The Russian Shores of the Black Sea in the Autumn of 1852, with a voyage down the Volga, and a tour through the country of the Don Cossacks

Front matter

THE RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA etc. " Savez-vous ce que c'est que de voyager en Russie ? Pour un espint 16ger, c'est se nourrir d'illusions ; mais pour quiconque a les yeux ouverts et joint k un peu de puissance d'observation une humeur inde'pendante, c'est un travail continu, opiniatre, et qui consiste h. discerner p^niblement k tout propos deux nations luttant dans une multitude. Ces deux nations, c'est la Russie telle qu'elle est, et la Russie telle qu'on voudrait la montrer a V Europe." — La Russia en, 1839. Par le Marquis de Custine. Tom. ii., lettre xv., p. 117. ,..;,:,.: ! THE RUSSIAN SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA IN THE AUTUMN OF 1852 WITH A VOYAGE DOWN THE VOLGA, AND A TOUR THROUGH THE COUNTRY OF THE DON COSSACKS BY LAURENCE OLIPHANT AUTHOR OF "A JOURNEY TO NEPAUL" FOURTH EDITION — REVISED AND ENLARGED WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLIV PRINTIED BY W n^AM.1^a^S^pC.^>^irt RON3. KDINBURfm.

Preface

TO THE SECOND EDITION. The Eastern Question has now assumed so serious an aspect, that facts connected with the Russian Shores of the Black Sea, which at the period of my visit in 1852 were devoid of any special political interest, are invested with the utmost importance, for it is possible that the southern portion of the Empire may shortly become the theatre of war, and considerations, the value of which I scarcely appreciated a few months ago, have since occurred to me as possessing strong claims upon our atten tion. Some of these I have now endeavoured to embody in an additional chapter ; and while the publication of a Second Edition enables me to do this, I gladly avail myself of the opportunity which it also affords, of gratefully acknowledging the very favourable reception which the public has accorded to this work. Deremlm- 1853.

PREFACE.

TO THE FIRST EDITION. It may seem singular that there is no country in Europe about which so little has been written, and about which, consequently, so little is known, as that vast empire of Russia, which absorbs in itself half the Continent, and which, from its extent and position, would seem to demand a principal share of the attention of those nations whose destinies it may one day control ; and yet it is not very difficult to account for this, when the great difficulty of obtaining authentic information is considered. The system of government renders it impossible that any light should be thrown upon the present condition of the Empire from internal sources, while few strangers are tempted to extend their travels beyond St Petersburg or Moscow. It is not an inviting country to the dilettante tourist, for the accommodation is execrable — the means of locomotion barbarous — the obstacles thrown in the way by Government annoying — and the results, with respect to fine arts, literature, and social life, com-

PREFACE.

. VII paratively unworthy of his attention. Nor does Russia possess those charms for the more enterprising traveller which a new and unexplored country offers. Since, then, the scanty information which the public already possesses has been of such a nature as to create an indifference towards acquiring more, I should have felt it necessary to offer some apo logy for publishing this volume, had not the events which have agitated Europe for the last six months induced me to suppose that an excuse is no longer needed for giving some account of those more remote provinces of the Empire of the Autocrat through which my travels led me. Upon my arrival at St Petersburg, circumstances induced me to change the plans I had originally entertained of visiting the rivers which run into the White Sea, for the purpose of salmon-fishing, and I have found no reason to regret the alteration in my route, since it furnished me with objects of interest of a more useful and solid description.

At a time when the power of Russia seems about to be tested, and its vast resources called into requi sition, the shores of the Volga are invested with an increased importance, for Russian Tartary is the granary of the Empire. — If the Imperial forces are asain to be matched with the armies of the West, the country of the Don Cossacks possesses an especial

PREFACE.

. claim upon our attention, for the soldiers which are levied from its boundless steppes occupy the most prominent position among Muscovite troops. — So long as the independence of Turkey is menaced by its insatiate neighbour, associations of the deepest significance attach to those provinces bordering upon the Black Sea which Russia has appropriated to herself within the last sixty years, and which com pose a territory as extensive as all that remains in Europe of the ill-fated empire from which they have been plundered. But though the prominence of a topic so engrossing as Russian aggression, at the present crisis, lends an immediate interest to everything which seems to have reference to it, there can be no doubt that any information upon the internal economy of the Empire is deserving of more general attention than has been hitherto accorded to it, since its importance must increase with the growing influence of Russia over the rest of Europe.

