they adapted to this
+structure, together with a sensibly modified Byzantine garb, an
+ornamentation, derived from Asiatic, Sclavic and Turanian elements
+in variable, that is to say local, proportions.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 554px;">
+<a name="fig_33">
+<img src="images/fig033.jpg" width="554" height="831" alt="Fig. 33" /></a>
+<p class="image">CHURCH OF THE REDEMER, MOSCOW.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+For at least three centuries, Byzantium was the great school sought
+by the Latin, Visigothic and Germanic nations of Europe for art
+teaching, and it was not till the end of the Twelfth Century that
+the French broke away from these traditions. Their example was
+followed in Italy, England and Germany more or less successfully.
+Russia held aloof from these attempts: she was too closely identified
+with Byzantine art to try any other course; it may be said that she
+was the guardian of that art, and was to carry on its traditions
+by mingling with it elements due to the Asiatic Sclavic genius.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+All the dominant elements in Russian art, whether they come from
+the north or south, belong to Asia. Iranians or Persians, Indians,
+Turanians, or Mongols have furnished tribute, though in unequal
+quantities, to this art.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+It may also be said that if Russia has borrowed much from Byzantium,
+the art elements among her population have not been without influence
+upon the formation of Byzantine art. We think even that the influence
+of Byzantine upon Russian art has been greatly exaggerated, and
+that Persia may have had at least as much effect upon the course
+of art in Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+However, we must except everything pertaining to images. But even
+here Asiatic influence makes itself felt, not in the form, but in
+the preservation of the types. The imagery of the Greek school
+has never gone out of favour in Russia, and it still holds its
+place there in the representation of holy personages. In this,
+Russia shows her attachment to tradition, as all the Asiatic races
+do, and shows how little her intimate sentiments have suffered
+modification.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russians avoided the influence of the Iconoclasts which was
+felt so violently in the Western Empire in the Eighth Century, and
+later still in various parts of Western Europe; among the Vaudois
+and Albigenses in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Century, the Hussites
+in the Fifteenth, and the Reformers in the Sixteenth.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+But if Russian architecture and ornamentation show marked originality,
+this does not seem to be the case with the representation of holy
+personages. These remain Byzantine. It was the school of Mount
+Athos that supplied Russia with the types, as it did to almost all
+the Greek Christians of the Orient.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In these representations, we have difficulty in finding a tendency
+towards realism, which, morever, does not appear till quite late,
+and does not come to full bloom.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In Russian art, it is possible to find a few Scandinavian traces,
+or, to be more exact, in the arts of Scandinavia we find some elements
+borrowed from the same sources whence the Russians took theirs.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russia has been one of the laboratories in which the arts, brought
+from all parts of Asia, have been united to adopt an intermediate
+form between the Eastern and the Western world.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Geographically, she was favourably placed to gather together these
+influences; and, ethnologically, she was entirely prepared to assimilate
+these arts and develop them. If she has stopped short in this work,
+it was only at a very recent period, and when repudiating her origin
+and traditions, she tried to become Western, in spite of her own
+genius.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the first place, the oldest religious edifices of Russia affect
+slender forms, in elevation, which distinguishes them from the
+purely Byzantine buildings.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Evidently, the Russians, from the Twelfth Century on, employed
+in their religious edifices a geometrical plan that was different
+from that employed by the Byzantine architects, but one very close
+to that admitted by the architects of Greece during the early years
+of the Middle Ages.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In Georgia and Armenia, a number of ancient churches, the majority
+of which are very small, are also of this character. But, while
+submitting to these dispositions, as soon as they adopted masonry
+instead of wood for building, the Russians gave quite individual
+proportions to their religious edifices.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+By the Fifteenth Century, Russia had combined all the various elements
+by the aid of which a national art should be constituted. To
+recapitulate these origins: We find already among the Scythians
+some elements of art fairly well developed, foreign to Greek art
+and derived from Oriental tradition. Byzantium, in constant contact
+with the people of Southern Russia, made its arts felt there; but in
+the North, some slight Finnish influences and then some Scandinavian
+ones, make themselves felt. From Persia likewise, Russia received
+impulses in art, on account of her commercial relations with that
+country through Georgia and Armenia. In the Thirteenth Century,
+the Tartar-Mongol domination was imposed upon Russia, employed
+her artists and craftsmen, and thus placed her in direct contact
+with that Medi&aelig;val Orient that was so mighty and so brilliant
+in all its art productions.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+At length left to herself, in the Fifteenth Century, Russia constituted
+her own art from these various sources. But this variety of sources
+is more apparent than real. It is enough to examine Scythian
+ornamentation to recognize that it is of a pronounced Indo-Oriental
+character. Byzantine taste has exerted a preponderating influence
+upon Russia. But it has been recognized that this Byzantine style
+is itself composed of very varied elements among which figure most
+largely the art of Eastern Asia, and that from this Byzantine art
+Russia likes to appropriate the Asiatic side in particular.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+So that we may regard Russian art as composed of elements borrowed
+from the Orient to the almost complete exclusion of all others.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Moreover, if we follow the streams of art to their sources, we soon
+come to recognize that the tributaries are not at all numerous.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In the matter of architecture, there are only two principles: structure
+by wood and concrete structure: grottoes, and construction with clay,
+and with masonry, which is derived from it. As to construction with
+cut stones, there results, either from a tradition of building
+with wood or from concrete construction, grottoes or conglomerate
+masses, sometimes both, as in Egyptian art, for example.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The innumerable races who issued from the East and finally overwhelmed
+the Roman Empire had preserved from their cradle their own traditions,
+and continued to keep up communication with their old homes. Better
+than any other nation, the Russians preserved these traditions, and
+they were, so to speak, rejuvenated every time a new wave passed
+across their territories; for it was always from the northern or
+southern Orient, from the Ural or the Taurus, that the invaders
+came. Whether they presented themselves as enemies or colonists
+they brought with them something of Asia, the great mother of
+civilizations.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+This Russian art, therefore, was never struck with decadence as
+was the Byzantine art. It did not live solely upon itself, but
+profited by all that was brought from the Orient. So, when the
+Eastern Empire fell during the Fifteenth Century, leaving only
+a pale trace of the last expressions of its arts, Russia, on the
+contrary, was raising edifices and fabricating objects of great
+value from an artistic point of view.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The West had only a small share in these productions, but even
+this was enough to enable Russian art to be distinguished from the
+arts of the East by a certain freedom of conception and variety in
+the execution that rendered it an original product full of promise,
+the developments of which might have been marvellous if the natural
+course of events had not been hindered by the passion with which
+high Russian society threw itself on the works of art of Italy,
+Germany and France.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_31">SCULPTURE AND PAINTING</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">PHILIPPE BERTHELOT</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Western influence was very strongly felt in sculpture and painting
+in Russia during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Narrowly
+confined to the representation of conventional types of saints,
+these arts did not acquire either personality or expression for
+two centuries. It was not until the Eighteenth Century that they
+began to raise statues to the memory of Russia's great men: one
+of the first monuments was consecrated, as was indeed just, to
+Peter the Great, Russia's great reformer; in his lifetime, Count
+Bartolomeo Rastrelli the sculptor, father of the architect, executed
+a <i>Peter the Great on Horseback</i>, which was cast in bronze
+in 1847; but the successors of Peter the Great did not like this
+group which they did not consider sufficiently animated and would
+not allow it to be erected on a public square. Catherine II. had
+Falconet model a <i>Peter the Great</i> mounted on a fiery horse
+climbing up a rock; this bronze group is placed in the centre of
+the Square of Peter the Great on the Neva, at St. Petersburg. Among
+the most celebrated works of Russian sculpture, we may cite the
+bronze monument erected to the memory of Prince Poyarski and the
+butcher Minine on the Red Square, Moscow (by Martoss, rector of the
+Academy of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, in 1888); Lomonossov's monument
+(by Martoss); those of Generals Barclay de Tolly and Koutousov
+(1818-1836 after the model by B. Orlovski, placed in front of the
+Cathedral of Kazan, St. Petersburg); the colossal bust of Alexander
+I. (by Orlovski); the commemorative monument of Alexander I. (1832,
+by Montferrand), with a statue of the Angel of Peace, by Orlovski;
+the statue of Krilov, the fabulist, 1855, by Baron Clodt in the
+Summer Garden, St. Petersburg; an equestrian statue of the emperor
+Nicholas I. (by Clodt, 1859, on the St. Mary square); the monument
+of Novgorod, elevated in memory of the millenary of the Russian
+occupation (1862), in the form of a gigantic bell containing scenes
+from Russian history, by Mikiechin; the monument to Catherine II.
+by Mikiechin, she being represented as surrounded by her generals
+and statesmen (1874, before the Alexander Theatre); the monument to
+Pushkin in Moscow (1830, by Objekuchin and Bogomolov); the monument
+to Bohdan-Chmelnizki, at Kiev (1873, by Mikiechin and other sculptors).
+The principal Russian sculptors are Popov, Antokolski (statue of Ivan
+the Terrible, 1871, in St. Petersburg), Tchichov and E. Lanceray.
+They are characterized by a very pronounced realism that is common
+to all.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russian painting has developed in various directions during the
+last two centuries under the influence of Western Europe; until
+the first half of the Nineteenth Century the imitation of Italian
+painting, the classical French school and the execution of strictly
+academic painting were the three principal paths attempted by the
+Russian artists. But for half a century, art has found a national
+expression for itself. At the end of the Eighteenth and beginning of
+the Nineteenth Century, the principal representatives of religious
+and historical painting were Losenko (died in 1773), Antropov (died
+in 1792), Akimov (died in 1814), Ugriumov (died in 1823), Levizki
+(died in 1822), Ivanov (died in 1823), and Moschov (died in 1839).
+The landscape and marine painters of greatest repute are Sim. and
+Sil. Schtchedrin (the first died in 1804, and the second in 1830),
+Pritchetnikov (died in 1809), F. Alekseiev (died in 1824). Academic
+painting was cultivated principally by Tropinin (died in 1827),
+Warnek (died in 1843), Lebediev (died in 1837), Worobiev (died
+in 1855), K. Rabus (died in 1857), Bruni (died in 1875), Markov
+(died in 1878), A. Beidemann (died in 1869) and Willewalde. The
+chief painter of the romantic school is K. Brullov, who formed
+a school and had numerous scholars. Other romantic painters of
+repute are Bronnikov and various landscape and marine painters
+such as Aivasovski, Bogolnibov, L. Lagorio and A. Mechtcherski.
+Religious and popular painting has A. Ivanov for its representative.
+The principal realistic painters in genre and historical painting
+are Fedotov, Makovski, Perov, Polenor, Vereschagin, etc.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 821px;">
+<a name="fig_34">
+<img src="images/fig034.jpg" width="821" height="522" alt="Fig. 34" /></a>
+<p class="image">STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT AND THE ADMIRALTY PALACE,
+ST. PETERSBURG.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Ornamental sculpture seems to be superior to statuary in Russia:
+it is abundantly practised in the decoration of churches; the
+innumerable chapels standing at the street corners in honour of some
+saint possess icons and lamps of bronze and silver; the iconostases
+of the cathedrals are extremely rich,&mdash;gold, silver-gilt,
+silver, lapis-lazuli, malachite and enamel-work are lavishly employed
+there. In the churches of Saint Isaac and the Saviour there are
+many admirable and veritable <i>chefs d'&oelig;uvre</i> of originality
+and brilliancy to be found. The industry of bronze and goldsmith's
+work in religious objects is very flourishing and gives occupation
+to numerous workmen and artists in Moscow and St. Petersburg. An
+imperial manufactory produces the mosaics which occupy such a great
+place in the decoration of the churches.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Industrial arts are very prosperous in Russia and have made great
+progress during the last century: silken goods are no longer imported
+from Lyons; and the Russian cabinet-makers produce beautiful furniture,
+not only in their national style, but in the purest forms of French
+art of the Louis XV. and Louis XVI. styles. Civil goldsmith's work
+and jewellery have also been benefited by the national Renaissance:
+the Emperor Alexander III. restored to honour the national feminine
+costume for official balls, and ordered works of art to be made
+after the models of the Muscovite style, and indeed even after
+the marvels found in the excavations of the Cimmerian Bosphorus.
+The religious images, particularly those made in Moscow and Kazan,
+come very near being works of art. Numerous manufactories produce
+icons painted on wood or copper, ornamented with reliefs of copper,
+<i>crysocale</i>, silver, silver-gilt and gold. The workmen are
+monks and peasants: each part of the icon&mdash;eyes, nose, mouth,
+hands and feet&mdash;is executed by a specialist who always makes
+the same thing, after the immutable types that the Muscovite convents
+received from Mount Athos.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_32">RUSSIAN MUSIC</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">A. E. KEETON</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russian music is the strangest paradox&mdash;it owes more to the
+music of other countries than any other school, yet no music is
+more thoroughly individual and unmistakable. It clothes itself
+after the form and fashion of its neighbours, but beneath its garb
+peeps out a physiognomy indubitably Sclavonic. Its utterances impress
+us as the most modern&mdash;yet the student who would correctly
+analyze many of its unique characteristics of harmony and modulation
+is often obliged to take a flying leap backwards over a space of
+centuries in order to investigate old Church modes, or Persian and
+Arabian scale systems, both so ancient as to be well-nigh forgotten
+in Western Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Sixty years ago, there was no Russian school of music, properly
+speaking; then suddenly it sprang into being. The wonderful rapidity
+of its growth almost confuses one. Its exponents at once displayed the
+astonishing receptiveness common to their race. <i>D'un trait</i>, as
+the French would say, they appropriated the knowledge and experience
+which the Italian and German schools had been slowly amassing for
+centuries. Technique, form, counterpoint&mdash;all these they found
+ready made to their hand, and borrowed them unstintingly. Had they
+done this and no more, the onlooker might have dismissed them as
+clever plagairists, and probably no one would have paid them any
+further attention. But they had other means at their disposal. Their
+country contained a treasure-house of native melody and rhythm; a
+region albeit which few Russians had hitherto thought it worth their
+while to explore. It is true that, since the middle of the Seventeenth
+Century, tentative excursions had been made in this direction from
+time to time, chiefly, though, by outsiders settled in Russia,
+nor had any of their efforts led to very appreciable results. The
+man who first turned with serious intent to the pent-up musical
+resources of his own country was Michael Ivanovitch Glinka. He had
+sufficient strength of purpose to carry out his designs&mdash;he
+became the founder of the modern Russian school of music and the
+father of Russian opera.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Glinka belonged to a good if not very wealthy family, who lived upon
+their estate in the government of Smolensk, where he was born in 1804.
+From babyhood upwards he delighted his friends and relations by his
+aptitude not for music alone, but also for languages, literature,
+zoology, botany&mdash;in fact, for each and every intellectual pursuit
+which came in his way. The brilliance of his college course in St.
+Petersburg was noteworthy. He quitted it to occupy a civil post
+under Government, a position, however, which he soon abandoned,
+in order to devote himself solely to music. Like so many other men
+of genius, he married a woman quite incapable of comprehending
+his artistic aims and ambitions; to quote the words of a Russian
+writer, Madame Glinka, <i>n&eacute;e</i> Maria Petrovna, "was only a
+pretty doll, who loved society and fine clothes, and had no sympathy
+whatever with her husband's romantic, poetic side." One is glad
+to state that Glinka never had to struggle with poverty. He died
+at Berlin in 1857.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+He did for Russian music what his contemporary, Pushkin, did for
+Russian literature, each in his own department representing a national
+movement. Perhaps it is not too far-fetched a theory to trace this
+movement to the momentous date of 1812, when it fell to the lot
+of Russia to administer the first check in Napoleon's triumphant
+career. Ever since the reign of Peter the Great it had been the
+fashion to ape foreign habits, to speak foreign tongues, to import
+foreign music, to mimic foreign literature. But when a foreign
+invader, who had marched all-conquering through the rest of Europe,
+appeared in serious earnest at the very gates of Moscow, there
+was a rebound: slumbering patriotism awoke with a great shout,
+and, united by a common danger, all classes gathered together for
+the protection of their Tsar and their Kremlin. To have repulsed
+a Napoleon was a mighty deed, which could reveal to the Russians
+of what stuff they were made. It taught them to rely upon each
+other and be strong in themselves; and as the art of a nation is
+invariably the outcome of its history, so the rising generation
+of Russian thinkers looked inwards rather than abroad. Glinka,
+Pushkin, and their followers sought no foreign aid; they represent
+a Russian Renaissance. They were content, indeed, to abide by the
+forms universally adopted elsewhere, but the spirit of their art
+manifestation was Russian to its core. In literature, Pushkin and
+Gogol were never weary of delineating their compatriots in every grade
+of Sclavonic society, whilst Glinka took his musical inspirations
+from his native folk-songs and dance-rhythms&mdash;from the historic
+chronicles of his country or its legendary lore. In reality, the
+foreign influences and environment with which he came so continuously
+into contact served more and more to convince him that Russia in
+her turn had as great a mission in music as any other nation. For
+thirty years the idea was gradually gaining strength in his mind.
+"I want," he said to a friend, "to write an essentially national
+opera both as regards subject and music; something which no foreigner
+can possibly accuse of being borrowed, and which shall come home
+to my compatriots as a part of themselves."
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+His fame depends solely upon the two operas, <i>La Vie pour le
+Tsar</i> and <i>Russlan et Ludmille</i>. That he should have chosen
+to express himself especially in opera is a significant fact. The
+unerring instinct of his genius evidently told him that in this
+form, rather than in purely instrumental music, he would most truly
+represent that people whose musical aspirations he wished above all
+else to portray faithfully, and certainly in opera lay his surest
+way towards enlisting the sympathies of his compatriots. As before
+remarked, one might have imagined that opera would scarcely ally
+itself to his personal individuality; it seems probable, therefore,
+that various salient traits inherent in the Russians as a nation
+must have led him to the choice. First and foremost, any music
+which claims to proceed from the very heart of the Russian people
+must contain a vocal element. So universal a love of singing as
+exists throughout Russia is to be met with in no other country.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+By this one does not mean to infer that Russian cultivated singing,
+either solo or choral, is in any way superior to what is heard
+elsewhere. The Russian peasant knows absolutely nothing about voice
+production, nor, maybe, is he gifted with any unusual vocal material,
+nevertheless, singing is closely bound up with every rural event of
+his cheerless existence. During the last half-century many hundreds
+of the native melodies sung by the Russian country people for
+generations past have been collected and written down by different
+musicians&mdash;Balakireff, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Prokoudin, and Lisenko
+amongst others. The variety of these folk-songs is astonishing. They
+never become monotonous, each song having its distinctive climax,
+and the air always suits the words. Often the untutored singer has
+one melody in his <i>r&eacute;pertoire</i>, but intuitively he
+modifies its strains according to the sentiment of his subject.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+This general love of music applies as much to the noble as to the
+peasant. "Where there is a Sclav there is a Song," says a Sclavonic
+proverb, and no public ceremony or Court function is ever deemed
+complete in Russia without an outburst of singing to heighten its
+impressiveness. There is besides a marked dramatic ingredient in the
+Sclavonic character. The typical Russian loves acting. To discover
+this, it is only necessary to visit a Russian village and witness
+the unconscious presentments of lyric drama or of desolate tragedy
+set forth by the quaint rites of a country wedding or a rustic
+funeral. Or study a Russian legend. It at once impresses you with
+its wealth of dramatic situations most concisely defined. In this,
+the Sclavonic folktale differs radically from its Celtic neighbour.
+A comparison of the two types suggests that the Russian principally
+desires a clear statement of facts; a poetic idea which must be
+extracted from clouds of metaphor conveys but little significance
+to his mind. An innate love of song, an innate love of acting,
+a keen perception of dramatic unity, combined with a passionate
+love of colour and a strong sense of movement&mdash;here surely,
+without any manner of doubt, one has the basis of a well-nigh perfect
+school of opera. Glinka, the cultivated musician, himself a Russian,
+thoroughly appreciated these national qualities; indeed they were part
+and parcel of his birthright. He could assimilate the characteristics
+of his race and merge them into his own very remarkable originality.
+The first product of the combined motors was <i>La Vie pour le
+Tsar</i>, given at St. Petersburg in 1836. Fifty years later it
+had reached its 577th performance, and from all accounts it still
+retains an undiminished popularity.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 817px;">
+<a name="fig_35">
+<img src="images/fig035.jpg" width="817" height="521" alt="Fig. 35" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE THEATER, ODESSA.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+If we dissect this opera and examine its wonderful mastery of technique
+and its depth of musical inspiration, it displays beauties which
+cannot fail to appeal to connoisseurs of every race and school. But
+regarded as a whole, one is inclined to doubt its ever becoming a
+standard work outside its native home. Its true scope and meaning
+can only be justly estimated by a public acquainted with Russia
+herself, with her people, her history and her innermost modes of
+thought.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Glinka attached the highest value to the folk-song, of which, as
+already stated, he found a treasure trove ready to his hand. Nothing,
+though, was further from his thoughts than to employ this material
+in <i>pot-pourri</i> style. Russians themselves are all agreed
+that it would be difficult to select one whole folk-song from any
+single work of Glinka's. It would naturally require a native of
+Russia with an accurate knowledge of these native tunes to tell us
+exactly when and where he used them. He seized their mood. In this
+way he developed every species of Sclavonic folk-song&mdash;Great
+Russian, Little Russian, Circassian, Polish, Finnish&mdash;with a
+passing flavour contributed by Persia, for undoubtedly Oriental
+music had, at some remote period, influenced its Sclavonic neighbour
+very strongly. Glinka may be said to have attained his end almost
+unconscious of his mode of procedure. Determined to compose Russian
+music, he pursued his idea unremittingly, but it was only towards
+the close of his life that he began to seriously analyze his effects,
+asking himself whence he had obtained them and in what essential
+points they exhibited their nationality. This inquiry involved
+him in a field of research bewildering in its magnitude, and one
+which his early death unfortunately prevented him from thoroughly
+investigating. Nor is the task by any means completed now, some
+forty years later, although many Russian musicians have thrown
+considerable light upon its varied aspects. The first step towards
+a folk-song analysis was the collecting of the melodies in sufficient
+numbers for comparison. So much being done, it flashed upon Glinka
+that there was an intimate connection between the Russian folk-song
+and the most ancient Russian Church music. That is to say, the
+melody and the freedom of rhythm typical of the folk-song had been
+evolved by the people, whilst its harmonization, in which lay one
+of its most striking essentialities, had been bequeathed it by the
+Church. From all that can be gathered concerning music in Muscovy
+prior to the introduction of Christianity, it seems justifiable to
+admit that harmony, or part singing, was already practised amongst
+the inhabitants, in what manner it is impossible to conjecture.
+At any rate, when the Church of Byzantium took root there, the
+Sclav was sufficiently advanced musically to imbibe a new idea. We
+know that the Byzantine Church modes were purely diatonic, so is
+the harmonization of the Russian folk-song in its most elementary
+and uncorrupted form. That the one produced the other is a most
+natural conclusion. In the oldest of the Russian national melodies
+Glinka discovered the most clearly defined type of the earliest
+Christian songs on record.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A wonderful testimony this to the indwelling religious spirit of
+the Russian people, who change but little and who are singularly
+tenacious of their customs in spite of all their ready receptiveness.
+In one sense the folk-song is as rude and hardy as its singer; from
+another point of view it is a shy, delicate emanation shrinking
+from all human intercourse outside its own small coterie of familiar
+voices. In Russia, as in every other country, it has had to be
+sought in the remote Steppes and far-off districts where foreign
+influences had never penetrated, and by a curious inverse process
+its harmonies, of course, transmitted orally, were the means of
+preserving the Byzantine Church tonality long after this "first
+cause" had accepted chromatic and enharmonic modulations. In the
+chief Russian cities and more opened-up parts of the country, the
+Italian, French, and later on German elements gradually formed
+themselves into Church as well as secular music, and only within
+the last sixty years have attempts been made to restore this to
+its pristine and, perhaps it may be added, somewhat monotonous
+purity. The minor key in which the Sclavonic folksong was usually
+couched, together with its extraordinary variety of rhythm and
+phrase, protected it from this monotony, the minor keys having
+infinitely richer resources of colour, even when strictly diatonically
+treated, than the major.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Sclavonic music figures so constantly upon every concert programme
+in these days that we are probably most of us accustomed to its
+vagaries of rhythm, or what may be styled irregularity of metre.
+This is a direct heritage from the folk-song, which Glinka and
+his successors have borrowed largely.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The leading musical spirits of his day were quick to accredit him
+a kindred genius. Berlioz welcomed him gladly, and furthered his
+cause by eloquent writing as well as by obtaining him a hearing
+in Paris. Liszt was another enthusiastic "Glinkite," and Schumann,
+unfailingly keen to notice new talent pursuing a new path, speedily
+drew attention to a Russian who was doing for the music of his
+country what Chopin and Moniusco had done for Poland. Rubinstein,
+who was still a boy when Glinka's sun was near setting, grew up
+with a warm admiration for the founder of his native school, and
+in 1855 he spent some of his ardour upon a highly laudatory article
+in the <i>Wiener Zeitschrift fir Musik</i>, placing Glinka on a par
+with Beethoven. Glinka thoroughly detesting anything that savoured
+of flattery, took the young musician soundly to task for his pains;
+but Rubinstein remained true to his tenets, and later on, when
+years had matured his judgment, we find him including the name of
+Glinka with that of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin, as the
+chief germinators of modern music; whilst one of the last acts of
+his generous public career was a concert given in aid of a national
+monument to the composer of <i>La Vie pour le Tsar</i>. With one
+or two minor exceptions, successive Russian masters have followed
+faithfully in Glinka's footsteps. To Borodine, Dargomijsky, Seroff,
+Balakireff, and Rimsky-Korsakoff a full meed of nationality has
+been granted. To Rubinstein and Tsch&aacute;ikowski criticism is at
+present disposed to deny the quality in its most salient features.
+But their prolific mass of compositions has so far scarcely been
+sufficiently explored outside their own Russian domain for a final
+judgment to be hazarded. A nearer inspection of their work, indeed,
+together with a more accurate study of Russian art as a whole,
+distinctly leads to the opinion that a revolution of feeling may
+eventually spring up, especially on the subject of their operas.
+Also Rubinstein's dramatic works, now mostly dismissed by foreigners
+as his weakest productions, may in due course be accepted as his
+finest creations. From the different reasons previously deduced
+there can be little doubt that in opera Glinka purposely laid the
+corner-stone of what he earnestly believed to be a true Russian
+school, and a glance at contemporary musical activity shows that
+here Russia has every opportunity for distinguishing herself, and
+that with very little competition.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_33">RUSSIAN LITERATURE</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">W. R. MORFILL</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of the Russian there are the following chief dialects&mdash;Great,
+Little, and White Russian. The Great Russian is the literary and
+official language of the Empire. In its structure it is highly
+synthetic, having three genders and seven cases, and the nouns and
+adjectives being fully inflected. Its great peculiarity (which it
+shares in common with all the Sclavonic languages), is the structure
+of the verbs, which are divided into so-called "aspects," which
+modify the meaning, just as the Latin terminations <i>sco, urio</i>,
+and <i>ita</i>, only the forms are developed into a more perfect
+system. The letters employed are the Cyrillian, held to have been
+invented by St. Cyril in the Ninth Century. They are on the whole
+well adapted to express the many sounds of the Russian alphabet,
+for which the Latin letters would be wholly inadequate, and must
+perforce be employed in some such uncouth combinations as those
+which communicate a grotesque appearance to Polish. It would be out
+of place here to discuss the Ecclesiastical Sclavonic employed in
+so many of the early writings composed in Russian. I shall proceed
+to speak of the literature in Russian properly so-called. The great
+epochs of this will be&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I. From the earliest times to the reign of Peter the Great.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+II. From the reign of Peter the Great to our own time.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russians, like the rest of the Sclavonic peoples are very rich
+in national songs, many (as one may judge from the allusions found
+in them), going back to a remote antiquity. For a long time, and
+especially during the period of French influence, these productions
+were neglected. In the last twenty years, however, they have been
+assiduously collected by Bezsonov, Kirievski, R&icirc;bnikov, Hilferding
+and others. The Russian legendary poems are called <i>B&icirc;lini</i>
+(literally, tales of old time), and may be most conveniently divided
+into the following classes:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+1. That of the earlier heroes. 2. The Cycle of Vladimir. 3. The
+Royal, or Moscow Cycle.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The early heroes are of a half-mythical type, and perform prodigies
+of valour. To this class belong Volga Vseslavich, Mikoula Selianinovich
+and Sviatogor. The great glory of the Cycle of Vladimir is Ilya
+Murometz. The <i>B&icirc;linas</i> are filled with his magnificent
+exploits, either alone, or in the company of Sviatogor.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The national songs are carried on through the troublous times of
+Boris Godunov, and the false Dimitri, to the days of Peter the
+Great, when they seem to have acquired new vigour on account of
+the military achievements of the regenerator of his country. Nor
+are they extinct in our own time, for we find exploits of Napoleon,
+especially his disastrous expedition to Russia, made the subject
+of verse. The interest, however, of these legendary poems fades
+away as we advance into later days. The number of minstrels is
+rapidly diminishing; and Riabanin, and his companions among the
+Great Russians, and Ostap Veresai among the Malo-Russians, will
+probably be the last of these generations of rhapsodists, who have
+transmitted their traditional chants from father to son, from tutor
+to pupil. A great feature in Russian literature is the collection
+of chronicles, which begin with Nestor, monk of the Pestcherski
+Cloister at Kiev, who was born about A. D. 1056, and died about
+1116.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+During the time when Russia groaned under the yoke of the Mongols,
+the nation remained silent, except here and there, perhaps, in some
+legendary song, sung among peasants, and destined subsequently to be
+gathered from oral tradition by a R&icirc;bnikov and a Hilferding.
+Such literature as was cultivated formed the recreation of the
+monks in their cells. A new era, however, was to come. Ivan III.
+established the autocracy and made Moscow the centre of the new
+government. The Russians naturally looked to Constantinople as
+the centre of their civilization; and even when the city was taken
+by the Turks its influence did not cease. Many learned Greeks fled
+to Russia, and found an hospitable reception in the dominions of
+the Grand Duke. During the reigns of Ivan the Terrible and his
+immediate successors, although the material progress of the country
+was considerably advanced, and a strong Government founded, yet
+little was done for learning. Simeon Polotzki (1628-80), tutor
+to the Tsar Feodor, son of Alexis, was an indefatigable writer
+of religious and educational books, but his productions can now
+only interest the antiquarian. The verses composed by him on the
+new palace built by the Tsar Alexis, at Kolomenski are deliciously
+quaint. Of a more important character is the sketch of the Russian
+government, and the habits of the people, written by one Koshikin
+(or Kotoshikin&mdash;for the name is found in both forms), a renegade
+diak or secretary, which, after having lain for a long time in
+manuscript in the library of Upsala, in Sweden, was edited in 1840,
+by the Russian historian Soloviev. Kotoshikin terminated a life
+of strange vicissitudes by perishing at the hands of the public
+executioner at Stockholm, about 1669.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+With the reforms of Peter the Great commences an entirely new period
+in the history of Russian literature, which was now to be under
+Western influence. The epoch was inaugurated by Lomonosov, the
+son of a poor fisherman of Archangel, who forms one of the curious
+band of peasant authors&mdash;of very various merit, it must be
+confessed&mdash;who present such an unexpected phenomenon in Russian
+literature. Occasionally we have men of real genius, as in the cases
+of Koltzov, Nikitin, and Shevchenko, the great glory of southern
+Russia; sometimes, perhaps, a man whose abilities have been overrated
+as in the instance of Slepoushkin. Lemonosov is more praised than
+read by his countrymen. His turgid odes, stuffed with classical
+allusions, in praise of Anne and Elizabeth, are still committed
+to memory by pupils at educational establishments. His panegyrics
+are certainly fulsome, but probably no worse than those of Boileau
+in praise of Louis XIV., who grovelled without the excuse of the
+imperfectly educated Scythian. The reign of Catherine II. (1762-96),
+saw the rise of a whole generation of court poets. The great maxim,
+"<i>Un Auguste peut ais&eacute;ment faire un Virgile</i>," was
+seen in all its absurdity in semi-barbarous Russia. These wits
+were supported by the Empress and her immediate <i>entourage</i>,
+to whom their florid productions were ordinarily addressed.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 818px;">
+<a name="fig_36">
+<img src="images/fig036.jpg" width="818" height="522" alt="Fig. 36" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE LIBRARY, ODESSA.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+From Byzantine traditions, from legends of saints, from confused
+chronicles, and orthodox hymnologies, Russia was to pass by one of
+the most violent changes ever witnessed in the literature of any
+country, into epics moulded upon the <i>Henriade</i>, and tedious
+odes in the style of Boileau and Jean Baptiste Rousseau. Oustrialov,
+the historian, truly characterizes most of the voluminous writers
+of this epoch, as mediocre verse makers, for claiming merits in
+the cases of Bogdanovich, Khemnitzer, Von Vizin, Dmitriev, and
+Derzhavin. Bogdanovich wrote a very pretty lyric piece, styled
+<i>Dushenka</i> based on the story of Cupid and Psyche, and partly
+imitated from Lafontaine, with a sportive charm about the verse
+which will preserve it from becoming obsolete. With Khemnitzer begin
+the fabulists. But I shall reserve my remarks upon this species of
+literature and its Russian votaries until I come to Kr&icirc;lov, who
+may be said to be one of the few Sclavonic authors who have gained
+a reputation beyond the limits of their own country. In Denis Von
+Vizin, born at Moscow, but as his name shows, of German extraction,
+Russia saw a writer of genuine national comedy. Hitherto she had to
+content herself with poor imitations of Moli&egrave;re. His two
+plays, the <i>Brigadier</i> and the <i>Minor</i> (<i>Nederosl</i>),
+have much original talent. No such vigorous representations of
+character appeared again on the stage till <i>The Misfortune of
+being too Clever</i> (<i>Gore et Ouma</i>) of Griboiedov, and the
+<i>Revisor</i> of Gogol. Dmitriev deserves perhaps no more than
+a passing mention.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The name of Derzhavin is spoken of with reverence among his countrymen:
+he was the laureate of the epoch of Catherine, and had a fresh ode
+for every new military glory. There is much fire and vigour in
+his productions and he could develop the strength and flexibility
+of his native language which can be made as expressive and concise
+as Greek. Perhaps, however, we get a little tired of his endless
+perfections of Felitza, the name under which he celebrates the
+Empress Catherine, a woman who&mdash;whatever her private faults
+may have been,&mdash;did a great deal for Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In Nicholas Karamzin appeared the first Russian historian who can
+properly claim the title. His poems are almost forgotten: here
+and there we come upon a solitary lyric in a book of extracts.
+His <i>History of the Russian Empire</i>, however, is a work of
+extensive research, and must always be quoted with respect by Sclavonic
+scholars. Unfortunately, it only extends to the election of Michael
+Romanov. Karamzin was followed by Nicholas Polevoi, son of a Siberian
+merchant, who hardly left any species of literature untouched.
+His <i>History of the Russian People</i>, however, did not add to
+his reputation, and is now almost forgotten. In later times both
+these authors have been eclipsed by such writers as Soloviev and
+Kostomarov. A new and more critical school of Russian historians
+has sprung up; but for the early history of the Sclavonic peoples,
+the great work is still Schafarik's <i>Sclavonic Antiquities</i>,
+first published in the Bohemian language, and more familiar to
+scholars in the West of Europe in its German version.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+With the breaking up of old forms of government caused by the French
+Revolution, came the dislocation of the old conventional modes of
+thought. Classicism in literature was dead, having weighed like an
+incubus upon the fancy and fresh life of many generations. England
+and Germany were at the head of the new movement, which was at a
+later period to be joined to France. The influence was to extend
+to Russia, and may be said to date from the reign of Alexander I.
+It was headed by Zhukovski, who was rather a fluent translator
+than an original poet. He has given excellent versions of Schiller,
+Goethe, Moore, and Byron, and has better enriched the literature of
+his country in this way than by his original productions. He had,
+however, some lyric fire of his own; the ode entitled <i>The Poet
+in the Camp of the Russian Warriors</i>, written in the memorable
+year 1812, did something to stimulate the national feelings, and
+procure for the poet a good appointment at court.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In Alexander Pushkin, the Russians were destined to find their
+greatest poet. His first work, <i>Rouslan and Lioudmilla</i>, was
+a tale of half-mythical times, in which the influence of Byron
+was clearly visible, but the author had never allowed himself to
+become a mere copyist. The same may be said of <i>The Prisoner of
+the Caucasus</i>, in which Pushkin had an opportunity of describing
+the romantic scenery of that wild country, which was then entirely
+new ground. In the <i>Fountain of Bakchiserai</i> he chose an episode
+in the history of the Khans of the Crimea, which he has handled
+very poetically. The <i>Gipsies</i> is a wild oriental tale of
+passion and vengeance. The poet, who had been spending some time
+amid the Steppes of Bessarabia, has left us wonderful pictures of
+the wandering tribes and their savage life. Many Russians consider
+the <i>Evgeni&eacute; Oniegin</i> of Pushkin to be his best effort.
+It is a powerfully written love-story, full of sketches of modern
+life, interspersed with satire and pathos.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+A criticism of Pushkin would necessarily be imperfect, which left
+out of all consideration his drama on the subject of <i>Boris
+Godunov</i>. Here he has used Shakespeare as his model. Up to this
+time the traditions of the Russian stage&mdash;such as they
+were&mdash;were wholly French. The piece is undoubtedly very clever,
+and conceived with true dramatic power.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Since Pushkin's attempt, the historical drama based upon the English,
+has been very successfully cultivated. A fine trilogy has been composed
+by Count A. Tolstoi (whose premature death all Russia deplored), on
+the three subjects, <i>The Death of Ivan the Terrible</i> (1866),
+<i>The Tsar Feodor</i> (1868) and the <i>Tsar Boris</i> (1869).
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russian fabulists, whose name is legion, demand some mention;
+Khemnitzer, Dmitriev, Ivanov and others, have attempted this style
+of poetry; but the most celebrated of all is Ivan Krilov (1768-1844).
+Many of his short sentences have become proverbs among the Russian
+people, like the couplets of Lafontaine among the French, and Butler's
+<i>Hudibras</i> among ourselves. His pictures of life and manners
+are most thoroughly national. In Koltzov the true voice of the
+people, which had before only expressed itself in the national
+ballads was heard. The life of this sensitive and warm-hearted man
+of genius was clouded by poverty and suffering.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The poems of Koltzov are written, for the most part, in an unrhymed
+verse; the sharp, well-defined accent in Russian amply satisfying
+the ear, as in German. His poetical taste had been nurtured by
+the popular lays of his country. He has caught their colouring
+as truly as Burns did that of the Scottish minstrelsy. He is
+unquestionably the most national poet that Russia has produced;
+Slepoushkin and Alipanov, two other peasant poets, who made some
+little noise in their time, cannot for one moment be compared with
+him; but, on the other hand, he has been excelled by the fiery
+energy and picturesque power of the Cossack, Taras Shevchenko, of
+whom I shall speak. Since the death of Pushkin, Lermontov alone has
+appeared to dispute the poetical crown with him. The short life of
+this author (1814-41), ended in the same way as Pushkin's&mdash;in a
+duel provoked by himself. Many of his lyrics are exquisite, and have
+become standard poems in Russia, such as the <i>Gifts of Terek</i>
+and <i>The Cradle Song of the Cossack Mother</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In Gogol, who died in 1852, the Russians had to lament the loss
+of a keen and vigorous satirist. With a happy humour reminding
+us of Dickens in his best moods, he has sketched all classes of
+society in the <i>Dead Souls</i>, perhaps the cleverest of all
+Russian novels. No one, also has reproduced the scenery and habits
+of Little Russia, of which he was a native, more vigorously than
+Gogol, whether in the pictures of country life in his <i>Old-Fashioned
+Household</i> (if we may translate in so free a manner the title
+<i>Starovetskie Pomestchiki</i>), or in the wilder sketches of
+the struggles which took place between the Poles and Cossacks in
+<i>Taras Boulba</i>. In the <i>Portrait</i> and <i>Memoirs of a
+Madman</i>, Gogol shows a weird power, which may be compared with
+that of the fantastic American, Edgar Allan Poe. Besides his novels,
+he wrote a brilliant comedy called the <i>Revisor</i>, dealing
+with the evils of bureaucracy.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Towards the end of the year 1877, died Nicholas Nekrasov, the most
+remarkable poet produced by Russia since Lermontov. He has left
+six volumes of poetry, of a peculiarly realistic type, chiefly
+dwelling upon the misfortunes of the Russian peasantry, and putting
+before us most forcibly the dull grey tints of their monotonous
+and purposeless lives.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+I have not space to enumerate here even the most prominent Russian
+novelists. No account, however, of their literature would be anything
+like complete which omitted the name of Ivan Tourgheniev, whose
+reputation is European. With the Russians the English novel of
+the realistic type is the fashionable model. In this branch of
+literature, French influences have hardly been felt at all. The
+historical novel&mdash;an echo of the great romances of Sir Walter
+Scott&mdash;had its cultivators in such writers as Zagoskin and
+Lazhechnikov; but at the present time, with the exception of the
+recent productions of Count Tolstoi, it is a form of literature
+as dead in Russia as in our own country. The novel of domestic
+life bids fair to swallow up all the rest, and it is to this that
+the Russians are devoting their attention.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Tourgheniev first made a name by his <i>Memoirs of a Sportsman</i>,
+a powerfully written work, in which harrowing descriptions are
+given of the miserable condition of the Russian serfs. Since the
+publication of this novel, or rather series of sketches, he has
+written a succession of able works of the same kind, in which all
+classes of Russian society have been reviewed. No more pathetic
+tale than the <i>Gentleman's Retreat</i> (<i>Dvorianskoe Gnezdo</i>)
+can be shown in the literature of any country. There are touches
+in it worthy of George Eliot. In <i>Fathers and Children</i> and
+<i>Smoke</i>, Tourgheniev has grappled with the nihilistic ideas
+which for a long time have been so current in Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The study of Russian history, so well commenced by Karamzin, has
+been further developed by Oustrialov and Soloviev.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Malo-Russian is very rich in <i>skazki</i> (national tales) and
+in songs. Peculiar to them is the <i>douma</i>, a kind of narrative
+poem, in which the metre is generally very irregular; but a sort of
+rhythm is preserved by the recurrence of accentuated syllables.
+The <i>douma</i> of the Little Russians corresponds to the
+<i>b&icirc;lina</i> of the Great Russians.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+As might naturally be expected, most Malo-Russian authors of eminence,
+have preferred using the Great Russian, notably Gogol, who however
+is very fond of introducing provincial expressions which require a
+glossary. The foundation of the Malo-Russian cultivated literature
+was laid by the travisty of the <i>&AElig;neid</i>, by Kotliarevski,
+which enjoys great popularity among his countrymen. A truly national
+poet appeared in Taras Shevchenko, born a serf in the Government
+of Kiev, at the village of Kirilovka.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Of the literature of the White Russians, but little need be said,
+as it is very scanty, amounting to a few collections of songs edited
+by Shein, Bezsonov and others.
+</p>
+
+<h2><a name="chapter_34">PRESENT CONDITIONS</a></h2>
+
+<p class="author">E. S.</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Nicholas I., Tsar of all the Russias (born in 1868), the eldest
+son of Alexander III. and the Princess Dagmar, daughter of King
+Christian IX. of Denmark, ascended the throne on the death of his
+father in 1894. He is descended from Michael Romanof, elected Tsar
+in 1613, after the extinction of the House of Rurik, and also from
+the Oldenburg family. Nicholas II. was married in 1894 to Princess
+Alexandra Alix (Alexandra Feodorovina), daughter of Ludwig IV., Grand
+Duke of Hesse, and Alice Maud Mary, daughter of Queen Victoria. Their
+four daughters are: Olga (born 1895); Tatiana (born 1897); Marie
+(born 1899); and Anastasia (born 1901). The Grand Duke Michael (born
+1878), brother of the Emperor, is the Heir Presumptive. The Emperor's
+vast revenue is derived from Crown domains: the amount is unknown,
+as no reference is made in the budgets or finance accounts. It
+consists, however, of more than a million of square miles of cultivated
+lands and forests, besides gold and other mines in Siberia.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 527px;">
+<a name="fig_37">
+<img src="images/fig037.jpg" width="527" height="764" alt="Fig. 37" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE TSAR NICHOLAS.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russia is an absolute hereditary monarchy. The Emperor's will is
+law, and in him the whole legislative, executive and judicial power
+is united. The administration of the Empire is entrusted to four
+great boards or councils: the Council of the State; the Ruling
+Senate; the Holy Synod; and the Committee of Ministers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Council of State, established by Alexander I. in 1801, consists
+of a president nominated every year by the Emperor and a large
+number of members appointed by him. This council is divided into
+four departments: Legislation; Civil and Church Administration;
+State's Economy and Industry; Sciences and Commerce.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Ruling Senate, founded by Peter I. in 1711, is really the high
+court of justice for the Empire. It is divided into six departments,
+or sections.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Holy Synod, founded by Peter I. in 1728, has charge of the
+religious affairs of the Empire. Its members are the Metropolitans
+of St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kief, the archbishop of Georgia and
+several bishops who sit in turn. The President is Antonious, the
+Metropolitan of St. Petersburg. The Emperor has to approve of all
+the decisions of the Holy Synod.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+European Russia consists of Russia Proper (50 Provinces), Poland
+(10 Provinces), and Finland (Grand Duchy). The population in 1897
+was respectively, 93,467,736; 9,401,097; and 2,527,801. Asiatic
+Russia consists of Caucasia (11 Provinces; population 9,291,000);
+Siberia (8 Provinces and Regions; population 5,726,719); and Central
+Asia (10 Provinces and Regions; population 7,740,394). Russian
+subjects in Khiva and Bokhara number 6,412. Of the total population
+128,161,249, 64,616,280 were men and 64,594,883, women. In European
+Russia the annual increase of population is at the rate of nearly
+a million and a half. The chief cities of European Russia are St.
+Petersburg (1,267,023); Moscow (988,614); Warsaw (638,208); Odessa
+(405,041); Lodz (315,209); Riga (256,197); Kief (247,432); Kharkoff
+(174,846); Tiflis (160,645); Vilna (159,568); Tashkend (156,414);
+Saratov (137,109); Kasan (131,508); Ekaterinoslav (121,216);
+Rostov-on-the-Don (119,889); Astrakhan (113,001); Baku (112,253);
+Tula (111,048), and Kishineff(108,796). The population of Novgorod,
+Samara, Minsk and Nikolaieff is between 95,000 and 90,000. Tiflis
+and Baku in the Caucasus have respective populations of 160,000
+and 112,000. The largest towns in the Trans-Caspia are Askhabad
+(19,500) and Merv (8,750), and those of Turkestan are Tashkend,
+Namangan Samarkand and Andijan. There are about 50,000 in each
+of the Siberian towns of Tomsk, Irkutsk and Ekaterinburg.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 553px;">
+<a name="fig_38">
+<img src="images/fig038.jpg" width="553" height="754" alt="Fig. 38" /></a>
+<p class="image">THE TSARINA.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+There has been no census since 1897, but in 1900 the population of
+St. Petersburg was 1,439,739; Moscow, 1,035,664; and Riga, 282,943.
+The mortality in the towns is so great that the deaths exceed the
+births. Emigration is on the increase, and, of late years, the
+Russians, particularly the Jews, flock to the United States, chiefly
+through Hamburg, L&uuml;beck and Bremen. In 1900, 49,580 emigrated
+to the United States; 1,253 to Argentina; and numbers to Canada
+and Brazil. Emigration to Siberia varies from year to year, but
+is on the increase. In 1898, 80,000 went and in 1901 from 150,000
+to 200,000. There is also much emigration to the Southern Ural
+and the Steppe provinces.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In European Russia, there is an average of a town or village to
+every four or seven square miles, and in the Caucasus, one to every
+nine square miles; but in Asiatic Russia the average varies; for
+example, in Samarkand there is one to every fourteen square miles,
+and in the province of Yakutsk, one to every 2,760 square miles.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The principal ports are St. Petersburg, Cronstadt, Narva, Riga,
+Libau, Pernau and Vindau (on the Baltic); Hango (on the Gulf of
+Bothnia); Revel, Helsingf&ouml;rs and Wiborg (on the Gulf of Finland);
+Archangel and Ekaterinsk (Arctic and White Seas); Odessa, Nicolaieff,
+Sebastopol, Nova-Rossiisk, Berdiansk and Batoum, Taganrog, Marinpol,
+Rostov and Kertch (on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov); Astrakhan,
+Derbent and Baku (on the Caspian Sea); Nicolaieffsk, Vladivostok
+and Petrapaulovsk in Kamtchatka; and Port Arthur and Dalni or
+Ta-lien-wan (Gulf of Pechili), have been occupied since the
+Russo-Chinese Treaty of 1898.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The established religion is the Russo-Greek, or Gr&aelig;co-Russian,
+known officially as the Orthodox Catholic Faith. It maintains the
+relations of a sister church with the four patriarchates of
+Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. The Emperor
+is the head of the church. The Russian Empire is divided into 64
+bishoprics, under 3 metropolitans, 14 archbishops and 48 bishops;
+in 1898, there were 66,146 churches (718 of which were cathedrals),
+and 785 monasteries. With the exception of the Jewish, all religions
+are allowed to be professed. There are more than 12,000,000 dissenters
+scattered throughout the Empire. The numbers are: Orthodox Greek,
+87,384,480; Dissenters, 2,173,738; Roman Catholic, 11,420,927;
+Protestants, 3,743,209; other Christians, 1,221,511; Mohammedans,
+13,889,421; Jews, 5,189,401; and other religions, 645,503. In 1903,
+the Holy Synod received 28,388,049 roubles from the Imperial budget,
+besides other revenue and gifts.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Empire is divided into 15 educational districts: St. Petersburg,
+Moscow, Kasan, Orenburg, Kharkoff, Odessa, Kief, Vilna, Warsaw,
+Riga, Caucasus, Turkestan, West Siberia, East Siberia and Amur.
+In some of the primary village schools, there are school-gardens,
+while bee-keeping and silk-worm culture, as well as trades and
+handiwork, are taught. In 1900, the Ministers contributed 51,062,842
+roubles for schools and universities. The universities are in Moscow
+(4,344 students in 1902); St. Petersburg (3,708); Kief (2,316);
+Kharkov (1,340); Dorpat (1,791); Warsaw (1,312); Kasan (823); Odessa
+(1,116); and Tomsk (549). Helsingfors, Finland, had 1,211 students
+in 1900-1.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Since 1874 military service has been obligatory for all men from
+the age of 21. The period of service in European Russia is five
+years in the active army (reduced by furloughs to four) 13 in the
+Zapas those who have passed through active service and five years
+in the Opolchenie, or reserve; in Asiatic Russia, seven years in
+the active army and six in the Zapas; and in Caucasia, three years
+in the active army and 15 in the Zapas. The Opolchenie is a reserve
+force of drilled conscripts.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Cossacks (Don, Kuban Terek, Astrakhan, Orenburg, Ural, Siberia,
+Semiryetchensk, Transbaikalia, Amur and Usuri) are divided in three
+classes; the first in active service, the second on furlough with
+their arms and horses; the third with arms and without horses. Some
+of the Cossack cavalry serves with the regular cavalry. Military
+service is also obligatory in Finland.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Russian army consists of 31 corps. The lowest estimate of its
+peace strength is about 1,100,000 with 42,000 officers; the war
+strength about 75,000 officers, 4,500,000 men and 562,000 horses.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Owing to its widely separated seas, the Russian navy maintains
+four squadrons: the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Pacific and the
+Caspian. Cronstadt is the chief base of the Baltic Fleet; Sebastopol
+of the Black Sea; and Vladivostok and Port Arthur of the Pacific.
+The Caspian fleet is comparatively insignificant. In 1903, the navy
+consisted of 26 battleships, 14 coast defence ships, 24 first-class
+cruisers, 15 second-class cruisers, 161 gunboats and torpedo craft.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The ocean shipping of the Russian Empire is not relatively large,
+but its lake and river shipping is very extensive. In 1900, the
+sea-going marine consisted of 2,293 sailing vessels and 745 steamers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The total length of railway open for traffic and travel on January
+1, 1903, was 35,336 miles (not including 1,753 miles in Finland).
+Of this 4,965 miles were in Asiatic Russia.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The legal unit of money is the silver rouble of 100 kopecks of
+the value of 2s. 1.6d., or about fifty cents of American money.
+The coins called imperial and half-imperial contain 15 and 7-1/2
+roubles respectively. There are also credit notes of 100, 25, 10,
+5, 3 and 1 rouble.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russia's chief source of revenue is the liquor traffic. Her chief
+exports are spirits, tallow, wool, tow, bristles, timber, hides and
+skins, grain, raw and dressed flax, linseed and hemp. Her principal
+imports are tea, cotton and other colonial produce, iron, machinery,
+wool, wine, fruits, vegetables and oil.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russia is the second largest European grower of wheat. Hemp, flax,
+potatoes and tobacco are also raised in large quantities. Barley,
+buckwheat, oats, millet and rye form the staple food of the inhabitants.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Mines of great value exist in the Ural, Obdorsk and Altai mountains,
+which produce gold, copper, iron, silver, platinum, rock-salt,
+marble and kaolin or china clay. Rich naphtha springs exist on
+the Caspian and an immense bed of coal has been discovered between
+the Donetz and Dnieper rivers.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The Grand Duchy of Finland, which Russia conquered from Sweden
+and finally annexed in 1808, had a population in 1898 of about
+2,595,000 (2,230,000 Finns; 350,000 Swedes; 12,000 Russians; 2,000
+Germans; and 1,000 Laps). The chief religion is the Lutheran. The
+capital is Helsingfors with a population of 111,000, including the
+Russian garrison. The Tsar of Russia is the Grand Duke; Lieut.-Gen.
+N. Bobrikov, the governor-general; and V. von Plehwe, Secretary of
+State. The Diet, convoked triennially, consists of nobles, clergy,
+burgesses and peasants, but the country is chiefly governed by the
+Imperial Finnish Senate of twenty-two members. The army consists
+of nine battalions of Finnish Rifles (5,600 men), and one regiment
+of dragoons (900 men, with a reserve of 30,000). The chief export
+is timber and the chief industry iron mines. In 1898, the marine
+comprised 2,298 vessels of 324,344 tons.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Bokhara and Khiva in Central Asia are vassal states of Russia.
+Bokhara, bounded on the north by Russian Turkestan, was once the
+most famous state of Central Asia. Genghis Khan took it from the
+Arabs in the Thirteenth Century, and it was taken by the Uzbegs,
+fanatical Sunni Mahommedans of Turkish extraction, in 1505. After
+the Russian capture of Tashkend in 1865, the Amir Muzeffared-din
+proclaimed a holy war against the Russians, who invaded his province
+and captured Samarkand in 1868. By a treaty of 1873, no foreigner may
+be admitted into Bokhara without a Russian passport. The population
+is estimated at 2,000,000. The Amir Syed Abdul Ahad succeeded in
+1885. The Uzbegs are still the dominant race. The religion is
+Mahommedan. The chief towns are Bokhara (about 75,000) and Karshi
+(25,000). The chief products are sheep, goats, camels, horses,
+rice, cotton, silk, corn, fruit, hemp and tobacco. Gold, salt,
+alum and sulphur are the chief minerals. There are cotton, woollen
+and silk manufacturers. Many Indian goods such as shawls, tea,
+drugs, indigo and muslins are imported. The Amir has 11,000 troops,
+4,000 of which are quartered in Bokhara. The Russian Trans-Caspian
+Railway runs through Bokhara and there is steam navigation on the
+Oxus. A telegraph connects Bokhara with Tashkend.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+The conquest of Khiva, another Uzbeg State also founded on the
+ruins of Tamerlane's Central Asian Empire, was attempted by Peter
+the Great in 1717 and again in 1839 by the Tsar Nicholas. On the
+pretext that the Khivans had aided the rebellious Kirghiz, the
+Russians invaded Khiva in 1873 and forced the Khan to sign a treaty
+putting the Khanate under Russian government. The reigning sovereign
+is Seyid Mahomed Rahim Khan who succeeded his father in 1865. He was
+born about 1845. The population is estimated at 800,000, including
+400,000 nomad Turcomans. The principal towns are Khiva (about 5,000)
+and New Urgenj (3,000). The religion is Mahommedan. The army consists
+of about 2,000 men. The chief productions are silk and cotton.
+</p>
+
+<div class="image" style="width: 823px;">
+<a name="fig_39">
+<img src="images/fig039.jpg" width="823" height="519" alt="Fig. 39" /></a>
+<p class="image">KALKSTRASSE AND THE PROMENADE, RIGA.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="indent">
+In 1898, Russia obtained a lease of twenty-five years from China of
+Point Arthur and Ta-lien-wan with the adjacent seas and territory
+to the north. To this the name of Kwang-Tung was given in 1899. Port
+Arthur, the capital, is a naval station for Russian and Chinese
+ships. At the end of the port a new town, Dalni, has been founded;
+it is connected by rail with the Trans-Siberian railway system.
+</p>
+
+<p class="indent">
+Russia's history in 1903 was marked by general disquietude and
+turbulence. The disorders among the peasantry in 1902 led to a
+special committee being appointed to inquire into and ameliorate
+their condition and also to improve agriculture. On March 11, 1903,
+the Tsar issued a manifesto promising reform in the government of
+local towns and tolerance in religion. As little or no improvement
+was noticed, strike riots resulted in Slatoust (Ufa) and at
+Nijni-Novgorod, and riots also broke out in the university of St.
+Petersburg. In May, the Governor of Ufa was assassinated. To these
+disturbances, the Anti-Semitic outrages were encouraged at Kishineff
+(Bessarabia) when forty-five Jews were killed, 484 injured, 700
+houses demolished, and 600 houses sacked. Strike riots also broke
+out in South Russia and the Caucasus, particularly in the towns of
+Kief, Odessa, Baku, Rostov, Nikolaieff. Many smaller towns also
+suffered loss of life. Military troops were called out to quell
+the rioters. The policy of Russification was carried on in Finland
+as well as in the more recent acquisitions. The chief interest,
+however, lay in the extension of Russia's diplomatic and military
+policy in the Far East under Admiral Alexeieff (appointed August
+13, 1903).
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Russia, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Russia
+       As Seen and Described by Famous Writers
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Esther Singleton
+
+Release Date: October 14, 2006 [EBook #19534]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUSSIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert J. Hall
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MOSCOW.]
+
+
+
+
+RUSSIA
+
+As _Seen_ and _Described_ by Famous Writers
+
+
+_Edited and Translated by_
+
+ESTHER SINGLETON
+
+_Author of_ "Turrets, Towers and Temples," "Great Pictures," and
+"A Guide to the Opera," and _translator of_ "The Music Dramas of
+Richard Wagner."
+
+
+WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+New York
+
+Dodd, Mead and Company
+
+1909
+
+
+
+
+_PREFACE_
+
+This is intended to be a companion volume to _Japan_, and therefore
+follows the same general plan and arrangement. It aims to present in
+small compass a somewhat comprehensive view of the great Muscovite
+power. After a short description of the country and race, we pass
+to a brief review of the history and religion including ritual and
+ceremonial observances of the Greek Church. Next come descriptions
+of regions, cities and architectural marvels; and then follow articles
+on the various manners and customs of rural and town life. The
+arts of the nation are treated comprehensively; and a chapter of
+the latest statistics concludes the rapid survey. The material is
+all selected from the writings of those who speak with authority
+on the subjects with which they deal.
+
+The Russian Empire is so vast that it would be impossible to give
+detailed descriptions of all its parts in a work of this size:
+therefore I have been forced to be content with more general
+descriptions of provinces with an occasional addition of a typical
+city.
+
+E. S.
+
+_New York, April 21, 1904._
+
+
+
+
+_CONTENTS_
+
+
+PART I
+
+THE COUNTRY AND RACE
+
+The Russian Empire
+  _Prince Kropotkine._
+
+Siberia
+  _Jean Jacques Elisee Reclus._
+
+The Russian Races
+  _W. R. Morfill._
+
+
+PART II
+
+HISTORY AND RELIGION
+
+The History of Russia
+  _W. R. Morfill._
+
+Church Service
+  _Alfred Maskell._
+
+The Creeds of Russia
+  _Ernest W. Lowry._
+
+
+PART III
+
+DESCRIPTIONS
+
+St. Petersburg
+  _J. Beavington Atkinson._
+
+Finland
+  _Harry De Windt._
+
+Lapland
+  _Alexander Platonovich Engelhardt._
+
+Moscow (The Kremlin and its treasuries--The Ancient Regalia--The
+Romanoff House)
+  _Alfred Maskell._
+
+Vassili-Blagennoi (St. Basil the Blessed)
+  _Theophile Gautier._
+
+Poland
+  _Thomas Michell._
+
+Kief, the City of Pilgrimage
+  _J. Beavington Atkinson._
+
+Nijni-Novgorod
+  _Antonio Gallenga._
+
+The Volga Basin. (The Great River--Kasan--Tsaritzin--Astrakhan)
+  _Antonio Gallenga._
+
+Odessa
+  _Antonio Gallenga._
+
+The Don Cossacks
+  _Thomas Michell._
+
+In the Caucasus
+  _J. Buchan Teller._
+
+Khiva
+  _Fred Burnaby._
+
+The Trans-Siberian Railway
+  _William Durban._
+
+
+PART IV
+
+MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
+
+High Life in Russia
+  _The Countess of Galloway._
+
+Rural Life in Russia
+  _Lady Verney_
+
+Food and Drink
+  _H. Sutherland Edwards._
+
+Carnival-Time and Easter
+  _A. Nicol Simpson._
+
+Russian Tea and Tea-Houses
+  _H. Sutherland Edwards._
+
+How Russia Amuses Itself
+  _Fred Whishaw._
+
+The Kirghiz and their Horses
+  _Fred Burnaby._
+
+Winter in Moscow
+  _H. Sutherland Edwards._
+
+A Journey by Sleigh
+  _Fred Burnaby._
+
+
+PART V
+
+ART AND LITERATURE
+
+Russian Architecture
+  _Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc._
+
+Sculpture and Painting
+  _Philippe Berthelot._
+
+Russian Music
+  _A. E. Keeton._
+
+Russian Literature
+  _W. R. Morfill._
+
+
+PART VI
+
+STATISTICS
+
+Present Conditions
+  _E. S._
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+  MOSCOW
+  ARCHANGEL
+  REVEL
+  SIBERIAN NATIVES
+  SAMOJEDES OF NOVA ZEMBLA
+  ROOM OF THE TSAR MICHAILOWITCH, MOSCOW
+  CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION
+  A RELIGIOUS PROCESSION, KOLA
+  SHRINE IN THE CONVENT SOLOVETSKII, KOLA
+  ST. PETERSBURG
+  THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG
+  HELSINGFORS, FINLAND
+  REINDEER TRAVELLING
+  MOSCOW
+  THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW
+  VASSILI--BLAGENNOI (ST. BASIL THE BLESSED), MOSCOW
+  NOWO ZJAZD STREET, WARSAW
+  HOTEL DEVILLE, WARSAW
+  THE DNIEPER AT KIEF
+  LA LAVRA, KIEF
+  NIJNI--NOVGOROD (BRIDGE OF THE FAIR)
+  FROM THE RAMPARTS OF THE KREMLIN, NIJNI--NOVGOROD
+  PLACE TUREMNAJA, ODESSA
+  SEBASTOPOL
+  KHARKOFF
+  TIFLIS
+  THE WINTER PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG
+  RUSSIAN FARM SCENE
+  THE TSAR'S DINING-ROOM, MOSCOW
+  ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL, ST. PETERSBURG
+  ST. ANNE RESTAURANT, WIBORG
+  THE RED SQUARE, MOSCOW
+  CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER, MOSCOW
+  STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT AND THE ADMIRALTY PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG
+  THE THEATRE, ODESSA
+  THE LIBRARY, ODESSA
+  THE TSAR NICHOLAS
+  THE TSARINA
+  KALKSTRASSE AND PROMENADE, RIGA
+
+
+
+
+_THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE_
+
+_PRINCE KROPOTKINE_
+
+The Russian Empire is a very extensive territory in eastern Europe
+and northern Asia, with an area exceeding 8,500,000 square miles,
+or one-sixth of the land surface of the globe (one twenty-third
+of its whole superficies). It is, however, but thinly peopled on
+the average, including only one-fourteenth of the inhabitants of
+the earth. It is almost entirely confined to the cold and temperate
+zones. In Nova Zembla (Novaya Zemlya) and the Taimir peninsula, it
+projects within the Arctic Circle as far as 77 deg. 2' and 77 deg. 40' N.
+latitude; while its southern extremities reach 38 deg. 50' in Armenia,
+about 35 deg. on the Afghan frontier, and 42 deg. 30' on the coasts of the
+Pacific. To the West it advances as far as 20 deg. 40' E. longitude
+in Lapland, 18 deg. 32' in Poland, and 29 deg. 42' on the Black Sea; and
+its eastern limit--East Cape in the Bering Strait--extends to 191 deg.
+E. longitude.
+
+The Arctic Ocean--comprising the White, Barents, and Kara Seas--and
+the northern Pacific, that is the Seas of Bering, Okhotsk, and
+Japan, bound it on the north and east. The Baltic, with its two
+deep indentations, the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland, limits it
+on the north-west; and two sinuous lines of frontier separate it
+respectively from Sweden and Norway on the north-west, and from
+Prussia, Austria and Roumania on the west. The southern frontier is
+still unsettled. In Asia beyond the Caspian, the southern boundary
+of the empire remains vague; the advance into the Turcoman Steppes
+and Afghan Turkestan, and on the Pamir plateau is still in progress.
+Bokhara and Khiva, though represented as vassal khanates, are in
+reality mere dependencies of Russia. An approximately settled
+frontier-line begins only farther east, where the Russian and Chinese
+empires meet on the borders of eastern Turkestan, Mongolia and
+Manchuria.
