Half round the old World. Being some account of a tour in Russia, the Caucasus, Persia, and Turkey, 1865, 66

Preface

The following pages are an almost exact transcrip tion of a diary, kept during the interval between August and April 1865-66. Thus the present and past tenses have been used indifferently, as we thought the one or the other served the sense best. We have added no after-thoughts ; no descriptions of the origin of peoples, or of the former state of places, have been laboriously culled from the pages of encyclopædias. Under these circumstances, profoundly scientific disquisitions must not be expected. We preferred leaving the statements as they were written down day by day, only occasionally slightly arranging their order. The names of places and persons are in almost every instance spelt phonetically. The Author. London, January, 1 867. HALF ROUND THE OLD WORLD.

Chapter I

On the 14th of July in the year of grace 1865 we (editorial We !) started from London by the L. C. and D. Railway. This may appear a some what unimportant fact, but we had for our fellow traveller an old lady who insisted to her com panion that all hotels throughout the inhabited globe called " The Chatham " belonged to this company ! Having booked our luggage through, we hardly expected to have to pay any duty on our saddle, but a certain sum was charged for the privilege of having that useful article conveyed through Prussia. Besides our saddle, we had also, previously to starting, invested in a most useful travelling dressing-case, calculated to hold nothing in the smallest possible space. Some one made the B BERLIN. 2 observation that in Prussia the difference between the several classes of carriages on the railway apparently is, that the first-class only hold six upon velvet and the second-class eight upon leather ; the third-class as many as it will hold, upon wood, and the fourth, as many as can stand upon their feet.

Stopping in Hanover just enough time to admire the splendid Linden-Allee we had often toddled in before, we proceeded to Berlin, that enlightened capital, and of course walked into the " Thiergarten," so called because there are no animals there except horses, " lionnes," and an occasional muzzled dog. As the heat was intense, we found the Seltzer-water emporiums very useful, and entered every one we could find to quench our thirst (they are distributed at perhaps every fifty yards in Berlin). Wandering about the museum, we overheard a pimply-faced cicerone in the picture gallery talking in extremely bad French to an imbecile French family; the re mark we were most struck by, was his observing, of the famous Correggio — almost the gem of the gallery — lo and Jupiter, that it was " de DANTZICK. 3 l'ecole du Titien!"

Again we went, as the great King of Prussia might say, into " Mon musee pour m'amuser !" Leaving for Dantzick, in company with two Russian ladies and one ditto gentleman, we were asked by one of them, on crossing the frontier into Prussian Poland, whether the partition of Poland dated from the " Guerre d'ltalie !" — got into a charmingly old-fashioned hotel, the " Englisches Haus," immensely deep and very narrow, with no carpets in the rooms : such ruinous old houses with pointed gables. Booksellers appear to flourish here. This being considered in England a seaport town, we were not surprised to hear that the sea is four miles off; went into the largest church in the place, and should be considerably puzzled to say whether it was Protestant or Catholic. The grotesque wood carvings, belonging to a period when art was in swaddling clothes, deserve notice, and some pictures painted before the Flood, also.

The changes that one's name goes through in hotel books are perfectly appalling ; we have had the felicity of seeing ourselves printed and published in various gazettes as Minston, B ST. PETERSBURG. 4 Miryton, and once as Miss John. The town swarms with soldiers; there are many fine Allees outside affording a grateful shade in hot weather. The Bourse is well worth a visit, but we leave the descriptive portions to our Murray. The Jews walk about in their long gabardines, vide Mr. C. Kean when on the Rialto. At a village, rejoicing in the melodious name of Wierzoboloff, we reached the Russian frontier, where a revolver we had with us was confiscated. However, we got it back at St. Petersburg. Our passports were examined three times, the Russian authorities probably taking us for a " dirty conspirator."