Yet, while strongly impressed that a desire for a more extended know ledge of the subject would produce most beneficial effects, I am fully conscious of my own inability to create it. This must be my excuse for not ven turing more frequently beyond the simple course of my narrative. The claims which the once celebrated kingdom

PREFACE.

. IX of Crim Tartary has upon our notice, however, rest upon other grounds than its political asso ciations. I trust, therefore, that they may be more easily recognised ; and if I can succeed in giving some idea, however inadequate, of the magnificent scenery, romantic cities, and interesting inhabitants of the Crimea, I shall feel, at least, that I have offered the only tribute in my power to those charms which seem to have imposed this obligation upon me. October 1853. h CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Page

Our first ordeal — The Izak's church — Sham fight at Krasna Selo— Leave St Petersburg — A Russian raUway — Railroads : their extension and poUtical influences — Arrival at Moscow — The Church of St BasU — The Ryadi — Journey to Nijni Novgorod — First view of the Fair — Our quarters, ......... 1-17

Chapter II

The great Fair of Nijni Novgorod — A Russian's experience at Greenwich Fair and the Crystal Palace — A comparison — The bridge of boats — Street scenes — The Chinese quarter — The Fair : its commercial advantages : its trade and internal economy — Eating-houses — Adoration of the Virgin — Unique view from the Kremlin — The old town, . 18-32

Chapter III

Laying in stores — Getting under weigh — A collision — A narrow escape — Russian steam-companies — Dishonesty practised by employes — The " Samson," and her crew — Mackarief — __aza — Sketching under difficulties — A sudden apparition — Rechievahs — Corn trade on the Volga — Horse-machines — Intricate navigation — Pericartes — Mysterious visitors — The Tchouvasses : their manners and customs — Curious shields, . 33-54

Chapter IV

Approach to Kazan — A drive in a tel_ga— First impressions of Kazan — Silent streets — View at sunrise — Muscovite deception — Dulness of Russian towns — Magnificent horses — Tartar village — Origin ofthe Kazan Tartars : their history — Sterlet fishing — Inland navigation, . . 55-68

Chapter V

A poverty-stricken village — Serfs : their spiritual destitutic i — System of agriculture — Haxthausen on serfdom — Evils of the system- "Obrok" — Scarcity of villages — Absence of an urban population — Evils resulting from it — Russian political economy, .... 69-80

Chapter VI

Arrival at Simbirsk— Statue to Karamsin — The Jigoulee— Samara — The government of Orenburg — Turbulent votaries of Vodka — Retributive justice — Government spirit-monopoly — Grace before meat — Hills of Saratov, 81-91 CONTENTS.

Chapter VII. Paoe

Singular misapplication of steam — Volsk — ■ Sheep from steppes of Caspian — A merchant noble — Serfs : their intrinsic value — Saratov : its mercantile importance — Emancipation of serfs — The Czar and Ayuka Khan — Volga fever and ague — German colonies — Stinkorosin the robber — Leave the Samson — The Volga : its merits, and attractions to the tourist, . 92-107

Chapter VIII

Dubovka — The tram-road to the Don — Exception to Russian dishonesty — Excessive politeness — Calmuek Tartars: their history — An exodus — Religion and manners — A bad road — Tzaritzin — Courier to the Caucasus — Sarepta — Moravian missionaries — Sarepta : its manufactures and trade — A pleasing picture, ....... 108-T24

Chapter IX

Parting sensations — First discoverers of the Volga — Trade in the thirteenth century — Early English commercial company — Prohibitive policy of Russia — Steamers on the Caspian — The shores of the Caspian — Arid desert of Astrakhan, ....... 125-135

Chapter X

Don Cossack steppes — Wild travelling — Posting experiences — An unpleasant discovery — Somovars : their merits — Costume of peasants — A Don Cossack highway — The Donetz — Meeting a traveller — Novo Tcherkask, . . . . . ... . 136-147

CHAPTER XL

Don Cossacks : their origin — Don Cossacks as soldiers, as agriculturists — Extent of arable land — Don Cossack statistics — A bad road — Delays — An aide-de camp from the Caucasus — The posting system, and a Russian's notions of it, ....... 148-162