+
+Russia has no oceanic possessions, and has abandoned those she
+owned in the last century; her islands are mere appendages of the
+mainland to which they belong. Such are the Aland archipelago,
+Hochland, Tuetters, Dagoe and Osel in the Baltic Sea; Nova Zembla,
+with Kolgueff and Vaigatch, in the Barents Sea; the Solovetsky
+Islands in the White Sea; the New Siberian archipelago and the
+small group of the Medvyezhii Islands off the Siberian coast; the
+Commandor Islands off Kamchatka; the Shantar Islands and Saghalin
+in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Aleutian archipelago was sold to the
+United States in 1867, together with Alaska, and in 1874 the Kurile
+Islands were ceded to Japan.
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: ARCHANGEL.]
+
+A vast variety of physical features is obviously to be expected in
+a territory like this, which comprises on the one side the cotton
+and silk regions of Turkestan and Trans-caucasia, and on the other
+the moss and lichen-clothed Arctic _tundras_ and the Verkhoyansk
+Siberian pole of cold--the dry Transcaspian deserts and the regions
+watered by the monsoons on the coasts of the Sea of Japan. Still,
+if the border regions, that is, two narrow belts in the north and
+south, be left out of account, a striking uniformity of physical
+feature prevails. High plateaus, like those of Pamir (the "Roof
+of the World") or of Armenia, and high mountain chains like the
+snow-clad summits of the Caucasus, the Alay, the Thian-Shan, the
+Sayan, are met with only on the outskirts of the empire.
+
+Viewed broadly by the physical geographer, it appears as occupying
+the territories to the north-west of that great plateau-belt of the
+old continent--the backbone of Asia--which spreads with decreasing
+height and width from the high table-land of Tibet and Pamir to the
+lower plateaus of Mongolia, and thence north-eastwards through the
+Vitim region to the furthest extremity of Asia. It may be said to
+consist of the immense plains and flat-lands which extend between
+the plateau-belt and the Arctic Ocean, including all the series of
+parallel chains and hilly spurs which skirt the plateau-belt on
+the north-west. It extends over the plateau itself, and crosses
+it beyond Lake Baikal only.
+
+A broad belt of hilly tracts--in every respect Alpine in character,
+and displaying the same variety of climate and organic life as
+Alpine tracts usually do--skirts the plateau-belt throughout its
+length on the north and north-west, forming an intermediate region
+between the plateaus and the plains. The Caucasus, the Elburz, the
+Kopetdagh, and Paropamisus, the intricate and imperfectly known
+network of mountains west of the Pamir, the Thian-Shan and Ala-tau
+mountain regions, and farther north-east the Altai, the still unnamed
+complex of Minusinsk mountains, the intricate mountain-chains of
+Sayan, with those of the Olekma, Vitim, and Aldan, all of which
+are ranged _en echelon_,--the former from north-west to south-east,
+and the others from south-west to north-east--all these belong
+to one immense Alpine belt bordering that of the plateaus. These
+have long been known to Russian colonists, who, seeking to escape
+religious persecutions and exactions by the state, early penetrated
+into and rapidly pushed their small settlements up the better valleys
+of these tracts, and continued to spread everywhere as long as
+they found no obstacles in the shape of a former population or in
+unfavourable climatic conditions.
+
+As for the flat-lands which extend from the Alpine hill-foots to
+the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and assume the character either of
+dry deserts in the Aral-Caspian depression, or of low table-lands
+in central Russia and eastern Siberia, of lake-regions in north-west
+Russia and Finland, or of marshy prairies in western Siberia, and of
+_tundras_ in the north,--their monotonous surfaces are diversified
+by only a few, and these for the most part low, hilly tracts.
+
+As to the picturesque Bureya mountains on the Amur, the forest-clothed
+Sikhota-alin on the Pacific, and the volcanic chains of Kamchatka,
+they belong to quite another orographical world; they are the
+border-ridges of the terraces by which the great plateau-belt descends
+to the depths of the Pacific Ocean. It is owing to these leading
+orographical features--divined by Carl Ritter, but only within
+the present day revealed by geographical research--that so many
+of the great rivers of the old continent are comprised within the
+limits of the Russian empire. Taking rise on the plateau-belt, or
+in its Alpine outskirts, they flow first, like the upper Rhone
+and Rhine, along high longitudinal valleys formerly filled up with
+great lakes; next they find their way through the rocky walls;
+and finally they enter the lowlands, where they become navigable,
+and, describing great curves to avoid here and there the minor
+plateaus and hilly tracts, they bring into water-communication
+with one another places thousands of miles apart. The double
+river-systems of the Volga and Kama, the Obi and Irtish, the Angara
+and Yenisei, the Lena and Vitim on the Arctic slope, the Amur and
+Sungari on the Pacific slope, are instances. They were the true
+channels of Russian colonization.
+
+A broad depression--the Aral-Caspian desert--has arisen where the
+plateau-belt has reached its greatest height and suddenly changes
+its direction from a north-western into a north-eastern one; this
+desert is now filled only to a small extent by the salt waters of
+the Caspian, Aral and Balkash inland seas; but it bears unmistakable
+traces of having been during Post-Pliocene times an immense inland
+basin. There the Volga, the Ural, the Sir Daria, and the Oxus discharge
+their waters without reaching the ocean, but continue to bring
+life to the rapidly drying Transcaspian Steppes, or connect by
+their river network, as the Volga does, the most remote parts of
+European Russia.
+
+The above-described features of the physical geography of the empire
+explain the relative uniformity of this wide territory, in conjunction
+with the variety of physical features on the outskirts. They explain
+also the rapidity of the expansion of Sclavonic colonization over
+these thinly-peopled regions; and they also throw light upon the
+internal cohesion of the empire, which cannot fail to strike the
+traveller as he crosses this immense territory, and finds everywhere
+the same dominating race, the same features of life. In fact, as
+their advance from the basins of the Volkhoff and Dnieper to the foot
+of the Altai and Sayan mountains, that is, along nearly a quarter
+of the earth's circumference, the Russian colonizers could always
+find the same physical conditions, the same forest and prairies as
+they had left at home, the same facilities for agriculture, only
+modified somewhat by minor topographical features. New conditions of
+climate and soil, and consequently new cultures and civilizations,
+the Russians met with, in their expansion towards the south and
+east, only beyond the Caucasus in the Aral-Caspian region, and
+in the basin of the Usuri on the Pacific coast. Favoured by these
+conditions, the Russians not only conquered northern Asia--they
+colonized it.
+
+The Russian Empire falls into two great subdivisions, the European
+and the Asiatic, the latter of which, representing an aggregate of
+nearly 6,500,000 square miles, with a population of only sixteen
+million inhabitants may be considered as held by colonies. The
+European dominions comprise European Russia, Finland, which is, in
+fact, a separate nationality treated to some extent as an allied
+state, and Poland, whose very name has been erased from official
+documents, but which nevertheless continues to pursue its own
+development. The Asiatic dominions comprise the following great
+subdivisions:--Caucasia, under a separate governor-general; the
+Transcaspian region, which is under the governor-general of Caucasus;
+the Kirghiz Steppes; Turkestan under separate governors-general,
+Western Siberia and Eastern Siberia; and the Amur region, which
+last comprises also the Pacific coast region and Kamchatka.
+
+_Climate of Russia in Europe_.--Notwithstanding the fact that Russia
+extends from north to south through twenty-six degrees of latitude,
+the climate of its different portions, apart from the Crimea and the
+Caucasus, presents a striking uniformity. The aerial currents--cyclones,
+anti-cyclones and dry south-east winds--extend over wide surfaces
+and cross the flat plains freely. Everywhere we find a cold winter
+and a hot summer, both varying in their duration, but differing
+little in the extremes of temperature recorded.
+
+Throughout Russia the winter is of long continuance. The last days
+of frost are experienced for the most part in April, but also in
+May to the north of fifty-five degrees. The spring is exceptionally
+beautiful in central Russia; late as it usually is, it sets in with
+vigour and develops with a rapidity which gives to this season in
+Russia a special charm, unknown in warmer climates; and the rapid
+melting of snow at the same time raises the rivers, and renders
+a great many minor streams navigable for a few weeks. But a return
+of cold weather, injurious to vegetation, is observed throughout
+central and eastern Russia between May 18 and 24, so that it is only
+in June that warm weather sets in definitely, reaching its maximum
+in the first half of July (or of August on the Black Sea coast). The
+summer is much warmer than might be supposed; in south-eastern
+Russia it is much warmer than in the corresponding latitudes of
+France, and really hot weather is experienced everywhere. It does
+not, however, prevail for long, and in the first half of September
+the first frosts begin to be experienced on the middle Urals; they
+reach western and southern Russia in the first days of October,
+and are felt on the Caucasus about the middle of November. The
+temperature descends so rapidly that a month later, about October 10
+on the middle Urals and November 15 throughout Russia the thermometer
+ceases to rise above the freezing-point. The rivers rapidly freeze;
+towards November 20 all the streams of the White Sea basin are
+covered with ice, and so remain for an average of 167 days; those
+of the Baltic, Black Sea, and Caspian basins freeze later, but
+about December 20 nearly all the rivers of the country are highways
+for sledges. The Volga remains frozen for a period varying between
+150 days in the north and 90 days at Astrakhan, the Don for 100
+to 110 days, and the Dneiper for 83 to 122 days. On the Dwina ice
+prevents navigation for 125 days and even the Vistula at Warsaw
+remains frozen for 77 days. The lowest temperatures are experienced
+in January, in which month the average is as low as 20 deg. to 5 deg. Fahr.
+throughout Russia; in the west only does it rise above 22 deg..
+
+_The flora and fauna of Russia_.--The flora of Russia, which represents
+an intermediate link between those of Germany and Siberia, is strikingly
+uniform over a very large area. Though not poor at any given place,
+it appears so if the space occupied by Russia be taken into account,
+only 3,300 species of phanerogams and ferns being known. Four great
+regions may be distinguished:--the Arctic, the Forest, the Steppe,
+and the Circum-Mediterranean.
+
+The _Arctic Region_ comprises the _tundras_ of the Arctic littoral
+beyond the northern limit of forests, which last closely follows
+the coast-line with bends towards the north in the river valleys
+(70 deg. N. lat. in Finland, on the Arctic Circle about Archangel, 68 deg.
+N. on the Urals, 71 deg. on West Siberia). The shortness of summer,
+the deficiency of drainage and the thickness of the layer of soil
+which is frozen through in winter are the elements which go to
+the making of the characteristic features of the _tundras_. Their
+flora is far nearer those of northern Siberia and North America
+than that of central Europe. Mosses and lichens cover them, as
+also the birch, the dwarf willow, and a variety of shrubs; but
+where the soil is drier, and humus has been able to accumulate, a
+variety of herbaceous flowering plants, some of which are familiar
+also in western Europe, make their appearance.
+
+The _Forest Region_ of the Russian botanists occupies the greater
+part of the country, from the Arctic _tundras_ to the Steppes, and
+it maintains over this immense surface a remarkable uniformity
+of character. Viewed as a whole, the flora of the forest region
+must be regarded as European-Siberian; and though certain species
+disappear towards the east, while new ones make their appearance,
+it maintains, on the whole, the same characters throughout from
+Poland to Kamchatka. Thus the beech, a characteristic tree of western
+Europe, is unable to face the continental climate of Russia, and
+does not penetrate beyond Poland and the south-western provinces,
+reappearing again in the Crimea. The silver fir does not extend
+over Russia, and the oak does not cross the Urals. On the other
+hand, several Asiatic species (Siberian pine, larch, cedar) grow
+freely in the north-east, while several shrubs and herbaceous plants,
+originally from the Asiatic Steppes, have spread into the south-east.
+But all these do not greatly alter the general character of the
+vegetation.
+
+The _Region of the Steppes_, which covers all Southern Russia,
+may be subdivided into two zones--an intermediate zone and that
+of the Steppes proper. The Ante-Steppe of the preceding region and
+the intermediate zone of the Steppes include those tracts where
+the West-European climate struggles with the Asiatic, and where a
+struggle is being carried on between the forest and the Steppe.
+
+The Steppes proper are very fertile elevated plains, slightly undulated,
+and intersected by numerous ravines which are dry in summer. The
+undulations are scarcely apparent to the eye as it takes in a wide
+prospect under a blazing sun and with a deep-blue sky overhead.
+Not a tree is to be seen, the few woods and thickets being hidden
+in the depressions and deep valleys of the rivers. On the thick
+sheet of black earth by which the Steppe is covered a luxuriant
+vegetation develops in spring; after the old grass has been burned
+a bright green covers immense stretches, but this rapidly disappears
+under the burning rays of the sun and the hot easterly winds. The
+colouring of the Steppe changes as if by magic, and only the silvery
+plumes of the _kovyl_ (_Stipa pennata_) wave under the wind, giving
+the Steppe the aspect of a bright, yellow sea. For days together the
+traveller sees no other vegetation; even this, however, disappears
+as he nears the regions recently left dry from the Caspian, where
+salted clays covered with a few _Salsolaceoe_, or mere sands, take
+the place of the black earth. Here begins the Aral-Caspian desert.
+The Steppe, however, is not so devoid of trees as at first sight
+appears. Innumerable clusters of wild cherries, wild apricots, and
+other deep-rooted shrubs grow in the depressions of the surface,
+and on the slopes of the ravines, giving the Steppe that charm which
+manifests itself in popular poetry. Unfortunately, the spread of
+cultivation is fatal to these oases (they are often called "islands"
+by the inhabitants); the axe and the plough ruthlessly destroy
+them. The vegetation of the _poimy_ and _zaimischas_ in the marshy
+bottoms of the ravines, and in the valleys of streams and rivers,
+is totally different. The moist soil gives free development to
+thickets of various willows, bordered with dense walls of worm-wood
+and needle-bearing _Composita_, and interspersed with rich but
+not extensive prairies harbouring a great variety of herbaceous
+plants; while in the deltas of the Black Sea rivers impenetrable
+masses of rush shelter a forest fauna. But cultivation rapidly
+changes the physiognomy of the Steppe. The prairies are superseded
+by wheat-fields, and flocks of sheep destroy the true steppe-grass
+(_Stipa-pennata_), which retires farther east.
+
+The _Circum-Mediterranean Region_ is represented by a narrow strip
+of land on the south coast of the Crimea, where a climate similar
+to that of the Mediterranean coast has permitted the development
+of a flora closely resembling that of the valley of the Arno.
+
+[Illustration: REVEL]
+
+The fauna of European Russia does not very materially differ from
+that of western Europe. In the forests not many animals which have
+disappeared from western Europe have held their ground; while in
+the Urals only a few--now Siberian, but formerly also European--are
+met with. On the whole, Russia belongs to the same zoo-geographical
+region as central Europe and northern Asia, the same fauna extending
+in Siberia as far as the Yenisei and Lena. In south-eastern Russia,
+however, towards the Caspian, we find a notable admixture of Asiatic
+species, the deserts of that part of Russia belonging in reality
+rather to the Aral-Caspian depression than to Europe.
+
+For the zoo-geographer only three separate sub-regions appear on the
+East-European plains--the _tundras_, including the Arctic islands,
+the forest region, especially the coniferous part of it, and the
+Ante-Steppe and Steppes of the black-earth region. The Ural mountains
+might be distinguished as a fourth sub-region, while the south-coast
+of the Crimea and Caucasus, as well as the Caspian deserts, have
+their own individuality.
+
+As for the adjoining seas, the fauna of the Arctic Ocean off the
+Norwegian coast corresponds, in its western parts at least, to that
+of the North Atlantic Gulf Stream. The White Sea and the Arctic
+Ocean to the east of Svyatoi Nos belong to a separate zoological
+region connected with, and hardly separable from, that part of
+the Arctic Ocean which extends along the Siberian coast as far as
+to about the Lena. The Black Sea, of which the fauna was formerly
+little known but now appears to be very rich, belongs to the
+Mediterranean region, slightly modified, while the Caspian partakes
+of the characteristic fauna inhabiting the lakes and seas of the
+Aral-Caspian depression.
+
+In the region of the _tundras_ life has to contend with such
+unfavourable conditions that it cannot be abundant. Still the reindeer
+frequents it for its lichens, and on the drier slopes of the moraine
+deposits four species of lemming, hunted by the _Canis lagopus_,
+find quarters. Two species of the white partridge, the lark, one
+_Plectrophanes_, two or three species of _Sylvia_, one _Phylloscopus_,
+and the _Motacilla_ must be added. Numberless aquatic birds, however,
+visit it for breeding purposes. Ducks, divers, geese, gulls, all the
+Russian species of snipes and sandpipers, etc., cover the marshes
+of the _tundras_, or the crags of the Lapland coast.
+
+The forest region, and especially its coniferous portion, though
+it has lost some of its representatives within historic times, is
+still rich. The reindeer, rapidly disappearing, is now met with only
+in Olonetz and Vologda; the _Cervus pygargus_ is found everywhere, and
+reaches Novgorod. The weasel, the fox and the hare are exceedingly
+common, as also the wolf and the bear in the north; but the glutton,
+the lynx, and even the elk are rapidly disappearing. The wild boar
+is confined to the basin of the Dwina, and the _Bison eropea_ to
+the Bielovyezha forests. The sable has quite disappeared, being
+found only on the Urals; the beaver is found at a few places in
+Minsk, and the otter is very rare. On the other hand, the hare and
+also the grey partridge, the hedgehog, the quail, the lark, the
+rook, and the stork find their way into the coniferous region as
+the forests are cleared. The avifauna is very rich; it includes all
+the forest and garden birds which are known in western Europe, as
+well as a very great variety of aquatic birds. Hunting and shooting
+give occupation to a great number of persons. The reptiles are
+few. As for fishes, all those of western Europe, except the carp,
+are met with in the lakes and rivers in immense quantities, the
+characteristic feature of the region being its wealth in _Coregoni_
+and in _Salmonidoe_ generally.
+
+In the Ante-Steppe the forest species proper, such as _Pteromys
+volans_ and _Tamias striatus_, disappear, but the common squirrel,
+the weasel, and the bear are still met with in the forests. The
+hare is increasing rapidly, as well as the fox. The avifauna, of
+course, becomes poorer; nevertheless the woods of the Steppe, and
+still more the forests of the Ante-Steppe, give refuge to many
+birds, even to the hazel-hen, the woodcock and the black-grouse.
+The fauna of the thickets at the bottom of the river-valleys is
+decidedly, rich and includes aquatic birds. The destruction of
+the forests and the advance of wheat into the prairies are rapidly
+impoverishing the Steppe fauna. The various species of rapacious
+animals are disappearing, together with the colonies of marmots; the
+insectivores are also becoming scarce in consequence of the destruction
+of insects, while vermin, such as the suslik (_Spermophilus_),
+become a real plague, as also the destructive insects which have
+been a scourge to agriculture during recent years. The absence of
+_Coregoni_ is a characteristic feature of the fish-fauna of the
+Steppes; the carp, on the contrary, reappears, and the rivers are
+rich in sturgeons. On the Volga below Nijni Novgorod the sturgeon,
+and others of the same family, as also a very great variety of
+ganoids and _Teleostei_, appear in such quantities that they give
+occupation to nearly 100,000 people. The mouths of the Caspian
+rivers are especially celebrated for their wealth of fish.
+
+
+
+
+_SIBERIA_
+
+_JEAN JACQUES ELISEE RECLUS_
+
+Siberia is emphatically the "Land of the North." Its name has by
+some etymologists been identified with "Severia," a term formerly
+applied to various northern regions of European Russia. The city
+of Sibir, which has given its name to the whole of North Asia,
+was so called only by the Russians, its native name being Isker.
+The Cossacks, coming from the south and centre of Russia, may have
+naturally regarded as pre-eminently the "Northern Land" those cold
+regions of the Ob basin lying beyond the snowy mountains which
+form the "girdle of the world."
+
+Long before the conquest of Sibir by the Cossacks, this region was
+known to the Arab traders and missionaries. The Tatars of Sibir were
+Mahommedans and this town was the centre of the great fur trade. The
+Russians themselves had constant relations with the inhabitants of
+the Asiatic slopes of the Urals, and the Novgorodians were acquainted
+with the regions stretching "beyond the portages." Early in the
+Sixteenth Century the Moscow Tsars, heirs of the Novgorod power,
+called themselves lords of Obdoria and Kondina; that is of all the
+Lower Ob basin between the Konda and the Irtish confluence, and the
+station of Obdorsk, under the Arctic Circle. Their possessions--that
+is, the hunting grounds visited by the Russian agents of the Strogonov
+family--consequently skirted the great river for a distance of 600
+miles. But the Slav power was destined soon to be consolidated
+by conquest, and such is the respect inspired by force that the
+successful expedition of a Cossack brigand, on whose head a price
+had been set, was supposed to have led to the discovery of Siberia,
+although really preceded by many visits of a peaceful character.
+Even still the conquering Yermak is often regarded as a sort of
+explorer of the lands beyond the Urals. But he merely establishes
+himself as a master where the Strogonov traders had been received
+as guests. Maps of the Ob and of the Ostiak country had already
+been published by Sebastian Munster and by Herberstein a generation
+before the Cossacks entered Sibir. The very name of this town is
+marked on Munster's map.
+
+In 1579, Yermak began the second plundering expedition, which in
+two years resulted in the capture of the Tatar kingdom. When the
+conquerors entered Sibir they had been reduced from over 800 to
+about 400 men. But this handful represented the power of the Tsars
+and Yermak could sue for pardon, with the offer of a kingdom as
+his ransom. Before the close of the Sixteenth Century the land had
+been finally subdued. Sibir itself, which stood on a high bluff on
+the right bank of the Irtish, exists no more, having probably been
+swept away by the erosions of the stream. But ten miles farther down
+another capital, Tobolsk, arose, also on the right bank, and the
+whole of the north was gradually added to the Tsar's dominions. The
+fur trappers, more even than the soldiers, were the real conquerors
+of Siberia. Nevertheless, many battles had to be fought down to
+the middle of the Seventeenth Century. The Buriats of the Angora
+basin, the Koriaks, and other tribes long held out; but most of
+the land was peacefully acquired, and permanently secured by the
+forts erected by the Cossacks at the junction of the rivers, at
+the entrance of the mountain passes, and other strategic points.
+History records no other instance of such a vast dominion so rapidly
+acquired, and with such slender means, by a handful of men acting
+mostly on their own impulse, without chiefs or instructions from
+the centre of authority.
+
+Even China allowed the Cossacks to settle on the banks of the Amur,
+though the treaty of Nerchinsk required the Russians to withdraw
+from that basin in 1689. But during the present century they have
+been again attracted to this region, and the Government of St.
+Petersburg is now fully alive to the advantages of a free access
+by a large navigable stream to the Pacific seaboard. Hence, in
+1851, Muraviov established the factory of Nikolaievsk, near the
+mouth of the Amur, and those of Mariinsk and Alexandrovsk at either
+end of the portage connecting that river with the Bay of Castries.
+During the Crimean war its left bank was definitely secured by a
+line of fortified posts, and in 1859 a ukase confirmed the possession
+of a territory torn from China in time of peace. Lastly, in 1860,
+while the Anglo-French forces were entering Pekin, Russia obtained
+without a blow the cession of the region south of the Amur and east
+of the Ussuri, stretching along the coast to the Corean frontier.
+
+And thus was completed the reduction of the whole of North Asia,
+a territory of itself alone far more extensive than the European
+continent. In other respects there is, of course, no point of comparison
+between these two regions. This Siberian world, where vast wildernesses
+still remain to be explored, has a foreign trade surpassed by that
+of many a third-rate European seaport, such as Dover or Boulogne.
+Embracing a thirteenth part of the dry land on the surface of the
+globe, its population falls short of that of London alone; it is
+even more sparsely peopled than Caucasia and Turkestan, having
+little over one inhabitant to 1,000 acres.
+
+Accurate surveys of the physical features and frontier-lines are
+still far from complete. Only quite recently the first circumnavigation
+of the Old World round the northern shores of Siberia has been
+accomplished by the Swedish explorer, Nordenskjoeld. The early attempts
+made by Willoughby, Chancellor, and Burrough failed even to reach
+the Siberian coast. Hoping later on to reach China by ascending
+the Ob to the imaginary Lake Kitai--that is, Kathay, or China--the
+English renewed their efforts to discover the "north-east passage,"
+and in 1580 two vessels, commanded by Arthur Ket and Charles Jackman,
+sailed for the Arctic Ocean; but they never got beyond the Kara
+Sea. The Dutch succeeded no better, none of the voyages undertaken
+by Barents and others between 1594 and 1597 reaching farther than
+the Spitzbergen and Novaya Zembla waters. Nor were these limits
+exceeded by Hendrick Hudson in 1608. This was the last attempt
+made by the navigators of West Europe; but the Russian traders
+and fishers of the White Sea were familiar with the routes to the
+Ob and Yenisei Gulfs, as is evident from a map published in 1600
+by Boris Godunov. However, sixteen years afterwards the navigation
+of these waters was interdicted under pain of death, lest foreigners
+should discover the way to the Siberian coast.
+
+[Illustration: SIBERIAN NATIVES.]
+
+The exploration of this seaboard had thus to be prosecuted in Siberia
+itself by means of vessels built for the river navigation. In 1648,
+the Cossack Dejnev sailed with a flotilla of small craft from the
+Kolima round the north-east extremity of Asia, passing long before
+the birth of Bering through the strait which now bears the name
+of that navigator. Stadukhin also explored these eastern seas in
+search of the islands full of fossil ivory, of which he had heard
+from the natives. In 1735, Pronchishchev and Lasinius embarked
+at Yakutsk and sailed down the Lena, exploring its delta and
+neighbouring coasts. Pronchishchev reached a point east of the
+Taimir peninsula, but failed to double the headlands between the
+Lena and the Yenisei estuaries. The expedition begun by Laptiev in
+1739, after suffering shipwreck, was continued overland, resulting
+in the exploration of the Taimir peninsula and the discovery of the
+North Cape of the Old World, Pliny's Tabin, and the Cheluskin of
+modern maps, so named from the pilot who accompanied Pronchishchev
+and Laptiev. The western seaboard between the Yenisei and Ob estuaries
+had already been surveyed by Ovtzin and Minin in 1737-9.
+
+But the problem was already being attacked from the side of the
+Pacific Ocean. In 1728, the Danish navigator, Bering, in the service
+of Russia, crossed Siberia overland to the Pacific, whence he sailed
+through the strait now named from him, and by him first revealed
+to the West, though known to the Siberian Cossacks eighty years
+previously. Even Bering himself, hugging the Asiatic coast, had
+not descried the opposite shores of America, and was uncertain as
+to the exact position of the strait. This point was not cleared
+up till Cook's voyage of 1778, and even after that the Sakhalin,
+Yezo and Kurile waters still remained to be explored. The shores
+of the mainland and islands were first traced by La Perouse, who
+determined the insular character of Sakhalin, and ascertained the
+existence of a strait connecting the Japanese Sea with that of
+Okhotsk. This completed the general survey of the whole Siberian
+seaboard.
+
+The scientific exploration of the interior began in the Eighteenth
+Century with Messerschmidt, followed by Gmelin, Mueller, and Delisle
+de la Croyere, who determined many important physical points between
+the years 1733 and 1742. The region stretching beyond Lake Baikal was
+explored by Pallas and his associates in 1770-3. The expeditions,
+interrupted by the great wars following on the French Revolution,
+were resumed in 1828 by the Norwegian Hansteen, whose memorable
+expedition in company with Erman had such important results for
+the study of terrestrial magnetism. While Hansteen and Erman were
+still prosecuting their labours in every branch of natural science,
+Alexander von Humboldt, Ehrenberg, and Gustav Rose made a short
+visit to Siberia, which, however, remained one of the most important
+in the history of science. Middendorff's journeys to North and
+East Siberia had also some very valuable results, and were soon
+followed, in 1854, by the "expedition to Siberia" undertaken by
+Schwartz, Schmidt, Glehn, Usoltzev, and associates, extending over
+the whole region of the Trans-baikal to the Lena and northern
+tributaries of the Amur. Thus began the uninterrupted series of
+modern journeys, which are now being systematically continued in
+every part of Siberia, and which promise soon to leave no blanks
+on the chart of that region.
+
+The work of geographical discovery, properly so called, may be said
+to have been brought to a close by Nordenskjoeld's recent determination
+of the north-east passage, vainly attempted by Willoughby, Barents,
+and so many other illustrious navigators.
+
+Such a vast region as Siberia, affected in the west by Atlantic,
+in the east by Pacific influences, and stretching north and south
+across 29 deg. of latitude, must obviously present great diversities
+of climate. Even this bleak land has its temperate zones, which the
+Slav colonists are fond of calling their "Italies." Nevertheless
+as compared with Europe, Siberia may, on the whole, be regarded as
+a country of extreme temperatures--relatively great heats, and,
+above all, intense colds. The very term "Siberian" has justly become
+synonymous with a land of winds, frosts, and snows. The mean annual
+temperature in this region comprised between the rivers Anabara
+and Indigirka is 20 deg. Fahr. below freezing point. The pole of cold,
+oscillating diversely with the force of the lateral pressure from
+Yakutsk to the Lena estuary, is the meteorological centre round
+which the atmosphere revolves. Here are to a large extent prepared
+the elements of the climate of West Europe.
+
+Travellers speak of the Siberian winters with mingled feelings of
+terror and rapture. An infinite silence broods over the land--all
+is buried in deep sleep. The animals hibernate in their dens, the
+streams have ceased to flow, disappearing beneath the ice and snow;
+the earth, of a dazzling whiteness in the centre of the landscape,
+but grey in the distance, nowhere offers a single object to arrest
+the gaze. The monotony of endless space is broken by no abrupt
+lines or vivid tints. The only contrast with the dull expanse of
+land is the everlasting azure sky, along which the sun creeps at a
+few degrees only above the horizon. In these intensely cold latitudes
+it rises and sets with hard outlines, unsoftened by the ruddy haze
+elsewhere encircling it on the edge of the horizon. Yet such is the
+strength of its rays that the snow melts on the housetop exposed
+to its glare, while in the shade the temperature is 40 deg. to 50 deg.
+below freezing point. At night, when the firmament is not aglow
+with the many-tinted lights and silent coruscations of the aurora
+borealis, the zodiacal light and the stars still shine with intense
+brightness.
+
+To this severe winter, which fissures the surface and rends the
+rocks of the rivers into regular basalt-like columns, there succeeds
+a sudden and delightful spring. So instantaneous is the change that
+nature seems as if taken by surprise and rudely awakened. The delicate
+green of the opening leaf, the fragrance of the budding flowers,
+the intoxicating balm of the atmosphere, the radiant brightness of
+the heavens, all combine to impart to mere existence a voluptuous
+gladness. To Siberians visiting the temperate climes of Western
+Europe, spring seems to be unknown beyond their lands. But these
+first days of new life are followed by a chill, gusty and changeful
+interval, arising from the atmospheric disturbances caused by the
+thawing of the vast snowy wastes. A relapse is then experienced
+analogous to that too often produced in England by late east winds.
+The apple blossom is now nipped by the night frosts falling in the
+latter part of May. Hence no apples can be had in East Siberia,
+although the summer heats are otherwise amply sufficient for the
+ripening of fruit. After the fleeting summer, winter weather again
+sets in. It will often freeze at night in the middle of July; and
+after the 10th of August the sear leaf begins to fall, and in a
+few days all are gone, except perhaps the foliage of the larch.
+The snow will even sometimes settle early in August on the still
+leafy branches, bending and breaking them with its weight. Below
+the surface of the ground, winter reigns uninterrupted even by
+the hottest summers.
+
+With its vast extent and varied climate, Siberia naturally embraces
+several vegetable zones, differing more from each other even than
+those of Europe. The southern Steppes have a characteristic and
+well-marked flora, forming a continuation of that of the Aral,
+Caspian and Volga plains. The treeless northern _tundras_ also
+constitute a vegetable domain as sharply defined as the desert
+itself, while between these two zones of Steppe and _tundra_ the
+forest region of Europe stretches, with many subdivisions, west
+and east right across the continent. Of these subdivisions the
+chief are those of the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, and Amur basins.
+
+Beyond the northern _tundras_ and southern Steppes by far the greatest
+space is occupied by the forest zone. From the Urals to Kamchatka
+the dense _taiga_, or woodlands are interrupted only by the streams,
+a few natural glades and some tracts under cultivation. The term
+_taiga_ is used in a general way for all lands under timber, but
+east of the Altai it is applied more especially to the moist and
+spongy region overgrown with tangled roots and thickets, where the
+_mari_, or peat bogs, and marshes alternate with the _padi_, or
+narrow ravines. The miners call by this name the wooded mountains
+where they go in search of auriferous sands. But everywhere the
+_taiga_ is the same dreary forest, without grass, birds, or insects,
+gloomy and lifeless, and noiseless but for the soughing of the
+wind and crackling of the branches.
+
+The most common tree in the _taiga_ is the larch, which best resists
+the winter frost and summer chills. But the Siberian woodlands also
+include most of the trees common to temperate Europe--the linden,
+alder, juniper, service, willow, aspen, poplar, birch, cherry,
+apricot--whose areas are regulated according to the nature of the
+soil, the elevation or aspect of the land. Towards the south-east,
+on the Chinese frontier, the birch is encroaching on the indigenous
+species, and the natives regard this as a sure prognostic of the
+approaching rule of the "White Tsar."
+
+Conflagrations are very frequent in the Siberian forests, caused
+either by lightning, the woodmen, or hunters, and sometimes spreading
+over vast spaces till arrested by rivers, lakes or morasses. One
+of the pleasures of Siberian travelling is the faint odour of the
+woods burning in the distance.
+
+The native flora is extremely rich in berries of every kind, supplying
+food for men and animals.
+
+The extreme eastern regions of the Amur basin and Russian Manchuria,
+being warmer, more humid and fertile, also abound more in animal
+life than the other parts of Asiatic Russia. On the other hand,
+the Siberian bear, deer, roebuck, hare, squirrel, marmot and mole
+are about one-third larger, and often half as heavy again as their
+European congeners. This is doubtless due partly to the greater
+abundance of nourishment along the rivers and shores of Siberia,
+and partly to the fact that for ages the western species have been
+more preyed upon by man, living in a constant state of fear, and
+mostly perishing before attaining their full development.
+
+The Arctic Seas abound probably as much as the Pacific Ocean with
+marine animals. Nordenskjoeld found the Siberian waters very rich
+in molluscs and other lower organisms, implying a corresponding
+abundance of larger animals. Hence fishing, perhaps more than
+navigation, will be the future industry of the Siberian coast
+populations. Cetacea, fishes, molluscs, and other marine organisms
+are cast up in such quantities along both sides of Bering Strait
+that the bears and other omnivorous creatures have here become
+very choice as to their food. But on some parts of the coast in the
+Chukchi country whales are never stranded, and since the arrival
+of the Russians certain species threaten to disappear altogether.
+The _Rhytina stelleri_, a species of walrus formerly frequenting
+Bering Strait in millions, was completely exterminated between the
+years 1741-68. Many of the fur-bearing animals, which attracted
+the Cossacks from the Urals to the Sea of Okhotsk, and which were
+the true cause of the conquest of Siberia, have become extremely
+rare. Their skins are distinguished, above all others, for their
+great softness, warmth, lightness, and bright colours. The more
+Alpine or continental the climate, the more beautiful and highly
+prized become the furs, which diminish in gloss towards the coast
+and in West Siberia, where the south-west winds prevail. The sables
+of the North Urals are of small value, while those of the Upper
+Lena, fifteen degrees farther south, are worth a king's ransom. Many
+species assume a white coat in winter, whereby they are difficult
+to be distinguished from the surrounding snows. Amongst these are
+the polar hare and fox, the ermine, the campagnol, often even the
+wolf and reindeer, besides the owl, yellow-hammer, and some other
+birds. Those which retain their brown or black colour are mostly
+such as do not show themselves in winter. The fur of the squirrels
+also varies with the surrounding foliage, those of the pine forests
+being ruddy, those of the cedar, _taiga_, and firs inclining to
+brown, and all varying in intensity of colour with that of the
+vegetation.
+
+Other species besides the peltry-bearing animals have diminished
+in numbers since the arrival of the Russian hunters. The reindeer,
+which frequented the South Siberian highlands, and whose domain
+encroached on that of the camel, is now found only in the domestic
+state amongst the Soyotes of the Upper Yenisei and is met with
+in the wild state only in the dwarf forests and _tundras_ of the
+far north. The argali has withdrawn to Mongolia from the Siberian
+mountains and plains, where he was still very common at the end of
+the last century. On the other hand, cold and want of food yearly
+drive great numbers of antelopes and wild horses from the Gobi
+Steppes towards the Siberian lowlands, tigers, wolves and other
+beasts of prey following in their track, and returning with them in
+the early spring. Several new species of animals have been introduced
+by man and modified by crossings in the domestic state. In the
+north, the Samoyeds, Chukchis, and Kamchadales have the reindeer
+and dog, while the horse and ox are everywhere the companions of
+man in the peopled regions of Siberia. The yak has been tamed by the
+Soyotes of the Upper Yenisei, and the camel, typical of a distinctly
+Eastern civilization, follows the nomads of the Kirghiz and Mongolian
+Steppes. All these domesticated animals seem to have acquired special
+qualities and habits from the various indigenous or Russian peoples
+of Siberia.
+
+
+
+
+_THE RUSSIAN RACES_
+
+_W. R. MORFILL_
+
+The vast Empire of Russia, as may be readily imagined, is peopled
+by many different races. These may ethnologically be catalogued
+as follows:
+
+I. Sclavonic races, the most important in numbers and culture. Under
+this head may be classified:--
+
+(1) The Great Russians, or Russians properly so called, especially
+occupying the Governments round about Moscow, and from thence scattered
+in the north to Novgorod and Vologda, on the south to Kiev and to
+Voronezh, on the east to Penza, Simbirsk, and Viatka, and on the
+west to the Baltic provinces. Moreover, the Great Russians, as
+the ruling race, are to be found in small numbers in all quarters
+of the Empire. They amount to about 40,000,000.
+
+(2) Little Russians (Malorossiani), dwelling south of the Russians,
+upon the shores of the Black Sea. These, together with the Rusniaks,
+amount to 16,370,000.
+
+The Cossacks come under these two races.
+
+To the great Russians belong the Don Cossacks, with those sprung
+from them--the Kouban, Stavropol, Khoperski, Volga, Mosdok, Kizlarski
+and Grebenski.
+
+[Illustration: SAMOYEDES OF NOVA ZEMBLA.]
+
+To the Little Russian: the Malorossiiski, with those sprung from
+them--the Zaporoghian, Black Sea (Chernomorski), and those of Azov
+and of the Danube.
+
+(3) The White Russians, inhabiting the Western Governments. Their
+number amounts to 4,000,000.
+
+(4) Poles, living in the former Kingdom of Poland and the Western
+Governments of the Empire. Their number amounts to 5,000,000.
+
+(5) Servians, Bulgarians, and other Slavs, inhabiting especially
+Bessarabia and the country called New Russia. Their number reaches
+150,000.
+
+II. The Non-Sclavonic races comprise either original inhabitants
+of the country who have been subdued by the Russians, or later
+comers. Among races originally inhabiting the country, and subjugated
+by the Russians, are included--the Lithuanians and Letts, the Finns,
+the Samoyeds, the Mongol-Manzhurians, the races of eastern Siberia,
+the Turko-Tartar, the Caucasian, the German, and the Hebrew.
+
+1. The Lithu-Lettish race inhabits the country between the western
+Dwina and the Nieman. In numbers they do not amount to more than
+3,000,000. The Lithu-Lettish population is divided into the two
+following branches:--
+
+(a) The Lithuanians properly so called (including the Samogitans
+or Zhmudes), who inhabit the Governments of Vilno, Kovno, Courland,
+and the northern parts of those of Augustovo and Grodno (1,900,000).
+
+(b) The Letts, who inhabit the Governments of Courland, Vitebsk,
+Livonia, Kovno, Pskov, and St. Petersburg (1,100,000).
+
+2. The Finnish race--known in the old Sclavonic chronicles under
+the name of Chouds--at one time inhabited all the north-eastern part
+of Russia. The Finns, according to the place of their habitation,
+are divided into four groups:--the Baltic Finns, the Finns in the
+Governments of the Volga, the Cis-Oural and the Trans-Oural Finns.
+
+(a) The Baltic Finns: the Chouds (in the Governments of Novgorod
+and Olonetz); the Livonians (in Courland); the Esthonians (in the
+Governments of Esthonia, Livonia, Vitebsk, Pskov, and St. Petersburg);
+the Lopari (in northern Finland and in the Government of Archangel);
+the Corelians (in the Government of Archangel, Novgorod, Olonetz,
+St. Petersburg, Tver, and Jaroslav); Evremeiseti (in the Governments
+of Novgorod and St. Petersburg), Savakoti, Vod, and Izhora.
+
+(b) To the Finns of the Governments of the Volga, who have become
+almost lost in the Russians, belong the Cheremisians (in the Governments
+of Kazan, Viatka, Kostroma, Nijni-Novgorod, Orenburg and Perm).
+
+(c) To the Cis-Uralian Finns, who occupy the country from the borders
+of Finland to the Oural, belong the Permiaks (in the Governments
+of Viatka and Perm); Ziranians (in the Governments of Archangel
+and Vologda); Votiaks (in the Governments of Viatka and Kazan);
+and Vogoulichi (in the Governments of Perm).
+
+(d) Among the Trans-Oural Finns are also to be numbered the Ziranians
+and Vogoulichi (the first in the Government of Tobolsk, and the
+second in the Governments of Tobolsk and Tomsk); and the Ostiaks,
+who, according to the places of their habitation, are called Obski
+and Berezovski.
+
+The Finns amount altogether to 2,100,000.
+
+3. The Samoyeds, in number 70,000, live in the territory extending
+from the White Sea to the Yenesei; to these belong the Samoyeds
+properly so called, the Narimski and the Yenesei Ostiaks, the Olennie
+Choukchi, etc.
+
+4. The Mongolo-Manzhourian race amounting to 400,000. Among this
+race may be remarked the Mongolians properly so called, on the
+Selenga; the Kalmucks, a nomad people in the Government of Astrakhan,
+as also in Tomsk, in the country of the Don Cossacks, and partly
+in the Government of Stavropol. The Kalmucks appeared first on
+the eastern confines of Russia in the year 1630. About a century
+later we find them become the regular subjects of the Tsar. They
+seem, however, to have found the Russian yoke irksome, and resolved
+to return to their original home on the coasts of Lake Balkach,
+and at the foot of the Altai Mountains. Nearly the whole nation,
+amounting to almost 300,000 persons, began their march in the winter
+of 1770-71. The passage of this vast horde lasted for weeks, but the
+rear were prevented from escaping by the Kirghiz and Cossacks, who
+intercepted them. They were compelled to remain in Russia, where their
+territory was more accurately defined than had been done previously.
+The Kalmucks are obliged to serve with the Cossack troops, but
+their duties are mostly confined to looking after the cattle and
+horses which accompany the army. Their religion is Buddhism, and
+a conspicuous object in the aouls, or temporary villages which
+they construct, is the pagoda. Their personal appearance is by no
+means prepossessing--small eyes and high cheekbones, with scanty
+hair of a very coarse texture. In every sense of the word they
+are still strictly nomads; their children and tents are carried
+by camels, and in a few hours their temporary village, or oulous,
+is established. To these also belong the Bouriats, by Lake Baikal;
+the Toungusians from the Yenesei to the Amur; the Lamorets, by the
+Sea of Okhotsk; and the Olentzi, in the Government of Irkutsk.
+
+5. Races of eastern Siberia: the Koriaks, living in the north-eastern
+corner of Siberia; the Youkagirs, in the territory of Yakutsk; the
+Kamchadales, in Kamchatka. Their number amounts to 500,000.
+
+6. The Turko-Tartar race amount in number to 3,000,000. To their
+branch belong the Chouvashes, in the governments of Orenburg, Simbursk,
+Saratov and Samaria; the Mordvinians, in the same governments as the
+Chouvashes,[1] and in those of Tambov, Penza, and Nijni-Novgorod;
+the Tartars of the Crimea and Kazan; the Nagais, on the Kouban
+and Don; the Mestcheriaki, in the governments of Orenburg, Perm,
+Saratov, and Viatka; Koumki, in the Caucasus; Kirghizi, Yakouti,
+on the Lena; Troukhmentzi and Khivintzi; Karakalpaks (lit. Black
+Caps), Teleouti, in the government of Tomsk, Siberia.
+
+[Footnote 1: Some writers consider the Chouvashes to belong to the
+Finnish race.]
+
+7. The Caucasian races inhabiting Georgia, the valleys and defiles
+of the Caucasian Mountains have different appellations and different
+origins. Among them may be noticed the Armenians, Georgians,
+Circassians, Abkhasians, Lesghians, Osetintzi, Chechentzi, Kistentzi,
+Toushi, and others. Their number is about 2,000,000.
+
+The languages of the Caucasus must be regarded as a group distinct
+both from the Aryan and Semitic families. They are agglutinative,
+and are divided into two branches.
+
+(a) The Northern Division, extending along the northern slopes
+of the Caucasus, between the Caspian and the northern shores of
+the Black Sea, as far as the Straits of Yenikale; its subdivisions
+are Lesghian, Kistian, and Circassian, each with its dialects.
+Formerly the Circassians numbered about 500,000, but large numbers
+of them emigrated to European Turkey, where they were dexterously
+planted by the government to impede the social progress of their
+Bulgarian and Greek subjects.
+
+(b) The Southern Division, comprising Georgian, Suanian, Mingrelian,
+and Lazian.
+
+8. The German race, in number about 1,000,000. The Germans are
+chiefly in the Baltic provinces, in the government of St. Petersburg,
+in the Grand Duchy of Finland, and the colonies, especially those on
+the lower Volga, the Don, the Crimea, and New Russia. The Germans
+have acquired great influence throughout the country; they are
+represented in the court, in the army, and in the administration.
+Here also may be mentioned the Swedes, amounting to 286,000.
+
+9. The Jews inhabit especially the former Kingdom of Poland, the
+Western Governments, and the Crimea. Their number amounts to 3,000,000.
+Among the Jews the Karaimite are noticeable, living in the governments
+of Vilno, Volinia, Kovno, Kherson, and the Taurida. Among the Europeans
+and Asiatics who have come in later times to settle in Russia, are
+Greeks, amounting to 75,000, in the governments of New Russia and
+Chernigov; French, Italians, and Englishmen, in the capitals and
+chief commercial towns; Wallachians or Moldavians (now generally
+included under the name of Roumanians), in Bessarabia; Albanians;
+Gipsies, especially in the territory of Bessarabia, amounting to
+50,000; Persians, to 10,000, etc.
+
+
+
+
+_THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA_
+
+_W. R. MORFILL_
+
+I shall follow the divisions given in his first volume by Oustrialov.
+He divides Russian history into two great parts, the ancient and
+modern.
+
+I. Ancient history from the commencement of Russia to the time of
+Peter the Great (862-1689).
+
+This first period is subdivided into (_a_) the foundation of Russia
+and the combination of the Sclavonians into a political unity under
+the leadership of the Normans and by means of the Christian Faith
+under Vladimir and the legislation of Yaroslav.
+
+According to the theory commonly received at the present day, the
+foundation of the Russian Empire was laid by Rurik at Novgorod.
+The name Russian seems to be best explained as meaning "the seamen"
+from the Finnish name for the Swedes or Norsemen, Ruotsi, which
+itself is a corruption of a Scandinavian word. It has been shown
+by Thomsen, that all the names mentioned in early Russian history
+admit of a Scandinavian explanation; thus Ingar becomes Igor, and
+Helga, Oleg. In a few generations the Scandinavian origin of the
+settlers was forgotten. The grandson of Rurik, Sviatoslav, has
+a purely Sclavonic name.
+
+Christianity was introduced into the country by Vladimir, and the
+first code of Russian laws was promulgated by Yaroslav, called
+Rousskaia Pravda, of which a transcript was found among the chronicles
+of Novgorod.
+
+(_b_) Breaking up of Russia, under the system of appanages, into
+some confederate principalities, governed by the descendants of
+Rurik. This unfortunate disruption of the country paved the way
+for the invasion of the Mongols, whose domination lasted for nearly
+two centuries.
+
+During their occupation the Russians were ingrafted with many oriental
+habits, which were only partially removed by Peter the Great, and in
+fact many of them have lasted till the present day. The influence
+of the Mongolians upon the national language has been greatly
+exaggerated, as the words introduced are confined almost exclusively
+to articles of dress, money, etc. Had the conquests of the Mongols
+been permanent, Russia would have become definitely attached to
+Asia, to which its geographical position seems to assign it.
+
+(_c_) Division of Russia into eastern and western under the Mongolian
+yoke 1228-1328. This is a very dreary period of the national history.
+
+(_d_) Formation in Eastern Russia of the government of Moscow 1328-1462,
+which by the energy of its princes became the nucleus of the future
+empire; and in Western Russia of the principality of Lithuania,
+and its union with Poland 1320-1569.
+
+(_e_) Consolidation of the Muscovite power under Ivan III., who
+married the daughter of the Greek Emperor, and succeeded in expelling
+the Tartars, and making himself master of their city Kazan. He was
+followed by his son Vasilii, who was succeeded by Ivan IV., who
+has gained a very unenviable reputation on account of his cruelties.
+Already the yoke of the Tartars had begun to have a very deteriorating
+effect upon the Russian character, and the more sanguinary code of
+the Asiatics had effaced the tradition of the laws of Yaroslav.
+Mutilation, flagellation, and the abundant use of the knout prevailed.
+The servile custom of chelobitye, or knocking the head on the ground,
+which was exacted from all subjects on entering the royal presence,
+was certainly of Tartar origin, as also the punishment inflicted
+upon refractory debtors, called the pravezh. They were beaten on
+the shins in a public square every day from eight to eleven o'clock,
+till the money was paid. The custom is fully described by Giles
+Fletcher and Olearius.
+
+Another strange habit, savouring too much of the Tartar servitude,
+was that recorded by Peter Heylin in his _Little Description of
+the Great World_ (Oxford, 1629), who says: "It is the custom over
+all Muscovie, that a maid in time of wooing sends to that suitor
+whom she chooseth for her husband such a whip curiously by herself
+wrought, in token of her subjection unto him." A Russian writer
+also tells us that it was usual for the husband on the wedding
+day to give his bride a gentle stroke over the shoulders with his
+whip, to show his power over her. Herberstein's story of the German
+Jordan and his Russian wife will perhaps occur to some of my readers.
+She complained to her husband that he did not love her; but upon
+his expressing surprise at the doubt, she gave as her reason that
+he had never beaten her! Indeed the position of a woman in Russia
+till the time of Peter was a very melancholy one. Her place in
+society is accurately marked out in the Domostroi, or regulations
+for governing one's household, written at the time of Ivan the
+Terrible. As this book presents us with some very curious pictures
+of Russian family life in the olden time, a few words may be permitted
+describing its contents. It was written by the monk Sylvester,
+who was one of the chief counsellors of Ivan, and at one time in
+great favour with him, but afterwards fell into disgrace and was
+banished by the capricious tyrant to the Solovetzki monastery,
+where he died. The work was primarily addressed by the worthy priest
+to his son Anthemus and his daughter-in-law, Pelagia, but as the
+bulk of it was of a general character it soon became used in all
+households. Nothing escapes this father of the church from the
+duties of religion, down to the minor details of the kitchen and
+the mysteries of cookery. The wife is constantly recommended to
+practise humility, in a way which would probably be repulsive to
+many of our modern ladies. Her industry in weaving and making clothes
+among her domestics is very carefully dwelt upon. She lived in a kind
+of Oriental seclusion, and saw no one except her nearest relatives.
+The bridegroom knew nothing of his bride, she was only allowed to
+be seen a few times before marriage by his female relatives, and
+on these occasions all kinds of tricks were played. A stool was
+placed under her feet that she might seem taller, or a handsome
+female attendant, or a better-looking sister were substituted.
+"Nowhere," says Kotoshikhin, "is there such trickery practised
+with reference to the brides as at Moscow." The innovations of
+Peter the Great broke through the oriental seclusion of the terem,
+as the women's apartments were called. During the minority of Ivan
+IV. the regency was committed to the care of his mother Elena, and
+was at best but a stormy period. When I van came to the throne the
+country was not even yet free from the incursions of the Tartars.
+In Hakluyt's voyages we have a curious account of one of these
+devastations in a "letter of Richard Vscombe to M. Henrie Lane,
+touching the burning of the city of Mosco by the Crimme Tartar,
+written the fifth day of August, 1571." "The Mosco is burnt every
+sticke by the Crimme, the 24th day of May last, and an innumerable
+number of people; and in the English house was smothered Thomas
+Southam, Tosild, Waverley, Green's wife and children, two children
+of Rafe, and more to the number of twenty-five persons were stifled
+in oure beere seller, and yet in the same seller was Rafe, his
+wife, John Browne, and John Clarke preserved, which was wonderful.
+And there went to that seller Master Glover and Master Rowley also;
+but because the heat was so great they came foorth againe with much
+perill, so that a boy at their heeles was taken with the fire,
+yet they escaped blindfold into another seller, and there as God's
+will was they were preserved. The emperor fled out of the field,
+and many of his people were carried away by the Crimme Tartar.
+And so with exceeding much spoile and infinite prisoners, they
+returned home againe. What with the Crimme on the one side and
+his cruelties on the other, he hath but few people left" (Hakluyt,
+I. 402).
+
+[Illustration: ROOM OF THE TSAR MICHAILOWITCH, MOSCOW.]
+
+It is well known that the English first became acquainted with
+Russia in the time of Ivan the Terrible. In the reign of Edward VI.
+a voyage was undertaken by Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor,
+who attempted to reach Russia by way of the North Sea. Willoughby
+and his crew were unfortunately lost, but Chancellor succeeded in
+reaching Moscow, and showing his letters to the Tsar, in reply to
+which an alliance was concluded and an ambassador soon afterwards
+visited the English court. In spite of his brutal tyrannies, for
+which no apologies can be offered, although some of the Russian
+authorities have attempted to gloss them over, the reign of Ivan
+was distinctly progressive for Russia. The introduction of the
+printing-press, the conquest of Siberia, the development of commerce,
+were all in advance of what had been done by his predecessors. He
+also had the leading idea afterwards fully carried out by Peter
+the Great of extending the dominions on the north, and ensuring
+a footing on the Baltic.
+
+The relations of Ivan with England are fully described in the very
+interesting diary of Sir Jerome Horsey, the ambassador from this
+country, the manuscript of which is preserved in the British Museum.
+He was anxious to have an English wife, and Elizabeth selected one
+for him, Lady Mary Hastings, but when the bride-elect had been
+made acquainted with the circumstance that Ivan had been married
+several times before, and was a most truculent and blood-thirsty
+sovereign, she entreated her father with many tears not to send
+her to such a man.
+
+The character given of Ivan by Horsey is very graphic, and is valuable
+as the narration of a person who had frequently been in intimate
+relations with the Tsar. We give it in the original spelling:--
+
+"Thus much to conclude with this Emperor Ivan Vasiliwich. He was a
+goodlie man of person and presence, well favoured, high forehead,
+shrill voice, a right Sithian, full of readie wisdom, cruell, blondye,
+merciless; his own experience mannaged by direction both his state and
+commonwealth affairs; was sumptuously intomed in Michell Archangell
+Church, where he, though guarded daye and night, remaines a fearfull
+spectacle to the memorie of such as pass by or heer his name spoken
+of [who] are contented to cross and bless themselves from his
+resurrection againe."
+
+Passing over his feeble son, we come to the era of Boris Godunov,
+a man in many respects remarkable, but not the least that he saw
+the necessity of western culture. His plans for educating Russia
+were extensive, and several youths were sent abroad for this purpose,
+including some to England. But his reign ended gloomily, and was
+followed by the period of the Pretenders (Samozvantzi), during which
+Russia was rent by opposing factions; and almost ended in receiving
+a foreign sovereign, in the person of Ladislaus (Wladyslaw), the
+son of Sigismund III., the King of Poland. The Romanovs finally
+ascended the throne in the person of Michael in 1613. The son of
+Michael, Alexis, was a thoroughly reforming sovereign, and took
+many foreigners into his pay. With the reign of Ivan V., son of
+Alexis, closes the old period of Russian history.
+
+II. The new history from the days of Peter the Great to the present
+time.
+
+The reforms introduced into Russia by Peter the Great are too well
+known to need recapitulation here. There will be always many different
+opinions about this wonderful man. Some have not hesitated to say
+that he "knouted" Russia into civilization; others can see traces
+of the hero mixed with much clay. One of the darkest pages in the
+annals of his reign, is that upon which is written the fate of his
+unfortunate son, Alexis. All Russia seems but one vast monument
+of his genius. He gave her six new provinces, a footing upon two
+seas, a regular army trained on the European system, a large fleet,
+an admiralty, and a naval academy; besides these, some educational
+establishments, a gallery of painting and sculpture, and a public
+library. Nothing escaped his notice, even to such minutiae as the
+alteration of Russian letters to make them more adapted to printing,
+and changing the dress of his subjects so as to be more in conformity
+with European costume. All this interference savoured of despotism,
+no doubt, but it led to the consolidation of a great nationality.
+The Russians belong to the European family, and must of necessity
+return to fulfil their destiny, although they had been temporarily
+diverted from their bondage under the Mongols. Owing to the mistake
+Peter had committed in allowing the succession to be changed at
+the will of the ruling sovereign, the country was for some time
+after his death in the hands of Russian and German adventurers.
+
+On the death of Peter he was succeeded by his wife Catherine, an
+amiable but illiterate woman, who was wholly under the influence
+of Menshikov, one of Peter's chief favourites. After a short reign
+of two years, she was succeeded by Peter II., son of the unfortunate
+Alexis, in whose time Menshikov and his family were banished to
+Berezov in Siberia. After his banishment, Peter, who was a weak
+prince, and showed every inclination to undo his grandfather's
+work, fell under the influence of the Dolgoroukis.
+
+There is something very touching in the fate of this poor child--he
+was but fifteen years of age when he died--tossed about amidst
+the opposing factions of the intriguing courtiers, each of whom
+cared nothing for the good of the country, but only how to find
+the readiest means to supplant his rival. The last words of the
+boy as he lay on his death-bed were, "Get ready the sledge! I want
+to go to my sister!" alluding to the Princess Natalia, the other
+child of Alexis who had died three years previously.
+
+On his death Anne, Duchess of Courland, and daughter of Ivan, the
+elder brother of Peter, was called to the throne. After her death,
+by a second _revolution de palais_, Elizabeth, the daughter of
+Peter the Great, was made sovereign. In this reign her alliance
+was concluded with Maria Theresa of Austria, and during the Seven
+Years' War, a large Russian force invaded Prussia; another took
+Berlin in 1760.
+
+During the whole of her reign Elizabeth was under the influence
+of favourites, or _vremenstchiki_, as the Russians call them. She
+appears to have been an indolent, good-tempered woman, and exceedingly
+superstitious. During her reign Russia made considerable progress
+in literature and culture. A national theatre, of which there had
+been a few germs even at so early a period as the youth of Peter
+the Great, was thoroughly developed, and at Yaroslavl, Volkov,
+the son of a merchant, earned such a reputation as an actor, that
+he was summoned to St. Petersburg by Elizabeth, who took him under
+her patronage. Dramatists now sprang up on every side, but at first
+were merely translators of Corneille, Racine, and Moliere. The
+Russian arms were successful during her reign, and the capture of
+Berlin in 1760, had a great effect upon European politics. Two years
+afterwards Elizabeth died, and her nephew Peter III. succeeded, who
+admired Frederick the Great, and at once made peace with him.
+
+This unfortunate man, however, only reigned six months, having been
+dethroned and put to death by order of his wife, who became Empress
+of Russia under the title of Catherine II. However unjustifiable the
+means may have been by which Catherine became possessed of the
+throne, and in mere justice to her we must remember that she had
+been brutally treated by her husband, and was in hourly expectation
+of being immured for life in a dungeon by his orders, she exercised
+her power to the advantage of the country.
+
+In 1770, a Russian fleet appeared for the first time in the
+Mediterranean, and the Turkish navy was destroyed at Chesme. By the
+treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji (1774), Turkey was obliged to recognize
+the independence of the Crimea, and cede to Russia a considerable
+amount of territory. In 1783, Russia gained the Crimea, and in
+1793, by the last partition of Poland, a very large portion of that
+country.
+
+The subsequent events of the history are well known. Paul, who
+succeeded Catherine, was assassinated in 1801. The reign of this
+emperor has been made very familiar to Englishmen by the highly
+coloured portrait given by the traveller Clarke, who laboured under
+the most aggravated Russophobia. That Paul did many cruel and capricious
+things does not admit of a doubt, but he was capable of generous
+feelings, and sometimes surprised people as much by his liberality
+as by his despotic conduct. Thus he set Kosciuscko at liberty as
+soon as he had ascended the throne; and there was a fine revenge in
+his compelling Orlov to follow the coffins of Peter and Catherine,
+when by his order they were buried together in the Petropavlovski
+church.
+
+Alexander I., his son, added Finland to the Russian empire, and
+saw his country invaded by Napoleon in 1812. The horrors of this
+campaign have been well described by Segur, Wilson, and Labaume.
+At his death in 1825, his brother Nicholas succeeded, not without
+opposition, which led to bloodshed and the execution of the five
+Dekabrists (conspirators of December). The schemes of these men
+were impracticable; so little did the common people understand the
+very rudiments of liberalism, that when the soldiers were ordered
+to shout for Konstitoutzia (the constitution, a word the foreign
+appearance of which shows how alien it was to the national spirit),
+one of them naively asked, if that was the name of the wife of
+the Grand Duke Constantine.
+
+The policy of the Emperor Nicholas was one of complete isolation of
+the country, and the prevention of his subjects as much as possible
+from holding intercourse with the rest of Europe, hence permission
+to travel was but sparingly given, nor were foreigners encouraged
+to visit Russia. In 1826, war broke out with Persia, the result
+of which was that the latter power was compelled to cede Erivan
+and the country as far as the Araxes (or Aras). Russia also made
+further additions to her territory by the treaty of Adrianople in
+1829, after Diebich had crossed the Balkans. In 1830, the great
+Polish rebellion broke out, which was crushed after much bloodshed
+in Sept. 1831, by the capture of Warsaw. In 1849, the Russians
+assisted Austria in crushing the revolt of her Hungarian subjects.
+In 1853 broke out the Crimean War, the details of which are so well
+known as to require no enumeration. Peace was concluded between
+Russia and the Allies, after the death of the Emperor Nicholas in
+1855, who was succeeded by his son, Alexander II. The two great
+events of the reign of this monarch have been the emancipation of
+the serfs in 1861, by which 22,000,000 received their liberty,
+and the war with Turkey.
+
+
+
+
+_CHURCH SERVICE_
+
+_ALFRED MASKELL_
+
+The history of the introduction and early progress of Christianity
+in Russia is involved in obscurity and overlaid with legendary
+stories. There is little doubt that it came from Constantinople, and
+was not only rapidly spread, but firmly established in the country
+within a short space of time. The date most generally accepted is
+that of the reign of Vladimir, the great prince of Kief, grandson
+of Olga. As Dean Stanley remarks in his _Lectures on the Eastern
+Church_: "It coincides with a great epoch in Europe, the close of
+the Tenth Century, when throughout the West the end of the world
+was fearfully expected, when the Latin Church was overclouded with
+the deepest despondency, when the Papal See had become the prey
+of ruffians and profligates, then it was that the Eastern Church,
+silently and almost unconsciously, bore into the world her mightiest
+offspring."
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION, MOSCOW.]
+
+The Eastern Church was then at the zenith of its splendour. The
+envoys sent by Vladimir to Constantinople to examine and report
+upon the religion which he had almost decided to adopt were dazzled
+with the magnificence of the ceremonial. They were wavering in
+their choice and weighing the merits of the different systems which
+had been brought before them. Rome they had not seen; Mohammedanism
+was foreign to their tastes; Judaism had been found wanting; but
+the Eastern Church appealed strongly to their imaginations and
+barbaric love of splendour. Hers was St. Sophia, magnificent now,
+but how much more gorgeous then! Every effort was made to win them,
+and the victory was easy.
+
+The intercourse of the newly formed empire of Russia with Byzantium
+was at that time great. The change of religion had been very sudden
+and it was necessary to build at once new edifices for the new
+order of things. It was naturally to Byzantium that they turned
+for their form and ornament. Very quickly churches arose. Novgorod,
+the cradle of the Empire and the capital until the removal to Kief,
+was the Metropolitan See, and the first cathedral is said to have
+been built there as early as A. D. 989.
+
+The form of a Russian Church underwent little change up to the
+Seventeenth Century. In the Thirteenth Century the architects imported
+from Lombardy brought to bear on the exterior the style of the
+Lombardic or Romanesque architecture which had so long prevailed
+in their own country. The gilded dome or cupola, of peculiar
+onion-shaped form which is so especially Russian, was added soon
+afterwards. The central cupola, which was adopted from the first,
+was afterwards surrounded by others; their number reached even
+to twenty or thirty, and it was not until the Sixteenth Century
+at the time of the establishment of the patriarchate (1589), that
+these were authoritatively restricted to five, which is now the
+orthodox and obligatory number.
+
+The practice of having two, three, five, seven, nine and thirteen
+cupolas or spires is as early as the Eleventh Century. The numbers
+were figurative; two signifying the two natures of Jesus Christ,
+three, a symbol of the Trinity, five, our Lord and the four evangelists
+or the five wounds, seven, the seven sacraments, the seven gifts
+of the Holy Spirit, or the seven recumenical councils, nine, the
+nine celestial hierarchies, and thirteen, our Lord and the twelve
+apostles.
+
+Within the dimensions are small and the light obscure. Still, the
+simple, nearly square disposition of the building, the enormous
+plain-shafted pillars which support the domes, the mass of gilding,
+the multitude of lamps, produce an undoubtedly grand effect. It
+is strikingly oriental; and as in Russian churches there are no
+seats, but the people stand in a mingled throng, now and then
+prostrating themselves and beating their foreheads on the ground,
+each as his own devotion may dictate, the resemblance is still
+more marked. All the interior is covered with fresco pictures;
+even the pillars have gigantic figures of the saints and doctors
+of the church painted upon them. From the high roof hang immense
+brass chandeliers of a peculiar form with many branches, capable
+of holding hundreds of candles. In the dim distance, seemingly a
+wall of gold, is the iconostas, the solid screen which in every
+church divides the sanctuary from the rest of the sacred edifice.