Reached St. Peters burg in due course, and got into a drosky, remarked that the people all were impressed with the idea that everyone must speak Russian fluently, not at all our case. After an ineffectual search for Miss Benson's establishment, we were obliged to put up at an hotel where they very considerately only charged us about £2 10s. for one night's lodging. In the morning we transported ourselves and effects to the English Quay, Miss Benson's, a wonderful view on the Neva. Truly we found HERMITAGE. 5 St. Petersburg, a " city of magnificent distances." Every house appears to choose what style of pave ment it will have before its door, and lays it (the pavement) down accordingly, thus causing a variety which, as is well known, is always charming — wood, iron, M'Adam, stone, every kind appears to be represented, even india-rubber, and the " tout ensemble " is horrible !

Admired the statue of Peter the Great on horseback and the Admiralty place — the horse is rearing and trampling on a snake ! — why ? Orthodox passers-by of Isaac's Cathedral cross themselves no end of times, on the head, breast, two shoulders, and stomach. Went with the Charge d' Affaires to the " Hermitage :" magnificent dark marble caryatid negroes in front ; we went first upstairs, but words would fail to express the magnificence of the rooms ; we then went on into the first floor, and saw some Roman antiquities, including a shepherd with a very senile expression, and a stupendous greenish marble vase in Siberian jasper, some twelve feet long by five broad, on a fine pedestal of the same material. The Kertsch room contains some beauti- PETER THE GREAT'S STATUE. ful gold ornaments. My future travelling com panion, Captain W , arrived from Stockholm.

The block of granite on which stands the statue of Peter I. suggested thoughts of how pleasant it must be to have an unlimited quantity of serfs who must work and of subjects who must pay for you. It is the largest block in Europe, we believe. At the Hermitage the floors are of marble, ex cepting where parquet is used. There is an immense collection of drawings, the greater portion care fully sealed up in cupboards, to allow of easier inspection presumably. An order is required before gaining admittance. One printed on a Russian rouble note and handed to the porter is as good as any. Vases of fabulous size, in green jasper, malachite, and lapis lazuli, stand about in reckless profusion. Those of the delicate rose and deep purple Siberian marble struck our fancy most. Peter the Great's collection of bric-a-brac is interesting.

We entered the private theatre, which has a very deep stage ; the auditorium consists of red velvet stalls arranged in a semicircle, so that all the spectators can see every part of the stage. For the Tsar THE WALPOLE PICTURES. 7 there is a most uncomfortable straight-backed chair — penalty of greatness as much as being occasionally shot at. One hundred and eighty eight of the best pictures in the gallery came from the Walpole collection at Houghton Hall, in cluding four delightful Murillos. A " St. George" by Raphael once belonged to Charles I. of Eng land, art-patron and martyr. The largest picture Sir J. Reynolds ever painted, " Infant Hercules strangling serpents," is also here, rather washy, however ; G. Kneller and Thos. Jones are also represented. The collection of Intaglios is remark ably complete.

After this we indulged in some " quass," bought in the street, a liquid of a yellow colour, somewhat like very sour lemonade. On the 30th we entered Isaac's Cathedral to wit ness a Greek service, where all the congregation stand, and perpetually keep bowing like the Chinese porcelain figures. The singing of the concealed choir is, however, very impressive. Of course we went, by rail, to old Peterhoff palace, where we observed copies of the two Athletæ of the Vatican, by Canova, gorgeously gilt, spouting water at each AN IRISH COMMISSIONER. other — rather a " come down " in the world. The Russian wodki, their brandy, we thought extremely nasty, but the black bread, like pumpernickel, excellent. Next day we chartered a wild Irishman, who could hardly talk English, owing in a great measure to frequent imbibitions of wodki, but who called himself a commissioner, and visited the small house that Peter I. built himself, for himself, and very well too.