Chapter XII

Colonies — Nackchivan — Rostof : its commerce — Obstacles to its prosperity — Quit the country of the Don Cossacks — Taganrog : its historical associations — The wool trade — Merinos — A dilemma, . . . 163-174

Chapter XIII

Taganrog as a port — The wheat trade — Want of labour — The prohibitive system — Its effects — Fluctuation in the price of corn — The cause of it — Supplies from India, ....... 175-184

Chapter XIV

The "Bertha" — The Sea of Azov — Our accommodation — A mercantile retrospect — Arrive at Yeni Kale — A custom-house official— Eastern aspect of the town — Kertch : its historical associations, . . 185-196 CONTENTS. XIII

Chapter XV. Pace

Kertch : its disadvantages as a port — Tumuli — Steppe cultivation — A Tartar conveyance — No somovar — An amusing interpreter — A railway to Theodosia : its prospects — A steppe apparition — A midnight scene — Karassu Bazaar — Approach to Simpheropol, . . . 197-211

Chapter XVI

Tartar quarter — Street scenes — Bactrian Camels — The fair — Costumes — Variety of races — Valley of the Salghir — Tartar quarters — A restless night — Ascend the Tchatir Dagh — A magnificent view — The cave of Foul Kouba — Perilous descent — Taouchan Bazaar — The pass of Alushta, 212-229

Chapter XVII

Tartar village of Alushta — More posting experiences — A Russo-American idiosyncrasy — A caravanserai — Coast scenery — The vineyards of Magaratsch — Yalta — An adventure in prospect — Alupka — Vine cultivation, ........ 230-242

Chapter XVIII

Stupendous cliffs — The pass of Baidar — The vale of Baidar — A Russian's notions of scenery — Night quarters — Tartars of the coast — Balaclava — Enter Sevastopol — Arrival at Sevastopol, .... 243-252

Chapter XIX

The harbour of iSevastopol — The Russian fleet — Navy contracts — The Emperor's visit — The naval review — Fortifications of Sevastopol — Peculation in the commissariat — The Russian army — Summary punishment — Corruption in high places — Inkerman — The town of caverns — The vale of Balbeck — Camel herds — Arrival at Bagtche Serai — Supperless to bed, 253-270

Chapter XX

Bagtche Serai — A nondescript population — Shops — A Tartar eating-house — An impromptu meal — Karaite Jewesses — The Palace of the Khans — View from the courtyard — Interior of the palace — Chapel of Maria Potoski — Fountain of Selsabil — The mausoleum of the Khans, . 271-283

Chapter XXI

Annexation of the Crimea — Intriguing policy of Russia — Murder of Devlit Ghiri Khan— Novel mode of catering — Scenes in the Khan — A Tartar bath — Valley of Jehoshaphat — Tchoufut Kale — The Synagogue — Karaite Jews : their peculiar tenets — The Jewish fortress — The monastery of Uspenskoi— The Seraglio of Gardens, ..... 284-298 CONTENTS. XIV

Chapter XXII. Page

Ascent to a deserted fortress— Mangoup Kalfe : its history — Tbe Cape of the Winds — Picturesque ruins — An agreeable road — Tartar traveUiDg — Shoeing a bullock— Prospects of Crim Tartary — The Oesembash pass — View from the summit — Descent to Yalta, .... 299-310

Chapter XXIII

Yalta — The grand hotel : its accommodation — Voyage from Yalta — The ancient city of Chersonesus — Our feUow-passengers — The war in the Caucasus, and its results — The object of tbe war: its effects on our Indian possessions — Reflections on Russian aggression in the East — Eupatoria — A startling occurrence, and unpleasant results — Novel mode of supporting a theatre — Arrival at Odessa — First impressions — The use of a medical board, . . . . . . . 311-327

Chapter XXIV

Arrival at Odessa — First impressions — European aspect of the town — The internal commerce of the Empire : its influence on foreign markets — Tbe Moscow and Odessa railway — Aristocratic beetroot - growers — The Odessa police-office — How to bribe judiciously — The Isle of Serpents — The Soulina mouth of the Danube — The fair at Ismael — The condition of Bessarabia, as compared with the Danubian principalities, . 328-342

Chapter XXV

Trade of Moldavia — Jealousy of Russia — Her policy with reference to the mouths of the Danube : its effects upon England — Proposed canal from Rassova to Kustendji — Galatz — The " Boreas" — Voyage up the Danube — Execrable accommodation — Herr Sippel distinguishes himself — We arrive at Orsova, and are put under arrest — Triumphant release — The " Livre Noir," ........ 343-357