+
+The iconostas is in all cases decorated with a large number of holy
+pictures or icons, arranged in formal rows one above the other. It
+is a solid erection from side to side, from floor to roof, and in
+the centre are the _royal doors_, through which none may pass but
+the consecrating priest, or the emperor: and the last once only,
+at the time of his coronation. At no time is any woman permitted
+to enter the sanctuary.
+
+The iconostas contains sometimes as many as seven rows of images:
+that of the _Uspenski Sobor_[1] has five. Their arrangement is
+guided by certain rules and restrictions. Our Lord and the blessed
+Virgin must be represented on each side of the royal doors, and on
+the doors themselves the Annunciation and the four evangelists.
+On the side doors angels must be represented. Above must be the
+usual symbol of the Trinity figured by Abraham entertaining the
+three angels.
+
+[Footnote 1: Cathedral of the Assumption, Moscow.]
+
+The whole of the space behind the screen is known as the altar.
+The altar itself is square, or rather a double cube. Above it four
+small columns with a canopy form a baldachino; and the cross is
+laid flat upon it. Here also is placed the tabernacle or _zion_
+which is often an architectural structure in pure gold with figures.
+There are five zions of this kind in the cathedrals of St. Sophia
+at Novgorod and at the Troitsa monastery.
+
+In the apse behind the altar and facing it is the _thronos_, the
+seat of the archbishop, with seats for priests on either side.
+
+Besides the icons and holy pictures on the screen (and in the Cathedral
+of the Assumption the latter contains the most highly venerated
+in Russia) other smaller icons are set apart in various parts of
+the church. As is now the custom, though it is comparatively a
+recent one, the greater part of the picture, with the exception of
+the faces, hands and feet, is covered with an embossed and chased
+plaque in gold or silver-gilt representing the form and garments.
+Glories or nimbuses in high relief set thick with gems surround
+the faces, and sparkle as they reflect the light from the multitude
+of candles burnt in their honour. Some are covered to overloading
+with jewels, necklets, and bracelets; pearls, diamonds, and rubies
+of large size and value adorning them in profusion.
+
+The ceremonial of the Greek church is excessively complex, and the
+symbolical meanings by which it represents the dogmas of religion
+are everywhere made the subjects of minute observance. During the
+greater part of the mass the royal doors are closed: the deacons
+remain for the most part without, now and again entering for a
+short time. From time to time a pope or popes pass throughout the
+church, amongst the crowds, incensing all the holy pictures in
+turn; the voice of the officiating priest is raised within, and
+is answered in deep tones by the deacons without. Now from one
+corner comes a chant of many voices, now for another a single one
+in tones (it may be), the epistle or gospel of the day. Now the
+doors fly open and a fleeting glimpse is gained of the celebrant
+through the thick rolling clouds of incense. Then they are closed
+again suddenly. To a stranger unable to follow and in ignorance
+of the meaning, the effect is bewildering.
+
+In writing, even generally, of the arts in Russia some reference
+to religious music is excusable. That of Russia has a peculiar
+charm of its own, far above the barbarous discords that are to be
+heard in Greek and other churches of the East at the present day.
+There is a sweetness and attractiveness in the unaccompanied chanting
+of the choir, in the deep bass tones of the men mingling with the
+plaintive trebles of younger voices, which is indescribable in its
+harmony. It is unlike any other; yet underneath lies the original
+tinge of orientalism, the wailing semitones of all barbaric music.
+No accompaniment, no instrumental music of any kind is permitted.
+Bass voices of extraordinary depth and power are the most desired.
+It is said that the tones now used in the Russian church are
+comparatively modern.
+
+The principal churches and monasteries in Russia possess rich stores
+of vestments; some of comparatively high antiquity which are preserved
+with scrupulous care and still used on occasions of great ceremony.
+In more modern vestments the ancient ornament is to a great extent
+strictly copied.
+
+The _saccos_, formerly the principal vestment of the patriarchs
+and an emblem of sovereign power, is now common to all Russian
+bishops. It is in the shape of a dalmatic, formed of two square
+pieces of stuff joined together at the neck and open at the sides,
+having wide short sleeves. Many of the finest of these vestments
+are elaborately embroidered in gold and silver and ornamented with
+figures of saints; and in the stuffs themselves sacred subjects are
+often woven. They are also thickly sown with rows of seed-pearls
+which follow the lines and edgings of the vestment and border the
+sacred images. They are besides set with enamelled, nielloed, or
+jewelled plaques of gold or silver. Texts in Greek or Sclavonic
+often border the whole of the edges of the garment. These are
+elaborately worked in gold or silver, or the letters formed completely
+of seed-pearls. The _saccos_ of the Metropolitan Peter (made in
+1322), of Alexis (1364), of Photius (1414), and of Dionysius (made
+in 1583), are remarkable vestments of this character, to be found
+in the patriarchal sacristy at Moscow. The stoles, which usually
+correspond, are long, narrow, and nearly straight-sided to the
+bottom. A peculiar episcopal ornament is the _epigonation_. It is
+a large lozenge-shaped ornament embroidered and worked in a similar
+manner to the other vestments, and by bishops is worn hanging from
+the right side.
+
+The usual form of mitre of a pope of the Russian church is well-known.
+The earlier kind was a sort of low cap with a border of fur, something
+like the cap of a royal crown, and probably not different in type
+from the head-dresses of bishops of the west. Some are sewn thick
+with pearls bordering and heightening the lines of the figures of
+saints, and forming the outlines of the Sclavonic inscriptions.
+Such is that of Joassof, first patriarch of the Russian church
+(1558). Those of later times are often of metal richly set with
+precious stones. Sometimes they assume a more conical form, surmounted
+by a cross, like an imperial crown, as that which is termed the
+Constantinople mitre, said to have been made in the time of Ivan
+the Terrible. The mitre of the celebrated Nikon (1655), who aspired
+to papal prerogatives, is diadem-shaped and remarkable for the
+richness of the precious stones with which it is set. The most
+usual shape recalls to some extent the favourite cupola, spreading
+out from the base to the top.
+
+The form of the chalice used in the Russian church varies considerably,
+as it does also in that of the Latin church. In general characteristics
+the two have much in common. In early times the chalice was made of
+wood or crystal as well as of gold and silver. An ancient chalice
+of crystal is preserved in the Cathedral of the Assumption at Moscow,
+and the wooden ones of SS. Sergius and Nikon are in the sacristy
+at Troitsa. On some old icons our Lord is represented as giving
+the holy communion to the apostles out of narrow-necked vessels
+which appear to be made of alabaster.
+
+The Greek rite for the celebration of the holy eucharist requires
+three things which are not used in the western church. These are
+the knife or spear, the star or asterisk, and the spoon for the
+administration of the chalice as the sacrament is received by the
+laity under both kinds. It may naturally be supposed that such sacred
+objects would be the subjects of high artistic workmanship. The
+paten itself is often elaborately enamelled and otherwise decorated,
+whereas in the western church the rubrics require it to be plain.
+
+The ceremonial of the preparation of the bread (which is leavened
+and in the form of a small loaf) is exceedingly complex. Portions
+are cut out for consecration, and for this purpose a knife called
+a "spear" is used. These portions placed on the paten are covered
+with a veil, and in order to prevent the latter from touching the
+elements a piece of metal is placed over them: two strips crossed,
+and bent so as to have four feet. The tabernacle, or perhaps more
+properly ciborium, is sometimes in the form of a hill or mount of
+gold or silver-gilt, or of a temple, and there are many remarkable
+examples. One at Troitsa is of solid gold with the exception of
+Judas, which is of brass. Another is in the sacristy of the church
+of the Assumption at Moscow. From its inscription we learn that
+it was made for the grand duke Ivan Vassilievitch in 1486, and
+it is a characteristic specimen of Russian art of the period.
+
+A peculiar ornament or sacred vessel of the Russo-Greek church
+is known under the name of _panagia_, and of this there are two
+kinds. One is a jewel or pectoral worn suspended from the neck by
+bishops, and is an object on which much care and rich decoration
+are lavished. In a somewhat altered form it is worn by priests
+in the same way for carrying the holy sacrament on a journey or
+to the sick.
+
+Pectoral crosses for the dignitaries of the church are of course
+not uncommon; not only priests, however, but every Russian man,
+woman or child carries a small cross, more or less ornamental. They
+are various in form and richness of decoration; from the simple
+bronze cross, rudely stamped, of the peasant, to the enamelled and
+jewelled one of the metropolitan or noble. Nearly always the plain
+three-armed cross is set in the centre of another more elaborate
+or conventional. Almost invariably also the sacred monograms and
+invocations in Sclavonic characters are engraved in the field.
+In some cases it is more a medallion than a cross, the form of
+the cross being indicated by cutting four segments in the manner
+of the ancient stone crosses to be seen in many parts of England.
+Besides the inscriptions, emblems such as the spear and nails and
+crown of thorns are often to be distinguished though conventionally
+indicated.
+
+Crosses on church tops are made of silver, wood, lead, and even
+gold. The open-worked designs of many of them, although intended
+to be placed at great height, are extremely elegant. They were
+occasionally ornamented with coins, and those on churches erected
+by the Tsar are surmounted by an imperial crown.
+
+A crescent as a symbol beneath the cross is very frequent. Various
+explanations of this symbol have been given. According to some it
+is in remembrance of the victory of the cross over the crescent
+on the deliverance from the Mongol yoke. Others think it to have
+originated simply in the freak of some goldsmith, afterwards copied
+by others until it came to be accepted as a necessity. It is certain
+that the use of the crescent is anterior to the Mongol invasion,
+and was an old symbol in Byzantium, as appears from coins.
+
+The pastoral staff of Russian bishops is tau-shaped; and there
+are many good old examples, a few in ivory, but for the most part
+in silver-gilt. Processional crosses are also used.
+
+The censer is a piece of church furniture in constant use in the
+Russo-Greek church, and we find several examples very characteristic
+of Russian art. As in the west, the application of architectural forms
+is very frequent, and it is not surprising that the peculiarities of
+Russian ecclesiastical ornament should be prominent and especially
+the dome which naturally suggests itself.
+
+Amongst the objects kept in the sacristy of the patriarchs in the
+Cathedral of the Assumption, in Moscow, is one which is held in
+special veneration. This is the vase in which is preserved the
+deposit of holy chrism used in the annual preparation of holy oils
+for distribution to the various churches of the empire.
+
+The preparation of this oil is an occasion of great ceremony in
+Holy Week. From the fourth week in Lent the preliminary mixings of
+oil, wine, herbs, and a variety of different ingredients begin. In
+the Holy Week these ingredient are prepared in a public ceremony:
+two large boilers, several bowls and sixteen vases together with
+other vessels being used. All of these are of great size of massive
+silver, and, presented by Catherine II. in 1767, are specimens of
+silver work of that time.
+
+
+
+
+_THE CREEDS OF RUSSIA_
+
+_ERNEST W. LOWRY_
+
+A report was brought to Basil, the Metropolitan of Moscow, in the
+year 1340, by merchants of Novgorod, who asserted that they had
+beheld a glimpse of Paradise from the shores of the White Sea.
+Whether their vision were merely the dazzling reflection of some
+sunlit iceberg, or only the glow of poetic imagination, it so fired
+the ardour of the mediaeval prelate that he longed to set sail for
+this golden gleam. Be the old legend true or false, it is certain that
+to this day the northern Mujik shows an even more marked religious
+enthusiasm than his brother of the central governments. Fanaticism,
+mysticism, and fatalism go ever hand in hand in Northern Russia.
+The Empire of the Tsars being so vast in area and so embracive of
+races affords space for all forms of belief, or want of belief,
+within her boundaries. All creeds are represented, from the pagan
+Samoyede of the _tundras_ to the Mohammedan Tartar of the Steppes.
+Our concern is with but one of these--the Old Believers. But to
+understand their doctrine, we must glance at the clergy of the
+State Church from which they dissent.
+
+[Illustration: A RELIGIOUS PROCESSION, LOKA.]
+
+The clergy of the Orthodox Russian Church are divided into Black
+or monks of St. Basil, and the White or parish priests. The latter
+must be married before they are ordained, and may not marry again
+(which has led to the saying, "A priest takes good care of his
+wife, for he cannot get another"), while the monasteries, of course,
+require celibacy. From the latter the bishops are elected, so that
+they--in contradistinction to the priests--must be single. This
+system is much condemned by the lower clergy, who ask pertinently,
+"How can the bishop know the hardships of our lives? for he is
+single and well paid, we poor and married." The rule, observed
+elsewhere, holds good in Russia, the poorer the priest, the larger
+the family. Few village priests receive any regular stipend, but
+are allowed a plot of land in the commune wherein they minister.
+This allowance is generally from thirty to forty dessiatines (eighty
+to one hundred and eight acres), and can only be converted into
+money, or food products, by the labour of the parson and his family
+upon it--very literally must they put their hand to the plough.
+Priests are paid for special services, such as christenings or
+weddings, at no fixed tariff, but at a sliding rate, according
+to the means of the payer, the price being arrived at by means of
+prolonged bargaining between the shepherd and his flock. Would-be
+couples often wait for months until a sum can be fixed upon with
+his reverence for tying the knot; and sometimes, by means of daily
+haggling, the amount first asked can be reduced by one-half, for
+the cost of the ceremony varies--according to the social status of
+the happy pair--from ten to one hundred roubles. Funerals, too, are
+at times postponed for most unhealthy periods during this process.
+Generally, however, the White Clergy[1] are so miserably poor that
+they cannot be blamed for making the best market they can for their
+priestly offices. Whether the system or the salary be at fault
+it is hard to say, but from whatever cause the fact remains that
+the parish clergy of the villages are not always all they might
+be; there are many among them who lead upright lives and gain the
+respect of their parishioners, but it would be idle to deny that
+there are many whose thoughts turn more to _vodka_ than piety,
+the _kabak_ than the Church. Such shepherds have little in common
+with the best elements of their flocks, and much with the worst,
+in whose company they are generally seen.
+
+[Footnote 1: The White Clergy wear any colour but that from which
+they take their name--a deer-skin cap and long felt boots.]
+
+The poor "Pope" spends much of his time going from _izba_ to _izba_,
+giving his blessing and receiving in return drink and a few copecks;
+from this come, all too easily, the proverbs of his parishioners,
+"Am I a priest, that I should sup twice?" etc. Count Tolstoi makes
+his hero remark in the trial scene of the _Resurrection_, when his
+fellow jurymen are more friendly than he would wish, "The son of
+a priest will speak to me next." But most of them have a side to
+their natures which, though not always to be seen, is, nevertheless,
+latent--the hour of need often lifts them to the lofty plane of
+their sublime functions; the labouring--often hungry--peasant of
+the weekdays becomes on Sunday exalted above the petty surroundings
+of Mujik life, and becomes indeed the "little father" of his people.
+
+From the Established Church of the State, the Church of the few in
+the North, let us turn to the old faith, the Church of the many.
+The Old Believers, Raskolniks, or dissenters, are indeed a numerous,
+although officially an uncounted, body in the North; half the trade
+of Moscow, most of that which is Russian at all, in the Port of
+Archangel, all the Pomor shipping lies in their hands.
+
+The word Raskolnik means, literally, one who splits asunder, and
+that is just what the Old Believer is--one who has split off from
+the Orthodox Church.
+
+Two hundred and fifty years ago Nikon, a friar of Solovetsk, an
+island monastery in the White Sea, having quarrelled alike with
+equal and superior, was set adrift in an open boat; he reached
+the mainland at Ki, a small cape in Onega Bay, wandered southward
+to Olonets, where he got together a band of followers, proceeded
+to Moscow, obtained the notice of the throne, got preferment, was
+soon made Patriarch. He ruled with an iron hand, made many enemies,
+and when at last he obtained from Mount Santo, in Roumelia, authentic
+Greek Church-service books, and, having had them translated into
+Sclavonic, forced their use upon the Church, with the aid of the
+Tsar Alexis, in the place of those previously in use, the revolt
+began in earnest. In addition to the altered service book, Nikon
+introduced a cross with but two beams, a new stamp for the holy
+wafer, a different way of holding the fingers in pronouncing the
+blessing, and a new way of spelling the name Jesus, to which the
+Church was unaccustomed. In each of these changes Nikon and his
+party really wished to go back to older and purer forms of Greek
+ritual, but many resisted the alterations, believing them to be
+innovations.
+
+Such was the beginning of Raskol; the end is not yet. Those who
+could not accept these reforms, or returns to older forms, took
+up the name of "Staro-obriadtsi," or Old Believers, holding that
+theirs was indeed the true old faith of their fathers. For them
+began, in very truth a hard time; a time which has left its mark
+most clearly upon their descendants to-day. Excommunicated and
+persecuted under Alexis and Peter I., they were driven in thousands
+from their village homes to seek refuge where they could, in forest,
+mountain or island; a party reaching in the year 1767, even to
+Kolgueff Island, where, as might be expected, they perished during
+the following year from scurvy. To these brave bands of Old Believers,
+setting forth under their banner of the "Eight-ended Cross," to
+find new homes beyond the reach of persecution, is, in large part,
+due the colonization of the huge province of Archangel and the
+northern portion of Siberia. That it was not always easy for the
+Raskolnik to get beyond the range of official persecutions is shown
+by many an old "_ukas_," and by many an old entry in the books of
+far-distant communes. Farther north and farther east, from forest
+to _tundra_ and Steppe were they driven, spreading as they went
+their Russian nationality over regions Asiatic; as exiles they
+settled among Polish Romanists, Baltic Protestants, and Caucasian
+Mussulmans, and with the heathen Lapp and Samoyede, and Ostiac, on
+the Murman coast of Russian Lapland, in the bleak Northern _tundra_,
+on the Petchora, and away beyond the Ural Spur, they found at last
+the rest they sought.
+
+Their most dangerous enemy was not, however, the persecution of the
+dominant Church; they had placed themselves geographically beyond the
+reach of that: far more dangerous was further Raskol--splitting--among
+themselves, and it was not long before this overtook them. Cut off
+by their own faith, as well by excommunication, from the Orthodox
+Church, the supply of consecrated priests soon gave out; they had
+lost their apostolic succession and could not renew it, for the one
+Bishop--Paul of Kalomna--who had joined them, had died in prison,
+without appointing a successor. Without an episcopate they were soon
+without a priesthood; and the vital question, "How shall we get
+priests and through them Sacraments?" was answered in two ways,
+and according to the answer, so were the Old Believers divided into
+two main sects. One sect declared that, as there were no longer
+faithful priests, they were cut off from all the Sacraments except
+Baptism, which could be administered by laymen. These "Bespopoftsi,"
+or priestless people, were unable to marry; and to this--in a land
+where the economic unit, is not man, but man and wife, where the
+ties of family life are so strong--was due their further splitting.
+
+In 1846, however, they persuaded an outcast bishop to join their
+ranks, and founded a See at Bielokrinitzkaga, in Austrian Bukovina,
+beyond the Russian Empire; from thence the succession was handed
+down, and now after long decades of waiting, they have bishops
+and priests of their own.
+
+The practice of hiring a priest from the Orthodox Church, to conduct
+a service for the Old Believers, is still very common in the far
+North, where all villages have not the means to keep a "Pope" of
+their own; and many an Orthodox clergyman thus adds considerably
+to his precarious income by officiating for those whom his
+great-grandfathers excommunicated as heretics; indeed, the Government
+now encourages this practice, and has made some attempt to heal up
+the schism by allowing its priests to adopt, to a slight extent,
+the old customs in villages where all the inhabitants are Raskolniks.
+This can the more readily be understood when it is remembered that
+the Old Believers hold in all essential points the same creed as
+the Orthodox; they are--and their name implies--believers in the
+old faith of the Russian branch of the Greek Church, as expressed
+since the day of St. Vladimir until the Seventeenth Century, but
+not in the so-called innovations of Nikon. The points of difference
+are so small that it seems impossible a Church should by them have
+been cleft in twain. The Orthodox sign the Cross with three fingers
+extended, the dissenters with two, holding that the two raised
+fingers indicate the dual nature of Christ, while the three bent
+ones represent the Trinity. It does not seem to have occurred to
+either party that the reverse holds true as well. The Orthodox
+Cross has but two beams, while that of the Raskolnik has four,
+and is made of four woods--cypress, cedar, palm, and olive; the
+latter, too, repeats his Allelujah thrice, the Orthodox but twice.
+Such are the points to which in all probability, the peopling of
+the outlying portions of the Empire of the Tsars is due.
+
+The Raskolniks have set a far higher value upon education than the
+Orthodox; the instruction given in their settlements often sheds
+a strong light upon the darkness of Orthodox ignorance around, and
+with the spread of education so does the sect extend and multiply.
+Their house can generally be distinguished by cleanliness, the
+presence of many Eicons, brass and silver crosses, and ancient
+books; its mistress by her greater thoughtfulness and capability.
+Old Believers are always glad to seize the opportunity, given so
+well by the long northern winter, with its almost endless night,
+of reading, and on their shelves are seen translations of our best
+authors, from whom, perhaps, it is that they have taken their advanced
+political views, and the outcome of whose perusal is that the hunter
+and fisherman will often propound to one questions which show a
+mind well trained in logical thought. The Raskolnik is generally
+fairly well to do, for, like the Quaker and the Puritan, he finds
+a turn for business not incompatible with religious exercise, and
+to this is in part due the superiority and comfort of their homes.
+Most of them in the far North are fishers and hunters, sealers and
+sailors, and in these and kindred trades they make use of better
+and more modern appliances than their neighbours, and so generally
+realize more for their commodities.
+
+Far from civilization, in the impenetrable forests of the great
+lone land of Archangel, the fugitive Raskolniks were able to found
+retreats for themselves, untroubled and unobserved; these refuges
+still exist, and are called "Obitel" or cells. In the district of
+Mezen there are many such establishments, both for men and women;
+among the former the Anuphief Hermitage, or cells of Koida, stand
+in a splendid position, on the banks of both lake and river Koida,
+some 100 versts in summer by river, and 50 in winter, over ice,
+from the town of that name.
+
+On Nonconformist, as on Orthodox, is laid the burden of severe
+fasting; as Master Chancellour tells us, in 1553, "This people
+hath four Lents,"--indeed, the eating working year is reduced to
+some 130 days. In the North, where vegetables and berries are few
+and fruit non-existent, the Mujik is left to fast on "_treska_,"
+rotten codfish--and the condition of the man who begins Lent underfed
+is indeed pitiable when he ends it. The endurance of the Old Believer
+is marvellous; no offer of food will tempt him from what he considers
+his duty.
+
+Let us turn our attention from the Raskolniks, or Old Believers
+of the far North, who, as we have seen, so literally "forsook all"
+for their ancient Faith, to some few of the many new, or lately
+developed creeds whose followers are seeking after truth with equal
+earnestness and vigour, but along very different lines. Sect begets
+sect in the world of theology, much as cell begets cell in the
+economy of life. Change seems the active principle of all dissent;
+new cults are forever springing up in the mystic childlike minds of
+the Tsar's great peasant family, nor could one expect uniformity
+of confession, when the size and neighbours of that family are
+considered, for Mohammedan, Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, and
+Shamanist surround it, are made subject to it, and eventually become
+a part thereof. A Mosque stands opposite the Orthodox church in
+the great square which forms the centre of Nijni-Novgorod, a Roman
+Catholic and a German Lutheran church almost face the magnificent
+Kazan Cathedral, in the Nevski-Prospekt of St. Petersburg. The
+waiters of nearly all restaurants, from Archangel to Baku, are
+Mohammedan Tartars, the Jew is in every market-place, the native
+heathen races, Lapp, Samoyede, Ostiac, Yakout, and a score of others,
+are closely connected by the bonds of commerce: can it be wondered
+at if the ideas of the peasant become tinted by his surroundings?
+
+It cannot be gainsaid that the lifelessness and emptiness of the
+State Church, with its hireling and often ignorant priesthood,
+fails to satisfy the great mind of Russia--the peasant mind--but
+now awakening from its long infant slumber, as did the mind of
+Western Europe three centuries ago. Next perhaps to the extreme
+literalness with which the Mujik interprets Holy Writ, this
+dissatisfaction with the official Church is the greatest cause of
+the grip which the chameleon-like "dissent" has taken hold of the
+popular mind. With very few exceptions--notably the Skoptsy--the
+150 sects which are stated to exist within the pale of Christianity
+and the borders of the Empire of the Tsar, begin and end with the
+Mujik; the official world is of necessity Orthodox, the wealthy
+world careless, and this fact, of the peasant origin and development
+of the denominations, must be carefully borne in mind when attempting
+to form any idea of the widely different meanings and shades of
+meaning which have been put upon the one Bible story.
+
+Of the strictly rational, and more or less Protestant, portion
+of Russian dissent, the Dukhobortsy, or "Wrestlers with the Holy
+Spirit," and their descendants in the faith, the Molokans, or "Milk
+Drinkers," are perhaps the best known to us, from the fact of their
+having emigrated to English-speaking lands, and from the valiant
+championing of their cause by Count L. D. Tolstoi. They form the
+antithesis of the Old Believers, as is well set forth in the
+conversation between A. Leroy-Beauleau (in the _Empire of the Tsars_)
+and a fisherman of the persuasion, who said, "The Raskolniks would
+go to the block for the sign of the Cross with two fingers. As
+for us, we don't cross ourselves at all, either with two fingers
+or with three, but we strive to gain a better knowledge of God";
+and, indeed, his words may stand for a declaration of the simple
+faith of his people, for their worship is marked by a deep contempt
+for tradition, dogma, and ceremony. They have even done away with
+the church, and, as a rule, use the house of their elders as a
+meeting-place. Communion has been simplified away, marriage reduced
+to a simple declaration, and invocation of God's blessing, the
+priesthood question, the rock which first split the Old Faith,
+solved by making every man a priest in his own family: surely their
+motto, "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life," has been
+well acted up to. Indeed, the whole theology of the Dukhobortsy
+may be summed up as a bold attempt to depart from the empty Greek
+formalism and arrive at a spiritual and unconventional worship,
+an enlargement of the outline given in the shortest and grandest
+of sermons.
+
+The Molokani are said to have obtained this name from taking milk
+and butter during fast times when they are forbidden to the Orthodox,
+but more probably from the fact of their having colonies on either
+bank of the river Molochnaia, so called from the whiteness of its
+waters, due to potassium salts. They are very closely akin to the
+Dukhobortsy, of which sect they are an offshoot. They hope for a
+millennium, and to this end tend all their communistic experiments;
+for each of their village settlements is striving to manufacture
+its own earthly Paradise and run it on its own lines.
+
+[Illustration: SHRINE IN THE CONVENT SOLOVETSKII, KOLA.]
+
+The Stunda is perhaps the largest and most rapidly developing faction
+of nonconformity, for it has ramified from Odessa--its starting
+point--throughout Tsarland, save in the extreme north and north-east.
+This faith can be traced directly to the influence of certain Lutherans
+who emigrated from Wuertemberg and settled in the fruitful
+"_tchenoziom_," or black earth lands, some half-century ago. The
+Stundist organization is much like that of the "Low Church" division
+of Protestantism, save that it has no ordained clergy, a body whom
+it regards as a somewhat expensive luxury, and replaces by elected
+elders, who lead the very simple services, at which any man or
+woman who feels called upon to do so may say what he or she will.
+These gatherings are more prayer-meetings than services, for there
+is no "Form of Prayer" to be used, but simply informal prayer,
+praise and song in the best room of a farmhouse, though, now that
+the Government are not so strict in their search after heretics,
+regular wooden "meeting-houses" have appeared in some of the Stundist
+villages.
+
+If few of the rational sects have committed their history and their
+views, or indeed their creeds, to writing, lest they should fall
+into the hands of spies and be used in evidence against them, much
+more is this the case with those whose search after truth has led
+them to forsake the lines of rationalism and enter the land of
+mysticism and spiritualism. But two of these mystic schisms need
+we touch upon in this article, in order to show to what lengths
+the Mujik will go in his efforts to escape from the trammels of
+Orthodoxy, and with what logic he will follow up any given line of
+thought. Most of the irrational sects are older than those already
+mentioned, and do not seem to have their roots in other lands,
+but to be the expression of the Mujik's own mind in its waking
+moments: thus the "Khlystsy"--the name is a nickname taken from
+the word "Khlyst" (a whip)--date back to the early days of the
+Seventeenth Century. They hold that Christ has made and still makes
+repeated appearances on earth and in Russia, and indeed they are
+seldom without an incarnate God present with them in flesh and
+blood.
+
+The Khlystsy meet by night, with the utmost secrecy, and are reported
+to dance, after the manner of the Dervishes, with ever-increasing
+rapidity, until their feelings are worked up to such a pitch that
+they are able to receive messages of inspiration, which they shout
+out to their fellows. If one of their number has a fit--not an
+uncommon event in some communes where close intermarriage among
+relations has been the practice for generations--he is safe to be
+regarded as an inspired messenger and duly honoured as such. Charges
+of every kind of vice have been laid at the door of the Khlystsy;
+their secret services have been called cloaks for immorality, and
+doubtless on occasion have been used as such; but, as the character
+of their congregation stands for high honesty and industry, it
+is surely more charitable to assume that their worst feature is
+their extreme secrecy, and that this, when added to the hatred of
+orthodox marriage which the sect shows, lies at the base of most
+of the accusations. Closely connected with these dancing Khlystsy
+are the jumping Shakuny, whose jumps are said to increase in height
+as do the circular movements of the former, until the proper state
+of mind for inspired prophecy is reached.
+
+Among the stockbrokers and money-changers of Russian cities, as
+well as among peasants, may be seen the pale and almost hairless
+face, wavering voice, and mild manner of the "Skopets" who has put
+in practice upon himself the strange doctrine of self-mutilation.
+These "White Doves" as they call themselves, base their self-sacrifice
+upon the literal rendering of such texts as, "If thy right eye
+offend thee, pluck it out," "Except a man become as a little child,
+he shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven," and argue that in
+order to be pleasing to God, man--and in some instances woman--must
+become like the angels, whom they assert to be sexless, on the
+ground that "they neither marry nor are given in marriage."
+
+We notice the hold which religion, in its vast variety of forms,
+has over the popular mind of Russia. No one who has visited, however
+casually, a Russian city can doubt this; the icon hangs in the
+station office, and men bow to it, the cabman crosses himself ere
+he drives over a bridge; shrines are interposed between shops, many
+of which latter are devoted to the sale of crucifixes, swinging
+lamps and sacred pictures; green cupolas and golden crosses gleam
+against the sky, look which way you will. So it is in the village,
+the white wooden church stands out in front of the black wooden
+houses, crosses are placed in the cattle pastures to ward off evil
+spirits, the folk cross themselves if they yawn, lest "chort,"
+the devil jump in at their mouth, and the drunkard, at the tavern
+door, kneels and uncovers as the procession passes on its way, may
+be to bless the waters but now released from the winter grip of
+ice, or may be to leave some neighbour in the communal graveyard.
+We notice, too, the stern logic with which the peasant theologian
+follows up the ideas of his sect, how he works out his own salvation
+along lines which he himself lays down, and in so doing invents
+some new creed almost daily; for a Russian newspaper can hardly
+ever be taken up without seeing the discovery of such in one corner
+or other of the vast Empire. That he has the full courage of his
+opinions, that he will suffer for conscience' sake--Russian officials
+only know how bitterly--that he will lay down his life, or--almost
+equal sacrifice for him--forsake his land and "_izba_," and face
+the future among the wild native races which bound European Tsarland
+on its north and east--not so very long ago--he suffered the knout
+and the stake rather than recant one iota of what he thinks to be
+the only true rendering of the Biblical text, all this must in
+common fairness be allowed to the poor Russian.
+
+
+
+
+_ST. PETERSBURG_
+
+_J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON_
+
+Cronstadt, the strong fortress which stopped the advance of the
+English squadron in the last Russian war, is as the water-gate of
+St. Petersburg. A bright July sun made no unpleasing picture of
+the huge hulks of the men-of-war, and of the many-masted merchant
+ships which lay within the harbour, or behind the fortifications.
+Passing Cronstadt the capital soon comes in sight; the water is so
+smooth and shallow, and the banks are so low, that I was actually
+reminded of the lagoons of Venice. Far away in the distance glittered
+in the sunlight cupola beyond cupola, covered with burnished gold or
+sparkling with bright stars on a blue ground. The river, stretching
+wide as an estuary, was thronged with merchandise as the Tagus or the
+Thames: yachts were flying before the wind and steam-tugs laboured
+slowly against the stream, dragging behind the heavily-laden lighter.
+Warehouses and wharfs and timber-yards now begin to line either bank;
+yet the materials for a sketch-book are scanty and uninviting: an
+artist who, like Mr. Whistler, has etched at Battersea and Blackwell,
+would find by comparison on the Neva the forms without character,
+the surface without texture, the masses without light, shade, or
+colour. As the boat advances the imperial city grows in scale and
+pomp. The river view becomes imposing, the banks are lined on either
+side by granite quays, which for solidity, strength, and area, have
+no parallel in Europe. Beneath the bridges the unruly river rushes,
+bearing along rafts and merchandise, and in the broad-laid streets
+people hurry to and fro, as if the day were too short for the press
+of business: only in great commercial capitals, the centres of large
+populations, is life thus rapid and overburdened. Throughout Russia
+generally time hangs heavily, but here at the seat of empire, the
+focus of commerce, life under high pressure moves at full speed. I
+know of no European capital, excepting perhaps London and Vienna,
+which leaves on the mind so strong an impression of power, wealth,
+and ostentation, as the city of St. Petersburg.
+
+Possibly the first idea which may strike the stranger on driving
+from the steamer to the hotel, is the large scale on which the
+city has been planned; the area of squares and streets seems
+proportioned to the vast dimensions of the Russian empire: indeed
+the silent solitudes of the city may be said to symbolize the desert
+tracks of central Russia and Siberia. Only on the continent of
+America is so much land at command, so large a sweep of territory
+brought within the circuit of city life. In the old world, Munich
+offers the closest analogy to St. Petersburg, and that not only
+by wide and half-occupied areas, but by a certain pretentious and
+pseudo-classic architecture, common to the two cities alike: the
+design of the Hermitage in fact came from Munich. St. Petersburg,
+like Munich too, has been forced into rapid growth; indeed while
+looking at the works raised by successive Tsars, I was reminded
+of the boast of Augustus that he found Rome of brick and left her
+of marble.
+
+St. Petersburg, though sometimes decried as a city of shams, is
+certainly not surpassed in the way of show by any capital in Europe.
+As to natural situation she may be said to be at once fortunate and
+infelicitous: the flatness of the land is not redeemed by fertility,
+the monotony of the panorama is not broken by mountains; the city
+rides as a raft upon the waters, so heavily freighted as to run the
+risk of sinking. And yet I know of no capital more imposing when
+taken from the strong points of view. Almost beyond parallel is the
+array of palaces and public buildings which meets the traveller's eye
+in a walk or sail from the English quay up to the Gardens of the
+Summer Palace. The structures it is true tend a little too much
+of what may be termed buckram and fustian styles; indeed there
+is scarcely a form or a detail which an architect would care to
+jot down in his note-book. And yet the general effect is grand:
+a big river rushing with large volume of water through the arches
+of bridges, along granite quays and before marble palaces, is a
+noble and living presence in the midst of city life. The waters of
+"the great Neva" and of "the little Neva" appear as an omnipresence;
+the rivers are in the streets, and great buildings, such as the
+Admiralty, the Fortress, and the Cathedral of St. Peter and St.
+Paul, ride as at anchor on a swelling flood. The views from the
+three chief bridges--Nicholas Bridge, Palace Bridge, and Troitska
+Bridge--are eminently palatial and imperial. The Academy of Arts,
+the Academy of Sciences, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Admiralty,
+the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, and the fortress and cathedral
+of St. Peter and St. Paul, give to the stranger an overpowering
+impression of the wealth and the strength of the empire. The Englishman,
+while standing on these bridges, will naturally recall analogous
+positions on the river Thames; such comparison is not wholly to the
+disadvantage of the northern capital, yet on the banks of the Neva
+rise no structures which in architectural design equal St. Paul's
+Cathedral, Somerset House, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of
+Parliament. Indeed, with the exception of the spire of the Admiralty,
+I did not find in St. Petersburg a single new idea.
+
+[Illustration: ST. PETERSBURG.]
+
+Of the famous Nevski-Prospekt, the chief street in St. Petersburg,
+it may be said as of our London Regent Street, that it can stand
+neither weather nor criticism. As to style of architecture, strictly
+speaking the Nevski-Prospekt has none: the buildings, consisting
+of shops, interspersed with a few churches and public edifices,
+so much partake of the modern and mongrel Italian manner, that
+the traveller might easily fancy himself in Paris, Brussels, or
+Turin. Few cities are so pretentious in outside appearances as
+St. Petersburg, and yet the show she makes is that of the whited
+sepulchre: false construction and rottenness of material, facades
+of empty parade, and plaster which feigns to be stone, constitute
+an accumulative dishonesty which has few parallels in the history
+of architecture. Classic pillars and porticos, which have been
+thrust in everywhere on slightest pretext, are often built up of
+brick covered with cement and coloured yellow. Columns, here the
+common and constant expedient, are mostly mismanaged; they are as
+it were gratuitous intrusions, they seem to be stuck on, they fail
+to compose with the rest of the building. Neither do the architects
+of St. Petersburg understand mouldings or the value of shadow, there
+is scarcely a moulding in the city which casts a deep, broad or
+delicate shadow: hence the facades look flat and thin as if built
+of cards. In the same way the details are poor and treated without
+knowledge; it thus happens that conceptions bold and grand are
+carried out incompletely. The great mistake is that the architects
+have made no attempt to gather together the scattered elements of a
+national style. With the noteworthy exception of the use of fine,
+fanciful and fantastic domes, often gilt or brightly coloured, the
+architecture of Russian capitals is either Classic or Renaissance
+of the most commonplace description.
+
+I shall not think it worth while to dwell on the very many churches
+which adorn the northern capital, because, with few exceptions,
+there is nothing in point of art which merits to be recorded. Yet
+I can scarcely refrain from again referring to the fine fantasy
+played by many-coloured domes against the blue sky. The forms are
+beautiful, the colours decorative. The city in its sky outline
+presents a succession of strange pictures, at one point the eye
+might seem to range across a garden of gourds, at other positions
+peer above house-tops groups which might be mistaken for turbaned
+Turks; and when the sun shines vividly, and throws glittering light
+on the "patens of bright gold," over these many-domed churches,
+a stranger might almost fancy that above the city floated fire
+balloons or bright-coloured lanterns. The large cupola of St. Isaac,
+covered with copper overlaid with gold, has been said to burn on
+a bright day like the sun when rising on a mountain top. I can
+never forget the sight when I returned to St. Petersburg from the
+most brilliant civic and military spectacle I ever witnessed, the
+fete of the Empress at Tsarskoe Selo. It was still dark, but before
+I reached my hotel for the short repose of a night which already
+brightened into morning, every cupola on the way was awakening
+into daylight; the sun, hesitating for a moment on the horizon,
+announced his coming as by electric light on the golden stars which
+shone on domes more blue than the grey sky of morning. In Moscow
+church cupolas playa part in the city panorama still more conspicuous
+than in St. Petersburg.
+
+The Cathedral of St. Isaac is the most costly and pretentious of
+Russian churches. The noble edifice has the advantage of a commanding
+situation; not, it is true, as to elevation--for that is impossible
+in a city set throughout on a dead level--but the surface area in
+its wide sweeping circuit at all events contrasts strikingly with
+that cribbed and cabined church-yard of St. Paul's in London, which
+the Englishman may have just left behind him. Yet St. Isaac's can
+scarcely venture on comparison with St. Paul's, though the style of
+the two buildings is similar. The great Cathedral of St. Petersburg
+has, however, the advantage of that concentration which belongs to
+the Greek as distinguished from the Latin Cross, a distinction
+which has always been to the disadvantage of St. Peter's in Rome.
+A cross of four equal arms, with columned porticos mounted nobly
+on steps at the four extremities, the whole composition crowned by
+central and surrounding cupolas, is assuredly an imposing conception,
+of which the French artist M. Montferrand has known how to make
+the most. I may here, by way of parenthesis, remark that the two
+works which do most honour to St. Petersburg, the Cathedral of
+St. Isaac and the adjacent equestrian statue of Peter the Great,
+are severally due not to Russian but to French artists. This is
+one example among many of the foreign origin of the arts in Russia.
+But at all events let it be admitted that the materials used, as
+well as the ideas often brought to bear, are local or national. For
+example, the grandest of all architectural conceptions, the idea
+of a dome, is here glorified in true Russian or Oriental manner,
+not so much by magnitude of proportion as by decorative splendour,
+heightened to the utmost by a surface of burnished gold. Then the
+four porticos which terminate each end of the Greek cross with
+stately columns and entablatures of granite from Finland, albeit
+in design mere commonplace complications, are wholly national in
+the material used. I do not now stop to mention the large and bold
+reliefs in bronze, which though French in design were, I believe,
+cast in St. Petersburg: indeed here, as in Munich, the government
+makes that liberal provision which only governments can make, for
+noble but unremunerative art. The great dome is said to be sustained
+by iron; indeed the science of construction brought to bear is great,
+yet again it must be acknowledged that whether the material be
+iron, bronze, or stone, the art, the skill, and even the commercial
+capital, are not Russian but foreign, and often English. Russian
+workmen, however, are employed as mechanics or machines, partly
+because in copyism and mechanism Russian artisans cannot throughout
+Europe be surpassed. When I got to St. Petersburg I could scarcely
+believe the statement to be true that the "English Magazine" and
+not any Russian factory had executed the eight stupendous malachite
+pillars within the church, weighing about 34,000 pounds and costing
+L2,500 sterling. Yet while the organization might be English, the
+operatives were Russians. The unsurpassed malachite pillars combine
+in the grand altar-screen with columns of lapis-lazuli: the latter
+are said to have cost per pair L12,000 sterling. I need scarcely
+observe that this parade of precious metals partakes more of barbaric
+magnificence than of artistic taste; indeed these columns of malachite
+and lapis-lazuli, which to the eye present themselves as solid and
+honest, have been built up as incrustations on hollow cast-iron
+tubes. Thus hollow are the most precious arts of Russia. Justice,
+however, demands that I should speak hereafter in fair appreciation
+of the interiors of Russian churches, whereof the Cathedral of
+St. Isaac is among the chief. Nevertheless, material rather than
+mind, money rather than art, is the governing power; malachite,
+lapis-lazuli, gold, and other precious substances are heaped together
+profusely, yet no architect in Europe of the slightest intellectual
+pretensions, would care to look a second time at the constructive
+or decorative conceptions which the churches of St. Petersburg
+display. St. Isaac's in fact is miraculous only in its monoliths.
+I could scarcely believe my eyes when first I stood beneath the
+stately porticos and looked from top to bottom of the very many
+columns, seven feet in diameter and sixty feet high, all polished
+granite monoliths from Finland. Already I had made the assertion
+that there was nothing new in St. Petersburg when these granite
+monoliths at once compelled a recantation.
+
+The monoliths in St. Petersburg are so exceptional in number and
+often so gigantic in dimension as to call for special mention. The
+monolith obelisks of ancient Egypt are scarcely more remarkable.
+In addition to the magnificent columns, each sixty feet high, which
+sustain the four porticos of the Cathedral of St. Isaac, are fifty-six
+monoliths, also of granite from Finland, thirty-five feet high
+in the Kazan Cathedral; likewise the noble entrance-hall of the
+Hermitage is sustained by sixteen monoliths, and the magnificent
+room which receives the treasures from the Cimmerian Bosphorus has
+the support of twenty monoliths. But the greatest single block of
+modern times stands in front of the Winter Palace, as a monument
+to Alexander I. The height is eighty-four feet, and the weight
+nearly four hundred tons. The story goes that the contractor in
+Finland, finding that he had exceeded the required length, actually
+cut off ten or fifteen feet. The vast granite quarries of Finland
+supply the Tsars with these stupendous columns, just as the granite
+quarries of Syene on the Nile furnished the Pharaohs with obelisks.
+These enormous masses are too heavy to be conveyed on wheels, the
+only practicable mode of transit is on rollers. In this way each of
+the sixty-feet columns for St. Isaac's was transported across country
+all the way from Finland. Each column represents so incredible an
+amount of labour as to make it evident that monoliths are luxuries
+in which only emperors can indulge. And even when these heavy weights
+have reached their destination the difficulty next occurs how to
+secure a solid foundation. St. Petersburg was once a swamp, and so
+rotten is the ground that it would be quite possible for a monolith
+to sink out of sight and never more be heard of. To provide against
+such contingencies a forest of piles was driven into the earth at
+the cost of L200,000 as the foundation of St. Isaac, and yet the
+cathedral sinks. Like causes render the roads of St. Petersburg
+the worst in Europe; winter frosts, which penetrate several feet
+below the surface, seize on the imprisoned waters and tear up the
+streets. The surface thus broken is so destructive to wheels that
+I have known an Englishman, who, though he kept four carriages,
+had not one in a condition to use. The jolting on the roads is so
+great as to make it wise for a traveller to hold on fast, and when
+a lady and gentleman ride side by side, it is usual for the gentleman
+to protect the lady by throwing his arm round his companion's waist.
+This delicate attention is so much of a utilitarian necessity as
+in no way to imply further obligations.
+
+St. Petersburg is considerably indebted to the art of sculpture:
+public monuments adorn her squares and gardens. Indeed the art of
+sculpture has, like the sister arts of architecture and painting,
+been forced into preternatural proportions. In the large area within
+sight of the church of St. Isaac and of the Admiralty, stands
+conspicuously one of the few successful equestrian statues in modern
+or ancient times, the colossal bronze to Peter the Great. The huge
+block of granite, which is said to weigh upwards of 15,000 tons, was
+conveyed from a marsh, four miles distance from St. Petersburg, by
+means of ropes, pulleys, and windlasses, worked by men and horses.
+A drummer stationed on the rock itself gave the signal for onward
+movement. It would seem that the methods used in Russia to this
+day for transporting granite monoliths, are curiously similar to
+the appliances of the ancient Egyptians for moving like masses. In
+point of art this equestrian statue, though grand in conception,
+is, after the taste of barbarous nations, colossal in size. Peter
+the Great is eleven feet in stature, the horse is seventeen feet
+high. The nobility lies in the action, the horse rears on his hind
+legs after the favourite manner of Velasquez in well-known equestrian
+portraits of Ferdinand IV. The attitude assumed by the great Emperor
+is triumphant, the fiery steed has dashed up the rock and pauses as
+in mid-air on the brink of the precipice. The idea is that Peter
+the Great surveys from the height the capital of his creation, as
+it may be supposed to rise from the waters. His hand is stretched
+forth for the protection of the city. This work, like many other
+proud achievements in the empire, unfortunately is not Russian.
+The design is due to the Frenchman Falconet; Marie Callot is said
+to have modelled the head, and the casting was done by Martelli,
+an Italian. Falconet, in order to be true to the life, carefully
+studied again and again a fine Arab horse, mounted by a Russian
+general who was famous as a rider; the general day by day made a
+rush up a mound, artificially constructed for the purpose, and when
+just short of the precipice the horse was reined in and thrown on
+its hind legs. The artist watched the action and made his studies;
+the work accordingly has nature, movement, vigour. I may here mention
+that I have nowhere found such large masses of stone conveyed from
+place to place as here in St. Petersburg. It is true I have seen
+marble fresh from the mountains of Carrara tugged along by teams
+of bullocks, but I have nowhere witnessed so much power brought to
+bear as in the transit of the granite used in the immense memorial
+to the Empress Catherine.
+
+The art collections in St. Petersburg may give the traveller pleasant
+occupation for several weeks; indeed if the tourist be an art student
+he will find work for months. The Winter Palace, adjoining the
+Hermitage, on the Neva, is like the palace at Versailles, conspicuous
+for rooms or galleries commemorative of military exploits. Here
+are well-painted battle-pieces by Willewalde and Kotzbue, also
+naval engagements by Aivasovsky, highly coloured as a matter of
+course. Likewise are hung the best battle-pieces I have ever seen,
+by Peter Hess, the renowned Bavarian painter, who appears to less
+credit in Munich than in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg. Also
+may be noted the portrait of Alexander I. by Dawe, the Englishman,
+who worked much in Russia. Here likewise is the imperial gallery
+of portraits of all the sovereigns of the reigning Russian house.
+I pass over these multitudinous works thus briefly, because, though
+the collection is of importance in the history of the empire, it
+has little value in art.
+
+"The Crown Jewels" I shall not attempt to describe; no description
+of jewels can be worth much. I may venture to say, however, that
+after seeing all the royal jewellery in Europe, I found these Russian
+crowns, sceptres, etc., richer in diamonds than any other. Also
+pearls, rubies, Siberian aqua-marines, etc., add colour and splendour
+to the imperial treasure. The comparison on the spot, which I not
+unnaturally instituted, was with the imperial treasury at Vienna.
+Next, a word may be given to the room in which the proud, stern,
+and unrelenting Nicholas died, where all is kept intact as he left
+it. I have seldom been more impressed than with this small, simple,
+and almost penurious apartment, so striking in contrast with the
+splendour of the rest of the palace. Silence, solitude, and solemnity
+all the more attach to the spot from the statement to which credence
+is given that the great emperor, on learning of the reverses in
+the Crimea, here committed suicide. In other words, it is said
+that he directed his physician to prepare a medicine which after
+having taken he died. The sword, helmet, and grey military cloak
+are where he laid them. Here lies a historic tragedy which remains
+to be painted; one of the most dramatic pictorial scenes in Europe,
+the death of Wallenstein in Schiller's drama, painted by Professor
+Piloty and now in the new Pinakothek, Munich, might in the death
+of the great Nicholas find a parallel. The emperor lies buried
+with all the sovereigns of Russia since the foundation of St.
+Petersburg, in the cathedral fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul.
+Nothing in Europe is grander in the simplicity and silence which
+befit a sepulchre--not even the imperial tombs in Vienna--than
+this stately mausoleum of the Tsars. The Emperor Nicholas lies
+opposite to Peter the Great. In the Hermitage, or rather in the
+Winter Palace, is a gallery illustrative of the life and labours of
+Peter the Great. The collection, besides turning-lathes and other
+instruments with which the monarch worked, contains curiosities,
+knickknacks, as well as some works of real art value: the connecting
+point of the whole collection is in Peter himself. An analogous
+collection was some years ago opened in the Louvre as the Museum
+of Napoleon I. Dynasties all the world over thus seek to perpetuate
+their memories.
+
+[Illustration: THE HERMITAGE, ST. PETERSBURG.]
+
+The Academy of Fine Arts is a noble institution, imposing in its
+architecture, and richly endowed. The Corps des Mines must also
+be visited, the collection of minerals proves the amazing riches
+of European and Asiatic Russia. I wish I had knowledge and space
+to describe this unexampled collection, which though not falling
+within my art province has direct art relations. Nothing beauteous
+or wondrous in nature lies beyond the sphere of art; the forms of
+crystals, the colours of precious stones are specially objects of
+delight to the artist's eye. The Imperial Public Library is one of
+the richest libraries in Europe; its literary treasures can hardly
+be overrated; I regret that I cannot enter into its contents. Private
+collections, though scarcely numerous, are choice; the celebrated
+Leuchtenberg Gallery, formerly in Munich, is the richest. The royal
+residences of Peterhof and Tsarshoe Selo I also found to contain
+much in the way of art, and yet scarcely of sufficient importance
+to need special description.
+
+The Imperial Hermitage alone repays a journey to St. Petersburg;
+for a whole fortnight I visited almost every day the picture and
+sculpture galleries of this vast and rich museum, and in the end
+I left with the feeling that I had done but inadequate justice
+to these valuable and exhaust-less collections. I am tolerably
+well acquainted with the great museums in the south and west of
+Europe, and I was interested to find that the Hermitage does not
+suffer by comparison with the Vatican, the Museum of Naples, the
+Galleries of Florence, the Louvre in Paris, or the Great Picture
+Gallery in Madrid. In some departments, indeed, St. Petersburg has
+the advantage over other capitals; the collection of gold ornaments
+from Kertch is not surpassed by the gold work in the Etruscan room of
+the Vatican; the coins are not inferior to the numismatic collections
+in Paris, or in the British Museum; the Dutch pictures are not
+to be equalled save in Holland or in Dresden; the Spanish school
+has no competitor save in Madrid and Seville; the portraits by
+Vandyck, and the sketches by Rubens, are only surpassed in England
+and Bavaria. It is thus obvious that the collective strength of
+the assembled collections, is very great. The picture galleries
+contain more than 1,500 works; the number of drawings is upwards
+of 500, the coins and medals amount to 200,000, the painted vases
+are above 1,700, the ancient marbles number 361, and the collection
+of gems is one of the largest in existence. The Hermitage has been
+enriched partly to the prejudice of other cities or palaces. From the
+Tauris Palace came classic sculpture. Tsarshoe Selo also furnished
+contributions. The policy has been to make one astounding museum,
+which shall represent not a capital but an empire, and stand before
+the world as the exponent of the wealth, the resource, and the
+refined taste of the nation and its rulers.
+
+
+
+
+_FINLAND_
+
+_HARRY DE WINDT_
+
+"What sort of a place is Finland?" asked a friend whom I met, on
+my return from that country, in London. "Very much the same as
+Lapland, I suppose? Snow, sleighs, and bears, and all that kind
+of thing?"
+
+My friend was not singular in his idea, for they are probably those
+of most people in England. At present Finland is a _terra incognita_,
+though fortunately not likely to remain one. Nevertheless, it will
+probably take years to eradicate a notion that one of the most
+attractive and advanced countries in Europe, possessed in summer
+of the finest climate in the world, is not the eternal abode of
+poverty, cold, and darkness. It was just the same before the railway
+opened up Siberia and revealed prosperous cities, fertile plains,
+and boundless mineral resources to an astonished world. A decade
+ago my return from this land of civilization, progress, and, above
+all, humanity was invariably met by the kind of question that heads
+this chapter, with the addition, as a rule, of facetious allusions
+to torture and the knout! My ignorance, however, of Finland as
+she really is was probably unsurpassed before my eyes were opened
+by a personal inspection, so I cannot afford to criticise.
+
+What is Finland, and what are its geographical and climatic
+characteristics? I will try to answer these questions briefly and
+clearly without wearying the reader with statistics. In the first
+place, Finland (in Finnish, "Suomi") is about the size of Great
+Britain, Holland, and Belgium combined, with a population of about
+2,500,000. Its southern and western shores are washed by the Baltic
+Sea, while Lake Ladoga and the Russian frontier form the eastern
+boundary. Finland stretches northward far beyond the head of the
+Gulf of Bothnia, where it joins Norwegian territory. There are
+thirty-seven towns, of which only seven have a population exceeding
+10,000, viz., Helsingfors, Abo, Tammerfors, Viborg, Uleaborg, Vasa
+(Nikolaistad), and Bjorneborg.
+
+Finland is essentially a flat country, slightly mountainous towards
+the north, but even her highest peak (Haldesjock, in Finnish Lapland)
+is under 4,000 feet in height. South of this a hill of 300 feet
+is called a mountain; therefore Alpine climbers have no business
+here. The interior may be described as an undulating plateau largely
+composed of swamp and forest, broken with granite rocks and gravel
+ridges and honeycombed with the inland waters known as "The Thousand
+Lakes" (although ten thousand would be nearer the mark), one of
+which is three times the size of the Lake of Geneva. The rivers
+are small and unimportant, the largest being only about the size
+of the Seine. On the other hand, the numerous falls and rapids on
+even the smallest streams render their ascent in boats extremely
+difficult and often impossible. But lakes and canals are the natural
+highways of the country; rivers are only utilized as a motive power
+for electricity, manufactories, and for conveying millions of logs
+of timber yearly from the inland forests to the sea. A curious fact
+is that, although many parts of the interior are far below the
+level of the Baltic, the latter is gradually but surely receding
+from the coast, and many hitherto submerged islets off the latter
+have been left high and dry by the waves. You may now in places
+walk from one island to another on dry land, which, fifty years ago,
+was many fathoms under water, while signs of primitive navigation
+are constantly being discovered as far as twenty miles inland!
+It is therefore probable that the millions of islands which now
+fringe these shores, formed, at some remote period, one continuous
+strip of land. How vessels ever find their way, say from Hangoe to
+Nystad, is a mystery to the uninitiated landsman. At a certain
+place there are no less than 300 islands of various sizes crowded
+into an area of six square miles! Heaven preserve the man who finds
+himself there, in thick weather, with a skipper who does not quite
+know the ropes!
+
+The provinces of which the Grand Duchy is composed are as follows,
+running from north to south: (1) Finnish Lapland, (2) Ostrobothnia,
+(3) Satakunta, (4) Tavastland, (5) Savolax, (6) Karelia, (7) Finland
+proper, (8) Nyland, and (9) the Aland Islands.
+
+Finnish Lapland may be dismissed without comment, for it is a wild,
+barren region, sparsely populated by nomad tribes, and during the
+summer is practically impassable on account of its dense forests,
+pathless swamps, and mosquitoes of unusual size and ferocity. In
+winter-time journeys can be made quickly and pleasantly in sledges
+drawn by reindeer, but at other times the country must be crossed
+in cranky canoes by means of a network of lakes and rivers; and
+the travelling is about as tough as monotony, short rations, and
+dirt can make it. I am told that gold has lately been discovered
+there, but it would need a considerable amount of the precious
+metal to tempt me into Finnish Lapland in summer-time.
+
+Ostrobothnia, which lies immediately south of this undesirable
+district, contains the towns of Tornea and Uleaborg. We will pass
+on to the provinces of Central Finland, viz., Tavastland, Savolax,
+and Karelia. The Finns say that this is the heart of their country,
+while Helsingfors and Tammerfors constitute its brains. So crowded
+and complicated is the lake system in this part of Finland that
+water almost overwhelms dry land, and the district has been likened
+to one huge archipelago. Forests abound, especially in Tavastland,
+whence timber is exported in large quantities, while agriculture
+flourishes in all these provinces. Crops are generally grown in
+the valleys, while in other parts the sides and summits of the
+hills are usually selected for cultivation. Large tracts of country
+about here once laid out for arable are now converted into grazing
+grounds, for the number of cattle is yearly on the increase.
+Dairy-farming is found to be more profitable and less risky than
+the raising of wheat and barley in a land where one night of frost
+sometimes destroys the result of a whole year's patient care and
+labour. The land is cleared for cultivation by felling and burning,
+and it is then ploughed in primitive fashion and sown, but only
+one harvest is generally gathered on one spot. The latter is then
+deserted, and the following year another patch of virgin soil takes
+its place. There is thus a good deal of waste, not only in land,
+but also in trees, which are wantonly cut down for any trifling
+purpose, regardless of their value or the possible scarcity in
+the future of timber. Accidental forest fires also work sad havoc
+at times, destroying thousands of pounds' worth of timber in a
+few hours. Pine resin burns almost as fiercely as petroleum, and
+it sometimes takes days to extinguish a conflagration.
+
+Many of the poorer people in the central provinces live solely
+by fishing in the lakes teeming with salmon, which find a ready
+market both salted and fresh. There is plenty of rough shooting to
+be had for the asking, but no wild animals of any size. In the far
+north bears are still numerous, and elk were formerly obtainable.
+A few of the latter still exist in the wilder parts of the country,
+but it is now forbidden to kill them. Some years ago the forests of
+Tavastland were infested with wolves, and during one fatal season
+a large number of cattle and even some children were devoured,
+but a _battue_ organized by the peasantry cleared the brutes out
+of the country. You may now shoot hares here, and any number of
+wild fowl, but that is about all.
+
+The remainder of Finland consists of Finland proper and Nyland
+on the south and south-western coasts, and as these comprise not
+only the capital, but also the large towns of Abo and Viborg, they
+may be regarded as the most important, politically, commercially,
+and socially, in the country. Here lakes are still numerous, but
+insignificant in size compared with those of the interior. On the
+other hand, the vegetation is richer, for the oak, lime, and hazel
+do well, and the flora, both wild and cultivated, is much more
+extensive than in the central and northern districts. Several kinds
+of fruit are grown, and Nyland apples are famous for their flavour,
+while very fair pears, plums, and cherries can be bought cheaply
+in the markets. Currants and gooseberries are, however, sour and
+tasteless. In these southern districts the culture of cereals has
+reached a perfection unknown further north, for the farms are usually
+very extensive, the farmers up to date, and steam implements in
+general use. Dairy-farming is also carried on with excellent results
+and yearly increasing prosperity. Amongst the towns, Bjorneborg,
+Nystad, Hangoe, and Kotka will in a few years rival the capital
+in size and commercial importance.
+
+The last on the list is the Aland archipelago, which consists of
+one island of considerable size surrounded by innumerable smaller
+ones, and situated about fifty miles off the south-western coast
+of Finland. Here, oddly enough, Nature has been kinder than almost
+anywhere on the mainland, for although the greater part of the island
+is wild and forest-clad, the eternal pines and silver birch-trees
+are blended with the oak, ash and maple, and bright blossoms such
+as may and hawthorn relieve to a great extent the monotonous green
+foliage of Northern Europe.
+
+That the Alander has much of the Swede in his composition is shown
+by the neatness of his dwellings and cleanly mode of life. He is an
+amphibious creature, half mariner, half yeoman, a sober, thrifty
+individual, who spends half of his time at the plough-tail and the
+other half at the helm. Fishing for a kind of small herring called
+"stroemming" is perhaps the most important industry, and a lucrative
+one, for this fish (salted) is sent all over the country and even
+to Russia proper. Farming is a comparatively recent innovation,
+for the Alanders are born men of the sea, and were once reckoned the
+finest sailors in Finland. Less than a century ago Aland harboured
+a fine fleet of sailing-ships owned by syndicates formed amongst
+the peasantry, and engaged in a profitable trade with Great Britain
+and Denmark. But steamers have knocked all this upon the head,
+and the commercial future of the islands would now seem to depend
+chiefly upon the fishing and agricultural industries.
+
+The population of these Islands is under 25,000, of which the small
+town of Mariehamm, the so-called capital, contains about 700 souls.
+Steamers touch here, so that there is no difficulty in reaching the
+place, which is certainly worth a visit not only for its antiquity
+(the Alands were inhabited long before the mainland), but on account
+of the interesting ruins it contains--amongst them the Castle of
+Castelholm, built by Birger Jarl in the Fourteenth Century, and the
+time-worn walls of which could tell an interesting history. A part
+of the famous fortress of Bomarsund, destroyed by an Anglo-French
+fleet in 1854, may also be seen not far from Mariehamm. Plain but
+decent fare may be obtained here, but the fastidious will do well
+to avoid the smaller villages, where the Alander's diet generally
+consists solely of seal-meat, salt fish, bread and milk. A delicacy
+eaten with gusto by these people is composed of seal-oil and the
+entrails of sea-birds, and is almost identical with one I saw amongst
+the Tchuktchis on Bering Straits. And yet the Alanders are cleanly
+enough in their habits and the smallest village has its bath-house.
+
+At one time Aland was famous for sport, and in olden days Swedish
+sovereigns visited the island to hunt the elk, which were then
+numerous. But these and most other wild animals are now extinct and
+even wild fowl are scarce. Only one animal appears to thrive,--the
+hedgehog; but the natives do not appear to have discovered its
+edible qualities. An English tramp could enlighten them on this
+point.
+
+[Illustration: HELSINGFORS, FINLAND]
+
+The entire population of Finland amounts to rather over 2,500,000,
+including a considerable number of Swedes, who are found chiefly
+in the Aland Islands, Nyland, and Finland proper. Helsingfors,
+the capital, contains over 80,000 souls, and Kemi, the smallest
+town, near the northern frontier, under 400. Of the other cities,
+Abo has 30,000, Tammerfors, 25,000, and Viborg, 20,000 inhabitants.
+I should add that there is probably no country in creation where
+the population has so steadily increased, notwithstanding adverse
+conditions, as Finland. After the Russian campaign of 1721 the
+country contained barely 250,000 souls, and yet, although continually
+harassed by war and its attendant evils, these had increased thirty
+years later to 555,000. Fifty years ago the Finns numbered 1,500,000,
+and the latest census shows nearly double these figures, although
+in 1868 pestilence and famine swept off over 100,000 victims.
+
+The languages spoken in the Grand Duchy are Finnish and Swedish,
+the former being used by at least eighty-five per cent. of the
+population. Russian-speaking inhabitants number about 5,000, while
+the Lapps amount to 1,000 only, other nationalities to under 3,000.
+Although Swedish is largely spoken in the towns, Finnish only is
+heard, as a rule, in the rural districts. There is scarcely any
+nobility in the country, if we except titled Swedish settlers. Most
+Finns belong to the middle class of life, with the exception of a
+few families ennobled in 1809 by the Tsar of Russia on his accession
+as Grand Duke of Finland. The lower orders are generally quiet and
+reserved in their demeanour, even on festive public occasions, and
+make peaceable, law-abiding citizens. "'Arry" is an unknown quantity
+here, and "'Arriet" does not exist. A stranger will everywhere
+meet with studied politeness in town and country. Drive along a
+country road, and every peasant will raise his hat to you, not
+deferentially, but with the quiet dignity of an equal. The high
+standard of education, almost legally exacted from the lowest classes
+in Finland, is unusually high, for the most illiterate plough boy
+may not marry the girl of his choice until he can read the Bible
+from end to end to the satisfaction of his pastor, and the same
+rule applies to the fair sex.
+
+The climate of Finland is by no means so severe as is generally
+imagined. As a matter of fact, no country of a similar latitude,
+with the exception of Sweden, enjoys the same immunity from intense
+cold. This is owing to the Gulf Stream, which also imparts its genial
+influence to Scandinavia. In summer the heat is never excessive, the
+rainfall is insignificant, and thunderstorms are rare. July is the
+warmest, and January the coldest month, but the mean temperature of
+Helsingfors in mid-winter has never fallen below that of Astrakhan,
+on the Caspian Sea.
+
+The weather is, however, frequently changeable, and even in summer
+the thermometer often rises or falls many degrees in the space
+of a few hours. You may sit down to dinner in the open air in
+Helsingfors in your shirt-sleeves, and before coffee is served be
+sending home for a fur coat. But this is an unusual occurrence, for
+a summer in Finland has been my most agreeable climatic experience
+in any part of the world.