An outer roofing is now over it, to preserve the priceless relic ; a quantity of things manufactured by his own august hands lie about. The dining-room is converted into a chapel, having a lot of mould candles stored here for use in it. We remarked to W that these were some of the candles Peter moulded, whereupon our friend the Irishman turned round and explained that they were not. We also visited the Museum of Natural History, and observed some pickled babies, on the ground floor ; on the second, the Mammoth found in the ice of Siberia is the most interesting object. There are also many stuffed animals, and minerals not stuffed), with a good many fleas of preter- BALLS AND BALL-ROOMS. 9 natural size, which are not contented to remain, but cling to one on going home. Saw a man being carried off to prison by a member of the police ; his (the man's) hands were tied behind his back.

We naturally went to see the largest ball-room in the world, that in the Torrida Palace, but it is mean, whitewashed, and with tawdry silver paper decorations. At a dinner, at a restaurant in Rus sian fashion, with Zakuska (Caviar and bitters) be fore, heard a story of C C . When minister of America here, he gave a grand ball, to which archdukes came without their duchesses. When supper was announced, C C clapped one grand duke on the back, and said, " Come and have some lunch in American fashion." Consternation of duke ! On the ist of August we dined with one of the attaches on an island in the Neva, and after wards drove out in a barouche appertaining to the Spanish embassy, to see the illumina tions in honour of the new Tsarewitch, who had taken the oath of allegiance to the Emperor to-day.

The whole island was studded with RUSSIAN ILLUMINATIONS. places of amusement, and the concourse of mujicks and others was enormous ; we had to join a string of carriages miles in length, and were continually at a standstill. The Summer theatre there was remarkably prettily illuminated with lamps, forming green, red, and white wreaths round the pilasters outside. There were fireworks going on, of which we only caught an occasional glimpse, through the trees, or when rockets shot up into the clear summer air. The various branches of the Neva wander about the island in an eccentric manner, and we were continually coming upon boat houses belonging to various clubs, and all well illuminated, especially the Russian national one, which had raised a very tall mast in front, supported by four ropes, along which all manner of coloured lamps were sus pended ; spasmodic Bengal fires kept illuminating distant vistas, and a long row of trees by the water side was hung with lamps for more than a mile.

The cold wind was the only drawback. Next night we drove to Petrovskoe, another island, to an establishment called the " mineral waters " on MUSCOVITE CREMORNE. 11 account of there being none naturally there, but supplies from the different springs of Europe are kept in stock — none, however, from Bath ! There are gardens and a theatre, on which Swiss singers, English niggers, German ventriloquists, and French actors perform — anything but " native talent." There are lengthy intervals allowed for promenading in the garden, when the company bears a close resemblance to that to be observed at Cremorne. The last entertainment was termed " L'Africaine, a burlesque," possibly because not a particle of the music of the opera was in troduced into it. We visited the palace of Tsarkoe Seloe by rail : a large, straggling build ing, in which, amongst other things we admired, or wondered at, a room pannelled with amber.

Wandering about the fine gardens we came to some sham ruins, where was also a model mast for the little archdukes to play at sailors upon, and a netting underneath to catch them when falling off. Missing our way we dittoed (?) the train and thus being in for the penny we thought we would " go in for the pound," so took a train going to HOW TO LOOK HANDSOME ! 12 Paulowsky, a summer garden with a concert room, built as a speculation by the railway company, where for the small charge of nothing (excepting the railway ticket), you hear Strauss, John Strauss of Vienna ; a military band played in the intervals of S.'s music, but remarkably badly — perhaps to act as a foil to his band. Coming back, W told us of an old house keeper of his, who, upon his observing that he had seen a great many pretty faces lately, said " Ah ! sir, it is very easy for them as has no "work to do to be pretty !"

Receipt for good looks : — Do nothing. Some of us ought to be very handsome ! With a written order we entered the Winter Palace. Pictures of the battles of the Russian army are very numerous. Balaklava figures in a dark room, but full justice is done to the gal lantry of the charge. The first Duke of Welling ton's portrait is included in a collection of portraits of generals. The Crown jewels are kept in an upper room, with two old soldiers as their guardians. On the 7th we started for Moscow, which we reached in twenty hours. At one of the stations MOSCOW. 13 bells with agreeable voices are made. Plenty of stoppages for the purpose of eating. One of our first visits was to the Kremlin. We took off our hats in passing beneath the sacred doorway and image, and then stood on the terrace, almost overpowered by the sight that met our eyes.