Chapter XXVI

Orsova : its political associations — Effects of Russian aggression in the West upon Great Britain, as compared with other European countries — The traditionary policy of the Empire successful, and Russia mistress of the Dardanelles — Results of a dominant influence over Turkey upon the rest of Europe, ........ 358-366

Chapter XXVII

Travellers' privileges — Last impressions — Policy of Russia in the present question — Motives which influence the Czar — The religious character of the war — Disaffection in Bessarabia : in the country of the Don Cossacks : in the Crimea : in the Caucasus — Consequences of a blockade of the shores of the Black Sea — Importance of these considerations, . 367-380 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Frontispiece. 1. Church of St Basil, Moscow, ..... 1 2. Droskt, ........ 17 3. Summary punishment at Nijni, ..... 32 4. tchouvasse peasants at a wood-station, . . .54 5. The Kremlin of Kazan, ...... 55 6. Leather gloves of Kazan manufacture, and wooden spoon, 62 7. Tartar mosque near Kazan, ..... 68 8. The "Samson" passing through the Jigoulee, . . 81 9. Phots, ........ 91 10. Sheep from the steppes of the Caspian, ... 95 11.

Horse-machine and barges, ..... 107 12. Calmuck Tartars, ....... 124 13. Somovar, ........ 142 14. A girl of Tcherkask, ...... 147 15. Tarantasse, ........ 162 16. Crim Tartars, ....... 196 17. The Tchatir Dagh, ...... 197 18. Tartar waggon, ....... 202 19. Camel-cart, . . ...... 211 20. The cave of Foul Kouba, ..... 212 21. Post telega, ....... 229 22. A Tartar village, ....... 230 23. Interior of a Tartar house, ..... 242 24. The pass of Batdar, ...... 243 25. Inkerman, ........ 253 26. Palace of the Khans, ...... 271 27. Tartar whip, ....... 274 28. Mausoleum of the Khans, ..... 283 29. The Jewish fortress of Tchoufut Kale, . . . 284 30. Tartar guide, ....... 298 31. Mangoup Kale, ....... 299 32. Tartar shoeing a bullock, ..... 307 33. View from the Cape of toe Winds, with Sevastopol in the distance, ....... 311 Enlarged map of the Crimea, . . . To face page 209 Map of the Author's route.

Chapter I. Ode First Ordeal The Izak's Church

— SHAM FIGHT AT KRASNA SELO — LEAVE ST PETERSBURG A RUSSIAN RAILWAY — RAILROADS : THEIR EXTENSION, AND POLITICAL INFLUENCES ARRIVAL AT MOSCOW — THE CHURCH OF ST BASIL — THE RTDAI — JOURNEY TO NIJNI NOVGOROD FIRST VIEW OF THE PAIR OUR QUARTERS. St Peteisburg will amply repay the traveller for the expenditure of temper which, except in the case of a favoured few, will be the consequence of a visit to the Russian capital. Let him, therefore, cheerfully endure the delay of two hours at Cronstadt, just when the gilded domes and cupolas, which glitter at his journey's end, look most inviting — let him unhe sitatingly plunge into the smoky cabin of the little A OUR FIRST ORDEAL. steamer, where a dozen mustached officials, seated in an atmosphere of stale tobacco, and overpowered by a sense of their own importance, are busily engaged in recording the private history of himself and his fellow-passengers ; nor should he grudge them an exaggerated estimate of the authority with which they are vested, or sneer at the pomposity with which they put their questions, or deem those in quiries impertinent, which are simply the result of a most laudable curiosity on the part of the government.

He may be less disposed to make allowances for the severe torture to which he will be subjected at the custom-house ; but the consciousness of being in St Petersburg at last must compensate for this ; and after a few hours' delay, by dint of wholesale bribery, he will probably be released with half his baggage ; and then, if his stay in the metropolis is not to be a very long one, he should commence taking the steps necessary for his departure, almost before he can be said fairly to have entered the city ; for, having once put the government to so much trouble by coming there at all, he thenceforward becomes an object of its most tender -care and solicitude — not that he ought ever to get tired of wandering along the spacious quays, or admiring the architectural beauties of St Petersburg while he rattles furiously over the execrable pavement, clinging to a frail drosky.