+
+The winter is unquestionably hard, and lasts about six months,
+from November till the middle of April. At Christmas time the sun
+is only visible for six hours a day. The entire surface of the
+country, land, lake, and river, then forms one vast and frozen
+surface of snow, which may be traversed by means of sledge, snowshoes,
+or ski. A good man on the last-named will easily cover his seven
+miles an hour. Although tourists generally affect this country
+in the open season, a true Finlander loves the winter months as
+much as he dislikes the summer. In his eyes boredom, heat, and
+mosquitoes are a poor exchange for merry picnics on ski, skating
+contests, and sledge expeditions by starlight with pretty women and
+gay companions, to say nothing of the nightly balls and theatre and
+supper parties. Helsingfors is closed to navigation from November
+until June, for the sea forms an icy barrier around the coast of
+Finland, now no longer impenetrable, thanks to the ice-breakers at
+Hangoe. In the north the Gulf of Bothnia is frozen for even longer.
+
+Towards April winter shows signs of departure. By the middle of
+May ice and snow have almost disappeared, except in the north,
+where Uleaborg is, climatically, quite three weeks behind any of
+the southern towns. Before the beginning of June verdure and foliage
+have reappeared in all their luxuriance, and birds and flowers
+once more gladden field and forest with perfume and song. Even now
+an occasional shower of sleet besprinkles the land, only to melt
+in a few minutes, and leave it fresher and greener than before.
+May and June are, perhaps, the best months, for July and August
+are sometimes too warm to be pleasant. October and November are
+gloomy and depressing. Never visit Finland in the late autumn, for
+the weather is then generally dull and overcast, while cold, raw
+winds, mist and sleet, are not the exception. Midwinter and midsummer
+are the most favourable seasons, which offer widely different but
+equally favourable conditions for the comfort and amusement of
+the traveller.
+
+And, if possible, choose the former, if only for one reason. No
+one who has ever witnessed the unearthly beauty of a summer night
+in Finland is likely to forget it. The Arctic Circle should, of
+course, be crossed to witness the midnight sun in all its glory,
+but I doubt if the quiet _crepuscule_ (I can think of no other
+word) of the twilit hours of darkness is not even more weird and
+fascinating viewed from amid silent streets and buildings than
+from the sullen dreariness of an Arctic desert, which is generally
+(in summer) as drab and as flat as a biscuit. In Arctic Lapland,
+where for two months the sun never sinks below the horizon, you may
+read small print without difficulty throughout the night between
+June and August. This would be impossible in Helsingfors, where
+nevertheless from sunset till dawn it is never quite dark. In the
+far north the midnight sun affords a rather garish light; down
+south it sheds grey but luminous rays, so faint that they cast
+no shadows, but impart a weird and mysterious grace to the most
+commonplace surroundings. No artist has yet successfully portrayed
+the indescribable charm and novelty of a summer night under these
+conditions, and, in all probability, no artist ever will!
+
+His Majesty the Tsar's manifesto has not as yet (outwardly, at
+any rate) Russianized the capital of Finland. It will probably
+take centuries to do that, for Finland, like France, has an
+individuality which the combined Powers of Europe would be puzzled to
+suppress. A stranger arriving at the railway station of Helsingfors,
+for instance, may readily imagine himself in Germany, Austria, or
+even Switzerland, but certainly not within a thousand miles of
+Petersburg. Everything is so different, from the dapper stationmaster
+with gold-laced cap of German build down to the porters in clean
+white linen blouses, which pleasantly contrast with the malodorous
+sheepskins of unwashed Russia. At Helsingfors there is nothing,
+save the soldiery, to remind one of the proximity of Tsarland. And
+out in the country it is the same. The line from Mikkeli traverses
+a fair and prosperous district, as unlike the monotonous scenery over
+the border as the proverbial dock and daisy. Here are no squalid
+hovels and roofless sheds where half-starved cattle share the misery
+of their owners; no rotting crops and naked pastures; but snug
+homestead, flower gardens, and neat wooden fences encircling fields
+of golden grain and rich green meadow land. To travel in Southern
+Finland after Northern Russia is like leaving the most hideous
+parts of the Black Country to suddenly emerge into the brightness
+and verdure of a sunlit Devonshire.
+
+
+
+
+_LAPLAND_
+
+_ALEXANDER PLATONOVICH ENGELHARDT_
+
+The Peninsula of Kola, which forms the District of that name, extends
+about 650 versts, or 433 miles, from west to east, from the frontiers
+of Norway and Finland to the White Sea, and about 400 versts, or 266
+miles, from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of
+Kandalax, covering an area of 131,860 square versts, or 37,022,400
+acres. The coast belt from the Norwegian border-line to Holy Cape
+(or Sweet-nose), is called the Murman Coast, or simply the Murman;
+the eastern and south-eastern part, from Holy Cape along the White
+Sea to the mouth of the Varzuga, goes by the name of the Tierski
+Coast; and the southern part, from the Varzuga to Kandalax, the
+Kandalax Coast; whilst the whole of the interior bears the name of
+Russian Lapland. The surface of the Peninsula is either mountainous,
+or covered with _tundras_ (i. e., moss-grown wilds), and swamps.
+The Scandinavian mountain range, which divides Sweden from Norway,
+extending to the Kola Peninsula, breaks up into several separate
+branches. Along the shores of the Murman they form craggy coast
+cliffs, rising at times to an elevation of 500 feet. Further to
+the east they become gradually lower, so that near the White Sea
+they seldom exceed fifty or one hundred feet, with less precipitous
+descents. The reach their greatest height further inland, to the
+east of Lake Imandra, where they form the Hibinski and Luiavrout
+chains, veiled in perpetual snow. Some of the peaks rise to 970
+feet above the level of the lake, which, in its turn, is 140 feet
+higher than the sea-level, so that the mountains surrounding the
+lake are over 1,000 feet above the level of the sea.
+
+Not far from Lake Imandra is the lofty Mount Bozia, (or Gods' Hill),
+at the foot of which, according to the traditions of the Lapps,
+their ancestors offered up sacrifices to their gods. Even at the
+present time the Lapps of the district speak of this site with
+peculiar veneration. Between the village of Kashkarantz and the
+Varzuga rises Mt. Korable, remarkable for its many caverns, studded
+with crystals of translucent quartz and amethyst, the former, together
+with fluor and heavy spar, being met with, too, in the eastern
+parts of the mountain. The Kola Peninsula was carefully explored
+by Finnish Expeditions in 1887-1892.
+
+The climate of Lapland is not everywhere uniform, but in general
+it is bleak and raw. Winter begins about the end of September and
+continues till May. It is colder inland than by the ice-free shores
+of the Northern Ocean, where the warm currents of the Gulf Stream
+moderate the cold. And yet the severity of the weather does not
+injuriously affect the health or longevity of the inhabitants.
+The winter roads are well set in by the end of October (or early
+in November), the snow-fall during the winter months amounting
+to seven quarters, or four feet one inch. The Polar night lasts
+from the 25th of November to the 15th of January, but the darkness
+is not by any means so great as one would imagine. The white of
+the snow gives a certain glimmer of light, and the frequent and
+prolonged flashes of Aurora Borealis set the heavens in a blaze as
+with clouds of fire, turning night into twilight, as it were, and
+by their brilliancy and beauty making some amends to the natives
+for the absence of the sun's rays. It is easy even to read by their
+light; while each day, about noon, there is enough daylight for an
+hour or so to enable one to dispense with candles. So that under
+the name of Polar Night should be understood not the total absence
+of light, but rather the season when the sun no longer appears
+above the horizon. It begins to show itself again about the 17th
+of January, gradually rising higher and higher as the days advance.
+
+[Illustration: REINDEER TRAVELLING]
+
+Snow vanishes from the plains towards the middle (or end) of May,
+but remains the whole year round in the gorges of the mountains.
+The rivers are clear of ice about the beginning (or middle) of
+May, and within a month from that time the first shoots of verdure
+begin to appear on the meadows and hill-sides. The sun never sets
+from the 24th of May to the 21st of July. There is neither twilight
+nor night,--the long Arctic Day has set in. During this period the
+sun warms the soil only at noon, simply shining for the rest of
+the day, seemingly a golden orb without heat. Summer, beginning
+about the middle (_i. e._, end) of June, barely lasts two months.
+By July flowers are already shedding their blossoms, their rapid
+growth being aided by the unbroken daylight.
+
+Any attempts at agriculture in such a climate are, of course, foredoomed
+to failure, but along the river banks some fairly good meadows
+enable the settlers of the Murman to rear all the cattle they need.
+Turnips are the only vegetables that can be raised, with, here
+and there, a few potatoes.
+
+The southern and western portions of the Peninsula are covered with
+pretty good timber, mostly pine (_Pinus silvestris_). As you go
+further north, the timber becomes more and more stunted, consisting
+chiefly of birchwood, till you reach the open _tundra_, which is
+clothed in moss and low-growing shrubs.
+
+The Lapps lead a semi-nomadic life. The settlements in which they
+live are called _pagosts_, each group of Lapps having its particular
+summer and winter _pagost_. The latter is usually inland near the
+forests, where they herd their deer in winter. In summer they wander
+nearer to the coasts and lakes for the sake of the fishing. The
+winter dwelling of the Lapp is called a _toopa_, a small smoky
+sod-covered hut, covering some 150 to 200 square feet; whereas in
+summer he lives in his _vieja_, a large wigwam resembling a Samoyede
+_choom_, but covered over, not with skins as with the Samoyedes,
+but with branches, tree-bark and turfs.
+
+The typical Lapp is dwarf-like and thick-set. He usually wears
+a grey cloth jacket, his head being encircled in a high woollen
+cap tapering to a tassel at the top, while his feet, wrapped up
+in rags, are then covered with big shoes. In general, his whole
+appearance, with his pointed beard, bears a striking resemblance
+to the familiar representations of "gnomes," as these denizens of
+the subterranean world are pictured to us in fairy books. Few of
+the Lapps, however, confine themselves to this characteristic type
+of Lapp costume, but wear whatever comes to their hands,--hats,
+caps, clothes "made in Germany" and so on.
+
+Among the women, especially the younger ones, some fairly pretty
+faces may be met with. Their dress is usually a calico _sarafan_,
+and generally speaking, there is nothing specially distinguishing
+about their apparel.
+
+The Lapp race is evidently dying out, or rather, is gradually
+intermingling with, and being absorbed by, the neighbouring races.
+With neither written memorials nor a historic past to cling to,
+nor any particular religious belief, they are all of the Orthodox
+Faith. In assuming the customs and civilization of the Russians,
+the Lapps often abandon their own tribe, and assimilate with the
+stronger race. I have often heard such sayings as the following
+from Lapps who have more or less settled down: "I'm not a Lapp at
+all, I'm a Russian now," or "He's a good man" (_i. e._, active,
+energetic) "and not a Lapp."
+
+So that they evidently have no particularly high opinion of themselves,
+and put no great value on their tribal individuality; and yet, as
+the free-born child of the broad and boundless _tundra_, the Lapp
+dearly loves his home and open roving life.
+
+The chief occupations of the Lapps are reindeer-rearing and fishing,
+and in winter, the transport of goods by means of their deer. They
+are unfortunately bad husbandmen, utterly reckless about the increase
+of their herds, and never dreaming of looking upon them as sources
+of gain. Deer-herding is not, in their eyes, a regular business,
+they merely keep such head as are required for domestic uses, that
+is, for food, clothing and travelling. Very few Lapps own big herds,
+while most of them hardly know or care how many in reality they have.
+In summer, when the deer are not wanted for travelling purposes, they
+dismiss them to range at large, without any surveillance whatever. To
+escape the persecutions of gadflies and mosquitoes the deer generally
+flock to the Hibinski Mountains, or else wander to the sea-shore.
+When thus at large they multiply freely of themselves, and, by
+this time half wild, often stray away from the herds altogether.
+
+The rearing of reindeer might easily be made such a profitable
+business as to be sufficient in itself to insure a comfortable
+livelihood to the Lapps. The deer itself hardly requires any looking
+after the whole year round. All through the summer it feeds on
+various grasses, and in winter on the _yagel_, or reindeer lichen
+(_Cladonia rangiferina_), which it scratches out from under the
+snow, with its hoofs. This lichen, or moss, grows in profusion all
+over the _tundras_ and forests of the Kola Peninsula. It is his
+deer which supply the Lapp with food and clothing, convey his family
+and goods hundreds of versts in his wanderings, and, finally, give
+him the opportunity of adding to his income by acting as carrier,
+and by supplying teams to the government postal-stations, etc.
+Some years ago some Zirians from the Petchora settled in the Kola
+Peninsula with their herds, numbering some 5,000 head. The Lapps
+welcomed them into their community, looking upon them, indeed,
+as benefactors, as the Zirians, a smart and enterprising race,
+get everything needed for household purposes, which they obtain
+much cheaper than the Lapps themselves could before, at the same
+time giving good prices for the skins of reindeer and other wild
+animals killed by the Lapps. So far no want of grazing plots has been
+felt. The Zirians have already over 10,000 head of deer, deriving,
+comparatively speaking, enormous gains from them. But then, unlike
+the Lapps, the Zirians go about their business in systematic and
+sensible fashion, safeguarding their stock from the incursions of
+beasts of prey, tending them carefully winter and summer, driving
+them from time to time to suitable pastures, etc.
+
+
+
+
+_MOSCOW_
+
+_THE KREMLIN AND ITS TREASURIES. THE ANCIENT REGALIA. THE ROMANOFF
+HOUSE_
+
+_ALFRED MASKELL_
+
+Moscow is the second capital of the Empire, but by ancient right
+the first, although now surpassed both in commerce and population by
+the modern city of Peter the Great. Moscow occupies almost exactly
+the geographical centre of European Russia. Artistically it is of
+far greater interest to us than its northern rival. It has preserved
+the old oriental type: in its palaces has been displayed the barbaric
+pomp of the Muscovite Tsars of which much yet remains, not only
+in their renovated halls but also in what is left of the plate,
+jewels and ornaments with which they once abounded.
+
+The general plan resembles somewhat that of Paris; the different
+quarters have gradually developed around a centre, and the river
+Moskva meanders through them as the Seine. The centre is the Kremlin;
+in shape an irregular triangle surrounded by high walls, outside
+which is the first walled-in quarter--the Kitai-Gorod, that is
+the Chinese city, about the meaning of which term there is some
+dispute. It is not, nor ever has been, in any way Chinese.
+
+The name of Moscow appears first in the chronicles in 1147, when
+Youri, a son of Vladimir Monomachus, built the first houses of a
+town on the hill where the Kremlin now stands, but it was not until
+at least a century later that the city became of any importance.
+In 1237, it was burned by the Tartars and the real founder was
+Daniel, a son of Alexander Nevski. He was the first prince buried
+in the church of St. Michael where, until the time of Peter the
+Great, all the sovereigns of Russia have been buried; as in the
+metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption, but a few steps distant,
+they have all been crowned up to the present day. From the Fifteenth
+to the Seventeenth Centuries, at the time when the arts flourished
+in Russia, in the greatest profusion and magnificence, Moscow was
+endowed with her richest monuments. It was then the numerous churches
+arose, the Kremlin, and the palaces of the boyars. At that time the
+city consisted of the Kremlin and the three walled-in enclosures
+which encircle it and each other as the several skins and shell
+inclose the kernel of a walnut. It appears to have been built in a
+haphazard fashion, though the old plans, with the houses sketched
+in rows, exhibit an uniformity of streets and buildings. They show
+us also that the houses were for the most part of wood, having each
+a covered outside staircase leading to the upper stories. Built
+so much of wood it was exposed to frequent conflagrations, the last
+being the great burning at the time of the French invasion in 1812.
+But so quickly was it always rebuilt and on the same lines that it
+has ever retained its original and irregular aspect. The Kremlin
+was at first of wood, but under the two Ivans it was surrounded by
+the solid stone walls of white stone cut in facets, which have
+given to the city the name "White Mother," or "Holy Mother Moscow
+with the white walls."
+
+[Illustration: MOSCOW.]
+
+The Kremlin is at the same time a fortress and a city contained
+within itself, with its streets and palaces, churches, monasteries,
+and barracks. Eighteen towers and five gateways garnish the long
+extent of the inclosing wall; two of the gateways are interesting;
+that of the Saviour built by Pietro Solario in 1491, and that of
+the Trinity by Christopher Galloway in the Seventeenth Century.
+Here, among the churches are those of the Assumption and of St.
+Michael; here are the new palace of the Tsar, the restored Terem
+(what is left of the old palace), the sacristy and library of the
+patriarchs, the treasure and regalia, the great tower of Ivan Veliki
+in which hangs the largest bell in the world that will ring, and
+beneath it the "Tsar Kolokol," the king of bells, which it is supposed
+has never been rung and the king of cannons which has never been
+fired.
+
+The ancient "Kazna," or treasury of the Kremlin, where the riches
+of the Tsars have been preserved from time immemorial was in the
+reign of Ivan III. situated within the walls of the Kremlin, between
+the Cathedrals of St. Michael and of the Annunciation. Here it
+remained until the great fire of 1737. The treasure had already
+suffered a heavy loss: in the early part of the Seventeenth Century,
+at the time of the war with Poland, a large quantity of plate was
+melted down to provide for the payment of the troops. The fire
+of 1737 caused a further and greater loss and destroyed also a
+large part of the armoury. At the time of the French invasion in
+1812 the whole of the treasure, together with the regalia, was
+removed to Novgorod, and thus escaped destruction of seizure. On
+its return to Moscow in 1814, systematic arrangements were made
+for its preservation, and for the formation and arrangement of
+the museum in which it is now exhibited. In the year 1850 the new
+building of the Orujenaia Palata which forms part of the modern
+palace of the Kremlin was completed, and to this the entire collection
+was transferred.
+
+The treasury of Moscow has been almost from the time of the
+establishment of the Russian Empire the place where the riches
+of the Tsars have been kept; consisting of the regalia, of the
+state costumes, of the plate and vases used in the service of their
+table, of their most magnificent armour and horse-trappings, of
+their state carriages and sledges and of the presents which from
+time to time the sovereigns of other countries sent through their
+ambassadors, of whose embassies so many interesting accounts have
+come down to us.
+
+The collection of plate is exposed on open stands arranged in tiers
+round the pillars, or otherwise displayed in a vast hall of the
+new building of the Orujenaia Palata.
+
+The riches thus brought together have suffered many changes. The
+court was frequently moved, the state of the empire was continually
+disturbed, fires were of frequent occurrence, and necessity at times
+caused much treasure to be melted down. The Tsar's favourites received
+no doubt from time to time acceptable marks of his approbation in
+the shape of rich presents, and many specimens of plate found their
+way probably in a similar manner to the churches and monasteries. But
+notwithstanding all this, there still remains permanently installed
+and carefully guarded in the treasury of the Kremlin a collection
+of plate which, for extent, variety, and interest, may rival that
+in any other palace in the world.
+
+It appears to have been customary during the last two centuries
+at least to make a grand display of this treasure on the occasion
+of the visit of the sovereign, and especially during the ceremonies
+of the coronation. Then, in the centre of the hall in the ancient
+_Terem_, known as the gold room, where the Tsar dines in solitary
+state, a kind of buffet is arranged and other stands disposed,
+loaded and groaning with this rich accumulation.
+
+Great splendour and richness of material, the lavish use of jewels in
+the decoration, and the brilliant colour derived from the employment
+of enamels are characteristics of eastern art in the precious metals.
+But while we are struck by the delicacy and refinement with which
+these are employed by many eastern countries, and while we admire
+the taste and harmony of colour displayed by the workmen of India
+or of Persia, it must be confessed that the Russian tempted by the
+glitter and display which are so much in accordance with his own
+taste, has been unable to use the same judgment as those whom he
+has taken as his models. Few would deny that there reigns throughout
+his work that quality which is best expressed by the term--barbaric
+magnificence. This is not vulgarity: such a term is not applicable;
+it is the outcome of the desire which is to be found amongst all
+nations who have attained a certain degree of civilization and
+riches to impose respect and awe by a lavish display of material
+wealth or by the use of gorgeous colour, which always calls forth
+the admiration of the multitude.
+
+In the plate and jewelled ornament which we find in the treasury
+of the Kremlin, we shall find that Russian taste was fond of solid
+material and ornament, enriched with many and large precious stones
+of value. All Oriental nations have ever loved to accumulate riches
+of this description which, at the same time that they are of use
+as ornament, are also of intrinsic value. The crowns, and thrones,
+and sceptres, the ornaments of the imperial costume, the gold and
+silver plate and vases and other precious objects of the court
+of the Tsars have, therefore, a character of solid splendour, a
+want of refinement and delicacy, which is almost uniformly
+characteristic. Still they are not deficient in a certain grandeur
+and even elegance, and in details there is much that is admirable,
+much that is strikingly original.
+
+By far the greater number of pieces that we shall find in the Kremlin
+and elsewhere belong to the Seventeenth Century. In the treasury
+of the Kremlin we have but one piece of the Twelfth Century and
+some few of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. All the rest
+are later.
+
+The entire number of pieces in the Kremlin amounts to sixteen hundred.
+After the disasters of 1612, all the ancient plate for the service
+of the Tsar's table was melted down and converted into money; many
+objects in gold and silver and jewelled work being at the same time
+given in pledge to the troops of Vladislas IV. There are therefore
+few examples earlier than the dynasty of the Romanoffs.
+
+The treasure contains also some of the most highly venerated icons,
+crosses, and reliquaries in Russia. As regards many of these it
+is difficult to assign a date or a place of production. Many of
+them have histories more or less legendary, but while some may
+appear to belong absolutely to the Greek school, we must not forget
+that Russia sent its workmen to Mount Athos to be instructed and
+to work there, and on their return the traditions and models of
+the school were scrupulously observed in the workshops of Moscow.
+
+The regalia of the ancient Tsars scarcely yield in interest to
+that of any other country. They consist of a large number of crowns
+or jewelled caps of peculiar form, of orbs and sceptres, of the
+imperial costume, and especially of that peculiar part of the latter,
+a kind of collar or shoulder ornament, known as the _barmi_.
+
+Other important pieces of the regalia of Alexis Michailovitch are
+the orbs and sceptres, the bow and arrow case of the same description
+of workmanship. These are gorgeous specimens of jewelled and enamelled
+work attributed to Constantinople. The sceptre of the Tsar Michailovitch
+is of similar enamelled work, and is probably a good specimen of
+the effect of western influence on the goldsmiths of Moscow. The
+figures especially appear to be of the Italian renaissance. Another
+sceptre is unmistakably Russian work, and if not of pure taste is
+at least of fine workmanship and imposing magnificence.
+
+The thrones are of high interest from more than one point of view.
+We must content ourselves with choosing two from amongst them,
+viz.: the ivory throne of Ivan III. (_Antiquities of the Russian
+Empire_, ii. 84-100), and the throne known as the Persian throne
+(_Ibid_, ii. 62-66).
+
+The first was brought from Constantinople in 1472 by the Tsarina
+Sophia Paleologus, who, by her marriage with Ivan III., united
+the coats of arms of Byzantium and Russia.
+
+There is a certain resemblance between this throne and that known
+as the chair of St. Peter at Rome. The general form is the same, as
+is the manner in which the ivory plaques and their borderings are
+placed. The second throne is a magnificent work, which, according
+to a register as the _Book of Embassies_, was sent from Persia in
+the year 1660 to the Tsar Alexis by a certain Ichto Modevlet, of
+the Shah's court. M. Weltman, in his enumeration of the treasury of
+the Kremlin, says: "It was therefore probably made in the workshops
+of Ispahan about the same time that the globe, sceptre, and _barmi_
+were ordered from Constantinople."
+
+[Illustration: THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW.]
+
+The Kremlin contains a large number of pieces of decorative plate
+of all kinds made for the service of the table of the Tsars, or
+displayed on buffets on state occasions. Much of it is the production
+of other countries, presented by their ambassadors or purchased
+for the Tsar. The frequent fires and the melting down of treasure
+during the Polish disturbances have much diminished this collection,
+and possibly also many of the finest pieces have disappeared. Of
+the large service of gold plate of the Tsar Alexis, which consisted
+of 120 covers, two plates are all that remain. These are, however,
+sufficient evidence of the skill and taste of the Moscow goldsmiths
+of the period and of their dexterity in the use of enamel.
+
+The Treasury of the Kremlin contains a large number of cups or
+vases of silver-gilt, for table use, of Russian work. There is
+no great variety in the cups, but some forms are peculiar to the
+country. There are especially the cups called _bratini_ (loving
+cups, from _brat_, a brother), the bowls or ladles termed _kovsh_,
+and the small cups with one flat handle for strong liquors. Tall
+beakers expanding at the lip and contracted at the middle are also
+favourite forms, but the bulbous shape is the most frequent. Indeed,
+that form of bulb or cupola which we see upon the churches is peculiarly
+characteristic. We find it with more or less resemblance, in the
+ancient crowns, in the mitres of the popes, in the bowls of chalices
+and in vases and bowls for drinking. In the _bratini_ and _kovsh_
+the bulging form of ornament, the coving up of the bottoms of the
+bowls, and the use of twisted lobes are very common.
+
+The Cathedral of the Assumption is one of the many churches situated
+within the precincts of the Kremlin. It was reconstructed by Fioraventi
+in 1475 after the model of the Cathedral of Vladimir, and in spite
+of the frequent calamities and fires which have half ruined Moscow
+still preserves in a great measure its primitive character. The
+church of the Assumption has five domes resting in the centre of
+the building on four massive circular pillars, and the sanctuary
+is composed of four hemicycles. The Cathedral of the Archangel
+Michael is close by and was built in 1507 in imitation of it. Near
+this again is the Cathedral of the Annunciation. This, which was
+built in 1416, is more original in style and recalls the churches of
+Mount Athos, or that of Kertch, which dates from the Tenth Century.
+
+Mention must be made of an ancient building, the house known as
+the Romanoff House in Moscow. It was the birthplace of the Tsar
+Michael Theodorovitch, founder of the now reigning family, and
+also of his father Theodore Nikitisch, who became patriarch under
+the name of Philaret. In its restored state the Romanoff House
+is still perhaps the most remarkable ancient building existing
+in Russia as a perfect specimen of the old dwelling-houses of the
+boyards. It is built of stone, and the solid exterior walls are
+as they originally stood. The interior restoration, completed by
+the emperor Alexander in 1859, has been carried out with great
+care in the exact style of the time, the furniture and ornaments
+being authentic and placed as they would have been.
+
+
+
+
+_VASSILI-BLAGENNOI_
+
+(_ST. BASIL THE BLESSED_)
+
+_THEOPHILE GAUTIER_
+
+We soon reached the Kitai-Gorod, which is the business quarter,
+upon the Krasnaia, the Red Square, or rather the beautiful square,
+for in Russia the words red and beautiful are synonymous. Upon
+one side of this square is the long facade of the Gostinnoi-Dvor,
+an immense bazaar with streets enclosed by glass-like passages,
+and which contains no less than 6,000 shops. The outside wall of
+the Kremlin rears itself on another side, with gates piercing the
+towers of sharply peaked roofs, permitting you to see above it the
+turrets, the domes, the belfries and the spires of the churches and
+convents it encloses. On another side, strange as the architecture
+of dreamland, stands the chimerical and impossible church of
+Vassili-Blagennoi, which makes your reason doubt the testimony of
+your eyes. Although it appears real enough, you ask yourself if
+it is not a fantastic mirage, a building made of clouds curiously
+coloured by the sunlight, and which the quivering air will change
+or cause to dissolve. Without any doubt, it is the most original
+building in the world; it recalls nothing that you have ever seen
+and it belongs to no style whatever: you might call it a gigantic
+madrepore, a colossal formation of crystals, or a grotto of stalactites
+inverted.
+
+But let us not search for comparisons to give an idea of something
+that has no prototype. Let us try rather to describe Vassili-Blagennoi,
+if indeed there exists a vocabulary to speak of what had never been
+imagined previously.
+
+There is a legend about Vassili-Blagennoi, which is probably not
+true, but which nevertheless expresses with strength and poetry
+the sense of wondering stupefaction felt at the semi-barbarous
+period when that singular edifice, so remote from all architectural
+traditions, was erected. Ivan the Terrible had this cathedral built
+as a thank-offering for the conquest of Kasan, and when it was
+finished, he found it so beautiful, wonderful and astounding, that
+he ordered the architect's eyes to be put out--they say he was an
+Italian--so that he could never erect anything similar. According
+to another version of the same legend, the Tsar asked the originator
+of this church if he could not erect a still more beautiful one,
+and upon his reply in the affirmative, he cut off his head, so
+that Vassili-Blagennoi might remain unrivalled forever. A more
+flattering exhibition of jealous cruelty cannot be imagined, but
+this Ivan the Terrible was at bottom a true artist and a passionate
+dilettante. Such ferocity in matters of art is more pleasing to
+me than indifference.
+
+Imagine on a kind of platform which lifts the base from the ground,
+the most peculiar, the most incomprehensible, the most prodigious
+heaping up of large and little cabins, outside stairways, galleries
+with arcades and unexpected hiding-places and projections, unsymmetrical
+porches, chapels in juxtaposition, windows pierced in the walls at
+haphazard, indescribable forms and a rounding out of the interior
+arrangement, as if the architect, seated in the centre of his work
+had produced a building by thrusting it out from him. From the
+roof of this church which might be taken for a Hindu, Chinese, or
+Thibetan pagoda, there springs a forest of belfries of the strangest
+taste, fantastic beyond anything else in the world. The one in the
+centre, the tallest and most massive, shows three or four stories
+from base to spire. First come little columns, and toothed
+string-courses, then come some pilasters framing long mullioned
+windows, then a series of blank arches like scales, overlapping
+one another, and on the sides of the spire wart-like ornaments
+outlining each spire, the whole terminated by a lantern surmounted
+by an inverted golden bulb bearing on its tip the Russian cross.
+The others, which are slenderer and shorter, affect the form of the
+minaret, and their fantastically ornamented towers end in cupolas
+that swell strangely into the form of onions. Some are tortured
+into facets, others ribbed, some cut into diamond-shaped points
+like pineapples, some striped with fillets in spirals, others again
+decorated with lozenge-shaped and overlapping scales, or honeycombed
+like a bee-hive, and all adorned at their summit with the golden
+ball surmounted by the cross.
+
+[Illustration: VASSILI-BLAGENNOI (ST. BASIL THE BLESSED), MOSCOW.]
+
+What adds still more to the fantastic effect of Vassili-Blagennoi,
+is that it is coloured with the most incongruous tones which
+nevertheless produce a harmonious effect that charms the eye. Red,
+blue, apple-green and yellow meet here in all portions of the building.
+Columns, capitals, arches and ornaments are painted with startling
+shades which give a strong relief. On the plain spaces of rare
+occurrence, they have simulated divisions or panels framing pots
+of flowers, rose-windows, wreathing vines, and chimaeras. The domes
+of the bell-towers are decorated with coloured designs that recall
+the patterns of India shawls; and, displayed thus on the roofs
+of the church, they recall the kiosks of the Sultans.
+
+The same fantastic genius presided over the plan and ornamentation
+of the interior. The first chapel, which is very low and in which
+a few lamps glimmer, resembles a golden cavern; unexpected stars
+throw their rays across the dusky shadows and make the stiff images
+of the Greek saints stand out like phantoms. The mosaics of St.
+Mark's in Venice alone can give an approximate idea of the effect
+of this astonishing richness. At the back, the iconostas looms up
+in the twilight shot through with rays like a golden and jewelled
+wall between the faithful and the priests of the sanctuary.
+
+Vassili-Blagennoi does not present, like other churches, a simple
+interior composed of several naves communicating and cut at certain
+points of intersection after the laws of the rites followed in
+the temple. It is formed of a collection of churches, or chapels,
+in juxtaposition and independent of each other. Each bell-tower
+contains a chapel, which arranges itself as it pleases in this
+mass. The dome is the terminal of the spire or the bulb of the
+cupola. You might believe yourself under the enormous casque of
+some Circassian or Tartar giant. These calottes are, moreover,
+marvellously painted and decorated in the interior. It is the same
+with the walls covered with those barbaric and hieratic figures,
+the traditional designs for which the Greek monks of Mount Athos
+have preserved from century to century, and which, in Russia, often
+deceive the careless observer regarding the age of a building.
+It is a peculiar sensation to find yourself in these mysterious
+sanctuaries, where personages familiar to the Roman Catholic cult,
+mingle with the saints peculiar to the Greek Calendar, and seem in
+their archaic Byzantine and constrained appearance to have been
+translated awkwardly into gold by the childish devotion of a primitive
+race. These images that you view across the carved and silver-gilt
+work of the iconostas, where they are ranged symmetrically upon
+the golden screen opening their large fixed eyes and raising their
+brown hand with the fingers turned in a symbolic fashion, produce, by
+means of their somewhat savage, superhuman and immutable traditional
+aspect, a religious impression not to be found in more advanced
+works of art. These figures, seen amid the golden reflections and
+twinkling light of the lamps, easily assume a phantasmagorical
+life, capable of impressing sensitive imaginations and of creating,
+especially at the twilight hour, a peculiar kind of sacred awe.
+
+Narrow corridors, low arched passages, so narrow that your elbows
+brush the walls and so low that you have to bend your head, circle
+about these chapels and lead from one to the other. Nothing could
+be more fantastic than these passages; the architect seems to have
+taken pleasure in tangling up their threading ways. You ascend, you
+descend, you seem to go out of the building, you seem to return,
+twisting about a cornice to follow the curves of a bell-tower,
+and walking through thick walls in tortuous passages that might
+be compared to the capillary tubes of madrepores, or to the roads
+made by insects in the barks of trees. After so many turnings and
+windings, your head swims, a vertigo seizes you, and you wonder if
+you are not a mollusk in an immense shell. I do not speak of the
+mysterious corners, of inexplicable coecums, low doors opening no
+one knows whither, dark stairways descending into profound depths;
+for I could never finish talking of this architecture, which you
+seem to walk through as if in a dream.
+
+
+
+
+_POLAND_
+
+_THOMAS MICHELL_
+
+The Tsar still bears the title of King of Poland, but the constitutional
+kingdom created at the great settlement of political accounts in
+1815 has been officially styled "The Cis-Vistula Provinces," ever
+since the absolute incorporation with the Russian empire in 1868.
+The provinces in question, ten in number, have an aggregate area
+of 49,157 English square miles, and a population of eight millions,
+composed to the extent of sixty-five per cent. of Poles, the remainder
+being Jews (in the proportion of thirteen per cent., and settled
+chiefly in towns), Lithuanians, Russians, Germans, and other aliens.
+
+The Poles (the Polacks of Shakespeare), are a branch of the Sclav
+race, their language differing but little from that of the Russians,
+Czechs (Bohemians), Servians, Bulgarians, and other kindred remnants.
+Contact and co-operation with Western civilization, and escape
+from Tartar subjugation, permitted the Poles to work out their
+own development on lines so widely apart from those pursued by
+their Russian brethren, that the complete amalgamation of these
+two great Sclav branches has long been a matter of practical
+impossibility.
+
+Polish history begins, like that of Russia, with Scandinavian invasion;
+Szainocha, a reliable authority of the present century, asserted
+that the Northmen descended on the Polish coast of the Baltic,
+and became, as in Russia, ancestors of the noble houses. On the
+other hand, it is on record that the first Grand Duke of Poland
+(about A. D. 842), was Piastus, a peasant, who founded a dynasty
+that was superseded only in 1385 by the Lithuanian Jagellons.
+Christianity was introduced by the fourth of the Piasts, A. D. 964,
+and it was a sovereign of the same House, Boleslas I., the Brave,
+who gave a solid foundation to the Polish State. He conquered Dantzig
+and Pomerania, Silesia, Moravia, and White Russia, as far as the
+Dnieper. After being partitioned, in accordance with the principle
+that long obtained in the neighbouring Russian principalities,
+the component territories of Poland were reunited by Vladislaf
+(Ladislaf) the Short, who established his capital, in 1320, at
+Cracow, where the Polish kings were ever after crowned. Casimir
+the Great, the Polish Justinian (1334-1370), gained for himself
+the title of _Rex Rusticorum_, by the bestowal of benefits on the
+peasantry, who were _adscripti glehoe_, and by the limitation of the
+power of the nobles, or freeholders. On his death, Louis, King of
+Hungary, his sister's son, was called to the throne; but in order
+to insure its continued possession he was compelled to reinstate the
+nobles in all their privileges, under a _Pacta Conventa_, which,
+subject to alterations made at Diets, was retained as part of the
+Coronation Oath so long as there were Polish kings to be consecrated.
+He was the last sovereign of the Piast period. After compelling
+his daughter to marry, not William of Austria, whom she loved, but
+Jagellon, Duke of Lithuania, who offered to unite his extensive
+and adjacent dominions with those of Poland, and to convert his
+own pagan subjects to Christianity, the nobles, in virtue of their
+Magna Charta, elected Jagellon (baptized under the name of Ladislas)
+to the throne of Poland, which thus became dynastically united
+(1386), with that of Lithuania.
+
+On the death, in 1572, of Sigismund II., Augustus, the last of
+the Jagellons, the power of the king, already limited by that of
+two chambers, was still further diminished, and the crown became
+elective. While occupied in besieging the Huguenots at Rochelle,
+and at a time when Poland enjoyed more religious liberty than any
+other country in Europe, Henry of Valois was elected to the throne,
+in succession to Sigismund II.; but he quickly absconded from Cracow
+in order to become Henry III. of France. The Jesuits, introduced in
+the next reign, that of Stephen Bathori, brought strong intolerance
+with them, and one of the reasons that led the Cossacks of the Polish
+Ukraine to solicit Russian protection was the inferior position to
+which their Greek religion had been reduced in relation to Roman
+Catholicism. The Russians and Poles had been at war with each other
+for two centuries. Moscow had been occupied in 1610 by the Poles in
+the name of Ladislas, son of Sigismund III., of the Swedish Wasa
+family, elected to the Muscovite throne by the Russian boyars, but
+soon expelled by the patriots, under Minin and Pojarski. Sobieski,
+who had saved Vienna for the Austrians, could not keep Kief and
+Little Russia for the Poles. Such was the outcome of disorders and
+revolutions in the State, and of wars with Muscovy, Turkey, and
+Sweden, as well as with Tartars and Cossacks. Frederick Augustus
+II., Elector of Saxony, succeeded Sobieski, and reigned until 1733,
+with an interval of five years, during which he was superseded by
+Stanislas I.
+
+[Illustration: NOWO ZJAZD STREET, WARSAW.]
+
+Dissension and anarchy became still more general, in the reign of
+the next sovereign, Augustus III. Civil war, in which the question
+of the rights of Lutherans, Calvinists, and other "dissidents"
+obnoxious to the Roman Catholic Church played a great part, resulted
+in the intervention of Russia and Prussia, and in 1772 the first
+partition of Poland was consummated. The second followed in 1793,
+under an arrangement between the same countries, which had taken
+alarm at a liberal constitution voted by the Polish Diet in 1791,
+especially as it had provided for the emancipation of the _adscripti
+gleboe_. The struggle made by Thaddeus Kosciuszko ended in the entry
+of Suvoroff into Warsaw over the ashes of the Prague suburb, and
+in the third dismemberment (1795), of ancient Poland, under which
+even Warsaw was absorbed by Russia.
+
+Previous to these several partitions, Poland occupied a territory
+much more extensive than that of France. In addition to the kingdom
+proper, it included the province of Posen and part of West Prussia,
+Cracow, and Galicia, Lithuania, the provinces of Volhynia and Podolia,
+and part of the present province of Kief. In 1772, Dantzig was a
+seaport of Poland, Kaminets, in Podolia, its border stronghold
+against Turkey; while to the west and north its frontier extended
+almost to the walls of Riga, and to within a short distance from
+Moscow. In still earlier times, Bessarabia, Moldavia, Silesia,
+and Livonia were embraced within the Polish possessions.
+
+These successive partitions gave the most extensive portion of
+Polish territory to Russia, the most populous to Austria, and the
+most commercial to Prussia. Napoleon I. revived a Polish state
+out of the provinces that had been seized by Prussia and Austria.
+This was first constituted into a Grand Duchy under the King of
+Saxony, and in 1815, when Galicia (with Cracow) was restored to
+Austria, and Posen to Prussia, Warsaw became again a kingdom under
+a constitution granted by Alexander I. The old Polish provinces
+that had fallen to the share of Catherine II. at the partitions
+remained incorporated with the Russian Empire, but were not fully
+subjected to a Russian administration until after the great Polish
+insurrection of 1830, when also the constitution of 1815 was withdrawn,
+the national army abolished, and the Polish language proscribed in
+the public offices.
+
+Notwithstanding the wide measures of Home Rule introduced by Alexander
+II. into the administration of the kingdom, and which, in combination
+with many liberal and pregnant reforms in Russia Proper appeared
+to offer to the Poles the prospect of no inconsiderable influence
+over the destinies of the Russian Empire, the old spirit of national
+independence began to manifest itself, and in 1862, not without
+encouragement from Napoleon III., an insurrection broke out at
+Warsaw.
+
+Outside Warsaw and its immediate vicinity there is little in Russian
+Poland to interest the tourist. The country is generally level
+and monotonous, with wide expanses of sand, heath, and forest,
+and it is only towards the north and east that the ground may be
+said to be heavily timbered. Dense forests stretch down from the
+Russian, anciently Polish, province of Grodno, and now form the
+last retreat in Europe of the _Bison Europeans_, the survivor of
+the Aurochs (_Bos primigenius_), which is supposed to have been
+the original stock of our horned cattle. Although much worried by
+the wolf, the bear, and the lynx, the bison is strictly preserved
+from the hunter, and are not therefore likely to disappear like the
+_Bos Americanus_, or buffalo, which has so long been ruthlessly
+slaughtered in the United States.
+
+Interspersed among these barren or wooded tracts are areas containing
+some of the finest corn-bearing soil in Europe, supplying from
+time immemorial vast quantities of superior grain for shipment
+from ports in the Baltic. It is produced on the larger estates of
+two hundred to fifteen hundred acres, belonging to more than eight
+thousand proprietors. The peasantry, who hold more than 240,000
+farms--seldom exceeding forty acres--contribute next to nothing
+towards exportation, their mode of agriculture being almost as
+rude as that of the Russian peasantry, and their habits of life but
+little superior, especially in the matter of drink. Towns, large
+and small, occur more frequently than in Russia, and while some are
+rich and industrial, others--we may say the great majority--are
+poor and squalid, affording no accommodation that would render
+possible the visit of even the least fastidious traveller.
+
+Consequently we confine ourselves to Warsaw, which we take on our way
+by rail to or from St. Petersburg or Moscow. Founded in the Twelfth
+Century, and, during the Piast period, the seat of the appanaged
+Dukes of Masovia, Warszawa, replaced Cracow as the residence of the
+Polish kings and therefore as the capital of Poland, on the election
+of Sigismund III. (1586). It has now a population of about 445,000,
+not including the Russian garrison of 31,500 officers and men. The
+left bank of the Vistula, on which Warsaw is chiefly built, is
+high, and the pretty, gay, and animated city, with its stately lines
+of streets, wide squares, and spacious gardens, is picturesquely
+disposed along the brow of the cliff and on the plains above. Across
+the broad sandy bed of the stream, here "shallow, ever-changing,
+and divided as Poland itself," and which is on its way from the
+Carpathians to the Baltic, is the Prague suburb, which, formerly
+fortified, has never recovered from the assault by Suvoroff in
+1794, when its sixteen thousand inhabitants were indiscriminately
+put to the sword. A vast panorama spreads out in every direction
+from this melancholy and dirty point of vantage. Opposite is the
+Zamek, or castle, built by the Dukes of Masovia, and enlarged and
+restored by several of the Polish kings, from Sigismund III. to
+Stanislas Augustus Poniatovski. Its pictures and objects of art
+are now at St. Petersburg, and Moscow, and the old royal apartments
+are occupied by the Governor-General. The square in front of the
+castle was the scene of the last Polish "demonstrations," in 1861,
+when it was twice stained with blood.
+
+In the Stare Miasto, or Old Town, strongly old German in aspect,
+stands the cathedral, built in the Thirteenth Century, and restored
+on the last occasion by King John Sobieski. A still more ancient
+sacred edifice is the Church of Our Lady in the Nove Miasto, or New
+Town; but it certainly retains no traces of deep antiquity. Beyond
+the great Sapieha and Sierakovski Barracks towers the Alexander
+Citadel, with its outlying fortifications, built in 1832-35, at the
+expense of the city, as a penalty for the insurrection in 1830.
+In the same direction, but a considerable distance from the town,
+is Mariemont, the country seat of the consort of John Sobieski;
+also Kaskada, a place of entertainment much frequented by the
+inhabitants of Warsaw, and Bielany, a pretty spot on the Vistula
+commanding a fine view. The churches and chapels, mostly Roman
+Catholic, are numerous (eighty-five), and so are the monasteries
+and convents (twenty-two).
+
+Near Novi Sviat (New World) Street, we find the Avenues, or _Champs
+Elysees_, bordered by fine lime-trees, in front of elegant private
+residences. Crossing a large square, in which the troops are exercised,
+and the military hospital at Uiazdov, formerly a castle of the
+kings of Poland, we reach the fine park of Lazienki, a country
+seat of much elegance built by King Stanislas Augustus, and now
+the residence of the Emperor when he visits Warsaw. The ceilings
+of this _chateau_ were painted by Bacciarelli, and its walls are
+hung with portraits of numerous beautiful women.
+
+Contiguous to the Lazienki Park are the extensive gardens of the
+Belvedere Palace, in which the Poles attempted in 1830 to get rid
+of their viceroy, the Grand Duke Constantine. We drive hence in
+less than an hour to one of the most interesting places near Warsaw.
+This is the Castle of Villanov, built by John Sobieski, who died
+in it. To this retreat he brought back the trophies of his mighty
+deeds in arms, and here sought repose after driving the Turks from
+the walls of Vienna. The _chateau_, now the property of Countess
+Potocka, is full of historical portraits, objects of art, and other
+curiosities, of which the most interesting is the magnificent suit
+of armour presented by the Pope to Sobieski in memory of his great
+victory. The apartments of his beautiful consort are of great elegance.
+In the gallery of pictures we notice an admirable Rubens--the _Death
+of Seneca_; although we are more strongly attracted by an original
+portrait of Bacon, which is but little known in England.
+
+[Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, WARSAW.]
+
+For want of space, again we must plead guilty of omitting to describe
+many palatial residences, and several noticeable monuments, among
+which is one to Copernicus, the Polish founder of modern astronomy.
+On the same ground we pass over handsome public buildings, theatres,
+gardens and cemeteries, in one of which, the Evangelical Cemetery, is
+buried John Cockerell, to whom Belgium owes so much of her industrial
+prosperity.
+
+
+
+
+_KIEF, THE CITY OF PILGRAMAGE_
+
+_J. BEAVINGTON ATKINSON_
+
+Kief, the Jerusalem of Russia, is by nature marked for distinction;
+she rises like an Etruscan city from the plain; she is flanked by
+fortifications; she is pleasantly clothed by trees, and height
+beyond height is crowned by castle or by church. Fifty thousand
+pilgrims annually, many of whom are footsore from long and weary
+journeying, throw themselves on their knees as they see the sacred
+city from afar: her holy places shine in the sun as a light set
+upon a hill which cannot be hid. Three holy shrines which I can
+recall to mind--Kief, Assisi, and Jerusalem--are alike fortunate in
+command of situation; the approach to each is most impressive. In
+Kief particularly the natural landscape is heightened in pictorial
+effect by the picturesque groups of pilgrims, staves in hand and
+wallets on back, who may be seen at all hours of the day clambering
+up the hill, resting under the shadow of a tree, or reverently
+bowing the head at the sound of a convent bell.
+
+Kief is not one city, but three cities, each with its own fortification.
+The old town, strong in position, and enclosing within its circuit
+the Cathedral of St. Sophia and the Palace of the Metropolitan,
+was in remote ages a Sclavonian Pantheon, sacred to the Russian
+Jupiter and other savage gods. The new town, separated from the
+old town by a deep ravine, stands on a broad platform which rises
+precipitously from the banks of the Dnieper. The walls are massive,
+the fort is strong, and the famous monastery, the first in rank
+in Russia, with its gilt and coloured domes, shines from out the
+shade of a deep wood. The third division, "the Town of the Vale,"
+situated between the hills and the river, is chiefly devoted to
+commerce. Without much stretch of fancy it might be said that Kief,
+like Rome, Lisbon and some other cities, is built on seven hills.
+And thus the pictorial aspect changes almost at every step; a winding
+path will bring to view an unsuspected height, or open up a valley
+previously hid. The traveller has in the course of his wanderings
+often to feel thankful that a kind providence has planted sacred
+places in the midst of lovely scenery. The holy mountain at Varallo,
+the sacred hill at Orta, are, like the shrines of Kief, made doubly
+pleasant for pilgrimage through the beauties of nature by which
+they are surrounded. It is said that at the monastery of the Grande
+Chartreuse the monks do not permit themselves to look too much at
+the outward landscape, lest their hearts should by the loveliness
+of earth be estranged from heaven. I do not think that Russian
+priests or pilgrims incur any such danger. When they are neither
+praying nor eating they are sleeping; in short, I did not among
+the motley multitude see a single eye open to the loveliness of
+colour in the sky above, or to the beauty of form in the earth
+beneath. It is singular how obtuse these people are; I have noticed
+in a crowded railway carriage that not a face would be turned to
+the glory of the setting sun, but if a church tower came into view
+on the distant horizon, every hand was raised to make the sign
+of the cross. While taking my observations among the pilgrims at
+Kief I was struck with the fact, not only that a superstitious
+faith, but that a degraded art blinds the eye to the beauty of
+nature. It is one of the high services of true art to lead the mind
+to the contemplation, to the love and the better understanding,
+of the works of creation. But, on the contrary, it is the penalty
+of this Byzantine art to close the appointed access between nature
+and nature's God. An art which ignores and violates truth and beauty
+cannot do otherwise than lead the mind away from nature. This seemed
+one of the several lessons taught by Kief, the city of pilgrimage.
+
+Sketchers of character and costume will find excellent studies
+among the pilgrims of Kief. The upper and educated classes, who
+in Russia are assimilating with their equals in other nations, and
+are therefore not tempting to the pencil or the brush, do not, as
+we have already seen, come in any numbers to these sacred shrines.
+It is the lower orders, who still preserve the manners and customs
+of their ancestors, that make these church festivals so attractive
+to the artist. The variety of races brought together from afar--a
+diversity only possibly within an empire, like Russia, made up of
+heterogeneous materials--might serve not only to fill a portfolio,
+but to illustrate a volume; the ethnologist equally with the painter
+would find at the time of great festivities curious specimens of
+humanity. I remember some years ago to have met with the French
+artist, M. Theodore Valerio, when he had brought home the _Album
+Ethnographique_ from Hungary, Croatia, and the more distant borders
+of the Danube. It was quite refreshing, after the infinite number
+of costume-studies I had seen from Italian peasantry, to find that
+art had the possibility of an entirely new sphere among the Sclavonic
+races. A like field for any painter of enterprise is now open in
+Russia. The large and famous composition, _The Butter Week (Carnival)
+in St. Petersburg_, by C. Makowski, may serve to indicate the hitherto
+undeveloped pictorial resources of the empire. When the conditions
+are new there is a possibility that the art may be new also. The
+ethnology, the physical geography, the climate, the religion, the
+products of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, so far as they are
+peculiar to Russia, will some day become reflected into the national
+art. It is true that the painter may occasionally feel a want of
+colour, the costumes of the peasant are apt to be dull and heavy, yet
+not unfrequently rags and tatters bring compensation by picturesque
+outlines and paintable surface-textures. At Kief, however, the traveller
+is sufficiently south and east to fall in with warm southern hues
+and Oriental harmonies, broken and enriched, moreover, among the
+lower orders by that engrained dirt which I have usually noted as
+the special privilege and prerogative of pilgrims in all parts of
+the world. The use of soap would seem to be accounted as sacrilege
+on religious sentiment. What with dust, and what with sun, the
+wayfarers who toil up the heights leading to the holy hill have
+gained a colour which a Murillo would delight in. The face and
+neck bronzed by the hot sun tell out grandly from a flowing mass
+of hair worthy of a patriarch.
+
+[Illustration: THE DNIEPER AT KIEF.]
+
+Beggars, who in Russia are as thick about the churches as the pigeons
+that pick up crumbs in front of St. Mark's, are almost essential
+to the histrionic panoramas at these places of pilgrimage. I have
+never seen so large or so varied a collection of professional and
+casual mendicants as within and about the sacred enclosures of Kief.
+Some appeared to enjoy vested rights; these privileged personages
+would as little endure to be driven from a favoured post as with us
+a sweeper at a crossing would tolerate a rival broom. Several of
+these waiters upon charity might be termed literary beggars; their
+function is to read aloud from a large book in the hearing of the
+passers-by. They are often infirm, and occasionally blind, but they
+read just the same. Another class may be called the incurables; in
+England they would be kept out of sight, but here in Russia, running
+sores, mutilated hands and legs, are valuable as stock-in-trade.
+Loathsome diseases are thrust forward as a threat, distorted limbs
+are extortionate for alms; it is a piteous sight to see; some of
+these sad objects are in the jaws of death, and come apparently
+that they may die on holy ground. Another class may be called the
+pious beggars; they stand at the church doors; they are picturesque
+and apostolic; long beards and quiet bearing, with a certain
+professional get-up of misery and desolation, make these sacred
+mendicants grand after their kind. Such figures are usually ranged
+on either side of the chief entrance; they are motionless as statues,
+save when in the immediate act of soliciting alms; indeed I have
+sometimes noticed how beggars standing before a church facade are
+suggestive of statuary, the want of which is so much felt in the
+unsculpturesque architecture of Russia. Pilgrims and beggars--the
+line of demarcation it is not always easy to define--have an Oriental
+way of throwing themselves into easy and paintable attitudes; in
+fact posture plays a conspicuous part in the devotions of such
+people; they pray bodily almost more than mentally,--the figure
+and its attendant costume become instruments of worship.
+
+The Cathedral of St. Sophia, which dates back to the Eleventh Century,
+is of interest from its resemblance to St. Mark's, Venice, in the
+plan of the Greek cross, in the use of domes and galleries, and
+in the introduction of mosaics as surface-decorations. I saw the
+galleries full of fashionable worshippers; the galleries in St. Mark's
+on the contrary, are always empty and useless, though constructed for
+use. In the apse are the only old mosaics I have met with in Russia;
+it is strange that an art which specially pertains to Byzantium
+was not turned to more account by the Greco-Russian Church. There
+is in the apse, besides, a subject composition,--a noble female
+figure, colossal in size, the arms upraised in attitude of prayer,
+the drapery cast broadly and symmetrically. In the same interior
+are associated with mosaics, frescoes, or rather wall-paintings
+in _secco_. On the columns which support the cupola are frescoes
+which, though of no art value, naturally excited curiosity when
+they were discovered some few years since, after having been hid
+for two or more centuries by a covering of whitewash. Some other
+wall-pictures are essentially modern, and others have been restored,
+after Russian usage, in so reckless and wholesale a fashion as to
+be no longer of value as archaeologic records. In the staircase
+leading to the galleries are some further wall-paintings, said to
+be contemporaneous with the building of the cathedral; the date,
+however, is wholly uncertain. These anomalous compositions represent
+a boar-hunt and other sports, with groups of musicians, dancers,
+and jugglers, intervening. In accord with the secular character of
+the subjects is the rude naturalism of the style. Positive knowledge
+as to date being wanting, it is impossible to speak of these works
+otherwise than to say that they cannot be of Byzantine origin.
+If of real antiquity they will have to join company with other
+semi-barbaric products in metal, etc., which prove, as we have
+seen, that Russia has two historic schools, the Byzantine, on the
+one hand, debilitated and refined, as of periods of decline, and,
+on the other, a non-Byzantine and barbarous style, strong and coarse
+as of races still vital and vigorous. A like conflict is found in
+the North of Italy between the Byzantine and the Lombard manner;
+and even in England the west front of Wells Cathedral presents the
+same unresolved contradictions. It would seem that over the greater
+part of Europe, Eastern as well as Western, these two hostile arts
+were practiced contemporaneously; at all events the same buildings
+are found to display the two opposite styles. It would appear probable,
+however, that the respective artists or artisans belonged to at
+least two distinct nationalities.
+
+The Pecherskoi Monastery, or Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, at Kief, the
+Kremlin in Moscow, and the grand monastery of Troitza, have this
+in common, that the situation is commanding, the site elevated.
+Also, these three venerable sanctuaries are strongholds, for though
+the holy places at Kief are not on all sides fortified, yet the
+approach from the old city, which is the most accessible, lies
+along bastions and walls. In fact, here we have again a semblance
+to the ancient idea of a church, a citadel, and a palace united,
+as in an acropolis--the Church and the State being one; the arm
+of the flesh sustaining the sword of the spirit,--a condition of
+things which has always given to the world its noblest art. The
+walk to this most ancient monastery in Russia passes pleasantly by
+the side of a wood; then opens a view of the vast plain beneath,
+intersected by the river Dnieper, over which is flung the great
+suspension-bridge built by the English engineer, Charles Vignolles,
+at the cost of L350,000. The immediate approach is lined with open
+shops or stalls for the sale of sacred pictures, engravings of
+saints, and other articles which pilgrims love to carry back to
+their homes. Within the enclosure trees throw a cool shade, under
+which, as in the courtyards of mosques in Constantinople, the hot
+and weary may repose.
+
+The cathedral dedicated to the ascension of the Virgin, has not
+the slightest pretence to external architecture. The walls are
+mostly whitewashed, and some of the windows have common square
+heads crowned by mean pediments; the intervening pilasters and
+floral decorations in relief, and all in the midst of whitewash,
+are of the poorest character. The seven gilded cupolas or domes
+may be compared to inverted cups surmounted by crosses. The form
+resembles the cup commonly combined in the fantastic towers and
+spires of Protestant churches in Germany, where, however, it has
+been supposed to signify that the laity partake of the chalice.
+These domes are made further decorative at the point of the small
+circular neck which connects the cupola with the upper member or
+finial; around this surface is painted a continuous series of single
+saints standing; the effect of these pictures against the sky,
+if not quite artistic, is striking. Other parts of the exterior
+may indicate Italian rather than Oriental origin, but the style
+is far too mongrel to boast of any legitimate parentage. Here,
+as in the Kremlin, are external wall-paintings of saints, some
+standing on solid ground, others sitting among clouds; the Madonna
+is of course of the company, and the First and Second Persons of
+the Trinity crown the composition. The ideas are trite and the
+treatment is contemptible--the colours pass from dirty red into
+brown and black. These certainly are the worst wall-paintings I
+have ever met with, worse even than the coarsest painted shrines
+on the waysides of Italy; indeed no Church save the Greek Church
+would tolerate an art thus debased. A year after my journey to Kief
+I travelled through the Tyrol on my way from the Ammergau Passion
+Play. The whole of this district abounds in frescoes, many being on
+the external walls of private dwellings. This village art of the
+Bavarian Highlands, though often the handiwork of simple artisans,
+puts to shame both the external and the internal wall-paintings at
+Kief, Troitza, and the Kremlin. Yet this contrast between Russia
+and Southern nations does not arise so much from the higher ability
+of the artists, as from the superiority of the one school to the
+other school. The pictorial arts fostered by the Western Church
+are fundamentally true, while the arts which the Eastern Church has
+patronized and petrified are essentially false and effete.
+
+The scene which strikes the eye on entering this parti-coloured
+Cathedral of the Assumption, though strange, is highly picturesque.
+To this holy shrine are brought the halt, the lame, and the blind,
+as to the moving of the waters. Some press forward to kiss the
+foot of a crucifix, others bow the head and kiss the ground, a
+servile attitude of worship, which in the Greco-Russian Church
+has been borrowed from the Mohammedans. The groups which throng
+the narrow, crowded floor, are wonderfully effective; an artist
+with sketch-book in hand would have many a good chance of catching
+graphic heads and costumes, and all the more easily because these
+pilgrims are not so lively as lethargic. Still, for grand scenic
+impression, I have never in Russia witnessed any church function so
+striking as the piazza in front of St. Peter's on Easter Day, when
+all Rome flocks to receive the Pope's blessing from the balcony.
+Yet the whole interior of this cathedral is itself a picture, or
+rather a countless succession of pictures; as to the architecture
+there is not the minutest space that has not been emblazoned by
+aid of a paint-pot.
+
+But the greatest marvel in this Cathedral of the Assumption is
+the iconostas, or screen for the sacred pictures, a structure
+indispensable to all Russian churches, of which I have withheld the
+description till now, when I find myself in front of a large and
+more astounding erection than can be found in St. Petersburg, Moscow,
+or Troitza. In small churches these sacred placards, bearing the
+character of drop-scenes, are apt to be paltry, indeed the irreverent
+stranger may even be reminded of painted caravans at village fairs.
+But in large cathedrals the screen which stands between the people
+in the nave and the priests in the holy of holies, presents a vast
+facade, upon which are ranged, in three, four, or five stories,
+a multitude of sacred pictures covered with gold and decked with
+jewels. These elaborate contrivances correspond to the reredos
+in Western churches, only with this important difference, that
+they are not behind the holy place but in front of it. They might,
+perhaps, with more correctness be compared to the rood-screens which
+in our churches stand between the altar and the people. The sacred
+screen now before me mounts its head into the dome, and presents an
+imposing and even an architectonic aspect, but certain details,
+such as classic mouldings of columns, and a broken entablature,
+pronounce the edifice to be comparatively modern. The summit is
+fitly crowned by a crucifix, almost in the flat, in order not to
+evade the law of the Russian Church, which prohibits statues in the
+round; the figure of Christ is silver, the cross and the drapery
+of gold or silver-gilt. On either side of the crucifix stand in
+their prescriptive stations the Madonna and St. John. On the story
+beneath comes the entombment, all covered with gold and silver,
+in a low-relief which indicates the forms of the figures beneath;
+the heads, which are not in relief but merely pictorial, are the
+only portions of the picture actually visible.
+
+These altar-screens, which in Russia are counted not by tens but
+by hundreds and thousands, are highly ornate. Silver and gold and
+jewellery are conjoined with painting after the nursery and doll-like
+fashion approved in the South of Spain and at Naples. Only in the
+most corrupt of Roman Catholic capitals does ecclesiastical art
+assume the childish forms common in Russia. Resuming the description
+of the above altar-screen, we find next in range below the entombment
+a large composition, comprising God the Father surrounded by cherubs,
+with two full-grown seraphs, encircled by six gold wings, standing
+on either side. Again, the only parts of the picture permitted to
+be seen are the heads, crossed hands, black legs and feet. Christ
+with the open book of judgment is another conspicuous figure; also a
+companion head, gigantic in size, is the Madonna, directly Byzantine
+in type, though its smooth and well-kept surface gives little sign of
+age. The Christ, too, must be accounted but as modernized Byzantine;
+here is none of the severity or of the tenuity of the early periods.
+The type is poor though refined, debilitated though ideal. The hair,
+parted on the forehead, falls thickly on the shoulders. The face is
+youthful, not more than thirty, and without a wrinkle; the cheeks
+are a little flushed, the prevailing expression is placidity. The
+accessories of glory, drapery, and open book are highly decorative;
+here embossed patterns on the gold coverings enhance the richness
+of the surface-ornament. Once again the Russians appear supreme
+in metal-work, especially in the elaboration of decoration in the
+flat. Most of the pictures above mentioned are evidently supremely
+holy; they are black and highly gilded; moreover, they move most
+deeply all sorts and conditions of men, women, and children.
+
+I may here again mention that one purpose of my Russian journey was
+to discover whether there were heads of Christ in the possession
+of the Russian Church older or nobler than the ivory carvings, the
+frescoes, or easel pictures which are found in Italy and other
+Southern or Western nations. And I was, I confess, disappointed not
+to meet with any data which could materially enlarge or enrich this
+most interesting of subjects. As to priority of date, it seems to be
+entirely on the side of the Roman catacombs and the Latin Church;
+moreover, in Russia, as I before frequently remarked, chronology
+is untrustworthy, inasmuch as comparatively modern works assume
+and parody the style of the most ancient. The heads of Christ in
+Russia, one of which has been just described, are, as already said,
+more or less servile reproductions of Byzantine types. Still the
+typical form is found under varying phases; the general tendency
+in these replicas of anterior originals would appear to be towards
+the mitigation of the asperities in the confirmed Byzantine formulas.
+Thus the more recent heads of the Saviour in the churches of St.
+Petersburg, Moscow, Troitza and Kief, assume a certain modern manner,
+and occasionally wear a smooth, pretty and ornamental aspect. In
+these variations on the prescriptive Eastern type, the hair usually
+flows down upon the shoulders, as with the Greek and Russian Priests
+in the present day. As to the beard, it is thick and full, or short
+and scant, but the cheeks are left uncovered, and show an elongated
+face and chin.
+
+These Russian heads of the Saviour in softening down the severe and
+aged type common to Byzantium, assume a physiognomy not sufficiently
+intellectual for the Greatest of Teachers. These "images" in fact
+inspire little reverence except with blind worshippers; they are
+mostly wrought up and renovated, so as to fulfil the preconceived
+conditions of sanctity: undefined generality, weakness, smoothness,
+and blackness, are the common characteristics of these supposititious
+heads of the Saviour. It will thus again be easily understood how
+opposite has been the practice of the Eastern and Western Churches;
+it is a striking fact that at the time when, in Italy, under Leonardo
+da Vinci, Raphael and others, the mystery of a God manifest in the
+flesh had been as it were solved by a perfected art, this Russian
+Church was still under bondage to the once accepted but now discarded
+notion that the Redeemer ought to be represented as one who had no
+form or comeliness. Art in the Western world gained access to the
+beautiful, the perfect, and the divine, as soon as it was permitted
+to the painter or the sculptor to develop to uttermost perfection
+the idea of the Man-God. All such conceptions of the infinite,
+whether it be that of Jupiter in pagan periods, or of Christ under
+our divine dispensation, have always been the life and inspiration
+of the arts. But in Russia ignoble heads of Christ convinced me that
+such life and inspiration were denied. And I look upon the head
+of Christ as the turning point in the Christian art of a nation.
+If that head be conceived of unworthily there is no possibility
+that prophets, apostles, martyrs, shall receive their due.
+
+[Illustration: LA LAVRA, KIEF.]
+
+
+
+
+_NIJNI-NOVGOROD_
+
+_ANTONIO GALLENGA_
+
+Nijni-Novgorod, or Lower New-town, is older than Moscow, and only
+not so old as Novgorod the Great, which was a contemporary of Venice,
+and was still new when the semi-fabulaus Ruric and his Varangians
+are supposed to have given their name to Russia.
+
+Nijni-Novgorod, which everybody here calls simply "Nijni," dates
+from 1222; and mention of its fair occurs, we are told, in 1366,
+since which epoch its celebration has suffered very rare and only
+violent interruption.
+
+To understand why this venerable spot should have been for so many
+years, and should be still, so extensively favoured by the world's
+trade, it is hardly necessary to see it. We only need bear in mind
+that Nijni lies near the confluence of the Oka and the Volga, two
+of the greatest rivers of this Russia which alone of all countries
+of Europe may be said to have great rivers; the Volga having a
+course of 2,320 miles, and the Oka, a mere tributary, of 850 miles.
+
+It is the position which the Saoene and the Rhone have made for Lyons;
+the position for which St. Louis is indebted to the Mississippi and
+Missouri; the position which Corientes will soon owe to the Parana
+and the Paraguay.
+
+Nijni lies at the very centre of that water communication which
+joins the Caspian and the Black Sea to the White Sea and the Baltic,
+and which, were it always summer, might almost have enabled Russia
+to dispense with roads and railroads.
+
+But Nijni is, besides, the terminus of the railway from Moscow.
+That line places this town and its fair in communication with all
+the lines of Russia and the Western World, while the Volga, with
+its tributary, the Kama, leads to Perm, and the Pass of the Ural
+Mountains, and the vast regions of Siberia and Central Asia.
+
+Nijni-Novgorod is thus one of the most important links between
+the two great continents, the point of contact between Asiatic
+wealth and European industry; and its fair the best meeting-place
+for the interchange of commodities between the nations that still
+walk, ride, or row at the rate of three to five miles an hour,
+and those who fly on the wings of steam at the rate of thirty to
+fifty.
+
+The site of Nijni is somewhat like what I still remember of St.
+Louis after a seventeen years' interval. We travelled from Moscow
+over a distance of 273 miles in thirteen hours. For the last hour
+or two before we reached our journey's end, we had on our right
+the river Oka and a hilly ridge rising all along it and forming
+its southern bank.
+
+On alighting at the station we drove through a flat, marshy ground,
+intersected by broad canals, to a triangular space between the
+Oka and the Volga at their confluence, where the fair is held.
+
+We went through the maze of bazaars and market buildings, of rows
+of booths, shops and stalls, eating and drinking sheds, warehouses
+and counting-houses. We struggled through long lines of heavy-laden
+country carts, and swarms of clattering _droskies_, all striving to
+force their way along with that hurry-skurry that adds to confusion
+and lessens speed; and we came at last to a long pontoon bridge, over
+which we crossed the Oka, and beyond which rises the hill-range or
+ravine, on the top and at the foot of which is built the straggling
+town of Nijni-Novgorod.
+
+Nijni-Novgorod is a town of 45,000 inhabitants, and, like most
+Russian towns, it occupies a space which could accommodate half a
+million of people. Like many old Russian towns, also, it is laid
+out on the pattern of Moscow, as far as its situation allowed;
+and, to keep up the resemblance, it boasts a Kremlin of its own,
+a grim, struggling citadel with battlemented walls and mediaeval
+towers over its gates, with its scores of Byzantine churches, most
+of them with their five cupolas _de rigueur_, clustering together
+like a bunch of radishes--one big radish between four little
+radishes--but not as liberally covered with gilding as those which
+glisten on the top of sacred buildings in St. Petersburg or Moscow;
+down the slopes and ravines are woods and gardens, with coffee-houses
+and eating-houses, and other places of popular entertainment.
+
+It is a town to be admired on the outside and at a distance as a
+picture, but most objectionable as a residence on account of its
+marvellous distances and murderous pavement, a stroll on which
+reminds you of the martyrdom of those holy pilgrims who, to give
+glory to God, walked with dry peas in their shoes.
+
+The pavements are bad in Nijni town, but worse in Nijni fair, for
+if in the former all is hard, sharp, uneven flint, in the latter,
+what is not wood is mud, and what is not mud is dust, for heavy
+showers alternate with stifling heat; and, after a three hours'
+drought one would say that these good people, who live half in
+and half out of a swamp, and who drink anything rather than water,
+can never spare a poor drop to slake the pulverized clay of their
+much trodden thoroughfares.
+
+With all these drawbacks, however, and even with the addition of
+its villainous smells, this is an interesting and striking spot.
+No place can boast of a more sublime view than one can get here
+from the Imperial Palace and Terrace, or from the church-domes
+or spires on the Kremlin; or, even better, from the Esplanade of
+Mouravief's Folly--a tower erected by the well-known General of
+that name on the highest and foremost ravine, and on the summit of
+which he had planned to place a fac-simile of the famous Strassburg
+clock, but constructed on so gigantic a scale that hours and minutes,
+the moon's phases, the planets' cycles and all besides, should be
+distinctly visible from every locality of the town and fair for
+miles and miles around.
+
+From any of those vantage-grounds on the hill look down. The town
+is at your feet; the fair--a city, a Babylon of shops--stretches
+beyond the bridge; the plain, a boundless ocean of green, field and
+forest, dotted here and there with church-spires and factory-shafts
+at prodigious distances; and the two broad rivers, bearing the
+tribute of remote regions from north and south in numberless boats
+and lighters, and neat gallant steamers; the two streams meeting
+here at right angles just below the pontoon-bridge where an immense
+five-domed church of recent construction has been reared to mark
+and hallow the spot.
+
+Down at the fair, in the centre of its hubbub, rises the governor's
+summer-place. The governor dwells there with his family during the
+few weeks of the fair (mid-August to mid-September), coming down
+hither from the Imperial Palace in the town Kremlin, and occupying
+the upper floor. The whole basement, the entrance-hall, and all
+passages--with the exception of a narrow, private, winding
+staircase--are invaded by the crowd and converted into a bazaar,
+the noisiest in the fair, where there is incessant life and movement,
+and music and hurly-burly at every hour between noon and night--a
+lively scene upon which his Excellency and his guests and friends
+look down from the balcony after their five o'clock dinner, smoking
+their cigarettes, and watching the policemen as they pounce like
+trained hawks on the unwary pick-pockets prowling among the crowd.
+
+Of this immense mass of strangers now in Nijni, the town itself,
+and especially the upper town, sees and hears but little.
+
+The fair has its own ground, on its own side of the bridge, its
+own hotels and lodging-houses, its own churches, chapels, theatres,
+eating, gambling, and other houses, its long straight streets and
+boulevards, and pleasure as well as business resorts.
+
+It has its fine Chinese Row, though Chinamen have lately discontinued
+their attendance; it has rich traders' temporary homes, fitted up
+with comfort, and even taste and luxury; and it has its charity
+dormitory, a vast wooden shed, built by Court Ignatieff, and bearing
+his name, intended to accommodate 250 houseless vagrants, but alas! in
+a place where there must be 20,000, if not 200,000 persons answering
+that description.
+
+Of women coming to this market the number is comparatively small--one,
+I should say, for every 100 men; of ladies not one in 10,000, or
+100,000.
+
+Of those who muster sufficiently strong at the evening promenade
+on the Boulevard, indigenous or resident, for the most part, rather
+the look than the number is formidable; and it is here in Nijni,
+as it is generally in Russia, that a Mussulman becomes convinced
+of the wisdom of his Arabian prophet, who invented the yashmak
+as man's best protection, and hallowed it; for of the charms of
+most Russian women, blessed are those who believe without seeing!
+
+In working hours only men and beasts are to be seen--a jumble and
+scramble of men and beasts: car-loads of goods; piles of hogsheads,
+barrels, bales, boxes, and bundles, merchandise of all kinds, of
+every shape, colour, or smell, all lying in a mass topsy-turvy,
+higgledy-piggledy; the thoroughfares blocked up, the foot-paths
+encumbered; chaos and noise all-pervading; and yet, by degrees, almost
+imperceptibly, you will see everything going its way, finding its own
+place; for every branch of trade has, or was at least intended to
+have, here its appointed abode; and there are Tea Rows; Silversmiths
+and Calico Streets; Fur Lanes; Soap, Candle, and Caviare Alleys;
+Photograph, Holy Images, and Priestly Vestments Bazaars; Boot,
+Slop, Tag and Rag Marts and Depositories--all in their compartments,
+kin with kin, and like with like; and everything is made to clear
+out of the way, and all is smoothed down; all subsides into order
+and rule, and not very late at night--quiet.
+
+The Tartars do the most of the work.
+
+They are the descendants of the old warriors of Genghis Khan and
+Timour the Lame, of the ruthless savages who for 200 years overran
+all Russia, spreading death and desolation wherever their coursers'
+hoofs trod, making slaves of the people, and tributary vassals of
+their Princes; but, who by their short-sighted policy favoured the
+rise of that dynasty of Moscow Grand Princes, who presently became
+strong enough to extend their sway both over Russ and Tartar.
+
+The great merchants of Moscow and St. Petersburg or their
+representatives and partners come here for a few days, partners and
+clerks taking up the task by turns, according as business allows
+them absence from their chief establishments.
+
+They bring here no goods, but merely samples of goods--tea, cotton,
+woollen and linen tissues, silk, cutlery, jewellery, and generally
+all articles of European (home Russian) manufacture.
+
+They have most of them good apartments in the upper floors of their
+warehouses; they see their customers, mostly provincial retail
+dealers; they show their samples, drive their bargains, receive
+orders, attend on 'Change (for they have a _Bourse_ at the fair,
+near the bridge), smoke indoors (for in the streets that indulgence
+is forbidden all over the fair for fear of fire), lunch or dine
+together often by mutual invitation.
+
+They are gentlemenly men, young men for the most part (for their
+elders are at home minding the main business), young Russians or
+Russified Germans, some of whom adopt and even affect and exaggerate
+Russian feeling and habits; young men to whom it seems to be a
+principle that easy-made money should be readily spent; leisurely,
+business young men, who sit up late and get up later, take the world
+and its work and pleasure at their ease; understand little and
+care even less about politics; profess to be neither great readers
+nor great thinkers; but are, as a rule, free-handed, hospitable,
+sociable, most amiable, and anything rather than unintelligent men.
+
+Of all the articles of trade which come to court public favour
+in Nijni, the most important and valuable is tea; and although
+the Moscow merchants, by the excellence of their sea-faring tea,
+chiefly imported from Odessa or through England, have almost entirely
+driven from the market the caravan tea, still about one-tenth of
+the enormous quantity of tea sold here is grown in the north of
+China, and comes overland from Kiakhta, the city on the border
+between the Asiatic-Russian and the Celestial Empire.
+
+I was curious to compare the taste of some of the very best qualities
+of both kinds, and was brought to the conclusion, confirmed by the
+opinion of gentlemen interested in the sale of sea-faring tea,
+that, although some of their own is more high-flavoured and stronger,
+there is in the Kiakhta tea an exquisite delicacy, which will always
+receive in its favour a higher price. The difference, I am told,
+mainly arises from the fact that the caravan tea, exposed to the
+air during its twelve months' journey in loose and clumsy and
+much-shaken paper and sheep-skin bundles, gets rid of the tannin
+and other gross substances, a process of purification which cannot
+be effected in the necessarily sealed and hermetically-closed boxes
+in which it reaches Europe by the sea-route; so that if sea-faring
+tea, like port-wine, easily recommends itself to the taste and
+nerves of a strong, hard-working man, a dainty, refined lady will
+give preference to a cup of Kiakhta tea, as she would to a glass
+of Chateau Yquem.
+
+The interest of a European, however, would be chiefly attracted
+by what is less familiar in his own part of the world; and, short
+of an actual journey to the remote regions of Siberia and Central
+Asia, nothing is calculated to give him a more extensive idea of
+the produce of those Trans-Uralian Russian possessions than a survey
+of the goods they send here for sale.
+
+What astonishes a stranger at first sight is the quantity. You may
+walk for hours along yards and sheds, the repositories of iron from
+Siberia. You pass hundreds of shops of malachite and lapis-lazuli,
+and a variety of gold and silver work and precious stones from the
+Caucasus, cut with all the minute diligence of Asiatic skill. You
+will see Turkish carpets, Persian silks, and above all things the
+famous Orenburg shawls, so finely knitted, and with such patience
+that one can (they say, but I have not made the experiment), be
+made to pass through a lady's ring, though they be so broad on
+all sides as to wrap the lady all around from head to foot.
+
+One may, besides, have his choice of hundreds and thousands of
+those delightful curiosities and knickknacks, recommendable less
+for their quaintness than for the certainty one feels that there
+is no possible use in the world they may be put to.
+
+There is no novelty at Nijni; no new shape, pattern, or colour
+just coming out to catch popular favour; no unknown mechanical
+contrivance; no discovery likely to affect human progress and brought
+here for the entertainment of the intelligent, un-commercial visitor.
+There are only the shop-keeper and his customer, though it is a
+wholesale shop and on a very large scale.
+
+The fair, moreover, has not the duration that is generally allowed
+for an Exhibition.
+
+[Illustration: NIJNI-NOVGOROD (BRIDGE OF THE FAIR).]
+
+Though officially opened on the 27th of July, the fair does not
+begin in good earnest till the 18th of August; and it reaches its
+height on the 27th, when accounts are settled, and payments ensue;
+after which, goods are removed, and the grounds cleared; only a
+portion of the business lingering throughout September.
+
+About half a score of days, out of the two months during which the
+fair is held, are all that may have attraction for the generality
+of strangers. And although many come from all parts of Russia, and
+from foreign countries, I do not think they tarry here for pleasure
+beyond two or three days.
+
+It would be interesting to anticipate what change a few weeks will
+effect in this scene which is now so full of life, bustle, and
+gaiety; this stage, where so great a variety of human beings from
+nearly all regions of the world, with their money or money's worth,
+with their hopes and fears, their greed and extravagance, all their
+good and evil instincts and faculties at play.
+
+In a few weeks the flags will be furled, the tents struck; the
+pontoon-bridge removed; the shops closed; hotels, bazaars, and
+churches, all private and public edifices, utterly deserted and
+silent; and every house stripped of the last stick of valuable
+furniture; every door locked, barred, and sealed; the place left
+to take care of itself.
+
+For autumn rains and spring thaws must set in, when the seven or
+eight square miles of the ground of the fair, as well as the country
+to an immense extent, will be under water.
+
+
+
+
+_THE VOLGA BASIN_
+
+_THE GREAT RIVER--KASAN, TSARITZIN--ASTRAKHAN_
+
+_ANTONIO GALLENGA_
+
+It is hardly possible to travel on the Volga without falling in
+love with the great river at first sight.
+
+The range of low hills which we had on our right as we descended
+the Oka continued now on the same side as we came down the Volga.
+The Volga, however, has nothing of the wild, erratic instincts
+of its tributary. It is a grand, calm, dignified stream, keeping
+to its course as a respectable matron, and gliding down in placid
+loveliness, without weir or leap, fall or rapids, or break of any
+kind--a fine, broad, almost unrippled sheet of water, with an even,
+steady, and grandly monotonous flow, like that of the stanzas of
+Tasso.
+
+Its width, so far as eye can judge, does not greatly exceed that
+of the Thames at Gravesend, but it is always the same from the
+bridge at Twer above Moscow to the only other bridge, one mile
+in length, between Syzran and Samara; everywhere the same "full
+bumper" for a run of 2,000 English miles.
+
+Though the Volga is numbered among the European rivers, and has
+its sources on the Valdai hills between the European cities, St.
+Petersburg and Moscow, it is a frontier stream, and seemed intended
+to form the natural line of demarcation between two parts of the
+world--between two worlds.
+
+Up to the middle of the Sixteenth Century, Kasan was the advanced
+guard of the Tartar hordes. These wandering tribes, which, profiting
+by dissensions among the Russian princes, overcame and overran
+all Russia, weakened in their turn by division, fell back from
+the main part of the invaded territory, but still held for some
+time their own on the Volga, from Kasan to Astrakhan, till they
+were utterly routed and brought under Russian sway by Ivan the
+Terrible.
+
+Even then, however, though their strength was broken, their spirit
+was untamed. The men of high warrior caste who survived their defeat
+sought a refuge among their kindred tribes further east, at Samarkand,
+Bokhara, and Khiva, where the Russians have now overtaken them; but
+a large part of the mere multitude laid aside without giving up
+their arms, passively accepted without formally acknowledging the
+Tsar's sway, and abided in their tents,--swallowed at once, but
+very leisurely digested, by the all-absorbing Russian civilization.
+
+Large bodies of the nation, however, migrated _en masse_ from time
+to time, the lands they left vacant being rapidly filled up by
+bands of Cossacks, and by foreign (chiefly German), colonists.
+
+For more than three centuries, though already mistress of Siberia
+and victorious in remote Asia, Russia proper might be considered as
+ending at the Volga; so that most of the older and most important
+towns south of Kasan and north of Astrakhan, such as Simbirsk,
+Syzran, Volsk, Saratof, Kamyshin, and Tsaritzin, lie on the right,
+or Russo-European bank of the stream.
+
+Tsaritzin is at the head of the Delta of the Volga, and it lies 580
+versts above Astrakhan, which is said to be at the river's mouth,
+but which is still 150 versts from the roadstead or anchorage,
+called the Nine Feet Station; the spot on the Caspian where sea
+navigation really begins.
+
+At Tsaritzin we might have fancied ourselves in some brand-new
+town in one of the remote backwoods of America. It was nothing of
+a place before the railway reached it. No one can foretell what
+it may become before the locomotive travels past it. For under
+present circumstances all the postal service, the light goods and
+time-saving passenger traffic from all parts of Russia to Astrakhan,
+the Caspian and the Trans-Caspian region, or _vice versa_, must
+pass between the Tsaritzin pier on the Volga and the platforms
+of the Tsaritzin railway station.
+
+We did not see much of the upstart town, for the horrible clouds
+of thick, dung-impregnated dust would not allow us to keep our
+eyes open. But we perceived that almost every trace of what was
+once little better than a second rate fortress and a village was
+obliterated; the old inhabitants were nowhere, and a bustling set
+of new settlers were sharing the broad area among themselves, taking
+as much of it as suited their immediate wants, and extending it to
+the utmost limits of their sanguine expectations; drawing lines
+of streets at great distances, tracing the sides of broad squares
+and crescents, and laying the foundations of what would rise in
+time into shops and houses, hotels, bazaars, theatres and churches.
+
+Tzaritzin when we saw it was merely the embryo of a city. Those
+that may visit it a score of years hence will tell us what they
+find it.
+
+Two more nights and a day down the sluggish waters of the main
+channel of the Volga landed us on the tenth day after our departure
+from Nijni-Novgorod, at Astrakhan, where we stayed a whole week.
+
+From Tsaritzin to Astrakhan the Volga flows through the Steppe,
+the great Asiatic grass desert extending from the Caucasus to the
+frontier of China. The wild tenants of this wilderness, the various
+tribes of Tartars, once the terror of East and West, were like a vast
+ocean of human beings swayed to and fro by nomadic and predatory
+instincts, which for centuries threatened to overwhelm and efface
+every vestige of the world's civilization.
+
+The Russians who were first invested and overpowered by the flood,
+were able by the valour and more by the craft of their princes,
+first to stem the tide, then to force it back, and in the end to
+rear such bulwarks as might for ever baffle its fury, and prevent
+its further onset.
+
+Such bulwarks were once the strong places of Kasan and Astrakhan,
+the former seats of Tartar hordes, which the Tsars of Moscow made
+their bases of operations for the indefinite extension of their
+civilized empire over Tartar barbarism.
+
+For the experience of centuries had proved that the Steppe was not
+everywhere and altogether an irreclaimable land, nor the Tartars
+an utterly untameable race.
+
+Astrakhan, like Kasan, is a Russian town, of whose 50,000 inhabitants
+one-fourth or one-fifth at least are tamed Tartars, and the sands
+around which can be made to yield grapes and peaches, and a profusion
+of melons and watermelons. Beyond the immediate neighbourhood,
+over the whole province or "Government" of Astrakhan, stretches
+the vast land of the Steppe, the wide and thin pasture-grounds on
+which the Tartar tribes roam at will with their flocks; a pastoral
+set of men; without fixed homes, and, in our sense of the word,
+without laws; and yet perfectly harmless and peaceful--exempt,
+at least till very lately, from military service, and only paying
+a tribute of 45,000 roubles, at so much a head for each horse,
+ox, or camel, ranging over an extent of 7,000,000 dessiatines
+(20,000,000 acres) of land, an area of 224,514 kilometers, or about
+half of that of France, with a population, including that of the
+capital, of 601,514 inhabitants.
+
+Astrakhan is a modern town, with the usual broad, straight streets,
+most of them boasting no other pavement than sand, with brick
+side-walks, much worn and dilapidated, and, like those of Buenos
+Ayres and many other American cities, so raised above the roadway
+as to require great attention from those who do not wish to run
+the risk of broken shins.
+
+The town has its own Kremlin, apart from the citadel. The Kremlin
+is a kind of cathedral-close, with the cathedral and the archbishop's
+palace, and several monasteries and priests' habitations. The whole
+town, besides, and the environs, as usual in Russia, muster more
+churches than they can number priests or worshippers.
+
+In a walk of two or three miles I took outside the town and as
+far as the cemeteries, I had a scattered group of at least half
+a score of churches all around me, but there was scarcely a human
+habitation within sight.
+
+The governor's palace is a low building over a row of shops in the
+main square of the city. The square itself and the thoroughfares were
+enveloped in thick clouds of blinding dust, almost as troublesome as
+that of Tsaritzin; but on the whole, the place is less unclean than
+one might expect from a population made up of Russians, Tartars,
+Calmucks, Persians, Armenians and Jews.
+
+The Volga and the hundred channels which constitute its delta,
+and the northern shores of the Caspian Sea into which they flow,
+yield more fish than the coasts of Norway and Newfoundland put
+together. The nets employed in catching them would, if laid side
+by side on the ground in all their length, extend over a line of
+40,000 versts, or twice the distance from St. Petersburg to Tashkend
+and back. The annual produce of these Astrakhan fisheries--sturgeon,
+sterlet, salmon, pike, shad, etc.--amounts to 10,000,000 puds of
+fish (the pud thirty-six English pound weight) of the value of
+20,000,000 roubles, the herrings alone yielding a yearly income
+of 4,000,000 roubles. With the exception of the caviare, which is
+sold all over the world, the produce of these fisheries, salted
+or pickled, is destined for home consumption, and travels all over
+the empire, although as far as I have been, I have found everywhere
+the waters equally well-stocked by nature with every description
+of fish; a provident dispensation, since the Russian clergy, like
+the Roman Catholic, are indefatigable in their promotion of what
+they call "the Apostles' trade," by their injunction of 226 fast
+or fish days throughout the year.
+
+The Delta of the Volga and the Caspian Sea lie twenty-five metres
+below the level of the Black Sea.
+
+The city of Astrakhan, placed on the left bank of the main channel
+of the Delta, and, as I said, 150 versts above its anchorage, becomes
+like an island in the midst of a vast sea when the Volga comes down
+in its might with the thaw of the northern ice in late spring;
+and most of its lowest wards would be overwhelmed were it not for
+the dikes that encompass it like a town in Holland.
+
+The eight principal branches and the hundred minor channels and
+outlets of the Delta, breaking up the land into a labyrinth of
+hundreds of islets, are then blended together in one watery surface,
+out of which only the crests of these islets emerge with isolated
+villages, with log-huts and long whitewashed buildings, and high-domed
+churches, all dammed and diked up like the town itself--Tartar
+villages, Calmuck villages, Cossack villages, all or most of them
+fishers' homes and fishing establishments--a population of 20,000
+to 30,000 souls being thus scattered on the bare sand-hills and
+dunes; men of all race, colour, and faith, all employed in the
+same fishing pursuit; the Tartars and Calmucks usually as rank
+and file, the Russians and other Europeans as overseers, foremen,
+and skilled labourers.
+
+From Astrakhan, the queen of the Steppes, to Tiflis the queen of
+the Caucasus, we had a choice of routes.
+
+Tourists from England, or from any part of Western Europe, may
+easily visit the great mountain-chain on which Prometheus was found,
+by crossing the Black Sea from Constantinople or from Odessa, and
+landing at Poti, where the Russians have constructed a railway
+to Tiflis, once the capital of Georgia, now the residence of the
+Governor-General of the whole Caucasus region.
+
+A traveller from the north, bound to the same goal, can take the
+train at Moscow, and come down by rail, _via_ Rostov-on-the-Don,
+all the way to Vladikavkas, a distance of 1,803 versts; and about
+200 additional versts, by post, over a good military road, and
+across the main Caucasian chain, will bring him from Vladikavkas
+to Tiflis.
+
+But we had descended the Volga, and were now near its mouth. We
+had to go down the Volga to the Nine Feet Station below Astrakhan,
+embark there on the Caspian Sea, and cross over either to Baku,
+whence we could go by post round the mountain-chain at its southern
+extremity as far as Tiflis; or land at Petrofsk, and travel along
+the chain to Vladikavkas and the good military road across the
+chain to Tiflis.
+
+We gave our preference to the last-named route.
+
+We left Astrakhan at ten in the evening on board a heavy barge
+belonging to the Caucasus and Mercury steam-navigation company,
+towed by a tug down stream at the rate of five or six miles an
+hour.
+
+We were all that afternoon and night, and part of the following
+day, descending the main channel of the Volga, and it was past
+noon before we reached the Nine Feet Station, for so they call
+the roadstead above which vessels of more than nine feet draught
+dare not venture.
+
+All sight of land, of the seventy larger islands of the Delta,
+and even of the minor islets, and of the lowest sand-banks, had
+been lost for several hours, and we were here in the open sea,
+though scarcely beyond the boundary that the Creator has elsewhere
+fixed between land and water. For the Station which, if I can allow
+myself an apparent Irishism, is a moveable one, has to be pushed
+forward almost day by day as the sands of the Volga silt up far
+beyond the choked-up lands of the Delta, encroaching with a steady
+inroad on the depths of the waves; the Steppe everywhere widening
+as the sea dwindles, and suggesting the thought that the whole
+region that is now Steppe must in remote ages have been sea, and
+that whatever is now sea, must in time become Steppe.
+
+Indeed, it seems not impossible to calculate how many years or
+centuries it may take for the sands of the Volga, aided by those of
+the Ural and the Emba on the eastern, and of the Kuma, the Terek,
+and the Kur or Kura, with its tributary the Aras, on the western
+shore, to fill up the land-locked Caspian, though its extreme depth,
+according to the Gazetteers, is 600 feet, and the area covered by
+it probably exceeds 180,000 square miles, a surface as large as
+that of Spain.
+
+Kasan, once the residence of a redoubted horde, was probably, under
+Tartar sway, in a great measure a mere encampment, chiefly a city of
+tents; for whatever the guide-books may say, there is no positive
+evidence of its present buildings belonging to a date anterior to
+the Russian Conquest.
+
+Its situation probably recommended itself to the Tartars chiefly
+on the score of strength; for although it stands high above the
+river, its present distance from it is at least three miles, and
+it is surrounded by a sandy and marshy plain, intersected by the
+channels of the Kasana river, erratic water-courses which may have
+proved sufficient obstacles to the onset of an invader, but which
+raise no less serious hindrances to the conveyance of goods from
+the landing-place to the town; an inconvenience hitherto not removed
+by the tramway, as it as yet only carries passengers.
+
+Kasan is on the main line of communication between Central Russia
+and Siberia.
+
+The travellers bound to that bourne embark here on steamers that go
+down the Volga as far as its confluence with the Kama, a tributary
+stream, and thence ascend the Kama, which is navigable all the
+way to Perm. From Perm a railway runs up to the Pass of the Ural
+mountains to Ekaterinenburg, probably to be in course of time continued
+to Tiumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk, the Baikal Lake, the Chinese
+frontier at Kiakhta, the banks of the Amoor, and the shores of
+the Pacific Ocean.
+
+Along this route it is calculated that some L3,000,000 worth of
+merchandise are brought yearly from Siberia down the Kama and up
+the Volga to the Nijni-Novgorod fair.
+
+Kasan is a highly flourishing city. It has a population of 90,000
+to 100,000 inhabitants, one-fourth of whom are Tartars.
+
+These descendants of the old Nomad race are now here at home, and
+live in the city perfectly at peace with their Russian fellow-subjects,
+though being Mahometans, they have distinct, if not separate, quarters,
+and mosques and a burial-ground of their own. It would seem impossible
+for two races which have so little reason for mutual good-will, to
+show so little disposition to quarrel. But it should be remembered
+that Sclav and Tartar were not in former times so far asunder in
+manners, in language, in polish, nor so free from admixture in
+blood as the Russians fondly believe.
+
+The town has its Kremlin, on the site of the old citadel, with
+its cathedral and other churches, and several "telescope towers,"
+if they may be so called, built on several stories, dwindling in
+size from floor to floor as they rise one above the other, so that
+one can conceive how they might easily sink into one another and
+shut up like a spy-glass. The great brick tower of Pier Crescenzi
+in Rome is such a tower; and here are many in the same style at
+Moscow and in most other old Russian cities. Kasan has several public
+edifices of some pretension: the Admiralty; the University--one of
+the seven of the Empire, etc. But we had enough of it all after
+two or three hours, and were glad to shun the heat of the rest
+of the day in the cool sitting-room of Commonen's Hotel, which
+alone may be taken as a voucher for the high degree of civilization
+reached by Kasan.
+
+We gave even less time to the other cities of the Volga, not thinking
+it always worth while to alight at all the stations, though the
+steamer stopped at some of these for many a long, weary hour.
+
+With the exception of Kasan, Samara, and Astrakhan, the most important
+cities are, as I said, on the right or Russian bank of the River;
+and three of them, Syzran, Saratof, and Tsaritzin, are connected
+by various railways with Moscow and all the other important centres
+of life in the Empire.
+
+The Volga, which between Nijni-Novgorod and Kasan flows in an almost
+straight easterly direction, takes a turn to the southward after
+leaving Kasan and the confluence of the Kama; but it makes a loop
+below Simbirsk, turning eastward to Samara, and again west to Syzran,
+after which it resumes its southerly course to Saratof, Tsaritzin,
+and Astrakhan.
+
+The railway from Moscow to Syzran, upon reaching Syzran, crosses
+the Volga on an iron bridge, one verst and a half, or one English
+mile, in length, and high enough to allow the largest steamer pass
+without lowering its funnel--a masterpiece of engineering greatly
+admired by the people here, who describe it as the longest bridge
+in Russia and in the world.
+
+We went under it at midnight by a dim moonlight which barely allowed
+us to see it looming in the distance not much bigger than a
+telegraph-wire drawn all across the valley, the gossamer line of
+the bridge and all the landscape round striking us as dreamlike
+and unreal.
+
+After crossing the river the railway proceeds to Samara, and hence
+419 versts further to Orenburg, a large and thriving place on the
+Ural river, the spot from which the straightest and probably the
+shortest way is, or will be, open to all parts of Siberia or Central
+Asia; preferable, I should think, to that of Perm and Ekaterinenburg
+above-mentioned, which is now the most frequented route.
+
+Beyond Syzran and Samara the river scenery, which has hitherto
+been verdant, assumes a southerly aspect; the hill-sides sloping
+to the river have a parched and faded brown look; the hill-tops are
+bared and seamed with chalky ravines; every trace of the forests
+has disappeared; and it is only at rare intervals that the banks
+are clad with the verdure of the new growth.
+
+[Illustration: FROM THE RAMPARTS OF THE KREMLIN NIJNI-NOVGOROD.]
+
+From Nijni to Tsaritzin we have stopped at more than thirty different
+stations, and no pen could describe the stir and bustle of goods
+and passengers that awaited us at every wharf and pier.
+
+Several of these stations are towns of 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants,
+and, besides their corn trade and tobacco, they all deal in some
+articles of necessity or luxury, of which they produce enough for
+their own, if not always for their neighbours', consumption.
+
+Everywhere one sees huge buildings--steam flour-mills,
+tobacco-factories, salt-mines, soap and candle factories, tanneries--and
+last, not least, palaces for the sale of _koumiss_ or fermented
+mare's milk, a sanitary beverage; and extensive establishments,
+especially near Samara, for the _koumiss_ cure,--fashionable resorts
+as watering-places, frequented by persons affected by consumption,
+and other real or imaginary ailments.
+
+There is something appalling in the thought that all this busy,
+and, on the whole, merry life on the banks of the Volga must come
+to a dead stand-still for six or seven months in the year. I have
+been vainly taxing my brain to guess what may become of the captains,
+mates and crews of the 700 steamers, and of the 5,000 heavy barges
+with which the river is now swarming; of the porters, agents, clerks,
+and other officials at the various stations; of the thousands of
+women employed to carry all the firewood from the piers to the
+steam-boats. What becomes of all these, and of the men and horses
+toiling at the steam-row and tow-boats on the Oka, the Kama, the Don,
+the Dnieper, and a hundred other rivers during the long season in
+which the vast plains of Russia are turned into a howling wilderness
+of snow and ice from end to end?
+
+Railway communication and sledge-driving may, by doubling their
+activity, afford employment to some of the men and beasts who would
+otherwise be doomed to passive and torpid hybernation. But much of
+the work that is practicable in other countries almost throughout
+the year--nearly all that is done in the open air--suffers here
+grievous interruption.
+
+What should we think in England of a six months' winter, in which
+the land were as hard as a rock, in which all the cattle had to
+be kept within doors, in which the bricklayer's trowel and the
+road-mender's roller had to be laid aside?
+
+And, by way of compensation, what mere human bone and muscle can
+stand the crushing labour by which the summer months, with their
+long days of twenty hours' sunlight, must make up for the winter's
+forced idleness; in a climate too, where, as far as my own experience
+goes, the heat is hardly less oppressive and stifling than in the
+level lands of Lombardy or the Emilia?
+
+
+
+
+_ODESSA_
+
+_ANTONIO GALLENGA_
+
+From Yalta to Sebastopol there are two routes. One strikes across
+the Yaila hills to Simpheropol, whence we could proceed by rail to
+Sebastopol; the other runs along the coast, high up on the hills,
+to the Baidar Gate and through the Baidar Valley leading to Balaclava
+and the other well-known spots encompassing the ruins of what was
+once the great naval station of the Russians on the Black Sea.
+
+We chose the coast route, and travelled for five hours in the afternoon
+over forty-eight versts of the most singular road in the world.
+
+It rambles up and down along the side of the hills--as a road did
+once on the beautiful Cornice along the Ligurian Riviera--midway
+between the upper hill crest and the sea, having on the right the
+mountains, a succession of wall-like, perpendicular, hoary cliffs,
+between 1,500 feet and 2,000 feet high, a great wall riven into
+every variety of fantastic shapes of bastions, towers, and pyramids,
+all bare and rugged, crumbling here and there into huge boulders,
+strewn along the slopes down to the road, across the road, and
+further down to the water-edge, a scene which might befit the
+battle-field of the Titans against the gods; and on the left the
+wide expanse of the waters, with a coast like a fringe of little
+glens and creeks and headlines, and the sun's glitter on the waves
+like Dante's "_tremolar della marina_" on the shore of Purgatory.
+
+Between the road and the sea far below us, in the distance, embosomed
+in woods still untouched by the autumn frosts, lay the marine villas
+of Livadia, Orianda, Alupka, etc., very Edens, where on their first
+annexation of the Crimea the wealthy Russians sought a refuge against
+the horrors of their wintry climate; more recently, Imperial
+residences--Livadia, the darling of the late Emperor; Orianda,
+now a mere wreck from the recent conflagration, the seat of the
+Grand Duke Constantine; Alupka, the abode of Prince Woronzoff, the
+son of the benevolent genius of these districts, the road-maker,
+the patron of Yalta, the second founder of Odessa.
+
+A scene of irresistible enchantment is the whole of what the Russians
+emphatically call their "southern coast." And, as if to enhance
+its charm by contrast, everything changes as you pass the Baidar
+Gate, and when you have crossed the Baidar Valley the balmy air
+becomes raw and chill, the bald mountains tame and common-place,
+and the long descent is through an ashy-gray country, swept over by
+an icy blast, saddened by a lowering sky, unrelieved by a flower, a
+bush, or a cottage. So marvellous is the power of mere position, so
+great the difference between the two sides of the same mountain-wall!
+You pass at once from a garden to a steppe.
+
+Away from these sheltering rocks, away from the southern slopes
+of the Caucasian ridges, you are in Russia. The only mountains
+throughout all the rest of the Tsar's European territories are
+the Urals, which nowhere reach even the heights of the Apennines,
+which do not form everywhere a continuous chain, and which run in
+almost a straight line from north to south. From the icy pole the
+wind sweeping over the frozen ocean and the snowy wastes of the
+northern provinces finds nowhere a hindrance to its cruel blasts,
+and spreads its chill over the whole land with such steady keenness
+as to make the climate of the exposed parts of the Black Sea coast
+almost as wintry as that of the White Sea. At Odessa in the early
+days of October both our hotel and the private houses we had occasion
+to enter had already put up double doors and windows, and people
+lived in apartments as hermetically closed as if their homes had
+been in St. Petersburg.
+
+We slept at Baidar, a Tartar village, where a maiden of that Moslem
+race was the only attendant at the Russian inn, and on the morrow
+we drove in three hours to Sebastopol, a distance of forty-two
+versts.
+
+Sebastopol has still not a little of that Pompeian look which it
+bore on the day after its surrender to the Western Allies in 1856.
+We drove through miles of ruins, the roofless walls staring at
+us from the dismantled doors and windows, the dust from the
+rubbish-heaps of brick and mortar blinding us at every turning
+of the streets, though, we were told, the city is looking up and
+thriving, and both house-rent and building-ground are rising in
+price from day to day.
+
+We had to wait two days for the "Olga," detained by stress of weather,
+and it was with a hope of enlivening ourselves that, under the
+escort of the English Consul, a Crimean veteran who takes care of
+the heroic dead, and actually lives with as well as for them, we
+drove out to some of the eleven English cemeteries, to the house
+where Lord Raglan died, and the monument marking the spot where
+"the six hundred rode into the jaws of death"--those localities
+made forever memorable by a war than which none was ever undertaken
+with less distinct aims, none fought with greater valour, none
+brought to an end with less important results.
+
+We left Sebastopol at three in the afternoon in the "Olga," and
+landed at Odessa in the morning at ten. Throughout the first week
+after our arrival, we never caught a single glimpse of the sun.
+Odessa, like Sebastopol, like Kertch, like Astrakhan, and other
+places lying on the edge of the Russian Steppe, seems habitually,
+under the influence of the wind in peculiar quarters, to be haunted
+by fogs that set in at sunrise and only sometimes clear off after
+sunset. During this gloomy state of the atmosphere the night is
+usually warmer than the day.
+
+[Illustration: PLACE TUREMNAJA ODESSA.]
+
+Odessa has a magnificent position, for it lies high on ravines,
+which give it a wide command over its large harbour, lately improved,
+as well as on the open sea and coast, the striking feature of the
+place being its _boulevard_, a terrace or platform about 500 yards in
+length, laid out and planted as a promenade, looking out seawards and
+accessible by a flight of stairs of 150 steps from the landing-place.
+
+Odessa is not an old town, but it looks brand-new, for there has
+been of late a great deal of building, and the crumbling nature
+of the stone keeps the mason and white-washer perpetually at work.
+It is lively, though monotonous, for its broad, straight streets
+are astir with business, and the rattle of hackney-carriages,
+heavy-laden vans, and tramway-cars is incessant. It boasts many
+private palaces and has few public edifices, and in its municipal
+institutions it is, or used to be, taxed with consulting rather
+more the purposes of luxury and ornament than the real wants of
+the people or the interests of charity.
+
+Odessa is in Russia, but not of Russia, for among its citizens, we
+are told, possibly with exaggeration, more than one-third (70,000)
+are Jews, besides 10,000 Greeks and Germans, and Italians in good
+number. It is unlike any other Russian city, for it is tolerably
+well paved, has plenty of drinking-water, and rows of trees--however
+stunted, wind-nipped, and sickly--in every street. It is not Russian,
+because few Russians succeed here in business; but strenuous efforts
+are made to Russify it, for the names of the streets, which were
+once written in Italian as well as in Russian, are now only set up
+in Russian, unreadable to most foreign visitors; and the so-called
+"Italian Street" (Strada Italiana), reminding one of what the town
+owes to its first settlers, has been rebaptized as "Pushkin Street."
+Of the three French newspapers which flourished here till very
+lately, not one any longer exists, for whatever is not Russian
+is discountenanced and tabooed in a town which, in spite of all,
+is not and never will be, Russian. French is, nevertheless, more
+generally understood than in most Russian cities, but Italian is
+dying off here as in all the Levant and the north coast of Africa,
+Italy losing as a united nation such hold as she had as a mere
+nameless cluster of divided states.
+
+It is difficult to foresee what results the great change that is
+visibly going on in the economical and commercial conditions of
+the Russian Empire may have on the destinies of Odessa.
+
+Half a century ago, if we may trust the statistics of the _Journal
+d' Odessa_, this city had only the third rank among the commercial
+places of Russia. At the head of all then was St. Petersburg, whose
+harbour was frequented by 1,500 to 2,000 vessels, the exports being
+100,000,000 to 120,000,000 roubles, and the imports 140,000,000
+to 160,000,000 roubles. Next in importance came Riga, with 1,000
+to 1,500 vessels, 35,000,000 to 50,000,000 roubles exports, and
+15,000,000 to 20,000,000 roubles imports; and Odessa, as third,
+received 600 to 800 vessels, her exports amounting from 25,000,000
+to 30,000,000 roubles, and her imports from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000
+roubles. The relative commercial importance of the three ports
+was, therefore, as twenty-five to six and five.
+
+Matters have undergone a considerable alteration since then. St.
+Petersburg, whose imports and exports doubled in amount those of
+all the other ports of the Empire put together, has been gradually
+declining, the ports of Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland threatening
+to deprive her inconvenient harbour of a great part of the Baltic
+trade, and the centre of general business being rapidly removed
+from the present seat of Government to the old capital, Moscow.
+Riga, also, has been and is slowly sinking from its high position
+in the Baltic, and may, perhaps, eventually succumb to the active
+rivalry of Revel and Libau. Odessa, on the contrary, has been looking
+up for these many years, absorbing nearly all the Russian trade in
+the Black Sea, and rapidly rising from the third to the second
+rank as a seaport.
+
+The main cause of the rise and progress of Odessa was owing to the
+development of agricultural enterprise in the provinces of what
+is called "Little" and "New Russia," or the "Black Earth Country"
+the granary of the Empire and for a long time of all Europe.
+
+Beyond the steppes which encompass the whole southern seacoast of
+Russia, from the Sea of Azof to the Danube, there spreads far inland
+a fertile region, embracing the whole or part of the Governments
+of Podolia, Poltava, Kharkof, Kief, Voronei, Don Cossacks, etc.,
+including the districts of what was once known as the "Ukraine,"
+which was for many years debatable land between Poland, Turkey,
+and Russia, and on which roamed the mongrel bands of the Cossacks,
+an uncouth population recruited among the many tramps and vagabonds
+from the northern provinces, mixed with all the races of men with
+whom they came into contact, settling here and there in new, loose,
+and almost lawless communities, organized as military colonies,
+and perpetually shifting their allegiance from one to the other
+of these three Powers, till the policy and good fortune of Peter
+the Great and Catherine II. extended the sway of Russia over the
+whole territory.
+
+At the close of the last century, and contemporaneously with the
+foundation of Odessa (1794), the bountiful nature of the soil of
+this region became known, and the country was overrun by colonists
+from "Great" or "Northern Russia," from Germany, and from Bulgaria
+and Wallachia; and its rich harvests were soon sufficient, not
+only to satisfy, but to exceed the wants of the whole Empire.
+
+Odessa, endowed by its founder, Catherine II., with the privilege
+of a free port, which it enjoyed till after the war of the Crimea,
+monopolized during that time the export of the produce of this
+southern land, consisting chiefly of grain and wool; and its prosperity
+went on, always on the increase--affected only temporarily by wars
+and bad harvests--to such an extent that the total value of the
+exports, which was, in round numbers, about 52,000,000 roubles in
+1871, rose to 86,000,000 roubles in 1878, to 88,000,000 roubles
+in 1879, and fell, owing to the bad harvest, to 56,000,000 roubles
+in 1880.
+
+The Odessa trade was for a long time in the hands of Greek and Italian
+merchants, the original settlers in the town at its foundation, the
+produce being, before the invention of steamers, conveyed to Italy,
+France and England in Italian bottoms. But, of late years, preference
+being given to steamers over sailing vessels, and the Italians,
+either failing to perceive the value of time and the importance
+of the revolution that steam had effected, or lacking capital to
+profit by it, allowed the English to have the lion's share of the
+Black Sea trade, so that, in 1879, the English vessels entering
+the port of Odessa were 549 steamers and four sailing vessels, with
+500,000 tons, while the Italians had only fifty steamers and 119
+sailing vessels, with 85,700 tons. Next to the English were, in
+the same year, the Austrians (eighty-seven steam and 119 sailing
+vessels, 119,000 tons). The Russians, at home here, had 150 steam
+and eight sailing vessels and 180,000 tons.
+
+Odessa, however, though she had so much of the trade to herself,
+had not of late years the whole of it. As the means of land and
+water conveyance improved, and especially after the construction of
+railways, a number of minor rivals arose all along the coast--Rostov,
+at the mouth of the Don; Taganrog, Mariupol or Marianopolis, and
+Berdianski, on the north coast of the Sea of Azof, where Greek
+colonies are flourishing; Kherson, at the mouth of the Dnieper;
+Nicolaief, at the mouth of the Bug; and others. Odessa was thus
+reduced to the trade of the region to the west of the last-named
+river, having lost that of the provinces of Poltava, Kharkof, Kursk,
+Orel, Ekaterinoslaf, etc., and only retaining Kherson, Bessarabia,
+Volhynia, Kief, etc., which would still be sufficient for her commercial
+well-being.
+
+But Odessa is threatened with a new and far more formidable rival
+in Sebastopol. Sebastopol, with all its inlets, is by far the most
+perfect harbour in the Black Sea, and has the inestimable advantage
+that it never freezes, while in Odessa the ice brings all trade
+to a standstill for two or three weeks every winter, and all the
+ports of Azof and the mouths of the rivers are frozen from November
+to March or even mid-April. Sebastopol has the additional advantage
+of being in the most direct and nearest communication by rail with
+Kharkof, the very heart of the Black Earth Country, and with Moscow,
+the centre of the Russian commercial and industrial business.
+
+The people in Sebastopol have hopes that the Imperial Government,
+giving up all thought of bringing back their great Black Sea naval
+station from Nicolaief to its former seat, may not be unwilling that
+their fine harbour be turned to the purposes of trading enterprise,
+and even to favour it for a few years with the privileges of a free
+port.
+
+[Illustration: SEBASTOPOL.]
+
+The citizens of Odessa, on the other hand, scout such expectations
+as over-sanguine, if not quite chimerical, laugh to scorn the idea
+that the Government may at any time lay aside its intention of
+going back with its naval establishment to Sebastopol; and, in
+that case, they contend that the juxtaposition of a commercial
+with an Imperial naval port would be as monstrous a combination
+as would be in France that of Marseilles and Toulon, or in England
+that of Portsmouth and Liverpool, in one and the same place.
+
+They add that the railway between Moscow and Sebastopol is
+ill-constructed and almost breaking down; that, although it is
+by some hundred miles shorter than that from Odessa to Moscow,
+the express and mail trains are so arranged that the most rapid
+communication between north and south is effected between Odessa
+and St. Petersburg, which route is travelled over in less than
+three days.
+
+Whichever of the contending parties may have the best of the argument,
+there is no doubt that, were even the Government to be favourable
+to the wishes of the people of Sebastopol, there would be no just
+reason for jealousy between the two cities, for Odessa has already
+proved that she can manage to grow richer than ever upon one-half
+of the trade of Southern Russia, while Sebastopol might safely
+rely on carrying on the other half--that other half which is now
+already in the hands of Taganrog, Mariupol, Nicolaief, etc. For
+all these ports of Azof and the mouths of the rivers, besides being
+closed by ice for at least four months in the year, are so shallow
+that no amount of dredging can keep back the silting sands, and
+vessels must anchor at distances of ten to twenty and even thirty
+miles outside the harbours.
+
+
+
+
+_THE DON COSSACKS_
+
+_THOMAS MICHELL_
+
+Coming from the north, the first town of any importance in Southern
+Russia is Kursk, three hundred and thirty-five miles from Moscow
+in an almost direct line, the railway passing through the cities
+of Tula (the Russian Birmingham), and Orel, the centre of a rich
+agricultural district connected by rail, on the west, with Riga
+on the Baltic, and on the south-east with Tsaritzin on the Volga.
+Authentic records attest the existence of Kursk in 1032, and in
+1095 it was held by Isiaslaf, son of Vladimir Monomachus, from
+whom it passed alternately to the Princes of Chernigof and of
+Pereyaslasl. In the Thirteenth Century it was razed to the ground
+by the Tartars. In 1586 the southern frontiers of Moscovy were
+fortified, and Kursk became one of the principal places on that
+line of defence against the Crimean Tartars and the Poles. Its
+disasters and sufferings as a military outpost ceased only towards
+the end of the Seventeenth Century, after Little Russia (the more
+southerly districts watered by the Dnieper), submitted to the Tsar
+Alexis.
+
+We are now almost in the heart of the _Chernozem_, or black soil
+country, so called from the rich black loam of which its surface
+is composed to a depth of two and three yards and more. These vast
+plains were known to Herodotus, Strabo, and other ancient geographers
+only in their present _Steppe_, or flat and woodless condition. It
+is a great relief to the eye to see at last a handsomely-built
+city like Kursk, perched, relatively to the surrounding flatness,
+on an elevation and almost smothered in the verdure of numerous
+gardens. There is, however, not much to see within it, for even the
+churches are mostly not older than the second half of the Eighteenth
+Century.
+
+The more southerly part of the province of Kursk is in the _Ukraine_,
+or ancient border country. Its semi-nomadic population obtained in
+early days the designation of Cossacks. This word is not Sclavonic,
+but Turkish; and although it long denoted in Russia a free man, or,
+rather, a man free to do anything he chose, it had been used by
+the Tartar hordes to designate the lower class of their horsemen.
+From the princes of the House of Rurik these southerly districts
+passed into the possession of Lithuania, and, later, into those of
+Poland. Little Russia was another arbitrary name anciently given
+to a great part of what has been also known as the Ukraine. No fixed
+geographical limits can be assigned to either of these designations,
+and especially to the Ukraine of the Poles or the Muscovites; for
+as the borders or marshes became safe and populated, they were
+absorbed by the dominant power, and ultimately incorporated into
+provinces. Little Russia is, in fact, a term now used only to denote
+the Southern Russians as distinguished principally from the Great
+Russians of the more central part of the empire.
+
+There is a strongly-marked difference in the outward appearance,
+the mode of life, and even the cast of thought of these two branches
+of the Sclav race. The language of the Little Russian, or _Hohol_, as
+he is contemptuously called by his more vigorous northern brother,
+is a cross between the Polish and the Russian, although nearer akin
+to the Muscovite than to the Polish tongue. Ethnographically, also,
+the Little Russians become gradually fused with the White Russians of
+the north-west (Mohilef and Vitebsk) and with the Slovaks of the
+other side of the Carpathians. The _Malo-Ros_ (Little Russian)
+is physically a better, though a less muscular man than the
+_Veliko-Ros_, or Great Russian. He is taller, finer-featured, and
+less rude and primitive in his domestic surroundings. The women
+have both beauty and grace, and make the most of those qualities
+by adorning themselves in neat and picturesque costumes, resembling
+strongly those of the Roumanian and Transylvanian peasantry. Their
+houses are not like those of other parts of Russia--log huts, full,
+generally, of vermin and cockroaches; but wattled, thatched, and
+whitewashed cottages, surrounded by gardens, and kept internally
+in order and cleanliness.
+
+Their lives are altogether more happy, although their songs, full
+of deep feeling, and not without a vein of romance are, like those
+of all Sclavs, plaintive and in the minor key. The men sing of
+the daring exploits of their Cossack forefathers, who were not
+free-booters like the old Cossacks of the Volga, but courageous
+men engaged in a life-and-death struggle with nomadic hordes, and
+later with internal enemies, Poles and rebels. The greater refinement
+of the women of Little Russia is attributable to the comparative
+ease of their lives in a fertile country, with a climate more genial
+than that of the more northerly parts of the empire. There the
+Great and the White Russians had to contend with a soil much less
+productive, with swamps which had to be drained, with thick forests
+which had to be cleared, with wild beasts which had to be destroyed
+or guarded against, and with frost and snow that left scarcely
+four months in the year for labour in the field.
+
+The upper classes of South Russia, enriched by the cultivation of
+large and fertile estates, and favoured in their social development
+by long contact with the ancient Western civilization of Poland,
+exhibit a similar superiority over the bulk of their compeers in
+Great Russia. Except, however, in the case of the larger landed
+proprietors, the everyday life of the Southern Russian bears a strong
+resemblance to that of the Irish squireen. There is a strong tinge
+of the same _insouciance_ as to the material future, and an equal
+propensity to reckless hospitality, to sport (principally coursing),
+social jollification, and to a great extent to card-playing. Indeed,
+there are well-appointed country seats in the South of Russia in
+which the long summer days are entirely spent in card-playing, with
+interruptions only for meals. There are horses in plenty in the stable,
+and vehicles of every description to which they can be harnessed;
+but "taking a drive" through endless cornfields along natural roads
+or tracks, parched, cracked, and dusty one day, and presenting
+the next a surface of black mud, offers but few attractions to the
+ladies, and vehicular locomotion is therefore resorted to only
+as a matter of necessity, on journeys to estates or towns often
+fifty to one hundred miles distant. Country life, indeed, has no
+great attractions in any part of Russia Proper, and ever since the
+Emancipation of the Serfs and the accompanying extinction of the
+power and authority of the proprietary classes, absenteeism has been
+largely on the increase, to the advantage solely of the principal
+provincial towns, and of certain capitals and watering-places in
+Western Europe. Thus, while Kursk and Kharkof owe much of their
+riches and progress to the immigration of landed proprietors from
+the northerly and eastern districts of the "Black Soil Zone," Kief is
+the resort of more princely landlords of the south-western districts,
+strongly and favourably affected by Polish culture.
+
+Kharkof, to the east of Kief, is the principal seat of trade in
+South Russia, being a centre from which the products and manufactures
+of Northern and Central Russia are spread throughout the provinces
+to the east and south, down even to the Caucasus.
+
+Sugar, largely produced in this part of Russia from beet-root and
+"bounty-fed," and corn, brandy, wool and hides from the central
+provinces, are largely sold at the five fairs held each year at
+Kharkof, which has also reason to be proud of its university with
+upwards of six hundred students, and of its connection by rail with
+the shores of the Baltic and those of the Black and Azof Seas.
+In 1765, Kharkof became the capital of the Ukraine, after having
+been a Cossack outpost town since 1647, when Poland finally ceded
+the province to Muscovy. Anciently, this was the camping-ground of
+nomadic tribes, particularly of the Khazars, and later the high
+road of the Tartar invaders of Russia, whether from the Crimea or
+the shores of the Caspian. In the province of Kharkof are found
+those remarkable idols of stone which we have seen in the Historical
+Museum at Moscow, and a vast number of tumuli, which have yielded
+coins establishing the fact of an early intercourse both with Rome
+and Arabia.
+
+Poltava, also a place of extensive trade, principally in wool,
+horses, and cattle, is familiar to us in connection with the defeat
+of Charles XII. by Peter the Great in 1709. The centre of the field
+so disastrous to the Swedes is marked by a mound which covers the
+remains of their slain. Two monuments commemorate the victory.
+
+At Ekaterinoslaf we are again on the great Dnieper. It was only
+a village when Catherine II., descending the river from Kief in a
+stately barge accompanied by Joseph II. of Austria, King Stanislaus
+Augustus of Poland and a brilliant suite, raised it to the dignity
+of a town bearing her own name. On that occasion she laid the first
+stone of a cathedral which was not destined to be completed on
+the imposing scale she had projected, and which has been reduced
+to one-sixth in the edifice that was consecrated only in 1835.
+The town consists of only one row of buildings, almost concealed
+in gardens and running for nearly three miles parallel with the
+Dnieper. Catherine's Palace, a bronze statue which represents her
+clad in Roman armour and crowned, and the garden of her magnificent
+favourite, Prince Potemkin, constitute the "sights" of Ekaterinoslaf,
+the more striking feature of which, however, is its Jewish population,
+huddled together in a special quarter between the river and the
+bazaar. A considerable number of them pursue the favourite Jewish
+occupation of money-changing, and the Ekaterinoslaf Prospekt is
+dotted with their stands and their money-chests, painted blue and
+red.
+
+A drive over forty miles of Steppe, somewhat relieved in its monotony
+by numerous ancient tumuli, bring those who do not proceed by steamer
+to the great naval station and commercial port of Nicolaief, at the
+junction of the Ingul with the Bug. It was the site until 1775 of
+a Cossack _setch_, or fortified settlement, and in 1789 it received
+its present appellation in commemoration of the capture of Otchakof
+from the Turks on the feast-day of St. Nicholas. Destined from
+the first by Potemkin to be the harbour of a Russian fleet in the
+Black Sea, temporarily neglected by the naval authorities, Nicolaief
+reasserted its claim to that proud position after the fall of
+Sebastopol. It owes much of its present affluence to the sound
+administration of Admiral Samuel Greig, son of the admiral of Scotch
+parentage who, with the aid of some equally gallant countrymen,
+won for the Russians the naval battle of Chesme in 1769. Next to
+Odessa, Nicolaief is the handsomest town in New Russia, as this
+part of the country was called after its conquest from the Turks
+and Tartars. Its large trade, mostly in grain, has been greatly
+promoted by the railway, which now connects this important harbour
+with Kharkof and other rich agricultural centres.
+
+Of the six ports on the neighbouring Sea of Azof, Taganrog, where
+Alexander I. died in 1825, is the most considerable, although steamers
+have to anchor at a considerable distance from it, owing to the
+shallowness of the roadstead. The annual value of its exports of
+corn, wool, tallow, etc., is about five millions sterling, and, as
+at Nicolaief, British shipping is chiefly employed in the trade.
+Much of the produce shipped here comes from Rostov-on-the-Don, the
+chief centre of inland trade in the south-east provinces of Russia,
+and one in which many industries (especially the manipulation of tobacco
+grown in the Caucasus and the Crimea), are pursued. A short distance
+above this great mart is Novocherkask, the capital of the "Country
+of the Don Cossacks," anciently the abode of Scythians, Sarmatians,
+Huns, Bolgars, Khazars and Tartars. The present population dates
+from the Sixteenth Century, when renegades from Muscovy and vagrants
+of every description formed themselves into Cossack, or robber
+communities. They attacked the Tartars and Turks, and in 1637 took
+the Turkish fortress of Azof. Under the reign of Peter the Great
+the powerful and independent Cossacks were not much interfered with,
+but from 1718 they were gradually brought under subjection to the
+Tsar, whom they powerfully assisted in subsequent wars. The town
+was founded in 1804, and is adorned with a bronze monument to the
+famous Hetman (Ataman or chief) Platof, leader of the Cossacks between
+1770 and 1816. It is usual to bestow on the Russian heir-apparent
+the title of "Ataman" of the Don Cossacks. The last investiture
+with Cossack _baton_ took place in 1887, when also the reigning
+Emperor confirmed, at a "circle," or open-air assemblage, all the
+ancient rights and privileges of the warlike Cossacks of the Don.
+
+[Illustration: KHARKOF.]
+
+The chief town of the Kuban district is Ekaterinodar, a name which
+signifies, literally, "Catherine's gift," from having been founded
+by the sovereign of that name and bestowed, in 1792, together with
+the adjacent territory, on the Zaporogian, subsequently known as the
+Black Sea Cossacks. Catherine mistrusted their power and influence,
+and tempted them to the Kuban with grants of land and other privileges.
+The first service of some 20,000 of those new warrior settlers
+consisted in barring all egress from the mountains, by means of a
+"first fortified line" of stations that extended to Vladikavkas,
+where they united with the descendants of the Grebenski Cossacks,
+with whom they are not to be confounded. The predominant type amongst
+the Zaporogians is still that of the Little Russians, the Grebenski
+continuing to preserve their identity with the natives of Great
+Russia, whence their origin; and although the whole of this imposing
+force, maintained at half a million, has long since adopted the
+dress of the Caucasian mountaineers, the Cossacks remain true to
+the orthodox faith and to the customs of their forefathers, whose
+vernacular tongue has never been forgotten by them. The dress so
+universally worn by the male sex, even from boyhood, in all parts
+of the Caucasus, consists of a single-breasted garment, like a
+frock-coat, but reaching almost to the ankles, tightened in closely
+at the waist, with a belt from which are suspended dagger, sword,
+and frequently a pistol, and having on either breast a row of ten
+or twelve sockets, each of a size to hold a cartridge. A rifle,
+which every man possesses, is slung across the back; and a tall
+sheep-skin hat finished off at its summit with a piece of coloured
+cloth completes the costume.
+
+The number of Cossacks in Transcaucasia being very limited, for
+a few only are stationed in each principal town, chiefly as an
+escort to the governor of the province, their duties are performed
+by _Chapars_, an irregular force, equally dashing horsemen, and
+trained in like manner from early youth in those singular exercises
+and breakneck evolutions for which the Cossacks of the Caucasus
+have become so famous. Setting their horses at full gallop, they
+will stand on the saddle and fire all around at an imaginary enemy;
+or throw the body completely over to the right, with the left heel
+resting on their steed's hind quarter, and fire as if at an enemy
+in pursuit, or turn clean round, and sitting astride facing the
+horse's tail, keep up a rapid fire. A favourite feat, among many
+others, is to throw their hat and rifle to the ground, wheel, and
+pick them up whilst going at the horse's fullest speed.
+
+Should the traveller elect to proceed eastward, but north of the
+great range, he will meet with the Kabardines, the first amongst the
+Circassians to enter into friendly relations with Russia; they are
+the "blood" of the Caucasus, a noble race, thoroughly domesticated,
+hospitable to strangers, and useful breeders of cattle. To the
+south of the Circassians, and occupying about one hundred miles of
+the coast in the Black Sea, are the Abkhases, who have enjoyed the
+reputation, from time immemorial, of being an indolent and lawless
+race, anciently given to piracy, now addicted to thieving when the
+opportunity is afforded them, for they are determinedly inimical
+to strangers. Their mountains abound in forests of magnificent
+walnut and box, where the enthusiastic sportsman will find the
+bear, hyena, and wolf, and plenty of smaller game, with seldom a
+roof to cover him other than the vault of heaven; but the ordinary
+traveller is likely to encounter difficulties and delays that he would
+prefer to avoid. Christianity was here introduced by Justinian, who
+constructed many churches that would have been notable specimens
+of Byzantine architecture, had the Abkhases not destroyed them in
+their struggles against the Russians, every such edifice being
+occupied and converted by the latter into a military post. One
+church, at Pitzunda on the coast, remarkable as being the place
+to which John Chrysostom was banished at the instance of Empress
+Eudoxia--although the exile never reached his destination--having
+escaped the general destruction, has been thoroughly restored of
+late years, and is a striking object to passing vessels. Being the
+mother church in the Caucasus, Pitzunda, then Pityus, continued to
+be the seat of the Catholics of Abkhasia until the Twelfth Century.
+Practically, the Abkhases are at present heathens.
+
+Farther south, and extending some way inland from the sea, is the
+principality of Mingrelia, where we again tread classic ground,
+inasmuch as our wanderings have brought us to the AEa of Circe and
+the Argonauts. In a Mingrelian landscape we are struck at the aspect
+afforded by the numerous whitewashed cottages as they dot the
+well-wooded hills. The Mingrelians, too, like their neighbours
+whom we have just quitted, are incurably given to indolence, except
+in the making of wine from their abundant vineyards; otherwise they
+are content to live on the produce of their orchards, prolific
+through the interposition of a beneficent Providence rather than
+to any agricultural diligence on their part. They may certainly be
+included amongst the handsomest people in Transcaucasia, with their
+well-defined features and usually raven black hair. The Dadian, or
+prince, is the wealthiest of the dispossessed rulers: the foresight
+of his predecessor and his own European training having taught
+him the danger of disposing of land and squandering the proceeds,
+rather than preserving the property and contenting himself with
+a smaller income.
+
+Between Mingrelia and Abkhasia courses the Ingur, and if we ascend
+to near its water-shed--a journey easily accomplished on horse-back,
+say from Sougdidi, the well-known military station--we should find
+ourselves amongst a very wild and singular people, the Svanni,
+whose complete subjugation dates back no farther it may be said
+than 1876, although they made a formal submission in 1833. They
+occupy some forty or fifty miles of the upper valley of the Ingur,
+at no part exceeding ten miles in width, and are cut off from all
+outside communication between the beginning of September and the
+end of May, in consequences of the passes being blocked with snow.
+"The scenery in this valley," writes a recent traveller, "is of
+great beauty and wildness, and grand beyond description; amid the
+most profuse vegetation, every imaginable flower is seen in its
+wild state, and bank, meadow, hill-side and grass plot are literally
+covered with all that is most lovely; in every forest and grove,
+and all undergrowth even, indeed wherever the pure air of heaven
+and its divine light is not obstructed, the earth is thus gorgeously
+arrayed."
+
+
+
+
+_IN THE CAUCASUS_
+
+_J. BUCHAN TELLER_
+
+Returning to Mingrelia, we find it bounded on the south by the
+river Rion, the ancient Phasis, which flows through the country
+whence was introduced into Europe the Phasian bird--our pheasant.
+The Rion divides Mingrelia from Guria, another principality, where
+is situated Batoum, a somewhat pestiferous but important military
+station and commercial port, that has tended in no small degree,
+since its annexation to Russia in 1878, towards the development
+of the resources of this beautiful country, intersected with good
+roads through valleys highly cultivated with maize, corn, and barley,
+the hills and their declivities being overspread with the oak and
+box, exported in large quantities, and yielding handsome returns.