Everything is new but the pavement and the droskies ; and if locomotion by the latter be not enjoyable, it has the merit of being, THE IZAK's CHURCH. 3 in the first place, singular, from the manner in which the passenger seats himself across a cushion behind the driver ; and, secondly, exciting from the extreme difficulty he finds in retaining his seat there, which is considerably increased when a wheel comes off— an incident of not unfrequent occurrence. I found it impossible to see the lions of St Peters burg with any sort of composure ; the consciousness of Moscow being attainable in twenty-two hours by railway ever disturbed me ; and thus it happened that I strolled discontentedly through the sumptuous halls of the Winter Palace, looked upon the Hermit age as a necessary evil, and was glad to find that one visit sufficed for the Izak's church.

I can, perhaps, hardly be excused for this. Modern art has reared few edifices comparable with this cathedral, which no doubt owes some of its charm to a kind of barbaric character with which it is invested. Those lofty monoliths carry one back to a period of architecture long anterior to that of the Corinthian capitals with which they are crowned, when nations loved to per petuate their greatness by monuments of a more last ing nature than do their more civilised posterity. To convey these gigantic masses of stone from the mo rasses of Finland, required a power almost as vast as that of which the evidences remain to this day in Egypt and Assyria. The rest of the building is By zantine ; and the barbaric tinge thus given to it, only renders it all the more in keeping with the religion to which it is consecrated.

SHAM FIGHT AT KRASNA SELO. But even those visions of the Kremlin which had hitherto haunted me, vanished before the excitement of a grand field-day at Krasna Selo. Nearly a hun dred thousand men were here reviewed by the Emperor. The enormous camp extended for many miles ; and on the vast plain beyond it, took place the sham fight which was to close the evolutions. From the heights above the plain we had a most magnificent view of the various manœuvres. Half of the army, consisting of upwards of forty thousand men, under General Count Eiidiger, engaged the other half under the Emperor, whose forces occupied the plain. Like a long silver thread, immense bodies of Circassian cavalry, their steel helmets and cuirasses glittering in the morning sun, came winding into the field. Soon after, the horse-artillery dashed over the heights, and we were nearly carried away by a charge of hussars, while vainly endeavouring to understand what was going on.

The result was, that the Emperor's army retired behind the trenches near their camp, when a heavy cannonading ensued. The whole was rendered more interesting by the fact of each general being wholly ignorant of the tactics of his opponent ; and, though I understood afterwards that the board of umpires had given their verdict in favour of the Emperor, as an impartial spectator, and wholly unlearned in military matters, seeing his forces in full retreat, I naturally concluded that he had lost the day ; and so, perhaps, did Count Eiidiger. I had an opportunity in the evening of meeting at LEAVE ST PETERSBURG. 5 dinner some of the officers at the " English club," which, with the exception of three or four Englishmen, is composed entirely of Russians. Here they refreshed themselves, after the labours of the day, with porter and champagne mixed in large jugs ; or played skittles — a most aristocratic game in the Muscovite capital, and one upon which immense sums are lost and won.

I was glad to find that my friend, to whose agreeable companionship throughout our travels I owe the beguilement of many a tedious hour, was as prepared as I to bid adieu to St Petersburg. We accordingly proceeded, bag and baggage, to the station of the Moscow Railway. Only one train starts daily ; and the hour at which this most important event takes place is, or ought to be, 11 a.m. Travellers are commanded by the government to be at the sta tion at 1 0 precisely ; and even then they are liable to be told that the train is full — as it is quite an unheard-of thing to put on an extra carriage for any number of passengers. Having arrived, therefore, at ten minutes before 10, to be quite sure of being in time, our luggage was seized by a soldier, policeman, or railway porter (for they all wear somewhat the same uniform), and carried in one direction, while we rushed in another to show our passport for Mos cow, to procure which we had been to three different offices the day before.

Here the description of our persons and our reasons for travelling, which it con tained, being copied at full length, we were hurried A RUSSIAN RAILWAY. to another counter, where we got it stamped ; whence, catching sight of our baggage en passant, we sped on to the ticket office, and then, returning to our port manteaux, went through a few formalities, which ended in receiving a ticket to add to the number of those with which our pockets were now pretty well filled. The anxiety of mind which such a variety of documents causes is not to be wondered at, when the consequences which the loss of any of them would entail are considered. Ladies in Russia do not think of trying to carry their tickets in their gloves. We now betook ourselves to the waiting-room, which we should have thought handsome had we not been de tained in it so long that we got tired of admiring it.

For an hour did the destined occupants of the train sit patiently on the benches, every man with head uncovered— for even a skull-cap is an abomination to a Russian under a roof. Every one in military garb seemed to have the entree to the platform, while the doors were rigorously shut against us unhappy civilians. At a quarter before 11, however, they are opened — a general rush follows, and we are hur ried through a barrier, the doors of which close be hind us. Soon the whole barrier becomes thronged with people, waving their adieux as ardently as if we were booked for Australia. A bell, a whistle, and a sort of dull attempt at a scream, are, as in more civilised parts of the world, the signals for startino- ; we leave the weeping eyes and waving pocket-hand kerchiefs behind us, and, in the course of ten minutes.

A RUS.SIAN RAILWAY. find, to our satisfaction, that we have increased our speed to fifteen miles an hour. We have hardly done so ere we arrive at a station. Everybody rushes out and lights a cigarette. We are to stop here ten minutes, and the people during that time walk up and down the platform and smoke ; then we huddle into our old places, and have time to look about us. The carriages are large. Nobody seems to go in the first class. A second-class carriage accommodates about fifty people. They are built as in Austria and America, with a passage in the centre, perambulated by a man in uniform, who occasionally asks people for their tickets. He seems to make the inquiry the first time to satisfy himself that you have got one, and afterwards merely as an amusement, which he apparently enjoys the more if he fancies you are going to sleep.

The men are bearded and dirty, and relate stories in a loud tone of voice, for the benefit of the whole company, most of whom have evidently never been in a railway before. At every station the same scene ensues. The unsmoked ends of the last station's cigars, having been carefully preserved, are lighted afresh, and vehemently smoked on the platform during five or ten minutes, as the case may be. The stations are all very spacious and uniformly constructed, with an immense domed building for engines, attached to each. Though there is only one passenger-train daily, there are three goods-trains, always well loaded with inland produce, tallow, fur, RAILROADS : THEIR EXTENSION, tea, &c, or with cotton from St Petersburg to the interior. I should hardly think the line could possi bly pay ; but as it is a government concern, nobody has any means of ascertaining this fact.

Whether it pays or not, the railway traveller in Russia soon discovers that the requirements of trade are as little regarded by government as his own personal conve nience ; for the restrictive policy of the empire must ever neutralise, in a great measure, the beneficial effects of rapid internal communication, while the difficulties which have always been placed in the way of free mercantile intercourse exist in full force, though the physical obstacles by which it has hitherto been encompassed are overcome. In fact, though the public cannot but be benefited by the formation of railroads throughout a country, it is hardly for the public benefit that railroads are constructed here. Russian railroads seem to be meant for Russian soldiers; and it is the facility thus afforded of moving large bodies of men, that invests this mode of communication in Russia with an importance which does not attach to it in Great Britain, or perhaps any other country in Europe, to an equal extent.

When St Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, and War saw become connected, Russia assumes an entirely new position with regard to the rest of Europe. A few days, instead of many months, will then suffice to concentrate the armies of the north and south upon the Austrian or Prussian frontiers. Through this same quarter of the world, many hundred years AND POLITICAL INFLUENCES. 9 ago, poured those barbaric hordes which overran civilised Europe ; — it would, indeed, be a singular testimony to the spirit of the age, if the next in vaders made their descent by means of railroads. It is not to be supposed, however, that railways in Russia are to effect no change whatever upon the commercial relations of the empire. It is certain not only that the civilising tendencies of railways will be felt here, but that the results will be all the more marked that the country which they intersect is rude and barbarous.

At present, one of the most striking proofs of the primitive condition of trade in Russia is to be found in the existence of those numer ous fairs which are annually celebrated all over the empire, and which are incidental to a country of such vast extent, such a scattered popidation, and so totally devoid of adequate means of internal com munication. That fairs in Russia perform the functions of large towns in other countries, seems apparent from the fact that the whole urban population of the empire is not more than five millions — only about double that of London. The ultimate result of an extensive system of railway communication would be the abolition of such remnants of barbarism ; as, with greater facilities of intercourse, trade would increase, and towns spring up ; markets would be in existence all the year round ; and roads not now thought of would become necessary, as lateral means of com munication to and from the line.