+Ozurgheti, the chief town, attractively situated, was the residence
+of the rulers who lie interred at the ancient monastery and episcopal
+church, Chemokmedy, about six miles distant.
+
+Passengers from Odessa and the Crimea landing at Batoum find the
+train in readiness to convey them to Tiflis, the capital of the
+whole Transcaucasia, reached in about fifteen hours, the train
+travelling slowly enough, but through a land of much interest,
+historically and pictorially. On the right, in the distance, are
+the highlands of the old kingdom of Armenia, to the left is Imeritia,
+a glory, like Mingrelia and Guria, of the past. If so inclined, the
+traveller may exchange, at Rion station, the main for a branch line,
+which will take him to Kutais, the chief town of the old kingdom of
+Imeritia, where he may tarry for a while to great advantage. It
+is the ancient Khytaea, the residence of AEtes; at any rate a city
+of great antiquity, beautifully situated on the banks of the Rion.
+
+Between Kutais and Tiflis is the Pass of Suram, at an altitude
+of three thousand and twenty-seven feet, over which are laid the
+lines of rail by gradients of one in twenty-two feet over a distance
+of about eight miles; a triumph of engineering skill due, as is
+the entire railway, to British capital and enterprise. Beyond this
+Pass the train stops at Gori, situated at the limits of a glorious
+plain, watered by the Kur and its tributaries. Since fairly good
+accommodation is obtainable, it were well to halt at this station for
+the purpose of visiting the unique rock-cut town, Uplytztzykhe, some
+eight miles off. Here is a town--there can be no other designation for
+it--consisting of public edifices--if such a term may be employed--of
+large habitations, presumably for the great, smaller dwellings
+for others, each being conveniently divided, and having doorways,
+openings for light, and partitions, while many are ornamented with
+cornices, mouldings, beams and pillars. The groups are separated
+by streets and lanes, and grooves have been cut, unquestionably
+for water-courses, and yet the whole has been entirely hewn and
+shaped out of the solid rock. Tradition is replete with incidents
+in the history of these remarkable excavations, but faithful
+historiographers have hitherto refrained from endorsing any of the
+tales that have been handed down by romancers of Georgia.
+
+Tiflis, the chief seat of Government and residence of the
+Governor-General, having a population of about one hundred thousand
+souls, is unpleasantly situated between ranges of perfectly barren
+hills, and but for the River Kur, on the banks of which it is built,
+would be almost uninhabitable. Having driven through the suburbs
+on his way from the railway terminus, the traveller crosses the
+Kur over the Woronzoff Bridge, which at once brings him to the
+principal street, where he passes in succession the public gardens,
+gymnasium, law-courts, palace of the Governor-General, the main
+guard-house, public library, museum, etc.; by which time he will
+have reached Palace Street and Erivan Square, where are situated
+the best hotels and restaurants, and the National Theatre. From the
+square three main thoroughfares lead to as many separate quarters,
+viz.: the European, where the wealthy live in well-built houses of
+elegant construction; the native bazaars, and the marketplace and
+Russian bazaar. An extensive view of the city and an interesting
+sight is obtained from the eminence crowned by the old fortress
+which immediately overlooks the Asiatic quarter and bazaars, whence
+rise the confused sounds of human cries and the din from the iron,
+brass, and copper-workers. As is the custom elsewhere in the East,
+those of one trade congregate together, apart from the other trades,
+and so are passed a succession of silversmiths in their stalls,
+of furriers, armourers, or eating and wine-shops, the wine of the
+country being kept in buffalo, goat, or sheep-skins laid on their
+back, and presenting the disagreeable appearance of carcases swollen
+after lengthened immersion in water. The Georgians are merry folk,
+rarely allowing themselves to be depressed by the troubles of life.
+They love wine and music, and ever seek to drive away dull care
+by indulging in their favourite Kakhety--two bottles being the
+usual allowance to a man's dinner, an allowance, however, greatly
+exceeded when, of an evening, friends meet together to join in
+the national dance, called the Lezghinka.
+
+The Cathedral of Zion was formerly the church of the Patriarch of
+Georgia. It dates from the Fifth Century, and encloses that most
+precious relic, with which the nation was converted to Christianity
+in the Fourth Century--nothing less than a cross of vine stems bound
+with the hair of St. Nina, the patron saint, who first preached the
+truth! The patriarchate has long been suppressed, and is replaced
+by a Russian Exarch, so that the Georgian Church may be considered
+in all respects identical with that of Russia. The palace of the
+kings has entirely disappeared, for not a vestige remains. George
+XIII. signed his renunciation of the crown in favour of the Emperor
+Paul in 1800, and died shortly afterwards amid the execrations of
+his subjects, for having ignominiously betrayed them. Many of his
+descendants are in the service of Russia, and are the representatives
+of one of the most ancient monarchies of the world--for the Bagrations
+first rose to power in 587; and if allowance be made for interregnums
+it will be found that their reign extended over 1092 years, during
+the twelve centuries that elapsed from their earliest election.
+
+As Georgia is the land of wine and song, so is Armenia essentially
+the land of legend and tradition, for which must be held in great
+part responsible the magnificent mountain that exhibits itself
+suddenly at a dip in the road long before the plains are in sight.
+Well may the Armenians glory in "their" Ararat, peerless among the
+mighty works of the Creator, almost symmetrical in its outlines,
+and rising to an altitude of 16,916 feet above the sea, Lesser
+Ararat, 12,840 feet, looking almost dwarfed by the side of its mighty
+neighbour.
+
+At Erivan, the largest city in Russian Armenia, the traveller will
+find fairly good accommodation, but the place is dull enough, whether
+in the Persian quarter, where crooked lanes are lined with high walls,
+that mask the dwellings within like the defences of a fortress, or
+in the broad streets and unpaved quarter laid out by the Russians
+since their occupation of the province in 1829, even though enlivened
+by a boulevard and gardens fair to look upon. The population is
+Armenian and Persian, for Persia ruled here during a considerable
+period until vanquished by Russia; but at the bazaar one meets
+with other nationalities, such as Tartars from the Steppes, Kurds,
+Greeks, and Turkish dealers in search of good horses, upon which
+they will fly across the frontier, defying Cossacks and custom
+officers alike.
+
+Within a short distance of Erivan, and the post-station nearest
+to the Persian frontier, is Nahitchevan, the first abode of Noah
+after he came forth from the ark, and probably also his last, since
+his tomb is reverently shown by the inhabitants, who eagerly escort
+strangers to see it. Other still more important towns in Armenia,
+available by carriage-road, are Alexandropol and Kars, the former
+being the largest and most powerful fortress and the principal
+arsenal in Transcaucasia; the latter, long a Turkish fortress town,
+was gallantly defended in 1855 by Sir Fenwick Williams and a few
+British officers, until the garrison was starved into surrender
+by General Mouravieff. Kars was finally ceded to Russia by the
+Treaty of Berlin in 1878.
+
+[Illustration: TIFLIS.]
+
+A Tartar city brought into prominence of late years through the
+introduction of railways is Elizavetpol, on the line between Tiflis
+and the Caspian, where we must now pick ourselves up after having
+retraced our steps from the plains, to journey by rail to dismal
+looking Baku--a town of recent creation, approached through a desert
+of sand and stones, where neither vegetable nor animal life can
+possibly find an existence. Viewed from the sea, Baku presents a
+distinctly picturesque appearance, with its sombre citadel, numerous
+minarets, and the palace of the princes of bygone days towering
+above the old town, where the houses look as if they were piled the
+one above the other--the new or Russian quarter being at the base,
+and lining the shore of the pretty little bay. Modern Baku contains
+some handsome residences and well-paved streets, the principal
+being the busy quay, constructed of massive blocks of greystone
+masonry, where the naphtha, the wealth of Baku, is embarked for
+transport to the interior of Russia by the Volga, or for conveyance
+across the Caspian to Central Asia. Numerous refineries, worth
+inspecting, at the west end of Baku compose the Black Town, so
+called from its begrimed condition, and from being ever enveloped
+in clouds of the densest smoke. Since a remote period has this
+neighbourhood been considered holy by fire-worshippers, because
+of the many naphtha springs that were constantly burning, some
+even perpetually; indeed, the fires at Surakan, a suburb of Baku,
+continued to be guarded by fire-worshippers from Yezd in Persia,
+and even from India, until, with the connivance of the government,
+they were hustled away some ten years ago by the increasing number
+of speculators engaged in a trade which has now completely driven
+out of the market all American produce.
+
+In Daghestan is Gunib, the last stronghold of the brave Shamyl,
+whom the strength of Russia was unequal to subdue during the space
+of thirty years. "Do the Russians say that they are numerous as
+the grains of sand? Then are we the waves that will carry away
+that sand," said the great Tartar chief addressing the numerous
+tribes who placed themselves under his leadership to repel the
+invader. The mountaineers posted themselves on the heights, and,
+hidden by trees, shot down their enemies in scores as they advanced
+in column up the narrow defiles.
+
+The great thoroughfare between Transcaucasia and Russia is from
+Tiflis to Vladikavkaz, the terminus of the Moscow-Rostof railway, by
+way of the Dariel road, a stupendous engineering success completed
+in the reign of Nicholas. This road winds over a pass 7,977 feet
+above the sea, and is kept in repair and clear for traffic in winter
+by the Ossets, whose country it traverses, in return for which
+service they are exempt from all taxes.
+
+When the traveller will have completed the journey from Tiflis
+to Vladikavkaz, he will have arrived at the depot and point of
+transit for all goods brought by rail from Russia, and there
+transferred, for conveyance to the Transcaucasian provinces, to
+clumsy, unwieldly carts or vans drawn by horses or oxen; those in
+charge of the caravans never being in a hurry, completely indifferent
+as to when they start, or when they arrive at their destination,
+and rejoicing in a lengthened stay at Mlety station, after having
+accomplished the most tiresome part of the distance--the ascent and
+descent of the pass. Vladikavkaz was founded in 1785 on the site
+of an Osset village, and became the headquarters and chief military
+depot of the Russians during their lengthened struggle for supremacy
+with the stout-hearted hillmen; it is now the chief town and seat
+of government for the province of Kuban, and still an important
+military station. The population is made up of Circassians, Armenians,
+and Russians, and a few Ossets at the bazaars, for the natives made
+off long ago. The chief industries are the manufacture of silver
+and gold lace, arms, _burkas_, the Caucasian's all-weathers cloak,
+silver ornaments, etc. The hotels are fairly good, but there being
+nothing at Vladikavkaz itself sufficiently inviting to encourage
+a longer stay than is absolutely necessary, the following choice
+of routes lays before the stranger. He may post through Eastern
+Caucasus and embark at Petrovsk for Astrakhan and the tedious voyage
+up the Volga; or take the railway to Rostof _en route_ to Moscow; or
+travel by rail to Novorossisk on the Black Sea, and there embark;
+or, following that line as far as Ekaterinodar, post thence to
+Taman and cross the straits to Kertch.
+
+
+
+
+_KHIVA_
+
+_FRED BURNABY_
+
+We were now fast nearing Khiva, which could be just discerned in
+the distance, but was hidden, to a certain extent, from our view by
+a narrow belt of tall, graceful trees; however, some richly-painted
+minarets and high domes of coloured tiles could be seen towering
+above the leafy groves. Orchards surrounded by walls eight and ten
+feet high, continually met the gaze, and avenues of mulberry-trees
+studded the landscape in all directions.
+
+The two Khivans rode first; I followed, having put on my black
+fur pelisse instead of the sheep-skin garment, so as to present
+a more respectable appearance on entering the city. Nazar, who
+was mounted on the horse that stumbled, brought up the rear. He
+had desired the camel-driver to follow in the distance with the
+messenger and the caravan; my servant being of opinion that the
+number of our animals was not sufficient to deeply impress the
+Khivans with my importance, and that on this occasion it was better
+to ride in without any caravan than with the small one I possessed.
+We now entered the city, which is of an oblong form, and surrounded
+by two walls: the outer one is about fifty feet high: its basement
+is constructed of baked bricks, the upper part being built of dried
+clay. This forms the first line of defense, and completely encircles
+the town, which is about a quarter of a mile within the wall. Four
+high wooden gates, clamped with iron, barred the approach from
+the north, south, east, and west, while the walls themselves were
+in many places out of repair.
+
+The town itself is surrounded by a second wall, not quite so high
+as the one just described, and with a dry ditch, which is now half
+filled with ruined _debris_. The slope which leads from the wall to
+the trench has been used as a cemetery, and hundreds of sepulchres
+and tombs were scattered along some undulating ground just without
+the city. The space between the first and second walls is used
+as a market-place, where cattle, horses, sheep, and camels are
+sold, and where a number of carts were standing, filled with corn
+and grass.
+
+Here an ominous-looking cross-beam had been erected, towering high
+above the heads of the people with its bare, gaunt poles. This was
+the gallows on which all people convicted of theft are executed;
+murderers being put to death in a different manner, having their
+throats cut from ear to ear in the same way that sheep are killed.
+This punishment is carried out by the side of a large hole in the
+ground, not far from the principal street in the centre of the
+town. But I must here remark that the many cruelties stated to
+have been perpetrated by the present Khan previous to the capture
+of his city did not take place. Indeed, they only existed in the
+fertile Muscovite imagination, which was eager to find an excuse for
+the appropriation of a neighbour's property. On the contrary, capital
+punishment was only inflicted when the laws had been infringed; and
+there is no instance of the Khan having arbitrarily put any one
+to death.
+
+The two walls above mentioned appear to have made up the defenses
+of the city, which was also armed with sixteen guns. These, however,
+proved practically useless against the Russians, as the garrison
+only fired solid shot, not being provided with shell. The Khan
+seemed to have made no use whatever of the many inclosed gardens
+in the vicinity of the city during the Russian advance, as, if he
+had, and firmly contested each yard of soil, I much doubt whether
+the Tsar's troops could have ever entered the city.
+
+It is difficult to estimate the population of an Oriental city
+by simply riding round its walls; so many houses are uninhabited,
+and others again are densely packed with inhabitants. However, I
+should say, as a mere guess, that there are about 25,000 human
+beings within the walls of Khiva. The streets are broad and clean,
+while the houses belonging to the richer inhabitants are built of
+highly polished bricks and coloured tiles, which lend a cheerful
+aspect to the otherwise somewhat sombre colour of the surroundings.
+There are nine schools: the largest, which contains 130 pupils,
+was built by the father of the present Khan. These buildings are
+all constructed with high, coloured domes, and are ornamented with
+frescoes and arabesque work, the bright aspect of the cupolas first
+attracting the stranger's attention on his nearing the city.
+
+Presently we rode through a bazaar similar to the one at Oogentch,
+thin rafters and straw uniting the tops of the houses in the street,
+and forming a sort of roof to protect the stall-keepers and their
+customers from the rays of a summer sun. We were followed by crowds
+of people; and as some of the more inquisitive approached too closely,
+the Khivans who accompanied me, raising their whips in the air,
+freely belaboured the shoulders of the multitude, thus securing
+a little space. After riding through a great number of streets,
+and taking the most circuitous course--probably in order to duly
+impress me with an idea of the importance of the town--we arrived
+before my companion's house. Several servants ran forward and took
+hold of the horses. The Khivan dismounted, and, bowing obsequiously,
+led the way through a high door-way constructed of solid timber.
+We next entered a square open court, with carved stone pillars
+supporting a balcony which looked down upon a marble fountain, or
+basin, the general appearance of the court being that of a _patio_
+in some nobleman's house in Cordova or Seville. A door of a similar
+construction to the one already described, though somewhat lower,
+gave access to a long, narrow room, a raised dais at each end being
+covered with handsome rugs. There were no windows, glass being a
+luxury which has only recently found its way to the capital; but
+the apartment received its light from an aperture at the side,
+which was slightly concealed by some trellis-work, and from a space
+left uncovered in the ceiling, which was adorned with arabesque
+figures. The two doors which led from the court were each of them
+handsomely carved, and in the middle of the room was a hearth filled
+with charcoal embers. My host, beckoning to me to take the post
+of honour by the fire, retired a few paces and folded his arms
+across his chest; then, assuming a deprecatory air, he asked my
+permission to sit down.
+
+Grapes, melons, and other fruit, fresh as on the day when first
+picked, were brought in on a large tray and laid at my feet, while
+the host himself, bringing in a Russian tea-pot and cup, poured
+out some of the boiling liquid and placed it by my side; I all
+this time being seated on a rug, with my legs crossed under me,
+in anything but a comfortable position.
+
+He then inquired if I had any commands for him, as the Khan had
+given an order that everything I might require was instantly to
+be supplied.
+
+In the afternoon two officials arrived from the Khan's palace,
+with an escort of six men on horseback and four on foot. The elder
+of the two dignitaries said that His Majesty was waiting to receive
+me, and my horse being brought round, I mounted, and accompanied
+him towards the palace. The six men on horseback led the way, then
+I came between the two officials, and Nazar brought up the rear
+with some attendants on foot, who freely lashed the crowd with
+their whips whenever any of the spectators approached our horses
+too closely.
+
+The news that the Khan was about to receive me had spread rapidly
+through the town, and the streets were lined with curious individuals
+all eager to see the Englishman. Perhaps in no part of the world is
+India more talked of than in the Central Asian khanates; and the
+stories of our wealth and power, which have reached Khiva through
+Afghan and Bokharan sources, have grown like a snow-ball in its
+onward course, until the riches described in the garden discovered
+by Aladdin would pale if compared with the fabled treasures of
+Hindoostan.
+
+After riding through several narrow streets, where, in some instances,
+the house-tops were thronged with people desirous of looking at
+our procession, we emerged on a small, flat piece of ground which
+was not built over, and which formed a sort of open square. Here
+a deep hole was pointed out to me as the spot where criminals who
+have been found guilty of murder had their throats cut from ear
+to ear.
+
+The Khan's palace is a large building, ornamented with pillars
+and domes, which, covered with bright-coloured tiles, flash in
+the sun, and attract the attention of the stranger approaching
+Khiva. A guard of thirty or forty men armed with cimeters stood
+at the palace gates. We next passed into a small court-yard. The
+Khan's guards were all arrayed in long flowing silk robes of various
+patterns, bright-coloured sashes being girt around their waists, and
+tall fur hats surmounting their bronzed countenances. The court-yard
+was surrounded by a low pile of buildings, which are the offices
+of the palace, and was filled with attendants and menials of the
+court, while good-looking boys of an effeminate appearance, with
+long hair streaming down their shoulders, and dressed a little like
+the women, lounged about, and seemed to have nothing in particular
+to do.
+
+A door at the farther end of the court gave access to a low passage,
+and, after passing through some dirty corridors, where I had
+occasionally to stoop in order to avoid knocking my head against the
+ceiling, we came to a large, square-shaped room. Here the treasurer
+was seated, with three moullahs, who were squatted by his side, while
+several attendants crouched in humble attitudes at the opposite
+end of the apartment. The treasurer and his companions were busily
+engaged in counting some rolls of ruble-notes and a heap of silver
+coin, which has been received from the Khan's subjects, and were
+now to be sent to Petro-Alexandrovsk as part of the tribute to
+the Tsar.
+
+The great man now made a sign to some of his attendants, when a
+large wooden box, bearing signs of having been manufactured in
+Russia, was pushed a little from the wall and offered to me as a
+seat. Nazar was accommodated among the dependents at the other end
+of the room. After the usual salaams had been made, the functionary
+continued his task, leaving me in ignorance as to what was to be
+the next part of the programme; Nazar squatting himself as far as
+possible from one of the attendants, who was armed with a cimeter,
+and whom he suspected of being the executioner.
+
+After I had been kept waiting for about a quarter of an hour, a
+messenger entered the room and informed the treasurer that the
+Khan was disengaged, and ready to receive me. We now entered a
+long corridor, which led to an inner court-yard. Here we found
+the reception-hall, a large tent, or _kibitka_, of a dome-like
+shape. The treasurer, lifting up a fold of thick cloth, motioned
+to me to enter, and on doing so I found myself face to face with
+the celebrated Khan, who was reclining against some pillows or
+cushions, and seated on a handsome Persian rug, warming his feet by
+a circular hearth filled with burning charcoal. He raised his hand
+to his forehead as I stood before him, a salute which I returned
+by touching my cap. He then made a sign for me to sit down by his
+side.
+
+Before I relate our conversation, it may not be uninteresting if
+I describe the sovereign. He is taller than the average of his
+subjects, being quite five feet ten in height, and is strongly built:
+his face is of a broad, massive type, he has a low, square forehead,
+large dark eyes, a short straight nose with dilated nostrils, and
+a coal-black beard and mustache; while an enormous mouth, with
+irregular but white teeth, and a chin somewhat concealed by his
+beard, and not at all in character with the otherwise determined
+appearance of his face, must complete the picture.
+
+He did not look more than eight-and-twenty, and has a pleasant,
+genial smile, and a merry twinkle in his eye, very unusual among
+Orientals; in fact, to me an expression in Spanish would better
+describe his face than any English one I can think of. It is very
+_simpatica_, and I must say I was greatly surprised, after all
+that has been written in Russian newspapers about the cruelties
+and other iniquities perpetrated by this Khivan potentate, to find
+the original such a cheery sort of fellow.
+
+His countenance was of a very different type from his treasurer's.
+The hang-dog expression of the latter made me bilious to look at
+him, and it was said that he carried to great lengths these peculiar
+vices and depraved habits to which Orientals are so often addicted.
+The Khan was dressed in a similar sort of costume to that generally
+worn by his subjects, but it was made of much richer materials,
+and a jewelled sword was lying by his seat. His head was covered
+by a tall black Astrakhan hat, of a sugar-loaf shape; and on my
+seeing that all the officials who were in the room at the same
+time as myself kept on their fur hats, I did the same.
+
+The sovereign, turning to an attendant, gave an order in a low
+tone, when tea was instantly brought, and handed to me in a small
+porcelain tea-cup. A conversation with the Khan was now commenced,
+and carried on through Nazar and a Kirghiz interpreter who spoke
+Russian, and occasionally by means of a moullah, who was acquainted
+with Arabic, and had spent some time in Egypt.
+
+
+
+
+_THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY_
+
+_WILLIAM DURBAN_
+
+The general characteristics of the Trans-Siberian Railroad may
+be described in a few words. It is by far the longest railway on
+earth. It is very much more solidly constructed, for the most part,
+than is generally supposed. The road bed is perfectly firm, and
+the track is well ballasted. Though in certain of the sections
+far to the east great engineering difficulties had to be contended
+with, the gradients on the greater part of the route are remarkably
+easy.
+
+Uniformity of gauge is the keynote of Russian railway engineers.
+Accordingly in possessing a five-foot guage, the Great Siberian
+is uniform with all the railroads throughout the Russian Empire.
+Thus, the ample breadth of the cars harmonizes with the luxury
+which astonishes the traveller who visits Russia for the first time,
+no matter in what region of the Empire he happens to be touring.
+The great height of the carriages, proportionate with the width,
+adds to the imposing aspect of the trains. It is necessary to bear
+these considerations in mind, for the idea prevails throughout the
+world outside Russia that this colossal road was carried through,
+not only with great haste, but also on a flimsy and superficial
+system. The bridges are necessarily very numerous, for Siberia
+is a land of mighty rivers with countless tributaries. All the
+permanent bridges are of iron. Those which were temporarily made
+of timber are being in every case reconstructed, and the Great
+Siberian includes some of the most magnificent bridges in the world.
+
+The bridge over the Irtish is unrivalled. Being nearly four miles
+long, it is on that account phenomenal; but its stupendous piers,
+designed specially to resist the fearful pressure of the ice, would
+alone convince any sceptic of the determination of the Russian
+administration to spare none of the resources of the Empire in order
+to make this railway absolutely efficient, alike for mercantile
+and military purposes. The Trans-Siberian Railway is intended to
+create a new Siberia. It is already fulfilling that aim, as I shall
+show. The most potent of the civilizing factors of the Twentieth
+Century is in this enterprise presented to the world, and in a very
+few years people will realize with astonishment what this railway
+means.
+
+The Trans-Siberian nominally begins in Europe. It is inaugurated
+by the magnificent iron bridge which spans the Volga at Samara
+in East Russia. The Volga is here a giant river, and this noble
+bridge joins the European railway system with the new Asiatic line.
+But practically the Asian line commences in the heart of the Ural
+Mountains, if that long and broad chain of low and pretty hills
+ought to be dignified with the name of mountains. Here lies the
+little town of Cheliabinsk, which in 1894 was the terminus of the
+European system.
+
+It is an interesting fact that Americans and Englishmen were the
+real authors of this splendid and romantic scheme for spanning the
+Asiatic continent with a railway from west to east. In 1857, an
+American named Collins came forward with a scheme for the formation
+of an Amur Railway Company, to lay a line from Irkutsk to Chita.
+Although his plan was not officially adopted, it was carefully
+kept in mind, and it actually forms the main and central part of
+the present line. An English engineer offered to lay a tramroad
+across Siberia, after Muravieff had carried Russia to the Pacific
+by his brilliant annexation of the mouths of the Amur. In 1858,
+three Englishmen offered to construct a railway from Moscow through
+Nijni-Novgorod to Tartar Bay. Though all proposals by foreigners
+have been courteously shelved, they have in reality formed the
+bases of native enterprise. It is to the credit of Russia that
+she has determined to depend on the energy and ability of her own
+sons to carry out this colossal undertaking.
+
+One of the chronic troubles of the Russian Government arises from
+the uneven distribution of the population. It happens that those
+are the most thickly inhabited districts which are the least able
+to support a dense population. For instance, an immense number of
+villages are scattered through the vast forest regions of Central
+and Western Russia, where birch trees grow by millions, while the
+great wheat-growing plains of the west centre and south-west are
+but sparsely inhabited. Then again, the infatuation of the military
+oligarchy has been evidenced in the plan by which all the railways
+except this new Siberian line have been designed for purely military
+purposes. The Emperor Nicholas insisted on all the lines being
+developed without the slightest regard to the wants of the towns
+and the conveniences of commerce. Even the natural facilities for
+engineering operations were not allowed by that autocrat to be
+for a moment taken into consideration. His engineers were once
+consulting him as to the expediency of taking the line from St.
+Petersburg to Moscow by a slight detour, to avoid some very troublesome
+obstacles. The Tsar took up a ruler, and with his pencil drew a
+straight line from the old metropolis. Handing back the chart,
+he peremptorily said: "There, gentlemen, that is to be the route
+for the line!" And certainly there is not a straighter reach of
+600 miles on any railroad in the world, as every tourist knows who
+has journeyed between the two chief cities of the Russian Empire.
+For instance, not very far beyond the Urals there is one magnificent
+stretch of perfectly straight road for 116 versts, or nearly eighty
+miles.
+
+The traveller who expects that on the great Siberian route he will
+speedily find himself plunged into semi-savagery, or that he will
+on leaving Europe begin to realize the solitude of a vast forlorn
+wilderness, will be agreeably disappointed. This great line is
+intended to carry forward in its progress all the comforts of modern
+civilization. Every station is picturesque and even artistic. No
+two stations are alike in style, and all are neat, substantial,
+comfortable, and comparable to the best rural stations anywhere in
+Europe or America. In one respect Russian provision for travellers
+is always far in advance of that in other countries. Those familiar
+with the country will know at once that I refer to the railway
+restaurants. The Great Siberian follows the rule of excellence
+and abundance. There, at every station, just as on the European
+side of the Urals, the traveller sees on entering the handsome
+dining-room the immense buffet loaded with freshly cooked Russian
+dishes, always hot and steaming, and of a variety not attempted in
+any other land excepting at great hotels. You select what fancy
+and appetite dictate, without any supervision. To dine at a railway
+restaurant anywhere in the Russian Empire is one of the luxuries
+of travel. Your dinner costs only a rouble--about two shillings,
+and what a dinner you secure for the money! Soup, beef, sturgeon,
+trout, poultry, game, bear's flesh, and vegetables in profusion
+are supplied _ad libitum_, the visitor simply helping himself just
+as he pleases. I mention these little details to prove that the
+longest railway in the world is to push civilization with it as
+it goes forward.
+
+Readers who will glance at any map of the new line will notice
+that the track runs across the upper waters of the great rivers,
+just about where they begin to be navigable. All through the summer,
+at any rate, America and England will, by the Arctic passage and
+by these mighty rivers, communicate with the heart of Asia, the
+railway in the far interior completing the circle of commerce.
+Other results will follow. Siberia at present contains a population
+of four million--less by more than a million than London reckons
+within its borders. Millions of the Russian peasantry in Europe are
+in a condition of chronic semi-starvation. Ere long thousands of
+these will weekly stream to the new Canaan in the East. Within the
+borders of Siberia, the whole of the United States of America could
+be enclosed, with a great spare ring around for the accommodation
+of a collection of little kingdoms. In the wake of the new line
+towns are springing up like mushrooms. Many of these will become
+great cities. There are several reasons for this development. The
+first is that the railway runs through South Siberia, where the
+climate is delightfully mild compared with the rigorous conditions
+of the atmosphere further north. The next reason is that all the
+chief gold-fields are in this southern latitude.
+
+One characteristic worthy of note is the absolute security aimed
+at by the administration of the line. Train and track are protected
+by an immense army of guards. The road is divided into sections
+of a verst each, a verst being about two-thirds of a mile. Every
+section is marked by a neat cottage, the home of the guard and
+his family. Night and day the guard or one of his household must
+patrol the section. A train is never out of sight of the guards,
+several of whom are employed wherever there are heavy curves. There
+are nearly 4,000 of these guards on the stretch between the Urals
+and Tomsk. All sense of solitude is thus removed from the mind of
+the traveller. The old post road through Siberia is one of the
+most dangerous routes in the world, being infested by murderous
+"brodyags," or runaway convicts; but the Siberian line is as safe
+as Cheapside or Oxford Street. With the fact of perfect safety
+is soon blended in the mind of the observer that of plenty. All
+along this wonderful route grass is seen growing in rank luxuriance
+that can hardly be equalled in any other part of the globe, Siberia
+being emphatically a grass-growing country. It is the original home
+of the whole graniferous stock. Wheat is indigenous to Siberia.
+Here is the largest grazing region in existence. Through this the
+train rolls on hour after hour, as in European Russia it goes on and
+on through interminable birch forests. Countless herds of animals in
+superb condition are everywhere seen roaming over these magnificent
+flowering Steppes, over which the Muscovite Eagle proudly floats.
+
+Parts of the great railway, however, traverse regions other than
+these. To make the reader understand the general characteristics
+of Siberia and the importance of the railway in the light of these
+characteristics, a few words must be said about the three great
+zones which mainly make up the country. The first is the _tundra_,
+the vast region which stretches through the northern sub-arctic
+latitudes. This desolate belt is not less than 5,000 miles in extent.
+In breadth it varies from 200 to 500 miles. In winter the _tundra_
+is, of course, one vast frozen sheet. In the brief summer it is
+swampy, steaming, and swarming with mosquitoes. Treeless and sterile,
+the _tundra_ is the home of strange uncouth tribes, but it is a
+valuable training ground for hardy hunters. To the minds of most
+people the _tundra_ is Siberia. This mischievous fallacy is difficult
+to dispel. In a few years the Siberian railway will have completely
+dissipated it. Much more valuable is the far wider zone called
+the _taiga_, the most wonderful belt of forest on the surface of
+the earth. I can testify to the profound impression of mingled
+mystery and delight produced on the mind by riding a thousand miles
+through Russian forests as they still exist in European Russia,
+where myriads of square miles in the north and centre of the land
+are covered by birch, spruce, larch, pine, and oak plantations.
+Where do these forests begin and where do they have an end? That
+is the traveller's thought. He finds that they thicken and broaden,
+and deepen as they sweep in their majestic gloom across the Urals,
+and make up for thousands of miles the grand Siberian arboreal belt.
+In this _taiga_ the Tsar possesses wealth beyond all computation;
+and the railway will put it actually at his disposal. The third
+zone, the most valuable of all, is that which mainly constitutes
+Southern Siberia. It is the region of the Steppes, that endless
+natural garden which again makes Siberia an incomparable land.
+Sheeted with flowers, variegated by woodlands, it holds in its lap
+ranges of mountains, all running with fairly uniform trend from
+north to south, while in its heart lies the romantic and mysterious
+Baikal, the deepest of lakes. Through the spurs of the _taiga_,
+running irregularly through the lovely Steppes, passes the new
+railroad, which thus taps the chief resources of the land. It will
+open up the forests, the arable country land, the cattle-breeding
+districts, and, above all, the mineral deposits. Here is a fine
+coming opportunity for the capitalists of the world.
+
+The Siberian railway starts at Cheliabinsk, just across the Ural
+Mountains, which it reaches through Samara on the Volga from the
+European side, coming over the boundary hills through Ufa, Miass
+and Zlatoust. Shortly after leaving the latter town, which is the
+centre of the Uralian iron industry, the train passes that pathetic
+"Monument of Tears," which marks the boundary between Europe and
+Asia. The triangular post of white marble, which thousands of weeping
+exiles every year embrace as they pay their sad farewell to Europe,
+is simply inscribed on one of its three sides, "Asia," on another,
+"Europe." Passing down the eastern slopes of the Urals the train
+soon reaches Cheliabinsk, running beside the Isset, a tributary
+of the Irtish, one of the main branches of the grand Obi river.
+On leaving Cheliabinsk, the traveller begins to realize that he
+is in Siberia. In the near future this section of the line will
+be traversed by many an explorer and many a hunter, who will in
+summer come to seek fresh fields on the course of the Obi, to track
+out towards the north the haunts of the seal, the walrus, and the
+white bear. The line crosses the Tobol at Kurgan, the Ishim at
+Patropavlosk, and the Irtish at Omsk, where the majestic new bridge
+spans a stream of two hundred yards. The three fine rivers are
+confluents of the Obi. Kurgan lies embosomed in the finest and
+richest, as well as the largest pasturage in the world. The magnitude
+of this undertaking may be imagined from the fact that the Yenisei
+river is only reached after a ride of 2,000 miles from Cheliabinsk,
+and then the traveller has not traversed half the distance across
+the continent which this railroad spans.
+
+We arrive at the main stream of the Obi when the train rolls into
+the station at Kolivan. Thus Tomsk, one of the chief cities of
+Siberia, is missed, for it lies further north on the Obi. In the
+same way does the line ignore Tobolsk, the Siberian capital, as it
+touches the Irtish far south of the city. These important places
+will be served by branch lines. Indeed, the branch to Tomsk is
+already finished. It is eighty miles long, and runs down the Tom
+valley northward to the city, which is the largest and most important
+in all Siberia. Tomsk will become the "hub" of Asia. It lies near
+the centre of the new railway system. It has a telephone system, is
+lighted by electricity, and possesses a flourishing university with
+thirty professors and 300 students. Tomsk, Tobolsk, and Yeniseisk
+would be difficult to reach by the main line as they are surrounded
+by vast swamps, and therefore the line is thus laid considerably
+south of these great towns. They are accessible with ease by side
+lines down their respective rivers.
+
+The Siberian line is designed to run through the arable lands of
+the fertile zone. The adjacent land will be worth countless millions
+of roubles to a Government which has not had to pay a single copeck
+for it. On for many hundreds of versts rolls the train through the
+pasture lands of the splendid Kirghiz race. The Kirghiz are by
+far the finest of the Tartars. They are a purely pastoral people,
+frugal, cleanly, and hospitable, living mainly on meats, and milk
+and cheese, the products of their herds. Both for pasture and for
+the culture of cereals, the vast territory between the Obi and
+the Yenisei will be unrivalled in the whole world. Kurgan is the
+capital. It will become an Asiatic Chicago.
+
+On the Shim river, a fairly important though minor tributary of
+the Obi, is Patropavlosk, with a population already of 20,000.
+It is growing rapidly, and fine buildings are springing up, in
+attestation of the immense influence of the new line. This city was
+once the frontier fortress erected by Russia against the Kirghiz.
+It was of commercial importance before the railroad was thought
+of, as the emporium of the brisk trade with Samarkand and Central
+Asia; great camel caravans constantly reaching it. All the old towns
+which are traversed by the Great Siberian are being transformed as
+if by magic. From Patropavlosk to Omsk is a distance equal to that
+between London and Edinburgh, about 400 miles. New and promising
+villages are frequently espied in the midst of the level, fertile
+flowery plains, varied by great patches of cultivated land. All
+along the track the land is being taken up on each side, and crops
+are being raised. We are in the midst of the great future granary
+of the whole Russian Empire, and not of that Empire alone.
+
+Reaching the Yenisei river, the grandest stream in Siberia, the
+train crosses a bridge 1,000 yards in length. But some time before
+this a stoppage is made at the town of Obb, which is a striking
+sample of the magical results of the railway. The whole country was
+till recently a scene of wild desolation. The thriving community,
+busy with a prosperous trade, is typical of the coming transformation
+of Siberia.
+
+A short distance beyond Irkutsk the line reaches one of the most
+remarkable places in the world--Lake Baikal. This grand lake is as
+long as England. It is nearly a mile deep, and covers an area of
+13,430 square miles. Its surface is 1,500 feet above the level of
+the sea. On every side it is hemmed in by lofty mountains, covered
+with thick forest. Only a few tiny villages relieve its dreary
+solitude. The early Russian settlers, impressed by the mystic silence
+and gloomy grandeur of Baikal, named it the "Holy Sea." It abounds
+in fish of many species, and every season thousands of pounds' worth
+of salmon are caught and dried. At the north end great numbers of
+seals have their habitat, the Buriat hunters sometimes taking as
+many as 1,000 in a single season. Baikal is the only fresh-water
+sea in the world in which this animal is found.
+
+The Transbaikalian section takes the line from Lake Baikal to the
+great Amur River. The line gradually ascends to the crest of the
+Yablonoi Mountains, reaching a height of 3,412 feet above the sea
+level. This is the greatest altitude of the Siberian Railway. In
+this province of Transbaikalia lies the interesting city of Chita,
+the far-off home of the most famous and estimable Socialist exiles
+sent from Russia. From this point to the Amur, where Manchuria is
+reached, the line is carried down the Pacific slope, through one
+of the wildest and most romantic tracks ever penetrated by railway
+engineers. It is not generally remembered that the Great Siberian
+Railway was begun at the Pacific end, and that the present Tsar
+Nicholas II., when Tsarevitch, inaugurated the colossal enterprise
+by laying the first stone of the eastern terminus at Vladivostock,
+on May 12, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+_HIGH LIFE IN RUSSIA_
+
+_THE COUNTESS OF GALLOWAY_
+
+The Russian aristocracy and plutocracy have few powers or privileges
+beyond that of serving their sovereign, and their position depends
+entirely on the will of the emperor. Official rank is the only
+distinction, and all ranks or "tchin," as it is called, is regulated
+according to the army grades. By this "tchin" alone is the right of
+being received at Court acquired. Society is, therefore, subservient
+to the Court, and occupies itself more with those whose position can
+best procure them what they desire than with any other ideas. The
+Court itself is very magnificent, and its entertainments display
+unbounded splendour, taste, and art. In the midst of winter the whole
+palace is decorated for the balls with trees of camellias, dracaenas
+and palms. The suppers seem almost to be served by magic. Two thousand
+people sup at the same moment: they all sit down together, and all
+finish together in an incredibly short space of time. The palace
+is lit by the electric light, the tables are placed under large
+palm-trees, and the effect is that of a grove of palms by moonlight.
+At these Court balls, besides the Royal Family of Grand Dukes and
+Duchesses, with gorgeous jewels, may be seen many of the great
+generals and governors of the provinces who come to St. Petersburg
+to do homage to their sovereign; a splendid-looking Circassian
+Prince, whose costume of fur and velvet is covered with chains of
+jewels and gold; the commander of the Cossack Guard, Tcherevine,
+who watches over the Emperor's safety, dressed in what resembles
+a well-fitting scarlet dressing-gown, with a huge scimitar in his
+belt sparkling with precious stones; Prince Dondoukoff Korsakoff,
+the Governor of the Caucasus, also in Cossack attire, with the
+beard which is the privilege of the Cossack birth. M. de Giers,
+whose civilian blue coat with gold buttons is remarkable among
+the numberless brilliant uniforms, talks to the Ambassadors with
+the wearied anxious expression habitual to his countenance. The
+Empress dances, but not the Emperor; he does not sit down to supper
+either, but walks about, after the Russian fashion of hospitality,
+to see that all his guests are served.
+
+[Illustration: THE WINTER PALACE, ST. PETERSBURG]
+
+If, to the outsider, society seems to lack the serious side, science,
+learning, and politics, it gains energy from its contact with men who
+are continually engaged in distant provinces, carrying Russian rule and
+civilization to the conquered Eastern tribes. Notwithstanding the great
+ease and luxury, the fact that so much of the male portion is composed
+of officers, who wear no other clothes than their uniforms, gives
+something of a business-like air, and produces a sense of discipline
+at the entertainments. Individually, the Russians have much sympathy
+with English ways and habits, and the political antagonism between
+the two nations does not appear to affect their social intercourse.
+They are exceedingly courteous, hospitable, and friendly, throwing
+themselves with much zest into the occupation or amusement of the
+moment. In these days of rapid communication social life is much
+the same in every great capital. St. Petersburg is a very gay society,
+and the great troubles underlying the fabric do not come to the
+surface in the daily life. There are of course representatives
+of all the different lines of thought and policy, and because they
+cannot govern themselves, it must not be supposed that they have
+not predilections in favour of this or that line of action.
+
+The season in St. Petersburg begins on the Russian New Year's Day,
+which is thirteen days late, for they adhere to what the Western
+nations now call the Old Style. It lasts till Lent, which the Eastern
+Church fixes also by a different calculation from the Western, and
+during that time there are Court balls twice a week and dancing at
+private houses nearly every other night, Sundays included. Private
+balls begin, as in London, very late and end very late. The dancing
+is most vigorous and animated. The specially Russian dance is the
+Mazurka, of Polish origin, and very pretty and graceful. Like the
+Scotch reel, it is a series of different figures with numerous
+and varied steps. The music, too, is special and spirited. The
+supper, which is always eaten sitting down, is a great feature
+of the evening, and there is invariably a cotillon afterwards.
+The pleasantest and most sociable entertainments are the little
+suppers every evening, where there is no dancing, and where the
+menu is most _recherche_ and the conversation brilliant. The houses
+are well adapted for entertainments, and those we saw comfortable
+and luxurious as far as the owners are concerned. The bedrooms
+were prettily furnished, and the dressing-rooms attached fitted
+up with a tiled bath, hot and cold water, and numberless mirrors.
+The wives of the great Court and State officials, as well as many
+other ladies, have one afternoon in the week on which they sit at
+home and receive visitors. There is always tea and Russian bonbons,
+which are most excellent. What strikes an English-woman is the
+number of men, officers of the army, and others, who attend these
+"jours," as they are called in French. Many of noted activity,
+such as General Kaulbars, may be seen quietly sipping their tea
+and talking of the last ball to the young lady of the house. A fete
+given by Madame Polovtsoff, wife of the Secretaire de l'Empire,
+was wonderfully conducted and organized. It took place at a villa
+on the Islands, as that part of St. Petersburg which lies between
+the two principal branches of the Neva is called. It is to villas
+here that the officials can retire after the season when obliged
+to remain near the capital. The rooms and large conservatories
+were lit by electricity. At the further end of the conservatory,
+buried in palm-trees were the gipsies chanting and wailing their
+savage national songs and choruses, while the guests wandered about
+amongst groves of camellias, and green lawns studded with
+lilies-of-the-valley and hyacinths; rose-bushes in full flower at
+the corners. When the gipsies were exhausted, dancing began, and
+later there was an excellent supper in another still more spacious
+conservatory. The entertainment ended with a cotillon, and for
+the stranger its originality was only marred by the fact that it
+had been thawing, and the company could not arrive or depart in
+"_troikas_,"--sleighs with three horses which seem to fly along the
+glistening moonlit snow. A favourite amusement, even in winter, is
+racing these "_troikas_," or sleighs, with fast trotters. The races
+are to be seen from stands, as in England, and are only impeded by
+falling snow. The pretty little horses are harnessed, for trotting
+races, singly, to a low sleigh (in summer to a drosky) driven by
+one man, wearing the colours of the owner. Two of these start at
+once in opposite directions on a circular or oblong course marked
+out on a flat expanse of snow and ice, which may be either land
+or water, as is found most convenient. It is a picturesque sight,
+and reminds one of the pictures of ancient chariot races on old
+vases and carved monuments.
+
+The character of a nation can scarcely fail to be affected by the
+size of the country it inhabits, and a certain indifference to time
+and distance is produced by this circumstance. There is also a
+peculiar apathy as regards small annoyances and casualties. Whatever
+accident befalls the Russian of the lower orders, his habitual
+remark is "_Nitchivo_" ("It is nothing"). Nevertheless, Northern
+blood and a Northern climate have mixed a marvellous amount of
+energy and enterprise with this Oriental characteristic. Take for
+example the Caspian railway, undertaken by General Annenkoff. This
+general completes fifteen hundred miles of railway in the incredibly
+short space of time of a year and a half, and almost before the
+public is aware of its having been commenced, he is back again in
+St. Petersburg dancing at a Court ball in a quadrille opposite the
+Empress. The railway made by him runs at present from the Caspian
+Sea to the Amou-Daria River, and will be continued to Bokhara,
+Samarkand, and Tashkend, in a northerly direction, while on the
+south it is to enter Persia. Should European complications, by
+removing the risk of foreign interposition, make it possible for
+a Russian army to reach the Caspian by way of the Black Sea and
+the Caucasus, this railway gives it the desired approach to India.
+By attacking us in India, which they possibly do not desire to
+conquer, the Panslavists and Russian enthusiasts believe they would
+establish their empire at Constantinople, and unite the whole Sclav
+race under the dominion of the Tsar.
+
+The one preponderating impression produced by a short visit to
+Russia is an almost bewildering sense of its vastness, with an
+equally bewildering feeling of astonishment at the centralization
+of all government in the hands of the Emperor. This impression is
+perhaps increased by the nature of the town of St. Petersburg. Long,
+broad streets, lit at night by the electric light, huge buildings,
+public and private, large and almost deserted places or squares, all
+tend to produce the reflection that the Russian nation is emerging
+from the long ages of Cimmerian darkness into which the repeated
+invasions of Asiatic hordes had plunged it, and that it is full
+of the energy and aspirations belonging to a people conscious of
+a great future in the history of mankind.
+
+
+
+
+_RURAL LIFE IN RUSSIA_
+
+_LADY VERNEY_
+
+The amount of territory given up to the serfs by the Emancipation
+Act of 1861 was about one-half of the arable land of the whole
+empire, so that the experiment of cutting up the large properties
+of a country, and the formation instead of a landed peasantry,
+has now been tried on a sufficiently large scale for a quarter of
+a century to enable the world to judge of its success or failure.
+There is no doubt of the philanthropic intentions of Alexander
+the First, but he seems to have also aimed (like Richelieu) at
+diminishing the power of the nobles, which formed some bulwark
+between the absolute sway of the Crown and the enormous dead level
+of peasants.
+
+The serfs belonged soul and body to the landowner: even when they
+were allowed to take service or exercise a trade in distant towns,
+they were obliged to pay a due, "_obrok_," to their owner, and to
+return home if required; while the instances of oppression were
+sometimes frightful, husbands and wives were separated, girls were
+sold away from their parents, young men were not allowed to marry.
+On the other hand, when the proprietor was kind, and rich enough
+not to make money of his serfs, the patriarchal form of life was
+not unhappy. "See now," said an old peasant, "what have I gained
+by the emancipation? I have nobody to go to to build my house,
+or to help in the ploughing time; the Seigneur, he knew what I
+wanted, and he did it for me without any bother. Now if I want
+a wife, I have got to go and court her myself; he used to choose
+for me, and he knew what was best. It is a great deal of trouble,
+and no good at all!" Under the old arrangements three generations
+were often found living in one house, and the grandfather, who was
+called "the Big One," bore a very despotic sway. The plan allowed
+several of the males of the family to seek work at a distance,
+leaving some at home to perform the "_corvee_" (forced labour)
+three days a week; but the families quarrelled among themselves,
+and the effect of the emancipation has been to split them up into
+different households. A considerable portion of the serfs were
+not really serfs at all. They were coachmen, grooms, gardeners,
+gamekeepers, etc., while their wives and daughters were nurses,
+ladies'-maids, and domestic servants. Their number was out of all
+proportion to their work, which was always carelessly done, but
+there was often great attachment to the family they served. The
+serfs proper lived in villages, had houses and plots of land of
+their own, and were nominally never sold except with the estate.
+The land, however, was under the dominion of the "_Mir_"; they could
+neither use it nor cultivate it except according to the communal
+obligations.
+
+The outward aspect of a Russian village is not attractive, and
+there is little choice in the surrounding country between a wide
+grey plain with a distance of scrubby pine forest, or the scrubby
+pine forest with distant grey plains. The peasants' houses are
+scattered up and down without any order or arrangement, and with
+no roads between, built of trunks of trees, unsquared, and mortised
+into each other at the corners, the interstices filled with moss
+and mud, a mode of building warmer than it sounds. In the interior
+there is always an enormous brick stove, five or six feet high,
+on which and on the floor the whole family sleep in their rags.
+The heat and the stench are frightful. No one undresses, washing
+is unknown, and sheepskin pelisses with the wool inside are not
+conducive to cleanliness. Wood, however, is becoming very scarce,
+the forests are used up in fuel for railway engines, for wooden
+constructions of all kind, and are set fire to wastefully--in many
+places the peasants are forced to burn dung, weeds, or anything
+they can pick up--fifty years, it is said, will exhaust the peasant
+forests, and fresh trees are never planted.
+
+The women are more diligent than the men, and the hardest work is
+often turned over to them, as is generally the case in countries
+where peasant properties prevail. "They are only the females of
+the male," and have few womanly qualities. They toil at the same
+tasks in the field as the men, ride astride like them, often without
+saddles, and the mortality is excessive among the neglected children,
+who are carried out into the fields, where the babies lie the whole
+day with a bough over them and covered with flies, while the poor
+mother is at work. Eight out of ten children are said to die before
+ten years old in rural Russia.
+
+In the little church (generally built of wood) there are no seats,
+the worshippers prostrate themselves and knock their heads two or
+three times on the ground, and must stand or kneel through the
+whole service. The roof consists of a number of bulbous-shaped
+cupolas; four, round the central dome, in the form of a cross is
+the completed ideal, with a separate minaret for the Virgin. These
+are covered with tiles of the brightest blue, green, and red, and gilt
+metal. The priest is a picturesque figure, with his long unclipped
+hair, tall felt hat largest at the top, and a flowing robe. He must
+be married when appointed to a cure, but is not allowed a second
+venture if his wife dies. Until lately they formed an hereditary
+caste, and it was unlawful for the son of a pope to be other than
+a pope. They are taken from the lowest class, and are generally
+quite as uneducated, and are looked down upon by their flocks.
+"One loves the Pope, and one the Popess" is an uncomplimentary
+proverb given by Gogol. "To have priests' eyes," meaning to be
+covetous or extortionate, is another. The drunkenness in all classes
+strikes Russian statesmen with dismay, and the priests and the
+popes, are among the worst delinquents. They are fast losing the
+authority they once had over the serfs, when they formed part of
+the great political system, of which the Tsar was the religious and
+political head. A Russian official report says that "the churches
+are now mostly attended by women and children, while the men are
+spending their last kopeck, or getting deeper into debt, at the
+village dram shop."
+
+Church festivals, marriages, christenings, burials and fairs, leave
+only two hundred days in the year for the Russian labourer. The
+climate is so severe as to prevent out-of-door work for months,
+and the enforced idleness increases the natural disposition to
+do nothing. "We are a lethargic people," says Gogol, "and require
+a stimulus from without, either that of an officer, a master, a
+driver, the rod, or _vodki_ (a white spirit distilled from corn);
+and this," he adds in another place, "whether the man be peasant,
+soldier, clerk, sailor, priest, merchant, seigneur or prince."
+At the time of the Crimean War it was always believed that the
+Russian soldier could only be driven up to an attack, such as that
+of Inkermann, under the influence of intoxication. The Russian
+peasant is indeed a barbarian at a very low stage of civilization.
+In the Crimean hospitals every nationality was to be found among
+the patients, and the Russian soldier was considered far the lowest
+of all. Stolid, stupid, hard, he never showed any gratitude for
+any amount of care and attention, or seemed, indeed, to understand
+them; and there was no doubt that during the war he continually put
+the wounded to death in order to possess himself of their clothes.
+
+The Greek Church is a very dead form of faith, and the worship of
+saints of every degree of power "amounts to a fetishism almost as
+bad as any to be found in Africa." I am myself the happy possessor
+of a little rude wooden bas-relief, framed and glazed, of two saints
+whose names I have ungratefully forgotten, to whom if you pray
+as you go out to commit a crime, however heinous, you take your
+pardon with you--a refinement upon the whipping of the saints in
+Calabria and Spanish hagiolatry. The icons, the sacred images,
+are hung in the chief corner, called "The Beautiful," of a Russian
+_izba_. A lamp is always lit before them, and some food spread
+"for the ghosts to come and eat." The well-to-do peasant is still
+"strict about his fasts and festivals, and never neglects to prepare
+for Lent. During the whole year his forethought never wearies;
+the children pick up a number of fungi, which the English kick
+away as toadstools, these are dried in the sun or the oven, and
+packed in casks with a mixture of hot water and dry meal in which
+they ferment. The staple diet of the peasant consists of buckwheat,
+rye meal, sauerkraut, and coarse cured fish" (little, however,
+but black bread, often mouldy and sauerkraut, nearly putrid, is
+found in the generality of Russian peasant homes). No milk, butter,
+cheese, or eggs are allowed in Lent, all of which are permitted to
+the Roman Catholic, and the oil the peasant uses for his cooking
+is linseed instead of olive oil, which last he religiously sets
+aside for the lamps burning before the holy images. "To neglect
+fasting would cause a man to be shunned as a traitor, not only
+to his religion, but to his class and country."
+
+[Illustration: RUSSIAN FARM SCENE.]
+
+In a bettermost household, the samovar, the tea-urn, is always
+going. If a couple of men have a bargain to strike, the charcoal
+is lighted inside the urn, which has a pipe carried into the stone
+chimney, and the noise of the heated air is like a roaring furnace.
+They will go on drinking boiling hot weak tea, in glasses, for
+hours, with a liberal allowance of _vodki_. The samovar, however,
+is a completely new institution, and the old peasants will tell
+you, "Ah, Holy Russia has never been the same since we drank so
+much tea."
+
+The only bit of art or pastime to be found among the peasants seems
+to consist in the "circling dances" with songs, at harvest, Christmas,
+and all other important festivals, as described by Mr. Ralston.
+And even here "the settled gloom, the monotonous sadness," are
+most remarkable. Wife-beating, husbands' infidelities, horrible
+stories of witches and vampires, are the general subjects of the
+songs. The lament of the young bride who is treated almost like
+a slave by her father and mother-in-law, has a chorus: "Thumping,
+scolding, never lets his daughter sleep"; "Up, you slattern! up,
+you sloven, sluggish slut!" A wife entreats: "Oh, my husband, only
+for good cause beat thou thy wife, not for little things. Far away
+is my father dear, and farther still my mother." The husband who is
+tired of his wife sings: "Thanks, thanks to the blue pitcher (_i.
+e._, poison), it has rid me of my cares; not that cares afflicted
+me, my real affliction was my wife," ending, "Love will I make to
+the girls across the stream." Next comes a wife who poisons her
+husband: "I dried the evil root, and pounded it small;" but in
+this case the husband was hated because he had killed her brother.
+The most unpleasant of all, however, are the invocations to _vodki_.
+A circle of girls imitate drunken women, and sing as they dance:
+"_Vodki_ delicious I drank, I drank; not in a cup or a glass, but a
+bucketful I drank.... I cling to the posts of the door. Oh, doorpost,
+hold me up, the drunken woman, the tipsy rogue."
+
+The account of the Baba Zaga, a hideous old witch, is enough to
+drive children into convulsions. She has a nose and teeth made
+of strong sharp iron. As she lies in her hut she stretches from
+one corner to the other, and her nose goes through the roof. The
+fence is made of the bones of the people she has eaten, and tipped
+with their skulls. The uprights of the gate are human legs. She
+has a broom to sweep away the traces of her passage over the snow
+in her seven-leagued boots. She steals children to eat them.
+
+Remains of paganism are to be found in some of the sayings. A curse
+still existing says, "May Perun (_i. e._, the lightning) strike
+thee." The god Perun, the Thunderer, resembles Thor, and like him
+carries a hammer. He has been transformed into Elijah, the prophet
+Ilya, the rumbling of whose chariot as he rolls through heaven,
+especially on the week in summer when his festival falls, may be
+heard in thunder. There is a dismal custom by which the children are
+made to eat the mouldy bread, "because the Rusalkas (the fairies)
+do not choose bread to be wasted." Inhuman stories about burying
+a child alive in the foundation of a new town to propitiate the
+earth spirit; that a drowning man must not be saved, lest the water
+spirit be offended; that if groans or cries are heard in the forest,
+a traveller must go straight on without paying any attention, "for
+it is only the wood demon, the lyeshey," seem only to be invented
+as excuses for selfish inaction. Wolves bear a great part in the
+stories. A peasant driving in a sledge with three children is pursued
+by a pack of wolves: he throws out a child, which they stop to
+devour; then the howls come near him again, and he throws out a
+second; again they return, when the last is sacrificed; and one
+is grieved to hear that he saves his own wretched cowardly life
+at last.
+
+The Emancipation was doubtless a great work. Twenty million serfs
+belonging to private owners, and 30,000,000 more, the serfs of
+the Crown were set free. They had always, however, considered the
+communal land as in one sense their own. "We are yours but the
+land is ours," was the phrase. The Act was received with mistrust
+and suspicion, and the owners were supposed to have tampered with
+the good intentions of the Tsar. Land had been allotted to each
+peasant family sufficient, as supposed, for its support, besides
+paying a fixed yearly sum to Government. Much of it, however, is
+so bad that it cannot be made to afford a living and pay the tax,
+in fact a poll tax, not dependent on the size of the strip, but on
+the number of the souls. The population in Russia has always had a
+great tendency to migrate, and serfdom in past ages is said to have
+been instituted to enable the lord of the soil to be responsible for
+the taxes. "It would have been impossible to collect these from
+peasants free to roam from Archangel to the Caucasus, from St.
+Petersburg to Siberia." It was therefore necessary to enforce the
+payments from the village community, the Mir, which is a much less
+merciful landlord than the nobles of former days, and constantly
+sells up the defaulting peasant.
+
+The rule of the Mir is strangely democratic in so despotic an empire.
+The Government never interferes with the communes if they pay their
+taxes, and the ignorant peasants of the rural courts may pass sentences
+of imprisonment for seven days, inflict twenty strokes with a rod,
+impose fines, and cause a man who is pronounced "vicious or pernicious"
+to be banished to Siberia. The authority of the Mir, of the Starosta,
+the Whiteheads, the chief elders, seems never to be resisted, and
+there are a number of proverbs declaring "what the Mir decides
+must come to pass"; "The neck and shoulders of the Mir are broad";
+"The tear of the Mir is cold but sharp." Each peasant is bound
+hand and foot by minute regulations; he must plough, sow and reap
+only when his neighbours do, and the interference with his liberty
+of action is most vexatious and very injurious.
+
+The agriculture enforced is of the most barbarous kind. Jensen,
+Professor of Political Economy at Moscow, says: "The three-field
+system--corn, green crops and fallow--which was abandoned in Europe
+two centuries ago, has most disastrous consequences here. The lots
+are changed every year, and no man has any interest in improving
+property which will not be his in so short a time. Hardly any manure
+is used, and in many places the corn is threshed out by driving
+horses and wagons over it. The exhaustion of the soil by this most
+barbarous culture has reached a fearful pitch."
+
+The size of the allotments varies extremely in the different climates
+and soils, and the country is so enormous that the provinces were
+divided into zones to carry out the details of the Emancipation
+Act--the zone without black soil; the zone with black soil; and,
+third, the great steppe zone. In the first two the allotments range
+from two and two-thirds to twenty acres, in the steppes from eight
+and three-quarters to thirty-four and one-third. "Whether, however,"
+says Jensen, "the peasants cultivate their land as proprietors at
+1_s_. 9_d_. or hire it at 18_s_. 6_d_. the result is the same--the
+soil is scourged and exhausted, and semi-starvation has become the
+general feature of peasant life."
+
+Usury is the great nightmare of rural Russia, at present, an evil
+which seems to dog the peasant proprietor in all countries alike.
+The "Gombeen Man" is fast getting possession of the little Irish
+owners. A man who hires land cannot borrow on it; the little owner
+is tempted always to mortgage it at a pinch. In Russia he borrows to
+the outside of its value to pay the taxes and get in his crop. "The
+bondage labourers," _i. e._, men bound to work on their creditor's
+land as interest for money lent, receive no wages and are in fact a
+sort of slaves. They repay their extortioners by working as badly
+as they can--a "level worst," far inferior to that of the serfs of
+old, they harvest three and a half or four stacks of corn where
+the other peasants get five. The Koulaks and Mir-eaters, and other
+usurers, often of peasant origin, exhaust the peasant in every
+way; they then foreclose the mortgages, unite the small pieces
+of land once more, and reconstitute large estates. A Koulak is
+not to be trifled with; he finds a thousand occasions for revenge;
+the peasant cannot cheat the Jew as he does the landlord, and is
+being starved out--the mortality is enormous.
+
+The peasant class comprises five-sixths of the whole population--a
+stolid, ignorant, utterly unprogressive mass of human beings. They
+have received in gift nearly half the empire for their own use,
+and cling to the soil as their only chance of existence. They
+consequently dread all change, fearing that it should endanger
+this valuable possession. A dense solid stratum of unreasoning
+conservatism thus constitutes the whole basis of Russian society
+backed by the most corrupt set of officials to be found in the
+whole world. The middle and upper classes are often full of ardent
+wishes for the advancement of society and projects for the reform
+of the State. These are generally of the wildest and most terrible
+description, but their objects are anything but unreasonable. They
+desire to share in political power and the government of their
+country, as is the privilege of every other nation in Europe, and
+they hope to do something for the seething mass of ignorance and
+misery around them. The Nihilists have an ideal at least of good,
+and the open air of practical politics would probably get rid of
+the unhealthy absurdities and wickedness of their creeds. But the
+Russian peasant cares neither for liberty nor politics, neither
+for education, nor cleanliness, nor civilization of any kind. His
+only interest is to squeeze just enough out of his plot of ground
+to live upon and get drunk as many days in the year as possible.[1]
+With such a base to the pyramid as is constituted by the peasant
+proprietors of Russia, aided by the enormous army, recruited almost
+to any extent from among their ranks, whose chief religion is a
+superstitious reverence for the "great father," the Tsar is safe
+in refusing all concessions, all improvements; and the hopeless
+nature of Russian reform hitherto, mainly hangs upon the conviction
+of the Government that nothing external can possibly act upon this
+inert mass. "Great is stupidity, and shall prevail." But surely
+not forever!
+
+[Footnote 1: "When God created the world He made different nations
+and gave them all sorts of good things--land, corn and fruit. Then
+He asked them if they were satisfied, and they all said 'Yes' except
+the Russian, who had got as much as the rest, but simpered 'Please
+Lord, some _vodki_.'"--_Russian Popular Tale_.]
+
+
+
+
+_FOOD AND DRINK_
+
+_H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS_
+
+The essential point in the service of the Russian dinner is--as
+is now generally known throughout Europe--that the dishes should
+be handed round instead of being placed on the table, which is
+covered throughout the meal with flowers, fruit, and the whole
+of the dessert. One advantage of this plan is, that it makes the
+dinner-table look well; another, that it renders the service more
+rapid, and saves much trouble to the host. The dishes are brought
+in one by one; or two at a time, and of the same kind, if a large
+number are dining. The ordinary wines are on the table, and nothing
+has to be changed except the plates. At the end of dinner, as the
+cloth is not removed, the dessert is ready served; and this has
+always been one of the great glories of a Russian banquet.
+
+"I was particularly struck," says Archdeacon Coxe, "with the quantity
+and quality of the fruit which made its appearance in the dessert.
+Pines, peaches, apricots, grapes, pears, and cherries, none of
+which can in this country be obtained without the assistance of
+hot-houses,[1] were served," he tells us, "in the greatest profusion.
+There was a delicious species of small melon, which had been sent
+by land-carriage from Astrakhan to Moscow--a distance of a thousand
+miles. These melons," he adds, "sometimes cost five pounds apiece,
+and at other times may be purchased in the markets of Moscow for
+less than half-a-crown apiece." One "instance of elegance" which
+distinguished the dessert, and which appears to have made an impression
+on the Archdeacon, is then mentioned. "At the upper and lower ends
+of the table were placed two china vases, containing cherry-trees
+in full leaf, and fruit hanging on the boughs which was gathered by
+the company." This cherry-tree is also a favourite, and certainly
+a very agreeable ornament, in the present day. At the conclusion
+of the dessert coffee is served as in France and England. Men and
+women leave the table together, and after dinner no wine is taken.
+Later in the evening tea is brought in, with biscuits, cakes, and
+preserved fruits.
+
+[Footnote 1: That is to say, not in the winter. In the summer,
+pears and cherries abound in Moscow, and every kind of fruit ripens
+in the south.]
+
+The reception-rooms in Russian houses are all _en suite_; and instead
+of doors you pass from room to room through arches hung with curtains.
+The number of the apartments in most of the houses I remember varied
+from three to six or seven; but in the clubs and in large mansions
+there are more. Grace before or after dinner is never said under
+any circumstances; but all the guests make the sign of the cross
+before sitting down to table, usually looking at the same time
+towards the eastern corner of the room, where the holy image hangs.
+This ceremony is never omitted in families, though in the early
+part of the century, when the Gallomania was at its height, it is
+said to have been much neglected. In club dinners, when men are
+dining alone, it will be easily believed that the same importance
+is not attached to it; but the custom may be described as almost
+universal among the rich, and quite universal among the poor. Indeed,
+a peasant or workman would not on any account eat without first
+making the sign of the cross. In Russia, with its "patriarchal"
+society (as the Russians are fond of saying), it is usual to thank
+the lady of the house, either by word or gesture, after dining at
+her table; and those who are sufficiently intimate kiss her hand.
+
+[Illustration: THE TSAR'S DINING-ROOM, MOSCOW.]
+
+We now come to the composition of the Russian dinners; and here I
+must repeat with Archdeacon Coxe, that although the Russians have
+adopted many of the delicacies of French cookery, they "neither
+affect to despise their native dishes nor squeamishly reject the
+solid joints which characterize our own repasts." I was astonished,
+at one Russian dinner, which I was assured was thoroughly national
+in style, to meet with the homely roast leg of mutton and baked
+potatoes of my native land. Like the English, the Russians take
+potatoes with nearly every dish--either plain boiled, fried, or
+with parsley and butter over them. Plum-pudding, too, and boiled
+rice-pudding with currants in it, and with melted butter, are known
+in Russia--at all events in Moscow and St. Petersburg; and goose is
+not considered complete without apple-sauce. As in France, every
+dinner begins with soup; but this custom has not been borrowed
+from the French. It seems to date from time immemorial, for all
+the Russian peasants, a thoroughly stationary class, take their
+soup daily. The Russians are very successful with some kinds of
+pickles, such as salted cucumbers and mushrooms; and they excel
+in salads, composed not only of lettuce, endive, and beetroot, but
+also of cherries, grapes, and other fruits, preserved in vinegar.
+The fruit is always placed at the top, and has a very picturesque
+effect in the midst of the green leaves. Altogether it may be said
+that the Russian _cuisine_ is founded on a system of eclecticism,
+with a large number of national dishes for its base. Of course,
+in some Russian houses, as in some English ones, the cooking is
+nearly all in the French style; but even then there are always a
+few dishes on the table that might easily be recognized as belonging
+to the country. We need scarcely remark, that only very rich persons
+dine every day in the sumptuous style described by Archdeacon Coxe,
+though the rule as to service may be said to be general--one dish
+at a time, and nothing on the table but flowers and the dessert.
+In the winter, when it is difficult and expensive to get dessert,
+those who are rich send for it where it _can_ be obtained--perhaps
+to their own hot-houses; and those who are not rich, as in other
+countries, go without. At the _traktirs_, or _restaurants_, the
+usual dinner supplied for three-quarters of a rouble consists of
+soup, with a pie of mince-meat, or minced vegetables, an _entree_,
+roast meat, and some kind of sweet. That, too, may be considered
+the kind of dinner which persons of moderate means have every day
+at home. Rich proprietors, who keep a head-cook, a roaster, a
+pastry-cook, and two or three assistant-cooks, would perhaps despise
+so moderate a repast; but from a little manual of cookery which
+a friend has been kind enough to send me from Russia, it would
+appear that the generality of persons do not have more than four
+dishes at each meal.
+
+The most ancient and popular drinks in Russia are hydromel or mead
+(called by the same name in Russia), beer, and _kvass_. Mead, the fine
+old Scandinavian drink, is mentioned as far back as the Tenth Century;
+and in a chronicle of Novgorod of the year 989, it is stated that "A
+great festival took place, at which a hundred and twenty thousand
+pounds of honey were consumed." Hydromel is flavoured with various
+kinds of spices and fermented with hops. Gerebtzoff states that
+beer is mentioned (under the name of _oloul_--the present word being
+_pivo_) in the _Book of Ranks_, written in the Eleventh and Twelfth
+Centuries. But no drink is so ancient as _kvass_, which, according
+to the chronicle of Nestor, was in use among the Sclavonians in
+the first century of our era. Among the laws of Yaroslaff there
+is an old edict determining the quantity of malt to be furnished
+for making _kvass_ to workmen engaged in building a town.
+
+The Russians learnt to drink wine from the Greeks, during their
+frequent intercourse with the Eastern Empire, long before the Mongol
+invasion. During the Tartar domination there was less communication
+with Constantinople and the consumption of wine decreased, but
+it became greater again during the period of the Tsars. In the
+beginning of the Seventeenth Century wine was supplied to ambassadors,
+but the Russians for the most part still preferred their native
+drinks. The cultivation of the vine was introduced at Astrakhan
+in 1613, and a German traveller named Strauss, who visited the
+city in 1675, found that it had been attended with great success;
+so much so, that, without counting what was sold in the way of
+general trade, the province supplied to the Tsar alone every year
+two hundred tuns of wine, and fifty tuns of grape brandy. The wines
+of Greece were at the same time replaced by those of Hungary, which
+were in great demand when Peter came and introduced the vintage
+of France. This by many persons will be considered not the least
+of his reforms.
+
+The Russians acquired the art of distilling from grain in the Fourteenth
+Century from the Genoese established in the Crimea, and seem to
+have lost no time in profiting by their knowledge. They soon began
+to invent infusions of fruit and berries, which under the name of
+"_nalivka_" have long been known to travellers, and which I for
+my part found excellent. "_Raki_," about the consumption of which
+by the Russian soldiers so much was written during the Crimean
+war, is a Turkish spirit, and is unknown in Russia. The Russian
+grain-spirit is called "_vodka_." The best qualities are more like
+the best whiskey than anything else, only weaker; but it is of various
+degrees of excellence as of price. The new common _vodka_, like other
+new spirits, is fiery; but when purified, and kept for some time, it
+is excellent and particularly mild. Travellers to Moscow who are
+curious on the subject of _vodka_ may visit a gigantic distillery
+in the neighbourhood, to which it is easy to gain admission, and
+where they can obtain information and samples in abundance. _Vodka_
+is sometimes made in imitation of brandy, and there are also sweet
+and bitter _vodkas_; and, indeed, _vodka_ of all flavours. But
+the British spirit which the ordinary _vodka_ chiefly resembles
+is whiskey. There is one curious custom connected with drinking in
+Russia which, as far as I am aware, has never been noticed. The
+Russians drink first and eat afterwards, and never drink without
+eating. If wine and biscuits are placed on the table, everyone takes
+a glass of wine first, and then a biscuit; and at the _zakouska_
+before dinner, those who take the customary glass of _vodka_ take an
+atom of caviare or cheese after it, but not before. It may also be
+remarked that, as a general rule, the Russians, like the Orientals,
+drink only at the beginning of a repast.
+
+A hospitable Englishman entertaining a Russian, on seeing him eat
+after drinking, would press him to drink again, and having drunk
+a second time, the Russian would eat once more on his own account;
+which would involve another invitation to drink on the part of the
+Englishman. As a hospitable Russian, on the other hand, entertaining
+an Englishman, would endeavour to prevail upon him to eat after
+drinking, and as it is the Englishman's habit to drink after eating,
+it is easy to see that too much attention on either side might
+lead to very unfortunate results.
+
+A great deal is said about the enormous quantity of champagne consumed
+in Russia. Champagne, however, costs five roubles (from sixteen to
+seventeen shillings) a bottle--the duty alone amounting to one rouble
+a bottle--and is only drunk habitually by persons of considerable
+means. Nor does the champagne bottle go round so frequently at
+Russian as at English dinners. It is usually given, as in France,
+with the pastry and dessert, and no other wine is taken after it.
+The rich merchants are said to drink champagne very freely at their
+evening entertainments; but the only merchant at whose house I
+dined had, unfortunately, adopted Western manners, and gave nothing
+during the evening but tea. However, at festivals and celebrations
+of all kinds--whether of congratulation, of welcome, or of
+farewell--champagne is indispensable. What Alphonse Karr says of
+women and their toilette--that they regard every event in life
+as an occasion for a new dress--may certainly be paraphrased and
+applied to the Russians in connection with champagne. Besides the
+champagne which is given as a matter of course at dinner-parties
+and balls, there must be champagne at birthdays, champagne at
+christenings, champagne at, or in honour of, betrothals, champagne
+in abundance at weddings, champagne at the arrival of a friend, and
+champagne at his departure. For those who cannot afford veritable
+champagne, Russian viniculture supplies an excellent imitation in
+the shape of "_Donskoi_" and "_Crimskoi_,"--the wines of the Don
+and of the Crimea. As "_Donskoi_" costs only a fifth of the price
+of real champagne, it will be understood that it is not seldom
+substituted for the genuine article, both by fraudulent wine merchants
+and economic hosts. However, it is a true wine, and far superior to
+the fabrications of Hamburg, which, under the name of champagne,
+find their way all over the north of Europe. It has often been
+said that the Russians drink champagne merely because it is dear.
+But the fact is, they have a liking for all effervescing drinks,
+and naturally, therefore, for champagne, the best of all. Among
+the effervescing drinks peculiar to Russia, we may mention apple
+_kvass, kislya shchee_, and _voditsa. Kislya shchee_ is made out of
+two sorts of malt, three sorts of flour, and dried apples; in apple
+_kvass_ there are more apples and less malt and flour. _Voditsa_
+(a diminutive of _voda_, water), is made of syrup, water, and a
+little spirit. All these summer-drinks are bottled and kept in
+the ice-house.
+
+
+
+
+_CARNIVAL-TIME AND EASTER_
+
+_A. NICOL SIMPSON_
+
+Lent is heralded by carnival, called by Russians "Maslanitza"--the
+"_Butter Wochen_" of the Germans. _Maslanitza_ is held during the
+eighth week preceding Easter, the fast proper is observed during the
+intervening seven weeks. During Maslanitza every article of diet,
+flesh excepted, is allowed to be partaken of, but over-indulgence
+in other articles, including drinks, is not forbidden.
+
+Carnival commences on Sunday at noon and continues till the close
+of the succeeding Sunday. The salutation during the week is
+"_Maslanitza_," or "_Sherokie Maslanitza_," "_Sherokie_" meaning,
+literally "broad," indicating a full amount of pleasure, and the
+facial expression accompanying this salutation shows plainly that
+unrestrained enjoyment is the aim and object for the week. Upon
+the discharge of the time gun at noon, there emerge from all parts
+of the city tiny sleighs driven by peasants, chiefly Finns, who for
+the time are allowed to ply for hire by the payment of a nominal
+tax imposed by the police or city corporation. Most of these Finns
+are unable to speak Russian intelligibly, although living at no
+great distance from the capital. It is said that from 5,000 to 10,000
+of these jehus come annually to St. Petersburg for _Maslanitza_,
+and they add materially to the gaiety of the city as they drive
+along the streets. These Finns are mostly patronized by the
+working-classes, for the simple reason that their charges are lower
+than the ordinary _isvozchick_, or cabby.
+
+During the festivities the great centre of attraction for the working
+population is the "Marco Polo," or "Champ de Mars," an immense
+plain on the banks of the Neva. Here a huge fair is held, with
+the usual assortment of stalls, loaded with sweetmeats and similar
+dainties. Actors from the city theatres are upon the ground, with
+smaller booths where the stage-struck hero acts the leading part.
+There are dwarfs, fat women, giants, and the renowned ubiquitous
+Punch and Judy, merry-go-rounds, card-sharpers, cheap-jacks, and
+a medley crowd of men and women all catering for the roubles of
+the crowd. What are termed the "ice-hills" are perhaps the most
+attractive feature of the gathering.
+
+In the city feasting and visiting are the order of the day. There
+is no limit to the consumption of "_bleenies_," a kind of pancake
+made of buckwheat flour, and eaten with butter sauce or fresh caviare,
+according to the circumstances of the families. Morn, noon, and
+night _bleenies_ are cooked and eaten by the dozen, moistened,
+of course, with the indispensable _vodka_ or native gin, which is
+distilled from rye.
+
+When midnight of the second Sunday arrives, all gaieties are supposed
+to vanish, and a subdued and demure aspect must be assumed, and
+the form of congratulation between friends and acquaintances
+is--"_Pozdravlin vam post_," or "I congratulate you on the fast."
+The church bells toll mournfully at brief intervals from 4 or 5
+A. M., when early mass is celebrated until about 8 P. M., when
+evening service closes.
+
+Before the Passion--like the Jews, who at Passover search diligently
+for and cast out the old leaven--the Russian housewife likewise
+searches out every corner, most remorselessly sweeps from its
+hiding-place every particle of dust. Everything is done to make the
+house and its contents fit to meet a risen Saviour. The streets,
+always very clean, receive special attention, even the lamp-posts
+are carefully washed down and the kerbs sanded. Everything that
+will clean has brush and soap-and-water applied to it. The reason
+of this is the belief that our Saviour invisibly walks about the
+earth for forty days after Easter, that is, until Ascension Day.
+
+On the Thursday of Passion Week "_Strashnaya Nedelli_," _i. e._,
+"_Terrible Week_," is enacted in a very realistic fashion one of
+the last acts of our Saviour--"the washing of the Disciples' feet."
+After the close of the second diet of worship at St. Isaac's Cathedral
+this ceremony is performed.
+
+The most important day of the week is that of "_Strashnaya Piatnitsa_,"
+or Good Friday, when the burial of our Lord is enacted before the
+people in a truly solemn and impressive manner. In every church
+there is a sarcophagus in imitation of our Saviour's tomb, and
+many of these sarcophagi are of elaborate workmanship with gorgeous
+gilt and otherwise ornamented. The lid is adorned with a painting
+representing our Saviour in death. At dawn this lid is carried
+into the chapel, and by 3 P. M. the sarcophagus is in its place
+on the dais ready to receive the body of our Lord. Shortly before
+the service is concluded, all the worshippers have their tapers
+lighted, the flame being procured from a candelabrum in front of
+the sacred icon. This is done by those nearest to the candelabrum
+lighting their tapers, while those behind them get the sacred flame
+from them, and in this way all get their tapers lit. Many endeavour
+to carry their burning tapers home, so that they may have the holy
+flame in their dwellings.
+
+[Illustration: ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL, ST. PETERSBURG.]
+
+Leaving the chapel the crowd musters in the street. Then there
+emerges a church dignitary bearing a large brightly-burnished crucifix,
+followed by others bearing bannerettes and other symbols, the names
+and uses of which are to us a mystery. Last of all come forth four
+priests, clad in their gorgeous canonical vestments, bearing the
+lid of the sarcophagus which is supported on brass rods. Under
+the lid walks an aged priest clad in his clerical vestments,
+representing the dead Christ being carried to his tomb. Slowly,
+sadly, and reverently he is borne to the tomb, the worshippers
+crossing themselves most devoutly. A sudden rush is made for the
+church to witness the interment, the big bell meanwhile tolling
+mournfully as the procession moves on. The sad procession enters
+the church, and, going up to where the sarcophagus is placed with
+all the external appearances of love, mourning, and lamentation,
+the lid is placed on the sarcophagus and the last obsequies of
+the crucified "Christ" are over.
+
+Preparations are now industriously made for the due celebration of
+the Resurrection morn. Shopping, shopping, shopping goes on without
+intermission. Those who can, prepare to adorn their bodies with one
+or more articles of new clothing, but all make preparations for a
+sumptuous feast. It is interesting to watch the shops, especially in
+the public markets, to see the avidity with which every article of
+food is bought up. The butchers come in, perhaps, for the largest
+share of custom, as flesh, especially smoked ham, is in universal
+demand. Ham among all classes of the community is indispensable for
+the breaking of the fast and the due celebration of the feast. Dyed
+eggs are in universal request. The exchange of eggs, accompanied with
+kissing on the lips and cheeks in the form of the cross, accompanies
+all gifts or exchange. The _koolitch_ and _paska_ have also to be
+bought. The _koolitch_ is a sweet kind of wheaten bread, circular
+in form, in which there are raisins. It is ornamented with candied
+sugar and usually has the Easter salutation on it: "_Christos
+vozkress_"--"Christ is risen"--the whole surmounted with a large
+gaudy red-paper rose. The _paska_ is made of cords, pyramidal in
+shape, and contains a few raisins, and, like the former, has also
+a paper rose inserted on the top. These are the _sine qua non_ for
+the due observance of Easter, but what relation they may have, if
+any, to the Jewish Feast of the Passover, it is difficult to see,
+although in many other respects there is a striking resemblance
+to the service of the Temple in Jerusalem in the ritual of the
+Russo-Greek Church. The _koolitch_ and _paska_ and dyed eggs are
+brought to, but not into, the church on the Saturday evening. Some
+have burning tapers inserted into them, while a pure white table
+napkin is spread on the ground, or on benches specially provided
+for the purpose, awaiting the priests' blessing. The hours for
+this purpose are six, eight, and ten o'clock. The priests sprinkle
+the _koolitch, paska_, and dyed eggs at these hours, those to whom
+they belong slipping a silver or copper coin into his hand as a
+reward for his services. These articles are then carried home,
+and along with the other necessities for the feast are laid out
+on a table, there to lie untouched till the resurrection of the
+"Saviour" is an accomplished fact. Meanwhile the lessons are being
+read over the tomb of "Christ," and the devotees, still in large
+numbers, kiss His face and feet. About 11 P. M. the sarcophagus is
+wheeled to its usual place in the church, where it remains until
+the following Easter.
+
+All the churches by this time are densely packed with worshippers,
+silently waiting with eager expectancy the time when their "Saviour"
+will break the bonds of death and rise from the tomb in which he
+has now lain for three days.
+
+As if by magic, everyone has lighted his or her taper, and looks
+anxiously towards the altar-screen, where preparations are being
+made by the priests to go to Joseph of Arimathea's garden, as the
+disciples and women did of old to visit the tomb where Christ was
+buried. This they do by forming a procession with the crucifix,
+bannerettes, etc., each carrying a lighted candle in his hand.
+There is a rush among the worshippers to join the procession. They
+walk thrice round the church, searching diligently by the aid of
+their candles for "Christ," and not finding Him, they go to bring
+the disciples word that He is risen from the dead.
+
+When the procession enters the threshold of the church, the royal
+gates are thrown back, suddenly displaying a marvellously beautiful
+stained glass window, and all eyes behold an enchanting representation
+of the Saviour in the act of rising from the cold grave.
+
+The priests with the choristers, as they enter the church, proclaim
+in joyful tones, "_Christos vozkress_" ("Christ is risen"), the
+response being "_Voestenno vozkress_" ("Truly He is risen"). It
+is really a jubilant song of praise they sing--the finely trained
+voices of the choir and priests, joined with those of the worshippers,
+making it most impressive. Every face in the vast crowd bears the
+joyous expression of gladness, for to these men and women a really
+dead Christ has risen, and is now invisibly in their midst. Relatives
+and friends kiss each other and shake hands, and the salutation,
+"_Christos vozkress_," with the refrain, "_Voestenno vozkress_,"
+is heard on every side. The officiating priest begins the usual
+early morning service (celebrated on ordinary Sundays at 5 A. M.),
+which continues until nearly three o'clock, when the churches are
+closed for the day.
+
+Immediately after midnight a salute of one hundred and one guns is
+given from the fortress to greet the sacred morn. The whole city
+is stirred as the loud peal of cannon reverberates, proclaiming
+to the faithful that Christ is indeed risen from the dead. Some
+few worshippers remain in church until the early service is over,
+but the majority retire to their homes to tender the greetings
+of the day.
+
+Then families and friends assemble at the domestic board that groans
+under a load of the good things of this life, according to their
+circumstances, and to make reparation to their stomachs for the
+privation they have endured during the seven weeks of Lent. And
+full compensation their stomachs get, as the feast is a literal
+gorge of meat and drink. Ham is on the table of prince and peasant
+alike, and it is first partaken of. The table of the rich is spread
+with all gastronomical luxuries, _vodka_ and wines, cold roast
+beef, eggs, etc. These dainties remain on the table for several
+days; indeed a free table is kept, and all who call to congratulate
+are expected to partake of the hospitality. Not to do so is regarded
+in the light of an insult.
+
+On Easter Sunday only gentlemen pay visits of congratulation; ladies
+remain at home for that day to receive and entertain visitors.
+Presents are dispensed to domestic and other servants. A good drink
+is as indispensable to the feast among the peasant class as a good
+feed, and they neither deny themselves the one nor the other, their
+potations lasting for several days.
+
+To the Western mind the continual kissing and giving of eggs on
+the streets appear strangely out of keeping with the solemnity
+of the hour. To see a couple of bearded men hugging and kissing
+each other and each other's wives on the public streets, with the
+salutation, "_Christos vozkress_," is indeed peculiar. But use
+and wont justify this, and it would be a breach of courtesy to
+withhold the lips and cheeks, and would be regarded as indicating
+indifference to the great feast of the Church. Present-giving,
+although on somewhat similar lines to our Christmas greetings,
+is a much heavier tax on a Russian household than Christmas gifts
+are with us. In the ordinary house in St. Petersburg, the master,
+on gaining his breakfast-room, is saluted by his domestic servant
+with "_Prazdnik_ (holiday), _Christos vozkress_," which involves a
+new dress for the female, or a money equivalent. Then the _dvorniks_,
+or house-porters, resplendent in clean white aprons, make their
+appearance, giving the usual salutation, and one or two roubles
+must be given. They have scarcely vanished when a couple of
+chimney-sweepers put in an appearance, necessitating another appeal
+to the purse; postmen follow, and in their rear come the juvenile
+representatives of your butcher, greengrocer, etc., all bent upon
+testing your liberality. You go to church and the doorkeeper gravely
+says, "_Christos vozkress_," while he of the cloak-room echoes
+the sentiment to the impoverishment of one's exchequer. But this
+seeming mendicancy is not confined to these classes, for even the
+reverend fathers and brethren walk in the same footsteps unblushingly.
+Either on foot or by carriage they call upon the well-to-do of
+their church, give the usual salutation, "_Christos vozkress_,"
+and the kiss, partake of the general hospitality, and get their
+gratuity or "_Na Chai_," as it is called, and retire. They are
+scarcely gone when the "_Staroste_," or elders, put in an appearance,
+followed by the "_Pyefche_," or choristers, all of whom share in
+the bounty and hospitality of those on whom they call. The priests,
+of course, come in for the largest share, and, generally speaking,
+they know the value of the adage, "First come first served."
+
+At mid-day of Easter Sunday a salute is fired from the fortress,
+and carnival begins again. It is a repetition of the same amusements
+as in carnival before Lent, and continues until the following Sunday
+evening.
+
+
+
+
+_RUSSIAN TEA AND TEA-HOUSES_
+
+_H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS_
+
+A true Russian _restaurant_, or _traktir_ (probably from the French
+_traiteur_), is not to be found in St. Petersburg, whose _cafes_
+and _restaurants_ are either German or French, or imitated from
+German or French models. One of the large Moscow _traktirs_ is not
+only very much larger, but at least twelve times larger than an
+ordinary French _cafe_. The best of them is the Troitzkoi _traktir_,
+where the merchants meet to complete the bargains they have commenced
+on the Exchange--that is to say--in the street beneath, where all
+business is carried on, summer and winter, in the open air. St.
+Petersburg is more fortunate, and has a regular bourse, with a
+chapel attached to it. The merchants always enter this chapel before
+commencing their regular afternoon's work ('Change is held at four
+o'clock in St. Petersburg), and remain for several minutes at their
+devotions, occasionally offering a candle to the Virgin or some
+saint. Now and then it must happen that a speculator for the rise
+and a speculator for the fall enter the chapel and commence their
+orisons at the same time. Probably they pray that they may not
+be tempted to cheat one another.
+
+There is no special chapel for the Moscow merchants, nor is there
+one attached to the Troitzkoi _traktir_, which I am inclined to
+look upon after all as the real Moscow Exchange. But in each of
+the rooms, of which the entrances as usual are arched, and which
+together form an apparently interminable suite, the indispensable
+holy picture is to be seen; and no Russian goes in or out without
+making the sign of the cross. No Russian, to whatever class he
+may belong, remains for a moment with his hat on in any inhabited
+place; whether out of compliment to those who inhabit it, or from
+respect to the holy pictures, or from mixed reasons. The waiters,
+of whom there are said to be a hundred and fifty at the Troitzkoi
+_traktir_, are all dressed in white, and it is facetiously asserted
+that they are forbidden to sit down during the day for fear of
+disturbing the harmony and destroying the purity of their spotless
+linen. The service is excellent. The waiters watch and divine the
+wishes of the guests, instead of the guests having to watch, seek,
+and sometimes scream for the waiters, as is too often the case in
+England. Here the attendants do everything for the visitor; cut
+up his _pirog_ (meat, or fish patty), so that he may eat it with
+his fork; pour out his tea, fill his _chibouk_, and even bring it
+to him ready lighted. The reader perceives that there is a certain
+Oriental style about the Russian _traktirs_. The great article
+of consumption in them is tea. Every one orders tea, either by
+itself, or to follow the dinner; and the majority of those who
+come into the place take nothing else. You can have a tumbler of
+tea, or a pot of tea; but in ordering it you do not ask for tea at
+all, but for so many portions of sugar. The origin of this curious
+custom it is scarcely worth while to consider; but it apparently
+dates from the last European war, when, during the general blockade,
+the price of sugar in Russia rose to about four shillings a pound.
+
+All sorts of stories have been told about the quantity of tea consumed
+by Russian merchants, nor do I look upon any of them as exaggerated.
+From twelve to twenty cups are thought nothing of. I have seen
+two merchants enter a _traktir_, order so many portions of sugar,
+and drink cup after cup of tea, until the tea-urn before them is
+empty; yet the ordinary tea-urn of the _traktir_ holds at least
+a gallon, or a gallon and a half.
+
+"Tea," says M. Gerebtzoff, "has become, for every one, an habitual
+article of consumption, and replaces, advantageously for morality,
+brandy and beer; for on all occasions when a bargain has to be
+concluded, or when a companion has to be entertained, or on receiving
+or taking leave of a friend, tea is given instead of wine or brandy."
+Indeed, I not only observed that in the Moscow _traktirs_ nearly
+every one drank tea, but that it was a favourite beverage with
+all classes on all occasions. The middle and upper classes take
+tea twice or three times a day,--always in the morning, and often
+twice in the evening. The _isvostchik_, who formerly had a reputation
+for drunkenness, which travellers of the present day continue to
+ascribe to him, appears to prefer tea to every other drink. Such,
+at least, was my experience; and his mode of asking for a _pour
+boire_ seems to confirm it. Some years since travellers used to
+tell us of the _isvostchik_ asking at the end of his drive for
+_vodka_ money ("_na votkou_"); at present the invariable request
+is for tea-money ("_na tchai_"). Even in roadside inns, where I
+have seen from twelve to twenty coachmen and postilions sitting down
+together, nothing but tea was being drunk. A well-known tourist has
+told us that every Russian peasant possesses a tea-urn, or _samovar_;
+but this is not the case. The majority of the peasants are too
+poor to afford such a luxury as tea, except on rare occasions,
+but a tea-urn is one of the first objects that a peasant who has
+saved a little money buys; and it is true, that in some prosperous
+villages there is a samovar in every hut; and in all the post-houses
+and inns each visitor is supplied with a separate one.
+
+[Illustration: ST. ANNE RESTAURANT, WIBORG.]
+
+The samovar, which, literally, means "self-boiler," is made of brass
+lined with tin, with a tube in the centre. In fact, it resembles
+the English urn, except that in the centre-tube red-hot cinders
+are placed instead of the iron heater. Of course, the charcoal,
+or _braise_, has to be ignited in a back kitchen or court-yard;
+for in a room the carbonic acid proceeding from it would prove
+injurious. It has no advantage then, whatever, over the English
+urn, except that it can be heated with facility in the open air,
+with nothing but some charcoal, a few sticks of thin dry wood,
+and a lucifer; hence its value at picnics, where it is considered
+indispensable. In the woods of Sakolniki, in the gardens of Marina
+Roschia, and in the grounds adjoining the Petrovski Palace, all close
+to Moscow, large supplies of samovars are kept at the tea-houses, and
+each visitor, or party of visitors, is supplied with one. Indeed,
+the quantity of tea consumed at these suburban retreats in the
+spring and summer is prodigious. In Russia there is no interval
+between winter and spring. As soon as the frost breaks up the grass
+sprouts, the trees blossom, and all nature is alive. In that country
+of extremes there is sometimes as much difference between April and
+May as there is in England between January and June. The summer is
+celebrated by various promenades to the country, which take place
+at Easter, on the first of May, Ascension Day, Trinity Sunday,
+and other occasions. The great majority of these promenades are of
+a festive nature, but some, like that which is made on the 19th of
+May to the monastery and cemetery of the Don, have a penitential, or,
+at least, a mournful character. The samovar, however, is present even
+in the churchyard. I never joined in one of the funeral pilgrimages
+to the Donskoi convent; but in other cemeteries outside Moscow and
+St. Petersburg (intramural burial not being tolerated), I noticed
+that the custodians kept in their lodges a supply of samovars for the
+benefit of visitors. And, after all, what can be more appropriate
+than an urn in a cemetery?
+
+Between St. Petersburg and Kovno or Tauroggen, there are upwards of
+fifty "stations," at each of which tea can be procured. Travellers
+whose route does not lie along the government post-roads, take
+samovars with them in their carnages; and small samovars that can
+be packed into the narrowest compass are made for the use of officers
+starting on a campaign, and other persons likely to find themselves
+in places where it may be difficult to procure hot water. Small
+tea-caddies are also manufactured with a similar object. Each caddy
+contains one or more glasses; for men among themselves usually drink
+their tea, not out of tea-cups, but out of tumblers. Not many years
+since it was the fashion to give cups to women and tumblers to
+men in the evening; but the tumbler is gradually being banished,
+at least from the drawing-room.
+
+The Russians never take milk in their tea; they take either cream,
+or a slice of lemon or preserved fruit, or simply sugar without
+the addition of anything else. They hold that milk spoils tea,
+and they are right. Tea with lemon or preserves (forming a kind
+of tea-punch, well worthy the attention of tea-totallers), is only
+taken in the evening. Sometimes the men add rum.
+
+
+
+
+_HOW RUSSIA AMUSES ITSELF_
+
+_FRED WHISHAW_
+
+If I were asked to state what a Russian schoolboy does with his
+spare time after working hours are over, I should be much puzzled
+what to say.
+
+Unfortunately young Russia has not the faintest glimmering of knowledge
+of the practice or even of the existence of such things as football,
+cricket, fives, rackets, golf, athletic sports, hockey, or any other
+of the numerous pastimes which play so important a part in the
+life of every schoolboy in this merry land of England. Therefore
+there is no question, for him, of staying behind at the school
+premises after working hours, in order to take part in any game.
+He goes home; that much is certain; most of his time is loafed
+away--that, too, is beyond question. He may skate a little, perhaps,
+in the winter, if he happens to live near a skating ground, but
+he will not go far for it; and in the summer, which is holiday
+time for him, from June to September, he walks up and down the
+village street clothed in white calico garments, or plays cup and
+ball in the garden; fishes a little, perhaps, in the river or pond
+if there happen to be one, and lazies his time away without exertion.
+Of late years "lorteneece," as lawn-tennis is called in the Tsar's
+country has been slightly attempted; but it is not really liked:
+too many balls are lost and the rules of the game have never yet
+been thoroughly grasped. A quartette of men will occasionally rig
+up their net, which they raise to about the height of a foot and
+a half, and play a species of battledore and shuttlecock over it
+until the balls disappear; but it is scarcely tennis. As a matter
+of fact, a Russian generally rushes at the ball and misses it; on
+the rare occasions when he strikes the object, he does so with
+so much energy that the ball unless stopped by the adversary's
+eye, or his partner's, disappears forever into "the blue."
+
+Croquet is a mild favourite, too; but it is played very languidly
+and unscientifically.
+
+Most gardens in Russian country houses contain a swing, a rotting
+horizontal bar for the gymnastically (and suicidally) inclined, and
+a giant stride. Occasionally there is a flower-bed in the centre,
+in which our dear old British friend the rhubarb, monopolizes the
+space, and makes a good show as an ornamental plant; for he is
+not known in that benighted country as a comestible, though, of
+course, children are acquainted with and hate him in his medicinal
+capacity. Besides the swings and the rhubarb, there are sand or gravel
+paths; and built out over the dusty road is an open summer-house,
+wherein the Muscovitish householder and his ladies love to sit
+and sip their tea for the greater part of each day--this being
+their acme of happiness. The dust may lie half-an-inch thick over
+the surface of their tea and bread and butter, but this does not
+detract from the delights of the fascinating occupation.
+
+I should point out that in all I have said above, I refer not so
+much to the highest or to the lowest classes of Russian society,
+as to that middle stratum to which belong the families of the
+_Chinovnik_, of the infantry officer, or the well-to-do merchant.
+The aristocracy amuse themselves very much in the same way as our
+own. They shoot, they loaf and play cards in their clubs, they
+butcher pigeons out of traps, they have their race-meetings, they
+dance much and well; some have yachts of their own. Many of them
+keep English grooms, and their English--when they speak it--for
+this reason smacks somewhat of the stable, though they are not
+usually aware that this is the case. If a Russian autocrat has
+succeeded in making himself look like an Englishman, and behaves
+like one, he is happy.
+
+Of winter sports--in which, however, but a small minority of the
+Russian youth care to take part--there are skating, ice-yatching,
+snow-shoeing, and ice-hilling. The skating ought, naturally, to be
+very good in Russia. As a matter of fact the ice is generally dead
+and lacking in that elasticity and spring which is characteristic
+of our English ice. It is too thick for elasticity, though the
+surface is beautifully kept and scientifically treated with a view
+to skating wherever a space is flooded or an acre or two of the
+Neva's broad bosom is reclaimed to make a skating-ground. Some
+of the Russian amateurs skate marvellously, as also do many of
+the English and other foreign residents. Ice-yachting is confined
+almost entirely to these latter, the natives not having as yet
+awakened to the merits of this fine pastime. Ice-hilling, however,
+at fair-time--that is, during the carnival week, preceding the
+"long fast" or Lent--is much practised by the people. This is a
+kind of cross between the switchback and tobogganing, and is an
+exceedingly popular amusement among the English residents of St.
+Petersburg.
+
+Snow-shoeing, again, is a fine and healthful recreation; it is
+the "ski"-running of Norway, and is beloved and much practised by
+all Englishmen who are fortunate enough to be introduced to its
+fascinations. It is too difficult and requires too much exertion,
+however, for young Russia, and that indolent individual, in consequence,
+rarely dons the snow-shoe.
+
+The Russians are a theatre-loving people, and the acting must be
+very good to please their critical taste. Many of their theatres
+are "imperial," that is, the state "pays the piper" if the receipts
+of the theatre so protected do not balance the expenditure. In
+paying for good artists, whether operatic or dramatic, the Russians
+are most lavish, and the Imperial Italian Opera must have been a
+source of considerable expense to the authorities in the days of
+its state endowment.
+
+Nearly every Russian is a natural musician, and cannot only sing in
+tune, but can take a part "by ear." The man with the _balaleika_,
+or _garmonka_, is always sure of an admiring audience, whether in
+town or village; and there is not a tiny hamlet in the empire but
+resolves itself, on holidays, into a pair of choral societies--one
+for male and one for female voices--which either parade up and down
+the village street, singing, without, of course, either conductor
+or accompaniment, or sit in rows upon the benches outside the huts,
+occupied in a similar manner.
+
+Occasionally, but very rarely, you may see a party of Russian children,
+or young men and women, playing, in the open air, at one of two
+games. The first is a variant of "prisoner's base"; the other is a
+species of ninepins, or skittles, played with a group of uprights
+at which short, thick clubs are thrown. The Russian youth--those
+who are energetic enough to practise the game--sometimes attain
+considerable proficiency with these grim little weapons, and make
+wonderful shots at a distance of some thirty yards or so.
+
+As for the middle-class Russian sportsman, he forms a class by
+himself, and is a very original person indeed, unless taught the
+delights of the chase by an Englishman. In his eyes the be-all and
+end-all of a true sportsman is to purchase the orthodox equipment
+of a green-trimmed coat, Tyrolese hat, and long boots, and to pay
+his subscription to a shooting club. He rarely discharges a gun;
+the rascally thing kicks, he finds; and the birds _will_ fly before
+he can point his weapon at them as they crouch in the heather at
+his feet; of course he is not such a fool as to fire after they
+are up and away. As a rule, however, he goes no farther afield
+than the card-table of the club-house. Why should he? He has bought
+all the clothes; and what more does a man need to be a sportsman?
+I cannot honestly affirm that I ever saw one of these good fellows
+actually fire off a gun; for whenever I have been informed that
+such an event is about to take place, I have always done my best
+to put two or three good miles, or a village or two, between myself
+and the Muscovitish "sportsman."
+
+
+
+
+_THE KIRGHIZ AND THEIR HORSES_
+
+_FRED BURNABY_
+
+The aspect of the country now underwent an entire change. We had
+left all traces of civilization behind us, and were regularly upon
+the Steppes. Not the Steppes as they are described to us in the
+summer months, when hundreds of nomad tribes, like their forefathers
+of old, migrate from place to place, with their families, flocks,
+and herds, and relieve the dreary aspect of this vast flat expanse
+with their picturesque _kibitkas_, or tents, while hundreds of
+horses, grazing on the rich grass, are a source of considerable
+wealth to the Kirghiz proprietors.
+
+A large dining-table covered with naught but its white cloth is not
+a cheery sight. To describe the country for the next one hundred
+miles from Orsk, I need only extend the table-cover. For here,
+there, and everywhere was a dazzling, glaring sheet of white, as
+seen under the influence of a mid-day sun; then gradually softening
+down as the god of light sunk into the west, it faded into a vast,
+melancholy-looking, colourless ocean. This was shrouded in some
+places from the view by filmy clouds of mist and vapour, which
+rose in the evening air and shaded the wilderness around--a picture
+of desolation which wearied, by its utter loneliness, and at the
+same time appalled by its immensity; a circle of which the centre
+was everywhere, and the circumference nowhere. Such were the Steppes
+as I drove through them at night-fall or in the early morn; and
+where, fatigued by want of sleep, my eye searched eagerly, but
+in vain, for a station.
+
+On arriving at the halting-place, which was about twenty-seven
+versts from Orsk, Nazar came to me, and said, "I am very sleepy; I
+have not slept for three nights, and shall fall off if we continue
+the journey."
+
+When I began to think of it, the poor fellow had a good deal of
+reason on his side. I could occasionally obtain a few moments'
+broken slumber, which was out of the question for him. I felt rather
+ashamed that in my selfishness I had over-driven a willing horse,
+and the fellow had shown first-class pluck when we had to pass
+the night out on the roadside; so, saying that he ought to have
+told me before that he wanted rest, I sent him to lie down, when,
+stretching his limbs alongside the stove, in an instant he was
+fast asleep.
+
+The inspector was a good-tempered, fat old fellow, with red cheeks
+and an asthmatic cough. He had been a veterinary surgeon in a Cossack
+regiment, and consequently his services were much in request with
+the people at Orsk. He informed me that land could be bought on
+these flats for a rouble and a half a _desyatin_ (2,700 acres);
+that a cow cost L3 2s. 6d.; a fat sheep, two years old, 12s. 6d.;
+and mutton or beef, a penny per pound. A capital horse could be
+purchased for three sovereigns, a camel for L7 10s., while flour
+cost 1s. 4d. the pood of forty pounds. These were the prices at Orsk,
+but at times he said that provisions could be bought at a much lower
+rate, particularly if purchased from the Tartars themselves. The
+latter had suffered a great deal of late years from the cattle-pest,
+and vaccinating the animals had been tried as an experiment, but,
+according to my informant, with but slight success.
+
+The Kirghiz themselves have but little faith in doctors or vets.
+It is with great difficulty that the nomads can be persuaded to
+have their children vaccinated; the result is, that when small-pox
+breaks out among them it creates fearful havoc in the population.
+Putting this epidemic out of the question, the roving Tartars are
+a peculiarly healthy race. The absence of medical men does not seem
+to have affected their longevity, the disease they most suffer
+from being ophthalmia, which is brought on by the glare of the snow
+in the winter, and by the dust and heat in the summer months.
+
+The country now began to change its snowy aspect, and party-coloured
+grasses of various hues dotted the Steppes around. The Kirghiz had
+taken advantage of the more benignant weather, and hundreds of
+horses were here and there to be seen picking up what they could
+find. In fact, it is extraordinary how any of these animals manage
+to exist through the winter months, as the nomads hardly ever feed
+them with corn, trusting to the slight vegetation which exists
+beneath the snow. Occasionally the poor beasts perish by thousands,
+and a Tartar who is a rich man one week may find himself a beggar the
+next. This comes from the frequent snow-storms, when the thermometer
+sometimes descends to from forty to fifty degrees below zero,
+Fahrenheit; but more often from some slight thaw taking place for
+perhaps a few hours. This is sufficient to ruin whole districts,
+for the ground becomes covered with an impenetrable coating of
+ice, and the horses simply die of starvation, not being able to
+kick away the frozen substance as they do the snow from the grass
+beneath their hoofs. No horses which I have ever seen are so hardy
+as these little animals, which are indigenous to the Kirghiz Steppes;
+perhaps for the same reason that the Spartans of old excelled all
+other nations in physical strength, but with this difference, that
+nature doles out to the weakly colts the same fate which the Spartan
+parents apportioned to their sickly offspring.
+
+The Kirghiz never clothe their horses, even in the coldest winter.
+They do not even take the trouble to water them, the snow eaten
+by the animals supplying this want. Towards the end of the winter
+months the ribs of the poor beasts almost come through their sides;
+but once the snow disappears and the rich vegetation which replaces
+it in the early spring comes up, the animals gain flesh and strength,
+and are capable of performing marches which many people in this
+country would deem impossible, a hundred-mile ride not being at all
+an uncommon occurrence in Tartary. Kirghiz horses are not generally
+well shaped, and cannot gallop very fast, but they can traverse
+enormous distances without water, forage, or halting. When the
+natives wish to perform any very long journey they generally employ
+two horses: on one they carry a little water in a skin, and some
+corn, while they ride the other, changing from time to time, to
+ease the animals.
+
+It is said that a Kirghiz chief once galloped with a Cossack escort
+(on two horses) 200 miles in twenty-four hours, the path extending
+for a considerable distance over a mountainous and rocky district.
+The animals, however, soon recovered from the effects of the journey,
+although they were a little lame for the first few days.
+
+An extraordinary march was made by Count Borkh to the Sam, in May,
+1870. The object of his expedition was to explore the routes across
+the Ust Urt, and if possible to capture some Kirghiz _auls_ (villages),
+which were the headquarters of some marauding bands from the town
+of Kungrad. The Russian officer determined to cross the northern
+Tchink, and by a forced march to surprise the tribes which nomadized
+on the Sam. Up to that time only small Cossack detachments had
+ever succeeded in penetrating to this locality. To explain the
+difficulties to be overcome, it must be observed that the Ust Urt
+plateau is bounded on all sides by a scarped cliff, known by the
+name of the Tchink. It is very steep, attaining in some places an
+elevation of from 400 to 600 feet, and the tracks down its rugged
+sides are blocked up by enormous rocks and loose stones. Count Borkh
+resolved to march as lightly equipped as possible, and without
+baggage, as he wished to avoid meeting any parties of the nomad tribes
+on his road. His men carried three days' rations on their saddles,
+while the artillery took only as many rounds as the limber-box
+would contain. The expedition was made up of 150 Orenburg Cossacks,
+sixty mounted riflemen, and a gun, which was taken more by way of
+experiment than for any other reason, the authorities being anxious
+to know if artillery could be transported in that direction.
+
+The detachment reached Ak-Tiube in six days without _contretemps_,
+after a march of 333 miles, and with the loss of only two lame
+horses.
+
+
+
+
+_WINTER IN MOSCOW_
+
+_H. SUTHERLAND EDWARDS_
+
+Russia in the summer is no more like Russia in the winter than a
+camp in time of peace is like a camp in the presence of the enemy.
+Moreover, snow is one of the chief natural productions of the country;
+and without it Russia is as uninteresting as an orchard without fruit.
+One always thinks of Russia in connection with its frosts, and of
+its frosts in connection with such great events as the campaign of
+1812, or the winter of 1854 in the Crimea. Accordingly, a foreigner
+in Russia naturally looks forward to the winter with much interest,
+mingled perhaps with a certain amount of awe. He waits for it,
+in fact, as a man waits for a thief, expecting the visitor with
+a certain kind of apprehension, and not without a due provision
+of life-preservers in the shape of goloshes, seven-leagued boots,
+scarves, fur coats, etc.
+
+The house I lived in was in the middle of Moscow; and with the
+exception of the stoves, the internal arrangement seemed like that
+of most other dwellings in Europe. The Russian stoves, however, are,
+in fact, thick hollow party-walls, built of brick, and sometimes
+separating, or connecting, as many as three or four rooms, and
+heating them all from one common centre. The outer sides of these
+lofty intramural furnaces are usually faced with a kind of white
+porcelain, though in some houses they are papered like the rest
+of the wall, so that the presence of the stove is only known in
+summer by two or three apertures like port-holes, which have been
+made for the purpose of admitting the hot air, and which, when
+there is no heat within, are closed with round metal covers like
+the tops of canisters. Sometimes, especially in country houses,
+the stove, or _peitchka_ as it is called, is not only a wall, but
+a wall which, towards the bottom, projects so as to form a kind
+of dresser or sofa, and which the lazier of the inmates use not
+infrequently in the latter capacity. In the huts the _peitchka_
+is almost invariably of this form; and the peasants not only lie
+and sleep upon it as a matter of course, but even get inside and
+use it as a bath. Not that they fill their stoves with water--that
+would be rather difficult. But the Russian bath is merely a room
+paved with stone slabs and heated like an oven, in which the bather
+stands to be rubbed and lathered, and to have buckets of water poured
+over him, or thrown at him, by naked attendants; and accordingly a
+stove makes an excellent bath on a small scale. As a general rule,
+every row of huts has one or more baths attached to it, which the
+inhabitants support by subscription; but when this is not the case,
+the peasant, after carefully raking out the ashes, creeps into
+the hot _peitchka_, and is soon bathed in his own perspiration.
+He would infallibly be baked alive but for the pailfuls of water
+with which he soon begins to cool his heated skin. Thanks, however,
+to this precaution, he issues from the fiery furnace uninjured,
+and, it is to be hoped, benefited.
+
+[Illustration: THE RED SQUARE, MOSCOW.]
+
+When a stove is being heated, the port-holes are kept carefully
+shut, to prevent the egress of carbonic-acid gas. But after the
+wood has become thoroughly charred, and every vestige of flame
+has disappeared, the chimney is closed on a level with the garret
+floor, the covers are removed from the apertures in the side of
+the stove, and the hot air is allowed to penetrate freely into
+the room; which, if enough wood has been put into the _peitchka_,
+and the lid of the chimney closes hermetically, will, by this one
+fire, be kept warm for twelve or fourteen hours.
+
+Occasionally it happens that the port-holes are opened while there
+still flickers a little blue flame above the whitening embers.
+In this case there is death in the stove. The carbonic-acid gas,
+which is still proceeding from the burning charcoal, enters the
+room, and produces asphyxia, or at all events some of its symptoms.
+If you have not time, or if you are already too weak, to open the
+door when you find yourself attacked by _ougar_ (as the Russians
+call this gas), you had better throw the first thing you have at
+hand through the window; and the cold air, rushing rapidly into the
+room, will save you. A foreigner unaccustomed to the hot apartments
+of Russia will scarcely perceive the presence of _ougar_ until he
+is already seriously affected by it; and in this manner the son
+of the Persian ambassador lost his life, some years since, in one
+of the principal hotels of Moscow. A native, however, if the stove
+should chance to be "covered" before the wood is thoroughly charred,
+will detect the presence of the fatal gas almost instantaneously;
+and having done so, the best remedy he can adopt for the headache
+and sickness, which even then will inevitably follow, is to rush
+into the open air, and cool his temples by copious applications of
+snow. Persons who are almost insensible from the effect of _ougar_
+have to be carried out and rolled in the snow,--a process which
+speedily restores them to their natural condition.
+
+One morning there was a fall of snow; and the cream was brought
+in from the country in jars wrapped carefully round with matting
+to prevent its freezing. Hundreds of cabbages and thousands of
+potatoes, similarly protected, were purchased and stowed away.
+Furlongs of wood (in Russia wood is sold by the foot), were laid
+up in the courtyard; an inspector of stoves arrived to see that
+every _peitchka_ was in proper working order; and an examiner and
+fitter-in of windows was summoned to adjust the usual extra sash.
+At last the windows had been made fast, each pane being at the
+same time reputtied into its frame. On the window-sill, in the
+space between the outer and inner panes, was something resembling
+a long deep line of snow, which was, however, merely a mass of
+cotton-wool placed there as an additional protection against the
+external air. Indeed, the winds of the Russian winter have such
+powers of penetration that, in a room guarded by _triple_ windows,
+besides shutters closed with the greatest exactness, I have seen
+the curtains slightly agitated when the howling outside was somewhat
+louder than usual. "The wind," says Gregorovitch in his _Winter's
+Tale_, "howls like a dog; and like a dog will bite the feet and calves
+of those who have not duly provided themselves with fur-goloshes
+and doubly-thick pantaloons." Such a wind must not be suffered to
+intrude into any house intended to be habitable.
+
+Besides the cotton-wool, which is a special provision against draughts,
+the space between the two sashes is usually adorned with artificial
+flowers; indeed, the fondness of the Russians for flowers and green
+leaves during the winter is remarkable. The corridors are converted
+into greenhouses, by means of trellis-work covered with creepers. The
+windows of many of the apartments are encircled by evergreens, and
+in the drawing-rooms, flower-stands form the principal ornaments. At
+the same time enormous sums are paid for bouquets from the hot-houses
+which abound in both the capitals. Doubtless the long winters have
+some share in the production of this passion for flowers and green
+plants, just as love of country is increased by exile, and love
+of liberty by imprisonment.
+
+There are generally at least two heavy snow-storms by way of warning
+before winter fairly commences its reign. The first fall of snow
+thaws perhaps a few days afterwards, the second in about a week,
+the third in five months. If a lady drops her bracelet or brooch
+in the street during the period of this third fall, she need not
+trouble herself to put out handbills offering a reward for its
+discovery, at all events not before the spring; for it will be
+preserved in its hiding-place, as well as ice can preserve it,
+until about the middle of April, when, if the amount of the reward
+be greater than the value of the article lost, it will in all
+probability be restored to her. The Russians put on their furs at
+the first signs of winter, and the sledges make their appearance
+in the streets as soon as the snow is an inch or two thick. Of
+course at such a time a sledge is far from possessing any advantage
+over a carriage on wheels; but the Russians welcome their appearance
+with so much enthusiasm, that the first sledge-drivers are sure
+of excellent receipts for several days. The _droshkies_ disappear
+one by one with the black mud of autumn; and by the time the gilt
+cupolas of the churches, and the red and green roofs of the houses,
+have been made whiter than their own walls, the city swarms with
+sledges. It is not, however, until near Christmas, when the "frost
+of St. Nicholas" sets in, that they are seen in all their glory.
+The earlier frosts of October and November mayor may not be attended
+to without any very dangerous results ensuing; but when the frigid
+St. Nicholas makes his appearance,--staying the most rapid currents,
+forming bridges over the broadest rivers, and converting seas into
+deserts of ice,--then a blast from his breath, if not properly
+guarded against, may prove fatal.
+
+It has been said that it is not until the _Nikolskoi Maros_, or
+Frost of St. Nicholas, that the sledges fly through the streets in
+all their glory. By that time the rich "boyars"[1] (as foreigners
+persist in styling the Russian proprietors of the present day),
+have arrived from their estates, and the poor peasants, who have
+long ceased to till the ground, and have not thrashed all the corn,
+begin to come in from theirs; for, humble and dependent as he may
+be, each peasant has nevertheless his own patch of land. For the
+former are the elegant sledges of polished nut-wood, with rugs
+of soft, thick fur to protect the legs of the occupants; whose
+drivers, in their green caftans fastened round the waist with red
+sashes, and in their square thickly-wadded caps of crimson velvet,
+like sofa-cushions, urge on the prodigiously fast trotting horses,
+at the same time throwing themselves back in their seats with
+outstretched arms and tightened reins, as though the animals were
+madly endeavouring to escape from their control. The latter bring
+with them certain strongly-made wooden boxes, with a seat at the
+back for two passengers and a perch in front for a driver. These
+boxes are put upon rails, and called sledges. The bottom of each
+box (or sledge), is plentifully strewn with hay, which after a
+few days becomes converted, by means of snow and dirty goloshes,
+into something very like manure. The driver is immediately in front
+of you, with his brass badge hanging on his back like the label
+on a box of sardines. He wears a sheepskin; but it is notorious
+that after ten years' wear the sheepskin loses its odour, besides
+which it is winter, so that your sense of smell has really nothing
+to fear. The one thing necessary is to keep your legs to yourself,
+or at all events not to obtrude them beneath the perch of the driver,
+or you will run the chance of having your foot crushed by that
+gentleman's heel. Sometimes the horse is fresh from the plough,
+and requires a most vigorous application of the driver's thong
+to induce him to quit his accustomed pace; but for the most part
+the animals are willing enough, and as rapid as their masters are
+skilful. The driver is generally much attached to his horse, whom
+he affectionately styles his "dove" or his "pigeon," assuring him
+that although the ground is covered with snow, there is still grass
+in the stable for his _galoupchik_--as the favourite bird is called,
+etc., etc.
+
+[Footnote 1: It would be equally correct to speak of the English
+nobility of the present day as "the barons."]
+
+As for the real pigeons and doves, they are to be found everywhere,--on
+the belfries of the churches, in the courtyards of the houses, in
+the streets blocking up the pavement, and above all, beneath the
+projecting edges of the roofs, where you may see them clustering
+in long deep lines like black cornices.
+
+At home we associate snow with darkness and gloom; but, when once
+the snow has fallen, the sky of Moscow is as bright and as blue as
+that of Italy; the atmosphere is clear and pure; the sun shines for
+several hours in the day with a brightness from which the reflection
+of the snow becomes perfectly dazzling; and if the frost be intense,
+there is not a breath of wind. The breath that really does attract
+your notice is that of the pedestrians, who appear to be blowing
+forth columns of smoke or steam into the rarefied atmosphere, and
+who look like so many walking chimneys or human locomotives. And
+if breath looks like smoke, smoke itself looks almost solid. Rise
+early, when the fires are being lighted which are to heat the stoves
+through the entire day, and if the thermometer outside your window
+marks more than 15 deg., you will see the grey columns rising heavily into
+the air, until at a certain height the smoke remains stationary, and
+hangs in clouds above the houses. Looking from some great elevation,
+such as the tower of Ivan Veliki in the Kremlin, you see these
+clouds beneath you, agitated like waves, and forming a kind of
+nebulous sea, which is, however, soon taken up by the surrounding
+atmosphere.
+
+It is astonishing how much cold one can support when the sky is
+bright and the sun shining; certainly ten or fifteen degrees more
+by Reaumur's thermometer, than when the day is dark and gloomy.
+And the effect is the same on all. On one of these fine frosty
+days there is unwonted cheerfulness in the look, unwonted energy
+in the movements of everyone you meet. If there were the slightest
+wind with so keen a temperature, you would feel, every time it grazed
+your face, as if you were being shaved with a blunt razor,--for to
+be cut with a sharp one is comparatively nothing. But the air is
+calm; and as the day exhilarates you generally, it makes you walk
+more briskly than you are in the habit of doing in your _shouba_
+of cloth, wadding, and fur; and the result is, you are so warm and
+so surrounded by sunshine, that, but for seeing the cold, you might
+fancy yourself on the shores of the Mediterranean instead of on the
+banks of the Moskva, which is now a long, shiny, serpent-like path
+of ice. In London, on a damp, foggy, sunless winter's day, when
+the thermometer is not quite down to freezing-point, the system
+is so depressed by the atmosphere and the cheerless aspect of the
+streets, that you feel the cold more acutely than you would do on
+a sunshiny morning in Moscow with ten degrees of frost. In St.
+Petersburg, where the winter sun is, "as in northern climes, but
+dimly bright," and where the city is frequently enveloped in a
+mist (which is, however, ethereal vapour compared to the opaque
+fogs of London), the cold is, on the same principle, more severely
+felt than in Moscow. Nevertheless, in St. Petersburg people go
+about far more lightly clad than in the more southern towns of
+the empire,--for St. Petersburg is half a foreign city, and the
+numerous pedestrians have found it necessary to reject the ponderous
+_shouba_ for a long wadded paletot with a fur-collar. The real
+Russian _shouba_ is undoubtedly very warm; for it enables the Moscow
+merchant to go upon 'Change, which in the old capital, during the
+coldest weather, is held in the open air.
+
+In considering the advantages and disadvantages of a Russian winter,
+one should not forget the question of rain. It is evident, then,
+that where there is frost there can be no rain; and accordingly,
+for nearly six months in the year, you can dispense altogether
+with that most unpleasant encumbrance, the umbrella. For it must
+be remembered that in Russia the snow does not fall in the soft
+feathery flakes to which we are accustomed in the more temperate
+latitudes. It comes down in showers of microscopic darts, which,
+instead of intercepting the light of the sun, like the arrows of
+Xerxes' army, glitter and sparkle in the rays as they reflect them
+in every direction. The minute crystals, or rather crystalline
+fragments, can be at once shaken from the collars of fur, on the
+points of which they hang like needles, but above all like Epsom
+salts; and on the cloth of the men's _shoubas_ and the satin of
+the women's cloaks they have scarcely any hold.
+
+The most pleasant time of the whole winter is during the moonlight
+nights, when the wind is still and the snow deep on the ground.
+In the streets the sparkling _trottoir_, which appears literally
+paved with diamonds, is as hard as the agate floor of the Cathedral
+of the Annunciation in the Kremlin. In the country, where alone you
+can enjoy the night in all its beauty, the frozen surface crunches,
+but scarcely sinks, beneath the sledge, as your _troika_ tears
+along the road as fast as the centre horse can trot and the two
+outsiders gallop. For it is a peculiarity of the _troika_ that
+the three horses that constitute it are harnessed abreast; and
+that while the one in the shafts, whose head is upheld by a bow,
+with a little bell suspended from the top, is trained to trot,
+and never to leave that pace, however fast he may be driven, the
+two who are harnessed outside must gallop, even if they gallop
+but six miles an hour; though it is far more likely that they will
+be called upon to do twelve. Lastly, the _troika_ must present a
+fan-like front; to produce which the driver tightens the outside
+reins till the heads of the outriggers stand out at an angle of
+forty or fifty degrees from that of the horse in the shafts. At
+the same time the centre horse trots with his head high in the
+air, while the two who have their existences devoted to galloping
+have their noses depressed towards the ground, like bulls running
+at a dog.
+
+There may be enough moonlight to read by when the moon itself is
+obscured by clouds. But if it shines directly on the white ermine-like
+snow, which covers the vast plains like an interminable carpet, the
+atmosphere becomes full of light, and the night in its brightness,
+its solitude, and its silence, broken only by the bells of some
+distant team, reminds you of the calmness of an unusually quiet
+and beautiful day. As you turn away from the main road towards
+the woods, you pass groups of tall slender birch-trees, with their
+white silvery bark, and their delicate thread-like fibres hanging
+in frozen showers from the ends of the branches, and clothing the
+birch with a kind of icy foliage, while the other trees remain
+bare and ragged. The birch is eminently a winter tree, and its
+tresses of fibres, whether petrified and covered with crystal by
+the frost, or waving freely in the breeze which has stripped them
+of their snow, are equally ornamental. The ground is strewed with
+the shadows of the trees, traced with exquisite fineness on the
+white snow, from which these lunar photographs stand forth with
+wonderful distinctness. To drive out with an indefinite number of
+_troikas_ to some village in the environs, or to the first station
+on one of the Government roads, is a common mode of spending a
+fine winter's night, and one which is equally popular in Moscow
+and St. Petersburg. These excursions, which always partake more
+or less of the nature of a picnic, form one of the chief pleasures
+of the cold season. Of course such expeditions also take place
+during the day, but, whatever the hour of the departure, if there
+happen to be a moon that night, the return is sure not to take
+place before it has made its appearance.
+
+
+
+
+_A JOURNEY BY SLEIGH_
+
+_FRED BURNABY_
+
+"Bring out another sleigh," said my friend. "How the wind cuts!
+does it not?" he continued, as the breeze, whistling against our
+bodies, made itself felt in spite of all the precautions we had
+taken. The vehicle now brought was broader and more commodious than
+the previous one, which, somewhat in the shape of a coffin, seemed
+especially designed so as to torture the occupants, particularly if,
+like my companion and self, they should happen to be endowed by
+nature with that curse during a sleigh journey--however desirable
+appendages they may be when in a crowd--long legs. Three horses
+abreast, their coats white with pendent icicles and hoar-frost,
+were harnessed to the sleigh; the centre animal was in the shafts
+and had his head fastened to a huge wooden head-collar, bright with
+various colors. From the summit of the head-collar was suspended
+a bell, while the two outside horses were harnessed by cord traces
+to splinter-bars attached to the sides of the sleigh. The object
+of all this is to make the animal in the middle trot at a brisk
+pace, while his two companions gallop, their necks arched round in
+a direction opposite to the horse in the centre, this poor beast's
+head being tightly reined up to the head-collar.
+
+A well-turned-out _troika_ with three really good horses, which get
+over the ground at the rate of twelve miles an hour, is a pretty
+sight to witness, particularly if the team has been properly trained,
+and the outside animals never attempt to break into a trot, while
+the one in the shafts steps forward with high action; but the
+constrained position in which the horses are kept must be highly
+uncomfortable to them, and one not calculated to enable a driver
+to get as much pace out of his animals as they could give him if
+harnessed in another manner.
+
+Off we went at a brisk pace, the bell dangling from our horse's
+head-collar, and jingling merrily at every stride of the team.
+
+The sun rose high in the heavens: it was a bright and glorious
+morning in spite of the intense cold, and the amount of oxygen we
+inhaled was enough to elevate the spirits of the most dyspeptic of
+mankind. Presently, after descending a slight declivity, our Jehu
+turned sharply to the right; then came a scramble and a succession of
+jolts and jerks as we slid down a steep bank, and we found ourselves
+on what appeared to be a broad high-road. Here the sight of many
+masts and shipping which, bound in by the fetters of a relentless
+winter, would remain imbedded in the ice till the ensuing spring,
+showed me that we were on the Volga. It was an animated spectacle,
+this frozen highway, thronged with peasants who strode beside their
+sledges, which were bringing cotton and other goods from Orenburg
+to the railway. Now a smart _troika_ would dash by us, its driver
+shouting as he passed, when our Jehu, stimulating his steeds by
+loud cries and frequent applications of the whip, would vainly
+strive to overtake his brother coachman. Old and young alike seemed
+like octogenarians, their short thick beards and mustaches being
+white as hoar-frost from the congealed breath. According to all
+accounts the river had not been long frozen, and till very recently
+steamers laden with corn from Southern Russia had plied between
+Sizeran and Samara. The price of corn is here forty copecks the
+pood of forty pounds, while the same quantity at Samara could be
+purchased for eighteen copecks. An iron bridge was being constructed
+a little farther down the Volga. Here the railroad was to pass,
+and it was said that in two years' time there would be railway
+communication, not only between Samara and the capital, but even
+as far as Orenburg.
+
+Presently the scenery became very picturesque as we raced over the
+glistening surface, which flashed like a burnished cuirass beneath
+the rays of the rising sun. Now we approach a spot where seemingly
+the waters from some violent blast or other had been in a state
+of foam and commotion, when a stern frost transformed them into a
+solid mass. Pillars and blocks of the shining and hardened element
+were seen modelled into a thousand quaint and grotesque patterns.
+Here a fountain, perfectly formed with Ionic and Doric columns,
+was reflecting a thousand prismatic hues from the diamond-like
+stalactites which had attached themselves to its crest. There a
+huge obelisk, which, if of stone, might have come from ancient
+Thebes, lay half buried beneath a pile of fleecy snow. Farther
+on we came to what might have been a Roman temple or vast hall in
+the palace of a Caesar, where many half-hidden pillars and monuments
+erected their tapering summits above the piles of the _debris_. The
+wind had done in that northern latitude what has been performed
+by some violent pre-adamite agency in the Berber desert. Take away
+the ebon blackness of the stony masses which have been there cast
+forth from the bowels of the earth, and replace them on a smaller
+scale by the crystal forms I have faintly attempted to describe,
+and the resemblance would be striking.
+
+Now we came to some fishing-huts, which were constructed on the
+frozen river, the traffic in the finny tribe which takes place in
+this part of Russia being very great, the Volga producing the sterlet
+(a fish unknown in other rivers of Europe), in large quantities. I
+have often eaten them, but must say I could never appreciate this
+so-called delicacy. The bones are of a very glutinous nature, and
+can be easily masticated, while the taste of a sterlet is something
+between that of a barbel and a perch, the muddy flavour of the
+former predominating. However, they are an expensive luxury, as,
+to be perfection for the table, they should be taken out of the
+water alive and put at once into the cooking-pot. The distance to
+St. Petersburg from the Volga is considerable, and a good-sized
+fish will often cost from thirty to forty roubles, and sometimes
+even a great deal more.
+
+We were now gradually nearing our first halting-place, where it
+was arranged that we should change horses. This was a farm-house
+known by the name of Nijnege Pegersky Hootor, twenty-five versts
+distant from Sizeran. Some men were engaged in winnowing corn in a
+yard hard by the dwelling; and the system they employed to separate
+the husks from the grain probably dates from before the flood,
+for, throwing the corn high up into the air with a shovel, they
+let the wind blow away the husks, and the grain descended on to a
+carpet set to catch it in the fall. It was then considered to be
+sufficiently winnowed, and fit to be sent to the mill. The farm-house
+was fairly clean, and, for a wonder, there were no live animals
+inside the dwelling. It is no uncommon thing in farm-houses in
+Russia to find a calf domesticated in the sitting-room of the family,
+and this more particularly during the winter months. But here the
+good housewife permitted no such intruders, and the boards were
+clean and white, thus showing that a certain amount of scrubbing
+was the custom.
+
+The habitation, which was of a square shape, and entirely made of
+wood, contained two good-sized but low rooms, a large stove made
+of dried clay being so arranged as to warm both the apartments.
+A heavy wooden door on the outside of the building gave access to
+a small portico, at the other end of which there was the customary
+_obraz_, or image, which is to be found in almost every house in
+Russia. These _obrazye_ are made of different patterns, but generally
+take the form of a picture of saints or of the Trinity. They are
+executed in silver-gilt or brass relief, and adorned with tawdry
+fringe or other gewgaws. The repeated bows and crosses made by the
+peasantry before these idols is very surprising to an Englishman,
+who may have been told that there is little difference between the
+Greek religion and his own; but if this is the case, the sooner
+the second commandment is omitted from our service, the better.
+It may be said that the Russian peasantry only look upon these
+images as symbols, and that in reality they are praying to the
+living God. Let any one who indulges in this delusion travel in
+Russia and talk to the inhabitants with reference to the _obrazye_,
+or go to Kief at the time of a pilgrimage to the mummified saints
+in that sanctuary, and I think he will then say that no country
+in the world is so imbued with superstitious credences as Russia.
+
+Above the stove, which was about five feet high, a platform of
+boards had been erected at a distance of about three feet from the
+ceiling. This was the sleeping resort of the family, and occasionally
+used for drying clothes during the day. The Russian _moujik_ likes
+this platform more than any other part of the habitation, and his
+great delight is to lie there and perspire profusely, after which
+he finds himself the better able to resist the cold of the elements
+outside. The farm-house in which I now found myself had cost in
+building two hundred roubles, about twenty-six pounds of our money,
+and her home was a source of pride to the good housewife, who could
+read and write, an accomplishment not often possessed by the women
+of this class in the province of Russia.
+
+By this time our former team had been replaced by three fresh horses,
+and the driver who was to accompany us had nearly finished making
+his own preparations for the sleigh journey. Several long bands
+of cloth, first carefully warmed at the stove, were successively
+wound round his feet, and then, having put on a pair of thick boots
+and stuffed some hay into a pair of much larger dimensions, he
+drew the latter on as well, when, with a thick sheep-skin coat,
+cap, and _vashlik_, he declared that he was ready to start.
+
+The cold was very intense when we quitted the threshold, and the
+thermometer had fallen several degrees during the last half-hour;
+the wind had also increased, and it howled and whistled against the
+eaves of the farm-house, bearing millions of minute snowy flakes
+before it in its course. Presently the sound of a little stamping on
+the bottom of the sleigh announced to me that the cold had penetrated
+to my companion's feet, and that he was endeavouring to keep up the
+circulation.
+
+Very soon that so-called "pins-and-needles" sensation, recalling
+some snow-balling episodes of my boyish days, began once more to make
+itself felt, and I found myself commencing a sort of double-shuffle
+against the boards of the vehicle. The snow was falling in thick
+flakes, and with great difficulty our driver could keep the track,
+his jaded horses sinking sometimes up to the traces in the rapidly
+forming drifts, and floundering heavily along the now thoroughly
+hidden road. The cracks of his whip sounded like pistol-shots against
+their jaded flanks, and volumes of invectives issued from his lips.
+
+"Oh, sons of animals!"--[whack].
+
+"Oh, spoiled one!"--[whack]. This to a brute which looked as if
+he never had eaten a good feed of corn in his life. "Oh, woolly
+ones!" [whack! whack! whack!].
+
+"O Lord God!" This as we were all upset into a snowdrift, the sleigh
+being three parts overturned, and our Jehu precipitated in the
+opposite direction.
+
+"How far are we from the next halting-place?" suddenly inquired
+my companion, with an ejaculation which showed that even his good
+temper had given way under the cold and our situation.
+
+"Only four versts, one of noble birth," replied the struggling Jehu,
+who was busily engaged endeavouring to right the half-overturned
+sleigh. A Russian verst about night-fall, and under such conditions
+as I have endeavoured to point out to the reader, is an unknown
+quantity. A Scotch mile and a bit, an Irish league, a Spanish _legua_,
+or the German _stunde_, are at all times calculated to call forth
+the wrath of the traveller, but in no way equal to the first-named
+division of distance. For the verst is barely two-thirds of an
+English mile, and when, after driving yet for an hour, we were
+told that there were still two versts more before we could arrive
+at our halting-place, it began fully to dawn upon my friend that
+either our driver's knowledge of distance, or otherwise his veracity,
+was at fault.
+
+At last we reached a long, struggling village, formed of houses
+constructed much in the same way as that previously described,
+when our horses stopped before a detached cottage. The proprietor
+came out to meet us at the threshold. "_Samovar, samovar!_" (urn),
+said my companion. "Quick, quick! _samovar!_" and hurrying by him,
+and hastily throwing off our furs, we endeavoured to regain our
+lost circulation beside the walls of a well-heated stove.
+
+The Russian peasants are not ignorant of the good old maxim that
+the early bird gets the worm, and the few hours' daylight they
+enjoy during the winter months makes it doubly necessary for them
+to observe this precept. We were all up a good hour before sunrise,
+my companion making the tea, while our driver was harnessing the
+horses, but this time not three abreast, for the road was bad and
+narrow; so we determined to have two small sleighs with a pair of
+horses to each, and put our luggage in one vehicle while we travelled
+in the other.
+
+Off we went, a motley crew. First, the unwashed peddler who had
+wished to be my companion's bedfellow the night before; then our
+luggage sleigh; and, finally, my friend and self, who brought up
+the rear, with a careful eye upon our effects, as the people in
+that part of the country were said to have some difficulty in
+distinguishing between _meum_ and _tuum_.
+
+The sun was bright and glorious, and in no part of the world hitherto
+visited have I ever seen aurora in such magnificence. First, a pale
+blue streak, gradually extending over the whole of the eastern
+horizon, arose like a wall barring the unknown beyond; then, suddenly
+changing colour until the summit was like lapis-lazuli, and its
+base a sheet of purple waves of grey and crystal, radiating from
+the darker hues, relieved the eye, appalled by the vastness of
+the barrier; the purple foundations were in turn upheaved by a
+sea of fire, which dazzled the eye with its glowing brilliancy,
+and the wall of colours floating in space broke up into castles,
+battlements, and towers, which were wafted by the breeze far away
+from our view. The sea of flame meanwhile had lighted up the whole
+horizon; the eye quailed beneath the glare. The snowy carpet at
+our feet reflected like a camera the wonderful panorama overhead.
+Flakes of light in rapid succession bound earth to sky, until the
+globe of sparkling light arising from the depths of this ocean of
+flame dimmed into insignificance the surroundings of the picture.
+
+Presently a sudden check and exclamation of our Jehu told us that
+the harness had given way, and a conversation, freely interlarded
+with epithets exchanged between the driver and the peddler, showed
+that there was decidedly a difference of opinion between them. It
+appeared that the man of commerce was the only one of the party
+who knew the road, and having discovered this fact, he determined
+to make use of his knowledge by refusing to show the way unless
+the proprietor of the horses who drove the vehicle containing our
+luggage would abate a little from the price he had demanded for
+the hire of the horse in the peddler's sleigh. "A bargain is a
+bargain!" cried our driver, wishing to curry favour with his master,
+now a few yards behind him. "A bargain is a bargain. Oh, thou son
+of an animal, drive on!" "It is very cold," muttered my companion.
+"For the sake of God," he shouted, "go on!" But neither the allusion
+to the peddler's parentage nor the invocation of the Deity had
+the slightest effect upon the fellow's mercenary soul.
+
+"I am warm, and well wrapped up," he said; "it is all the same to
+me if we wait here one hour or ten;" and with the most provoking
+indifference he commenced to smoke, not even the manner in which
+the other drivers aspersed the reputation of his mother appearing
+to have the smallest effect. At last the proprietor, seeing it
+was useless holding out any longer, agreed to abate somewhat from
+the hire of the horse, and once more the journey continued over
+a break-neck country, though at anything but a break-neck pace,
+until we reached the station--a farm-hause--eighteen versts from
+our sleeping quarters, and, as we were informed, forty-five from
+Samara.
+
+
+
+
+_RUSSIAN ARCHITECTURE_
+
+_EUGENE EMMANUEL VIOLLET-LE-DUC_
+
+The Russian people, composed of diverse elements in which the Sclav
+predominated at the moment when that vast empire began to be established
+under great princes and amid incessant struggle, was in too close
+communication with Byzantium not to have been to a certain extent
+in submission to Byzantine art; but nevertheless each of these
+elements was in possession of certain notions of art which we must
+not neglect.
+
+The Sclavs, like the Varangians, knew scarcely anything but construction
+by wood, but at a comparatively early period they had already carried
+the art of carpentry very far, and in many different channels.
+
+The Sclavs (as extant traditions show), proceeded by piles in their
+wooden buildings: and the Scandinavians resorted to joining and
+dove-tailing. Thus, the latter early attained great skill in naval
+construction.
+
+These two methods of construction in wood have persisted till the
+present day, which fact is easily established on examining the
+rural dwellings of Russia.
+
+The Sclavs, moreover, as well as the Varangians, possessed certain
+art expressions which denote an Asiatic origin.
+
+Even in Byzantine art, so far as ornamentation is concerned, there
+were origins that were evidently common to those that are felt in
+the Sclav arts; and these original elements are again found in
+Central Asia.
+
+That ornamentation, composed of interlacings and conventional floral
+motives, dry and metallic, which was adopted at Byzantium, where it
+very soon destroyed the last vestiges of Roman art, also appears
+on the most ancient monuments of the Sclavs, and even on objects
+that in France are attributed to the Merovingians, that is to say,
+the Franks who came from the shores of the Baltic.
+
+Thus, Russia was to take her arts, as regards ornamentation, from
+branches that are far apart from one another in time and distance,
+but which sprang from a common trunk.
+
+About the Tenth Century, the Russian buildings were of wood; all
+texts agree on this point, and consequently these constructions
+could have no part in Byzantine architecture, which does not recall
+even the traditions of carpentry work.
+
+Towards the Eleventh Century, when the Russians began to build
+religious edifices of masonry, the structure of which, particularly
+in the vaulting, is inspired by Byzantine art, they adapted to this
+structure, together with a sensibly modified Byzantine garb, an
+ornamentation, derived from Asiatic, Sclavic and Turanian elements
+in variable, that is to say local, proportions.
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH OF THE REDEMER, MOSCOW.]
+
+For at least three centuries, Byzantium was the great school sought
+by the Latin, Visigothic and Germanic nations of Europe for art
+teaching, and it was not till the end of the Twelfth Century that
+the French broke away from these traditions. Their example was
+followed in Italy, England and Germany more or less successfully.
+Russia held aloof from these attempts: she was too closely identified
+with Byzantine art to try any other course; it may be said that she
+was the guardian of that art, and was to carry on its traditions
+by mingling with it elements due to the Asiatic Sclavic genius.
+
+All the dominant elements in Russian art, whether they come from
+the north or south, belong to Asia. Iranians or Persians, Indians,
+Turanians, or Mongols have furnished tribute, though in unequal
+quantities, to this art.
+
+It may also be said that if Russia has borrowed much from Byzantium,
+the art elements among her population have not been without influence
+upon the formation of Byzantine art. We think even that the influence
+of Byzantine upon Russian art has been greatly exaggerated, and
+that Persia may have had at least as much effect upon the course
+of art in Russia.
+
+However, we must except everything pertaining to images. But even
+here Asiatic influence makes itself felt, not in the form, but in
+the preservation of the types. The imagery of the Greek school
+has never gone out of favour in Russia, and it still holds its
+place there in the representation of holy personages. In this,
+Russia shows her attachment to tradition, as all the Asiatic races
+do, and shows how little her intimate sentiments have suffered
+modification.
+
+The Russians avoided the influence of the Iconoclasts which was
+felt so violently in the Western Empire in the Eighth Century, and
+later still in various parts of Western Europe; among the Vaudois
+and Albigenses in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Century, the Hussites
+in the Fifteenth, and the Reformers in the Sixteenth.
+
+But if Russian architecture and ornamentation show marked originality,
+this does not seem to be the case with the representation of holy
+personages. These remain Byzantine. It was the school of Mount
+Athos that supplied Russia with the types, as it did to almost all
+the Greek Christians of the Orient.
+
+In these representations, we have difficulty in finding a tendency
+towards realism, which, morever, does not appear till quite late,
+and does not come to full bloom.
+
+In Russian art, it is possible to find a few Scandinavian traces,
+or, to be more exact, in the arts of Scandinavia we find some elements
+borrowed from the same sources whence the Russians took theirs.
+
+Russia has been one of the laboratories in which the arts, brought
+from all parts of Asia, have been united to adopt an intermediate
+form between the Eastern and the Western world.
+
+Geographically, she was favourably placed to gather together these
+influences; and, ethnologically, she was entirely prepared to assimilate
+these arts and develop them. If she has stopped short in this work,
+it was only at a very recent period, and when repudiating her origin
+and traditions, she tried to become Western, in spite of her own
+genius.
+
+In the first place, the oldest religious edifices of Russia affect
+slender forms, in elevation, which distinguishes them from the
+purely Byzantine buildings.
+
+Evidently, the Russians, from the Twelfth Century on, employed
+in their religious edifices a geometrical plan that was different
+from that employed by the Byzantine architects, but one very close
+to that admitted by the architects of Greece during the early years
+of the Middle Ages.
+
+In Georgia and Armenia, a number of ancient churches, the majority
+of which are very small, are also of this character. But, while
+submitting to these dispositions, as soon as they adopted masonry
+instead of wood for building, the Russians gave quite individual
+proportions to their religious edifices.
+
+By the Fifteenth Century, Russia had combined all the various elements
+by the aid of which a national art should be constituted. To
+recapitulate these origins: We find already among the Scythians
+some elements of art fairly well developed, foreign to Greek art
+and derived from Oriental tradition. Byzantium, in constant contact
+with the people of Southern Russia, made its arts felt there; but in
+the North, some slight Finnish influences and then some Scandinavian
+ones, make themselves felt. From Persia likewise, Russia received
+impulses in art, on account of her commercial relations with that
+country through Georgia and Armenia. In the Thirteenth Century,
+the Tartar-Mongol domination was imposed upon Russia, employed
+her artists and craftsmen, and thus placed her in direct contact
+with that Mediaeval Orient that was so mighty and so brilliant in
+all its art productions.
+
+At length left to herself, in the Fifteenth Century, Russia constituted
+her own art from these various sources. But this variety of sources
+is more apparent than real. It is enough to examine Scythian
+ornamentation to recognize that it is of a pronounced Indo-Oriental
+character. Byzantine taste has exerted a preponderating influence
+upon Russia. But it has been recognized that this Byzantine style
+is itself composed of very varied elements among which figure most
+largely the art of Eastern Asia, and that from this Byzantine art
+Russia likes to appropriate the Asiatic side in particular.
+
+So that we may regard Russian art as composed of elements borrowed
+from the Orient to the almost complete exclusion of all others.
+
+Moreover, if we follow the streams of art to their sources, we soon
+come to recognize that the tributaries are not at all numerous.
+
+In the matter of architecture, there are only two principles: structure
+by wood and concrete structure: grottoes, and construction with clay,
+and with masonry, which is derived from it. As to construction with
+cut stones, there results, either from a tradition of building
+with wood or from concrete construction, grottoes or conglomerate
+masses, sometimes both, as in Egyptian art, for example.
+
+The innumerable races who issued from the East and finally overwhelmed
+the Roman Empire had preserved from their cradle their own traditions,
+and continued to keep up communication with their old homes. Better
+than any other nation, the Russians preserved these traditions, and
+they were, so to speak, rejuvenated every time a new wave passed
+across their territories; for it was always from the northern or
+southern Orient, from the Ural or the Taurus, that the invaders
+came. Whether they presented themselves as enemies or colonists
+they brought with them something of Asia, the great mother of
+civilizations.
+
+This Russian art, therefore, was never struck with decadence as
+was the Byzantine art. It did not live solely upon itself, but
+profited by all that was brought from the Orient. So, when the
+Eastern Empire fell during the Fifteenth Century, leaving only
+a pale trace of the last expressions of its arts, Russia, on the
+contrary, was raising edifices and fabricating objects of great
+value from an artistic point of view.
+
+The West had only a small share in these productions, but even
+this was enough to enable Russian art to be distinguished from the
+arts of the East by a certain freedom of conception and variety in
+the execution that rendered it an original product full of promise,
+the developments of which might have been marvellous if the natural
+course of events had not been hindered by the passion with which
+high Russian society threw itself on the works of art of Italy,
+Germany and France.
+
+
+
+
+_SCULPTURE AND PAINTING_
+
+_PHILIPPE BERTHELOT_
+
+Western influence was very strongly felt in sculpture and painting
+in Russia during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Narrowly
+confined to the representation of conventional types of saints,
+these arts did not acquire either personality or expression for
+two centuries. It was not until the Eighteenth Century that they
+began to raise statues to the memory of Russia's great men: one
+of the first monuments was consecrated, as was indeed just, to
+Peter the Great, Russia's great reformer; in his lifetime, Count
+Bartolomeo Rastrelli the sculptor, father of the architect, executed
+a _Peter the Great on Horseback_, which was cast in bronze in 1847;
+but the successors of Peter the Great did not like this group which
+they did not consider sufficiently animated and would not allow
+it to be erected on a public square. Catherine II. had Falconet
+model a _Peter the Great_ mounted on a fiery horse climbing up
+a rock; this bronze group is placed in the centre of the Square
+of Peter the Great on the Neva, at St. Petersburg. Among the most
+celebrated works of Russian sculpture, we may cite the bronze monument
+erected to the memory of Prince Poyarski and the butcher Minine
+on the Red Square, Moscow (by Martoss, rector of the Academy of
+Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, in 1888); Lomonossov's monument (by
+Martoss); those of Generals Barclay de Tolly and Koutousov (1818-1836
+after the model by B. Orlovski, placed in front of the Cathedral
+of Kazan, St. Petersburg); the colossal bust of Alexander I. (by
+Orlovski); the commemorative monument of Alexander I. (1832, by
+Montferrand), with a statue of the Angel of Peace, by Orlovski;
+the statue of Krilov, the fabulist, 1855, by Baron Clodt in the
+Summer Garden, St. Petersburg; an equestrian statue of the emperor
+Nicholas I. (by Clodt, 1859, on the St. Mary square); the monument
+of Novgorod, elevated in memory of the millenary of the Russian
+occupation (1862), in the form of a gigantic bell containing scenes
+from Russian history, by Mikiechin; the monument to Catherine II.
+by Mikiechin, she being represented as surrounded by her generals
+and statesmen (1874, before the Alexander Theatre); the monument to
+Pushkin in Moscow (1830, by Objekuchin and Bogomolov); the monument
+to Bohdan-Chmelnizki, at Kiev (1873, by Mikiechin and other sculptors).
+The principal Russian sculptors are Popov, Antokolski (statue of Ivan
+the Terrible, 1871, in St. Petersburg), Tchichov and E. Lanceray.
+They are characterized by a very pronounced realism that is common
+to all.
+
+Russian painting has developed in various directions during the
+last two centuries under the influence of Western Europe; until
+the first half of the Nineteenth Century the imitation of Italian
+painting, the classical French school and the execution of strictly
+academic painting were the three principal paths attempted by the
+Russian artists. But for half a century, art has found a national
+expression for itself. At the end of the Eighteenth and beginning of
+the Nineteenth Century, the principal representatives of religious
+and historical painting were Losenko (died in 1773), Antropov (died
+in 1792), Akimov (died in 1814), Ugriumov (died in 1823), Levizki
+(died in 1822), Ivanov (died in 1823), and Moschov (died in 1839).
+The landscape and marine painters of greatest repute are Sim. and
+Sil. Schtchedrin (the first died in 1804, and the second in 1830),
+Pritchetnikov (died in 1809), F. Alekseiev (died in 1824). Academic
+painting was cultivated principally by Tropinin (died in 1827),
+Warnek (died in 1843), Lebediev (died in 1837), Worobiev (died
+in 1855), K. Rabus (died in 1857), Bruni (died in 1875), Markov
+(died in 1878), A. Beidemann (died in 1869) and Willewalde. The
+chief painter of the romantic school is K. Brullov, who formed
+a school and had numerous scholars. Other romantic painters of
+repute are Bronnikov and various landscape and marine painters
+such as Aivasovski, Bogolnibov, L. Lagorio and A. Mechtcherski.
+Religious and popular painting has A. Ivanov for its representative.
+The principal realistic painters in genre and historical painting
+are Fedotov, Makovski, Perov, Polenor, Vereschagin, etc.
+
+[Illustration: STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT AND THE ADMIRALTY PALACE,
+ST. PETERSBURG.]
+
+Ornamental sculpture seems to be superior to statuary in Russia:
+it is abundantly practised in the decoration of churches; the
+innumerable chapels standing at the street corners in honour of some
+saint possess icons and lamps of bronze and silver; the iconostases
+of the cathedrals are extremely rich,--gold, silver-gilt, silver,
+lapis-lazuli, malachite and enamel-work are lavishly employed there.
+In the churches of Saint Isaac and the Saviour there are many admirable
+and veritable _chefs d'oeuvre_ of originality and brilliancy to be
+found. The industry of bronze and goldsmith's work in religious
+objects is very flourishing and gives occupation to numerous workmen
+and artists in Moscow and St. Petersburg. An imperial manufactory
+produces the mosaics which occupy such a great place in the decoration
+of the churches.
+
+Industrial arts are very prosperous in Russia and have made great
+progress during the last century: silken goods are no longer imported
+from Lyons; and the Russian cabinet-makers produce beautiful furniture,
+not only in their national style, but in the purest forms of French
+art of the Louis XV. and Louis XVI. styles. Civil goldsmith's work
+and jewellery have also been benefited by the national Renaissance:
+the Emperor Alexander III. restored to honour the national feminine
+costume for official balls, and ordered works of art to be made
+after the models of the Muscovite style, and indeed even after
+the marvels found in the excavations of the Cimmerian Bosphorus.
+The religious images, particularly those made in Moscow and Kazan,
+come very near being works of art. Numerous manufactories produce
+icons painted on wood or copper, ornamented with reliefs of copper,
+_crysocale_, silver, silver-gilt and gold. The workmen are monks
+and peasants: each part of the icon--eyes, nose, mouth, hands and
+feet--is executed by a specialist who always makes the same thing,
+after the immutable types that the Muscovite convents received
+from Mount Athos.
+
+
+
+
+_RUSSIAN MUSIC_
+
+_A. E. KEETON_
+
+Russian music is the strangest paradox--it owes more to the music
+of other countries than any other school, yet no music is more
+thoroughly individual and unmistakable. It clothes itself after
+the form and fashion of its neighbours, but beneath its garb peeps
+out a physiognomy indubitably Sclavonic. Its utterances impress us
+as the most modern--yet the student who would correctly analyze
+many of its unique characteristics of harmony and modulation is often
+obliged to take a flying leap backwards over a space of centuries
+in order to investigate old Church modes, or Persian and Arabian
+scale systems, both so ancient as to be well-nigh forgotten in
+Western Europe.
+
+Sixty years ago, there was no Russian school of music, properly
+speaking; then suddenly it sprang into being. The wonderful rapidity
+of its growth almost confuses one. Its exponents at once displayed
+the astonishing receptiveness common to their race. _D'un trait_, as
+the French would say, they appropriated the knowledge and experience
+which the Italian and German schools had been slowly amassing for
+centuries. Technique, form, counterpoint--all these they found
+ready made to their hand, and borrowed them unstintingly. Had they
+done this and no more, the onlooker might have dismissed them as
+clever plagairists, and probably no one would have paid them any
+further attention. But they had other means at their disposal. Their
+country contained a treasure-house of native melody and rhythm;
+a region albeit which few Russians had hitherto thought it worth
+their while to explore. It is true that, since the middle of the
+Seventeenth Century, tentative excursions had been made in this
+direction from time to time, chiefly, though, by outsiders settled
+in Russia, nor had any of their efforts led to very appreciable
+results. The man who first turned with serious intent to the pent-up
+musical resources of his own country was Michael Ivanovitch Glinka.
+He had sufficient strength of purpose to carry out his designs--he
+became the founder of the modern Russian school of music and the
+father of Russian opera.
+
+Glinka belonged to a good if not very wealthy family, who lived upon
+their estate in the government of Smolensk, where he was born in 1804.
+From babyhood upwards he delighted his friends and relations by his
+aptitude not for music alone, but also for languages, literature,
+zoology, botany--in fact, for each and every intellectual pursuit
+which came in his way. The brilliance of his college course in St.
+Petersburg was noteworthy. He quitted it to occupy a civil post
+under Government, a position, however, which he soon abandoned,
+in order to devote himself solely to music. Like so many other men
+of genius, he married a woman quite incapable of comprehending
+his artistic aims and ambitions; to quote the words of a Russian
+writer, Madame Glinka, _nee_ Maria Petrovna, "was only a pretty doll,
+who loved society and fine clothes, and had no sympathy whatever
+with her husband's romantic, poetic side." One is glad to state
+that Glinka never had to struggle with poverty. He died at Berlin
+in 1857.
+
+He did for Russian music what his contemporary, Pushkin, did for
+Russian literature, each in his own department representing a national
+movement. Perhaps it is not too far-fetched a theory to trace this
+movement to the momentous date of 1812, when it fell to the lot
+of Russia to administer the first check in Napoleon's triumphant
+career. Ever since the reign of Peter the Great it had been the
+fashion to ape foreign habits, to speak foreign tongues, to import
+foreign music, to mimic foreign literature. But when a foreign
+invader, who had marched all-conquering through the rest of Europe,
+appeared in serious earnest at the very gates of Moscow, there
+was a rebound: slumbering patriotism awoke with a great shout,
+and, united by a common danger, all classes gathered together for
+the protection of their Tsar and their Kremlin. To have repulsed
+a Napoleon was a mighty deed, which could reveal to the Russians
+of what stuff they were made. It taught them to rely upon each
+other and be strong in themselves; and as the art of a nation is
+invariably the outcome of its history, so the rising generation
+of Russian thinkers looked inwards rather than abroad. Glinka,
+Pushkin, and their followers sought no foreign aid; they represent
+a Russian Renaissance. They were content, indeed, to abide by the
+forms universally adopted elsewhere, but the spirit of their art
+manifestation was Russian to its core. In literature, Pushkin and
+Gogol were never weary of delineating their compatriots in every grade
+of Sclavonic society, whilst Glinka took his musical inspirations
+from his native folk-songs and dance-rhythms--from the historic
+chronicles of his country or its legendary lore. In reality, the
+foreign influences and environment with which he came so continuously
+into contact served more and more to convince him that Russia in
+her turn had as great a mission in music as any other nation. For
+thirty years the idea was gradually gaining strength in his mind.
+"I want," he said to a friend, "to write an essentially national
+opera both as regards subject and music; something which no foreigner
+can possibly accuse of being borrowed, and which shall come home
+to my compatriots as a part of themselves."
+
+His fame depends solely upon the two operas, _La Vie pour le Tsar_
+and _Russlan et Ludmille_. That he should have chosen to express
+himself especially in opera is a significant fact. The unerring
+instinct of his genius evidently told him that in this form, rather
+than in purely instrumental music, he would most truly represent
+that people whose musical aspirations he wished above all else
+to portray faithfully, and certainly in opera lay his surest way
+towards enlisting the sympathies of his compatriots. As before
+remarked, one might have imagined that opera would scarcely ally
+itself to his personal individuality; it seems probable, therefore,
+that various salient traits inherent in the Russians as a nation
+must have led him to the choice. First and foremost, any music
+which claims to proceed from the very heart of the Russian people
+must contain a vocal element. So universal a love of singing as
+exists throughout Russia is to be met with in no other country.
+
+By this one does not mean to infer that Russian cultivated singing,
+either solo or choral, is in any way superior to what is heard
+elsewhere. The Russian peasant knows absolutely nothing about voice
+production, nor, maybe, is he gifted with any unusual vocal material,
+nevertheless, singing is closely bound up with every rural event of
+his cheerless existence. During the last half-century many hundreds
+of the native melodies sung by the Russian country people for
+generations past have been collected and written down by different
+musicians--Balakireff, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Prokoudin, and Lisenko
+amongst others. The variety of these folk-songs is astonishing.
+They never become monotonous, each song having its distinctive
+climax, and the air always suits the words. Often the untutored
+singer has one melody in his _repertoire_, but intuitively he modifies
+its strains according to the sentiment of his subject.
+
+This general love of music applies as much to the noble as to the
+peasant. "Where there is a Sclav there is a Song," says a Sclavonic
+proverb, and no public ceremony or Court function is ever deemed
+complete in Russia without an outburst of singing to heighten its
+impressiveness. There is besides a marked dramatic ingredient in the
+Sclavonic character. The typical Russian loves acting. To discover
+this, it is only necessary to visit a Russian village and witness
+the unconscious presentments of lyric drama or of desolate tragedy
+set forth by the quaint rites of a country wedding or a rustic
+funeral. Or study a Russian legend. It at once impresses you with
+its wealth of dramatic situations most concisely defined. In this,
+the Sclavonic folktale differs radically from its Celtic neighbour.
+A comparison of the two types suggests that the Russian principally
+desires a clear statement of facts; a poetic idea which must be
+extracted from clouds of metaphor conveys but little significance
+to his mind. An innate love of song, an innate love of acting, a
+keen perception of dramatic unity, combined with a passionate love
+of colour and a strong sense of movement--here surely, without any
+manner of doubt, one has the basis of a well-nigh perfect school of
+opera. Glinka, the cultivated musician, himself a Russian, thoroughly
+appreciated these national qualities; indeed they were part and
+parcel of his birthright. He could assimilate the characteristics
+of his race and merge them into his own very remarkable originality.
+The first product of the combined motors was _La Vie pour le Tsar_,
+given at St. Petersburg in 1836. Fifty years later it had reached
+its 577th performance, and from all accounts it still retains an
+undiminished popularity.
+
+[Illustration: THE THEATER, ODESSA.]
+
+If we dissect this opera and examine its wonderful mastery of technique
+and its depth of musical inspiration, it displays beauties which
+cannot fail to appeal to connoisseurs of every race and school. But
+regarded as a whole, one is inclined to doubt its ever becoming a
+standard work outside its native home. Its true scope and meaning
+can only be justly estimated by a public acquainted with Russia
+herself, with her people, her history and her innermost modes of
+thought.
+
+Glinka attached the highest value to the folk-song, of which, as
+already stated, he found a treasure trove ready to his hand. Nothing,
+though, was further from his thoughts than to employ this material
+in _pot-pourri_ style. Russians themselves are all agreed that it
+would be difficult to select one whole folk-song from any single
+work of Glinka's. It would naturally require a native of Russia
+with an accurate knowledge of these native tunes to tell us exactly
+when and where he used them. He seized their mood. In this way he
+developed every species of Sclavonic folk-song--Great Russian,
+Little Russian, Circassian, Polish, Finnish--with a passing flavour
+contributed by Persia, for undoubtedly Oriental music had, at some
+remote period, influenced its Sclavonic neighbour very strongly.
+Glinka may be said to have attained his end almost unconscious
+of his mode of procedure. Determined to compose Russian music,
+he pursued his idea unremittingly, but it was only towards the
+close of his life that he began to seriously analyze his effects,
+asking himself whence he had obtained them and in what essential
+points they exhibited their nationality. This inquiry involved
+him in a field of research bewildering in its magnitude, and one
+which his early death unfortunately prevented him from thoroughly
+investigating. Nor is the task by any means completed now, some
+forty years later, although many Russian musicians have thrown
+considerable light upon its varied aspects. The first step towards
+a folk-song analysis was the collecting of the melodies in sufficient
+numbers for comparison. So much being done, it flashed upon Glinka
+that there was an intimate connection between the Russian folk-song
+and the most ancient Russian Church music. That is to say, the
+melody and the freedom of rhythm typical of the folk-song had been
+evolved by the people, whilst its harmonization, in which lay one
+of its most striking essentialities, had been bequeathed it by the
+Church. From all that can be gathered concerning music in Muscovy
+prior to the introduction of Christianity, it seems justifiable to
+admit that harmony, or part singing, was already practised amongst
+the inhabitants, in what manner it is impossible to conjecture.
+At any rate, when the Church of Byzantium took root there, the
+Sclav was sufficiently advanced musically to imbibe a new idea. We
+know that the Byzantine Church modes were purely diatonic, so is
+the harmonization of the Russian folk-song in its most elementary
+and uncorrupted form. That the one produced the other is a most
+natural conclusion. In the oldest of the Russian national melodies
+Glinka discovered the most clearly defined type of the earliest
+Christian songs on record.
+
+A wonderful testimony this to the indwelling religious spirit of
+the Russian people, who change but little and who are singularly
+tenacious of their customs in spite of all their ready receptiveness.
+In one sense the folk-song is as rude and hardy as its singer; from
+another point of view it is a shy, delicate emanation shrinking
+from all human intercourse outside its own small coterie of familiar
+voices. In Russia, as in every other country, it has had to be
+sought in the remote Steppes and far-off districts where foreign
+influences had never penetrated, and by a curious inverse process
+its harmonies, of course, transmitted orally, were the means of
+preserving the Byzantine Church tonality long after this "first
+cause" had accepted chromatic and enharmonic modulations. In the
+chief Russian cities and more opened-up parts of the country, the
+Italian, French, and later on German elements gradually formed
+themselves into Church as well as secular music, and only within
+the last sixty years have attempts been made to restore this to
+its pristine and, perhaps it may be added, somewhat monotonous
+purity. The minor key in which the Sclavonic folksong was usually
+couched, together with its extraordinary variety of rhythm and
+phrase, protected it from this monotony, the minor keys having
+infinitely richer resources of colour, even when strictly diatonically
+treated, than the major.
+
+Sclavonic music figures so constantly upon every concert programme
+in these days that we are probably most of us accustomed to its
+vagaries of rhythm, or what may be styled irregularity of metre.
+This is a direct heritage from the folk-song, which Glinka and
+his successors have borrowed largely.
+
+The leading musical spirits of his day were quick to accredit him
+a kindred genius. Berlioz welcomed him gladly, and furthered his
+cause by eloquent writing as well as by obtaining him a hearing
+in Paris. Liszt was another enthusiastic "Glinkite," and Schumann,
+unfailingly keen to notice new talent pursuing a new path, speedily
+drew attention to a Russian who was doing for the music of his
+country what Chopin and Moniusco had done for Poland. Rubinstein,
+who was still a boy when Glinka's sun was near setting, grew up
+with a warm admiration for the founder of his native school, and
+in 1855 he spent some of his ardour upon a highly laudatory article
+in the _Wiener Zeitschrift fir Musik_, placing Glinka on a par with
+Beethoven. Glinka thoroughly detesting anything that savoured of
+flattery, took the young musician soundly to task for his pains;
+but Rubinstein remained true to his tenets, and later on, when
+years had matured his judgment, we find him including the name of
+Glinka with that of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin, as the
+chief germinators of modern music; whilst one of the last acts of
+his generous public career was a concert given in aid of a national
+monument to the composer of _La Vie pour le Tsar_. With one or
+two minor exceptions, successive Russian masters have followed
+faithfully in Glinka's footsteps. To Borodine, Dargomijsky, Seroff,
+Balakireff, and Rimsky-Korsakoff a full meed of nationality has been
+granted. To Rubinstein and Tschaikowski criticism is at present
+disposed to deny the quality in its most salient features. But
+their prolific mass of compositions has so far scarcely been
+sufficiently explored outside their own Russian domain for a final
+judgment to be hazarded. A nearer inspection of their work, indeed,
+together with a more accurate study of Russian art as a whole,
+distinctly leads to the opinion that a revolution of feeling may
+eventually spring up, especially on the subject of their operas.
+Also Rubinstein's dramatic works, now mostly dismissed by foreigners
+as his weakest productions, may in due course be accepted as his
+finest creations. From the different reasons previously deduced
+there can be little doubt that in opera Glinka purposely laid the
+corner-stone of what he earnestly believed to be a true Russian
+school, and a glance at contemporary musical activity shows that
+here Russia has every opportunity for distinguishing herself, and
+that with very little competition.
+
+
+
+
+_RUSSIAN LITERATURE_
+
+_W. R. MORFILL_
+
+Of the Russian there are the following chief dialects--Great, Little,
+and White Russian. The Great Russian is the literary and official
+language of the Empire. In its structure it is highly synthetic,
+having three genders and seven cases, and the nouns and adjectives
+being fully inflected. Its great peculiarity (which it shares in
+common with all the Sclavonic languages), is the structure of the
+verbs, which are divided into so-called "aspects," which modify
+the meaning, just as the Latin terminations _sco, urio_, and _ita_,
+only the forms are developed into a more perfect system. The letters
+employed are the Cyrillian, held to have been invented by St. Cyril
+in the Ninth Century. They are on the whole well adapted to express
+the many sounds of the Russian alphabet, for which the Latin letters
+would be wholly inadequate, and must perforce be employed in some
+such uncouth combinations as those which communicate a grotesque
+appearance to Polish. It would be out of place here to discuss the
+Ecclesiastical Sclavonic employed in so many of the early writings
+composed in Russian. I shall proceed to speak of the literature in
+Russian properly so-called. The great epochs of this will be--
+
+I. From the earliest times to the reign of Peter the Great.
+
+II. From the reign of Peter the Great to our own time.
+
+The Russians, like the rest of the Sclavonic peoples are very rich
+in national songs, many (as one may judge from the allusions found
+in them), going back to a remote antiquity. For a long time, and
+especially during the period of French influence, these productions
+were neglected. In the last twenty years, however, they have been
+assiduously collected by Bezsonov, Kirievski, Ribnikov, Hilferding and
+others. The Russian legendary poems are called _Bilini_ (literally,
+tales of old time), and may be most conveniently divided into the
+following classes:--
+
+1. That of the earlier heroes. 2. The Cycle of Vladimir. 3. The
+Royal, or Moscow Cycle.
+
+The early heroes are of a half-mythical type, and perform prodigies
+of valour. To this class belong Volga Vseslavich, Mikoula Selianinovich
+and Sviatogor. The great glory of the Cycle of Vladimir is Ilya
+Murometz. The _Bilinas_ are filled with his magnificent exploits,
+either alone, or in the company of Sviatogor.
+
+The national songs are carried on through the troublous times of
+Boris Godunov, and the false Dimitri, to the days of Peter the
+Great, when they seem to have acquired new vigour on account of
+the military achievements of the regenerator of his country. Nor
+are they extinct in our own time, for we find exploits of Napoleon,
+especially his disastrous expedition to Russia, made the subject
+of verse. The interest, however, of these legendary poems fades
+away as we advance into later days. The number of minstrels is
+rapidly diminishing; and Riabanin, and his companions among the
+Great Russians, and Ostap Veresai among the Malo-Russians, will
+probably be the last of these generations of rhapsodists, who have
+transmitted their traditional chants from father to son, from tutor
+to pupil. A great feature in Russian literature is the collection
+of chronicles, which begin with Nestor, monk of the Pestcherski
+Cloister at Kiev, who was born about A. D. 1056, and died about
+1116.
+
+During the time when Russia groaned under the yoke of the Mongols,
+the nation remained silent, except here and there, perhaps, in some
+legendary song, sung among peasants, and destined subsequently
+to be gathered from oral tradition by a Ribnikov and a Hilferding.
+Such literature as was cultivated formed the recreation of the
+monks in their cells. A new era, however, was to come. Ivan III.
+established the autocracy and made Moscow the centre of the new
+government. The Russians naturally looked to Constantinople as
+the centre of their civilization; and even when the city was taken
+by the Turks its influence did not cease. Many learned Greeks fled
+to Russia, and found an hospitable reception in the dominions of
+the Grand Duke. During the reigns of Ivan the Terrible and his
+immediate successors, although the material progress of the country
+was considerably advanced, and a strong Government founded, yet
+little was done for learning. Simeon Polotzki (1628-80), tutor
+to the Tsar Feodor, son of Alexis, was an indefatigable writer
+of religious and educational books, but his productions can now
+only interest the antiquarian. The verses composed by him on the
+new palace built by the Tsar Alexis, at Kolomenski are deliciously
+quaint. Of a more important character is the sketch of the Russian
+government, and the habits of the people, written by one Koshikin
+(or Kotoshikin--for the name is found in both forms), a renegade
+diak or secretary, which, after having lain for a long time in
+manuscript in the library of Upsala, in Sweden, was edited in 1840,
+by the Russian historian Soloviev. Kotoshikin terminated a life
+of strange vicissitudes by perishing at the hands of the public
+executioner at Stockholm, about 1669.
+
+With the reforms of Peter the Great commences an entirely new period
+in the history of Russian literature, which was now to be under
+Western influence. The epoch was inaugurated by Lomonosov, the
+son of a poor fisherman of Archangel, who forms one of the curious
+band of peasant authors--of very various merit, it must be
+confessed--who present such an unexpected phenomenon in Russian
+literature. Occasionally we have men of real genius, as in the cases
+of Koltzov, Nikitin, and Shevchenko, the great glory of southern
+Russia; sometimes, perhaps, a man whose abilities have been overrated
+as in the instance of Slepoushkin. Lemonosov is more praised than
+read by his countrymen. His turgid odes, stuffed with classical
+allusions, in praise of Anne and Elizabeth, are still committed
+to memory by pupils at educational establishments. His panegyrics
+are certainly fulsome, but probably no worse than those of Boileau
+in praise of Louis XIV., who grovelled without the excuse of the
+imperfectly educated Scythian. The reign of Catherine II. (1762-96),
+saw the rise of a whole generation of court poets. The great maxim,
+"_Un Auguste peut aisement faire un Virgile_," was seen in all its
+absurdity in semi-barbarous Russia. These wits were supported by
+the Empress and her immediate _entourage_, to whom their florid
+productions were ordinarily addressed.
+
+[Illustration: THE LIBRARY, ODESSA.]
+
+From Byzantine traditions, from legends of saints, from confused
+chronicles, and orthodox hymnologies, Russia was to pass by one
+of the most violent changes ever witnessed in the literature of
+any country, into epics moulded upon the _Henriade_, and tedious
+odes in the style of Boileau and Jean Baptiste Rousseau. Oustrialov,
+the historian, truly characterizes most of the voluminous writers
+of this epoch, as mediocre verse makers, for claiming merits in the
+cases of Bogdanovich, Khemnitzer, Von Vizin, Dmitriev, and Derzhavin.
+Bogdanovich wrote a very pretty lyric piece, styled _Dushenka_
+based on the story of Cupid and Psyche, and partly imitated from
+Lafontaine, with a sportive charm about the verse which will preserve
+it from becoming obsolete. With Khemnitzer begin the fabulists. But
+I shall reserve my remarks upon this species of literature and
+its Russian votaries until I come to Krilov, who may be said to
+be one of the few Sclavonic authors who have gained a reputation
+beyond the limits of their own country. In Denis Von Vizin, born
+at Moscow, but as his name shows, of German extraction, Russia saw
+a writer of genuine national comedy. Hitherto she had to content
+herself with poor imitations of Moliere. His two plays, the _Brigadier_
+and the _Minor_ (_Nederosl_), have much original talent. No such
+vigorous representations of character appeared again on the stage
+till _The Misfortune of being too Clever_ (_Gore et Ouma_) of
+Griboiedov, and the _Revisor_ of Gogol. Dmitriev deserves perhaps
+no more than a passing mention.
+
+The name of Derzhavin is spoken of with reverence among his countrymen:
+he was the laureate of the epoch of Catherine, and had a fresh ode
+for every new military glory. There is much fire and vigour in
+his productions and he could develop the strength and flexibility
+of his native language which can be made as expressive and concise
+as Greek. Perhaps, however, we get a little tired of his endless
+perfections of Felitza, the name under which he celebrates the
+Empress Catherine, a woman who--whatever her private faults may
+have been,--did a great deal for Russia.
+
+In Nicholas Karamzin appeared the first Russian historian who can
+properly claim the title. His poems are almost forgotten: here and
+there we come upon a solitary lyric in a book of extracts. His
+_History of the Russian Empire_, however, is a work of extensive
+research, and must always be quoted with respect by Sclavonic scholars.
+Unfortunately, it only extends to the election of Michael Romanov.
+Karamzin was followed by Nicholas Polevoi, son of a Siberian merchant,
+who hardly left any species of literature untouched. His _History
+of the Russian People_, however, did not add to his reputation,
+and is now almost forgotten. In later times both these authors
+have been eclipsed by such writers as Soloviev and Kostomarov.
+A new and more critical school of Russian historians has sprung
+up; but for the early history of the Sclavonic peoples, the great
+work is still Schafarik's _Sclavonic Antiquities_, first published
+in the Bohemian language, and more familiar to scholars in the
+West of Europe in its German version.
+
+With the breaking up of old forms of government caused by the French
+Revolution, came the dislocation of the old conventional modes of
+thought. Classicism in literature was dead, having weighed like an
+incubus upon the fancy and fresh life of many generations. England
+and Germany were at the head of the new movement, which was at a
+later period to be joined to France. The influence was to extend
+to Russia, and may be said to date from the reign of Alexander I.
+It was headed by Zhukovski, who was rather a fluent translator
+than an original poet. He has given excellent versions of Schiller,
+Goethe, Moore, and Byron, and has better enriched the literature
+of his country in this way than by his original productions. He
+had, however, some lyric fire of his own; the ode entitled _The
+Poet in the Camp of the Russian Warriors_, written in the memorable
+year 1812, did something to stimulate the national feelings, and
+procure for the poet a good appointment at court.
+
+In Alexander Pushkin, the Russians were destined to find their
+greatest poet. His first work, _Rouslan and Lioudmilla_, was a tale
+of half-mythical times, in which the influence of Byron was clearly
+visible, but the author had never allowed himself to become a mere
+copyist. The same may be said of _The Prisoner of the Caucasus_,
+in which Pushkin had an opportunity of describing the romantic
+scenery of that wild country, which was then entirely new ground.
+In the _Fountain of Bakchiserai_ he chose an episode in the history
+of the Khans of the Crimea, which he has handled very poetically.
+The _Gipsies_ is a wild oriental tale of passion and vengeance. The
+poet, who had been spending some time amid the Steppes of Bessarabia,
+has left us wonderful pictures of the wandering tribes and their
+savage life. Many Russians consider the _Evgenie Oniegin_ of Pushkin
+to be his best effort. It is a powerfully written love-story, full
+of sketches of modern life, interspersed with satire and pathos.
+
+A criticism of Pushkin would necessarily be imperfect, which left
+out of all consideration his drama on the subject of _Boris Godunov_.
+Here he has used Shakespeare as his model. Up to this time the
+traditions of the Russian stage--such as they were--were wholly
+French. The piece is undoubtedly very clever, and conceived with
+true dramatic power.
+
+Since Pushkin's attempt, the historical drama based upon the English,
+has been very successfully cultivated. A fine trilogy has been
+composed by Count A. Tolstoi (whose premature death all Russia
+deplored), on the three subjects, _The Death of Ivan the Terrible_
+(1866), _The Tsar Feodor_ (1868) and the _Tsar Boris_ (1869).
+
+The Russian fabulists, whose name is legion, demand some mention;
+Khemnitzer, Dmitriev, Ivanov and others, have attempted this style
+of poetry; but the most celebrated of all is Ivan Krilov (1768-1844).
+Many of his short sentences have become proverbs among the Russian
+people, like the couplets of Lafontaine among the French, and Butler's
+_Hudibras_ among ourselves. His pictures of life and manners are
+most thoroughly national. In Koltzov the true voice of the people,
+which had before only expressed itself in the national ballads was
+heard. The life of this sensitive and warm-hearted man of genius
+was clouded by poverty and suffering.
+
+The poems of Koltzov are written, for the most part, in an unrhymed
+verse; the sharp, well-defined accent in Russian amply satisfying
+the ear, as in German. His poetical taste had been nurtured by
+the popular lays of his country. He has caught their colouring
+as truly as Burns did that of the Scottish minstrelsy. He is
+unquestionably the most national poet that Russia has produced;
+Slepoushkin and Alipanov, two other peasant poets, who made some
+little noise in their time, cannot for one moment be compared with
+him; but, on the other hand, he has been excelled by the fiery
+energy and picturesque power of the Cossack, Taras Shevchenko, of
+whom I shall speak. Since the death of Pushkin, Lermontov alone
+has appeared to dispute the poetical crown with him. The short life
+of this author (1814-41), ended in the same way as Pushkin's--in
+a duel provoked by himself. Many of his lyrics are exquisite, and
+have become standard poems in Russia, such as the _Gifts of Terek_
+and _The Cradle Song of the Cossack Mother_.
+
+In Gogol, who died in 1852, the Russians had to lament the loss
+of a keen and vigorous satirist. With a happy humour reminding
+us of Dickens in his best moods, he has sketched all classes of
+society in the _Dead Souls_, perhaps the cleverest of all Russian
+novels. No one, also has reproduced the scenery and habits of Little
+Russia, of which he was a native, more vigorously than Gogol, whether
+in the pictures of country life in his _Old-Fashioned Household_
+(if we may translate in so free a manner the title _Starovetskie
+Pomestchiki_), or in the wilder sketches of the struggles which
+took place between the Poles and Cossacks in _Taras Boulba_. In the
+_Portrait_ and _Memoirs of a Madman_, Gogol shows a weird power,
+which may be compared with that of the fantastic American, Edgar
+Allan Poe. Besides his novels, he wrote a brilliant comedy called
+the _Revisor_, dealing with the evils of bureaucracy.
+
+Towards the end of the year 1877, died Nicholas Nekrasov, the most
+remarkable poet produced by Russia since Lermontov. He has left
+six volumes of poetry, of a peculiarly realistic type, chiefly
+dwelling upon the misfortunes of the Russian peasantry, and putting
+before us most forcibly the dull grey tints of their monotonous
+and purposeless lives.
+
+I have not space to enumerate here even the most prominent Russian
+novelists. No account, however, of their literature would be anything
+like complete which omitted the name of Ivan Tourgheniev, whose
+reputation is European. With the Russians the English novel of the
+realistic type is the fashionable model. In this branch of literature,
+French influences have hardly been felt at all. The historical
+novel--an echo of the great romances of Sir Walter Scott--had its
+cultivators in such writers as Zagoskin and Lazhechnikov; but at
+the present time, with the exception of the recent productions
+of Count Tolstoi, it is a form of literature as dead in Russia
+as in our own country. The novel of domestic life bids fair to
+swallow up all the rest, and it is to this that the Russians are
+devoting their attention.
+
+Tourgheniev first made a name by his _Memoirs of a Sportsman_,
+a powerfully written work, in which harrowing descriptions are
+given of the miserable condition of the Russian serfs. Since the
+publication of this novel, or rather series of sketches, he has
+written a succession of able works of the same kind, in which all
+classes of Russian society have been reviewed. No more pathetic
+tale than the _Gentleman's Retreat_ (_Dvorianskoe Gnezdo_) can
+be shown in the literature of any country. There are touches in
+it worthy of George Eliot. In _Fathers and Children_ and _Smoke_,
+Tourgheniev has grappled with the nihilistic ideas which for a
+long time have been so current in Russia.
+
+The study of Russian history, so well commenced by Karamzin, has
+been further developed by Oustrialov and Soloviev.
+
+The Malo-Russian is very rich in _skazki_ (national tales) and
+in songs. Peculiar to them is the _douma_, a kind of narrative
+poem, in which the metre is generally very irregular; but a sort
+of rhythm is preserved by the recurrence of accentuated syllables.
+The _douma_ of the Little Russians corresponds to the _bilina_
+of the Great Russians.
+
+As might naturally be expected, most Malo-Russian authors of eminence,
+have preferred using the Great Russian, notably Gogol, who however
+is very fond of introducing provincial expressions which require a
+glossary. The foundation of the Malo-Russian cultivated literature
+was laid by the travisty of the _AEneid_, by Kotliarevski, which
+enjoys great popularity among his countrymen. A truly national
+poet appeared in Taras Shevchenko, born a serf in the Government
+of Kiev, at the village of Kirilovka.
+
+Of the literature of the White Russians, but little need be said,
+as it is very scanty, amounting to a few collections of songs edited
+by Shein, Bezsonov and others.
+
+
+
+
+_PRESENT CONDITIONS_
+
+_E. S._
+
+Nicholas I., Tsar of all the Russias (born in 1868), the eldest
+son of Alexander III. and the Princess Dagmar, daughter of King
+Christian IX. of Denmark, ascended the throne on the death of his
+father in 1894. He is descended from Michael Romanof, elected Tsar
+in 1613, after the extinction of the House of Rurik, and also from
+the Oldenburg family. Nicholas II. was married in 1894 to Princess
+Alexandra Alix (Alexandra Feodorovina), daughter of Ludwig IV., Grand
+Duke of Hesse, and Alice Maud Mary, daughter of Queen Victoria. Their
+four daughters are: Olga (born 1895); Tatiana (born 1897); Marie
+(born 1899); and Anastasia (born 1901). The Grand Duke Michael (born
+1878), brother of the Emperor, is the Heir Presumptive. The Emperor's
+vast revenue is derived from Crown domains: the amount is unknown,
+as no reference is made in the budgets or finance accounts. It
+consists, however, of more than a million of square miles of cultivated
+lands and forests, besides gold and other mines in Siberia.
+
+[Illustration: THE TSAR NICHOLAS.]
+
+Russia is an absolute hereditary monarchy. The Emperor's will is
+law, and in him the whole legislative, executive and judicial power
+is united. The administration of the Empire is entrusted to four
+great boards or councils: the Council of the State; the Ruling
+Senate; the Holy Synod; and the Committee of Ministers.
+
+The Council of State, established by Alexander I. in 1801, consists
+of a president nominated every year by the Emperor and a large
+number of members appointed by him. This council is divided into
+four departments: Legislation; Civil and Church Administration;
+State's Economy and Industry; Sciences and Commerce.
+
+The Ruling Senate, founded by Peter I. in 1711, is really the high
+court of justice for the Empire. It is divided into six departments,
+or sections.
+
+The Holy Synod, founded by Peter I. in 1728, has charge of the
+religious affairs of the Empire. Its members are the Metropolitans
+of St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kief, the archbishop of Georgia and
+several bishops who sit in turn. The President is Antonious, the
+Metropolitan of St. Petersburg. The Emperor has to approve of all
+the decisions of the Holy Synod.
+
+European Russia consists of Russia Proper (50 Provinces), Poland
+(10 Provinces), and Finland (Grand Duchy). The population in 1897
+was respectively, 93,467,736; 9,401,097; and 2,527,801. Asiatic
+Russia consists of Caucasia (11 Provinces; population 9,291,000);
+Siberia (8 Provinces and Regions; population 5,726,719); and Central
+Asia (10 Provinces and Regions; population 7,740,394). Russian
+subjects in Khiva and Bokhara number 6,412. Of the total population
+128,161,249, 64,616,280 were men and 64,594,883, women. In European
+Russia the annual increase of population is at the rate of nearly
+a million and a half. The chief cities of European Russia are St.
+Petersburg (1,267,023); Moscow (988,614); Warsaw (638,208); Odessa
+(405,041); Lodz (315,209); Riga (256,197); Kief (247,432); Kharkoff
+(174,846); Tiflis (160,645); Vilna (159,568); Tashkend (156,414);
+Saratov (137,109); Kasan (131,508); Ekaterinoslav (121,216);
+Rostov-on-the-Don (119,889); Astrakhan (113,001); Baku (112,253);
+Tula (111,048), and Kishineff(108,796). The population of Novgorod,
+Samara, Minsk and Nikolaieff is between 95,000 and 90,000. Tiflis
+and Baku in the Caucasus have respective populations of 160,000
+and 112,000. The largest towns in the Trans-Caspia are Askhabad
+(19,500) and Merv (8,750), and those of Turkestan are Tashkend,
+Namangan Samarkand and Andijan. There are about 50,000 in each
+of the Siberian towns of Tomsk, Irkutsk and Ekaterinburg.
+
+[Illustration: THE TSARINA.]
+
+There has been no census since 1897, but in 1900 the population of
+St. Petersburg was 1,439,739; Moscow, 1,035,664; and Riga, 282,943.
+The mortality in the towns is so great that the deaths exceed the
+births. Emigration is on the increase, and, of late years, the
+Russians, particularly the Jews, flock to the United States, chiefly
+through Hamburg, Luebeck and Bremen. In 1900, 49,580 emigrated to
+the United States; 1,253 to Argentina; and numbers to Canada and
+Brazil. Emigration to Siberia varies from year to year, but is on
+the increase. In 1898, 80,000 went and in 1901 from 150,000 to
+200,000. There is also much emigration to the Southern Ural and
+the Steppe provinces.
+
+In European Russia, there is an average of a town or village to
+every four or seven square miles, and in the Caucasus, one to every
+nine square miles; but in Asiatic Russia the average varies; for
+example, in Samarkand there is one to every fourteen square miles,
+and in the province of Yakutsk, one to every 2,760 square miles.
+
+The principal ports are St. Petersburg, Cronstadt, Narva, Riga,
+Libau, Pernau and Vindau (on the Baltic); Hango (on the Gulf of
+Bothnia); Revel, Helsingfoers and Wiborg (on the Gulf of Finland);
+Archangel and Ekaterinsk (Arctic and White Seas); Odessa, Nicolaieff,
+Sebastopol, Nova-Rossiisk, Berdiansk and Batoum, Taganrog, Marinpol,
+Rostov and Kertch (on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov); Astrakhan,
+Derbent and Baku (on the Caspian Sea); Nicolaieffsk, Vladivostok
+and Petrapaulovsk in Kamtchatka; and Port Arthur and Dalni or
+Ta-lien-wan (Gulf of Pechili), have been occupied since the
+Russo-Chinese Treaty of 1898.
+
+The established religion is the Russo-Greek, or Graeco-Russian, known
+officially as the Orthodox Catholic Faith. It maintains the relations
+of a sister church with the four patriarchates of Constantinople,
+Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. The Emperor is the head of the
+church. The Russian Empire is divided into 64 bishoprics, under 3
+metropolitans, 14 archbishops and 48 bishops; in 1898, there were
+66,146 churches (718 of which were cathedrals), and 785 monasteries.
+With the exception of the Jewish, all religions are allowed to be
+professed. There are more than 12,000,000 dissenters scattered
+throughout the Empire. The numbers are: Orthodox Greek, 87,384,480;
+Dissenters, 2,173,738; Roman Catholic, 11,420,927; Protestants,
+3,743,209; other Christians, 1,221,511; Mohammedans, 13,889,421;
+Jews, 5,189,401; and other religions, 645,503. In 1903, the Holy
+Synod received 28,388,049 roubles from the Imperial budget, besides
+other revenue and gifts.
+
+The Empire is divided into 15 educational districts: St. Petersburg,
+Moscow, Kasan, Orenburg, Kharkoff, Odessa, Kief, Vilna, Warsaw,
+Riga, Caucasus, Turkestan, West Siberia, East Siberia and Amur.
+In some of the primary village schools, there are school-gardens,
+while bee-keeping and silk-worm culture, as well as trades and
+handiwork, are taught. In 1900, the Ministers contributed 51,062,842
+roubles for schools and universities. The universities are in Moscow
+(4,344 students in 1902); St. Petersburg (3,708); Kief (2,316);
+Kharkov (1,340); Dorpat (1,791); Warsaw (1,312); Kasan (823); Odessa
+(1,116); and Tomsk (549). Helsingfors, Finland, had 1,211 students
+in 1900-1.
+
+Since 1874 military service has been obligatory for all men from
+the age of 21. The period of service in European Russia is five
+years in the active army (reduced by furloughs to four) 13 in the
+Zapas those who have passed through active service and five years
+in the Opolchenie, or reserve; in Asiatic Russia, seven years in
+the active army and six in the Zapas; and in Caucasia, three years
+in the active army and 15 in the Zapas. The Opolchenie is a reserve
+force of drilled conscripts.
+
+The Cossacks (Don, Kuban Terek, Astrakhan, Orenburg, Ural, Siberia,
+Semiryetchensk, Transbaikalia, Amur and Usuri) are divided in three
+classes; the first in active service, the second on furlough with
+their arms and horses; the third with arms and without horses. Some
+of the Cossack cavalry serves with the regular cavalry. Military
+service is also obligatory in Finland.
+
+The Russian army consists of 31 corps. The lowest estimate of its
+peace strength is about 1,100,000 with 42,000 officers; the war
+strength about 75,000 officers, 4,500,000 men and 562,000 horses.
+
+Owing to its widely separated seas, the Russian navy maintains
+four squadrons: the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Pacific and the
+Caspian. Cronstadt is the chief base of the Baltic Fleet; Sebastopol
+of the Black Sea; and Vladivostok and Port Arthur of the Pacific.
+The Caspian fleet is comparatively insignificant. In 1903, the navy
+consisted of 26 battleships, 14 coast defence ships, 24 first-class
+cruisers, 15 second-class cruisers, 161 gunboats and torpedo craft.
+
+The ocean shipping of the Russian Empire is not relatively large,
+but its lake and river shipping is very extensive. In 1900, the
+sea-going marine consisted of 2,293 sailing vessels and 745 steamers.
+
+The total length of railway open for traffic and travel on January
+1, 1903, was 35,336 miles (not including 1,753 miles in Finland).
+Of this 4,965 miles were in Asiatic Russia.
+
+The legal unit of money is the silver rouble of 100 kopecks of
+the value of 2s. 1.6d., or about fifty cents of American money.
+The coins called imperial and half-imperial contain 15 and 7-1/2
+roubles respectively. There are also credit notes of 100, 25, 10,
+5, 3 and 1 rouble.
+
+Russia's chief source of revenue is the liquor traffic. Her chief
+exports are spirits, tallow, wool, tow, bristles, timber, hides and
+skins, grain, raw and dressed flax, linseed and hemp. Her principal
+imports are tea, cotton and other colonial produce, iron, machinery,
+wool, wine, fruits, vegetables and oil.
+
+Russia is the second largest European grower of wheat. Hemp, flax,
+potatoes and tobacco are also raised in large quantities. Barley,
+buckwheat, oats, millet and rye form the staple food of the inhabitants.
+
+Mines of great value exist in the Ural, Obdorsk and Altai mountains,
+which produce gold, copper, iron, silver, platinum, rock-salt,
+marble and kaolin or china clay. Rich naphtha springs exist on
+the Caspian and an immense bed of coal has been discovered between
+the Donetz and Dnieper rivers.
+
+The Grand Duchy of Finland, which Russia conquered from Sweden
+and finally annexed in 1808, had a population in 1898 of about
+2,595,000 (2,230,000 Finns; 350,000 Swedes; 12,000 Russians; 2,000
+Germans; and 1,000 Laps). The chief religion is the Lutheran. The
+capital is Helsingfors with a population of 111,000, including the
+Russian garrison. The Tsar of Russia is the Grand Duke; Lieut.-Gen.
+N. Bobrikov, the governor-general; and V. von Plehwe, Secretary of
+State. The Diet, convoked triennially, consists of nobles, clergy,
+burgesses and peasants, but the country is chiefly governed by the
+Imperial Finnish Senate of twenty-two members. The army consists
+of nine battalions of Finnish Rifles (5,600 men), and one regiment
+of dragoons (900 men, with a reserve of 30,000). The chief export
+is timber and the chief industry iron mines. In 1898, the marine
+comprised 2,298 vessels of 324,344 tons.
+
+Bokhara and Khiva in Central Asia are vassal states of Russia.
+Bokhara, bounded on the north by Russian Turkestan, was once the
+most famous state of Central Asia. Genghis Khan took it from the
+Arabs in the Thirteenth Century, and it was taken by the Uzbegs,
+fanatical Sunni Mahommedans of Turkish extraction, in 1505. After
+the Russian capture of Tashkend in 1865, the Amir Muzeffared-din
+proclaimed a holy war against the Russians, who invaded his province
+and captured Samarkand in 1868. By a treaty of 1873, no foreigner may
+be admitted into Bokhara without a Russian passport. The population
+is estimated at 2,000,000. The Amir Syed Abdul Ahad succeeded in
+1885. The Uzbegs are still the dominant race. The religion is
+Mahommedan. The chief towns are Bokhara (about 75,000) and Karshi
+(25,000). The chief products are sheep, goats, camels, horses,
+rice, cotton, silk, corn, fruit, hemp and tobacco. Gold, salt,
+alum and sulphur are the chief minerals. There are cotton, woollen
+and silk manufacturers. Many Indian goods such as shawls, tea,
+drugs, indigo and muslins are imported. The Amir has 11,000 troops,
+4,000 of which are quartered in Bokhara. The Russian Trans-Caspian
+Railway runs through Bokhara and there is steam navigation on the
+Oxus. A telegraph connects Bokhara with Tashkend.
+
+The conquest of Khiva, another Uzbeg State also founded on the
+ruins of Tamerlane's Central Asian Empire, was attempted by Peter
+the Great in 1717 and again in 1839 by the Tsar Nicholas. On the
+pretext that the Khivans had aided the rebellious Kirghiz, the
+Russians invaded Khiva in 1873 and forced the Khan to sign a treaty
+putting the Khanate under Russian government. The reigning sovereign
+is Seyid Mahomed Rahim Khan who succeeded his father in 1865. He was
+born about 1845. The population is estimated at 800,000, including
+400,000 nomad Turcomans. The principal towns are Khiva (about 5,000)
+and New Urgenj (3,000). The religion is Mahommedan. The army consists
+of about 2,000 men. The chief productions are silk and cotton.
+
+[Illustration: KALKSTRASSE AND THE PROMENADE, RIGA.]
+
+In 1898, Russia obtained a lease of twenty-five years from China of
+Point Arthur and Ta-lien-wan with the adjacent seas and territory
+to the north. To this the name of Kwang-Tung was given in 1899. Port
+Arthur, the capital, is a naval station for Russian and Chinese
+ships. At the end of the port a new town, Dalni, has been founded;
+it is connected by rail with the Trans-Siberian railway system.
+
+Russia's history in 1903 was marked by general disquietude and
+turbulence. The disorders among the peasantry in 1902 led to a
+special committee being appointed to inquire into and ameliorate
+their condition and also to improve agriculture. On March 11, 1903,
+the Tsar issued a manifesto promising reform in the government of
+local towns and tolerance in religion. As little or no improvement
+was noticed, strike riots resulted in Slatoust (Ufa) and at
+Nijni-Novgorod, and riots also broke out in the university of St.
+Petersburg. In May, the Governor of Ufa was assassinated. To these
+disturbances, the Anti-Semitic outrages were encouraged at Kishineff
+(Bessarabia) when forty-five Jews were killed, 484 injured, 700
+houses demolished, and 600 houses sacked. Strike riots also broke
+out in South Russia and the Caucasus, particularly in the towns of
+Kief, Odessa, Baku, Rostov, Nikolaieff. Many smaller towns also
+suffered loss of life. Military troops were called out to quell
+the rioters. The policy of Russification was carried on in Finland
+as well as in the more recent acquisitions. The chief interest,
+however, lay in the extension of Russia's diplomatic and military
+policy in the Far East under Admiral Alexeieff (appointed August
+13, 1903).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Russia, by Various
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