A panorama is always difficult to describe, more especially such an one : more churches than in Rome, and most of them in the quaint Byzan tine style. The river Moskau flowing in front ; on the right the new Church of St. Saviour — an addition to the 380 (?) already existing, as if those were not enough. On the left and in front, innumerable silver, and gold, and green cupolas, and the green roofs of the houses ; further, a dim range of mountains ; nearer, the quaint Pegu, Ravenna, Chinese, Indian pagoda-like, picturesque, grotesque St. Basil Church, with others in the same, but not quite so barbarous style, quite bewilder the spectator. The great bell of Moscow lies on the terrace in front of the Ivan Tower, which we ascended, to be only more bewildered by the extent and marvellous character of the view.

W.'S RAILWAY ADVENTURE. 14 Mr. Billo, our host, is a most obliging man. We found that no luggage is transported free on the Petersburg-Moscow line ; but this is obviated by taking as much as possible into the carriages, which are tolerably comfortable — now, we believe, very good indeed. Writing of railways reminds us of a story of W 's, which we insert here, though having nothing to do with our journey, but for want of a better place : — Once, on getting to Calais, W wanted to enter a first-class carriage, in which there were only two occupants, lying curled up, apparently fast asleep ; the opposite seats covered with small bags, &c. He addressed each sleeping form in English and French, to know whether those seats were occupied, and getting no answer, he turned round to a friend at the door, observing, " It's no use, the old beggars won't answer."

Sudden up rising of one of the bundles, crying out in great ire, " Beggars ! sir, who do you call beggars ? No more a beggar than you are. I'm a reel gentleman, sir, and that's more than you are." Having had almost all our hair cut off, it now OMNIBUSES. 15 stands on our heads like the quills upon the fretful porcupine — Shakespeare. After breakfast at the fork we walked again to the Kremlin, which we discovered to be a portion of the town entirely consecrated to palaces and churches, and surrounded by a high wall. We entered the palace, which we should describe — but are not all these things written in Murray ? — and afterwards saw the robes of the " Papas," the superintending priest keeping us waiting until he had got himself up in his best suit of silk, and accepting afterwards a small remuneration with thanks ; we likewise saw the original cruse full of Jerusalem oil, which hath not failed yet.

Next day drove out to the Simonoff Monastery by a desperate road, passing countless churches, many of them having on their cupolas gilt crosses with crescents at the bottom of them, a curious mixture of Oriental and Occidental religious symbols ; of course, the crescent is said to refer to the Virgin. The omnibuses appear uncomfortable; they are covered, and the seat at right angles to the driver, drawn by four horses abreast. WATER-TOWER. The monastery is on a low hill out of the town, and the bell-tower affords a fine view of Moscow. We had some difficulty in getting up, but at last seized on a monk who was walking about in a thick serge dress, with ditto round hat-cap, this about six inches high. He unlocked the door for us ; presently the bellringer came up and received our offering, it being " infra dig." for the monk to do so, though we have little doubt he would not have refused a contribution.

We entered an " old curiosity shop," where there were several " soi-di sant" Italian and French pictures, but almost all without exception repainted, if ever painted before ! After dinner we walked out to see the water-tower built by Peter the Great to resemble a ship. It requires to be told this previously, in order to find a resemblance between this building and any thing that ever floated. It consists of a fine tall spire, rising from the midst of an oblong Gothic and Renaissance sort of building, which forms an archway. We had an interview with the friend of a prospective servant for our tour, but the friend seemed too great a swell, and required all DRUNKENNESS. 17 his expenses calculated on a princely scale. We observed that the natives do not stare at one much. We went to the treasury in the Kremlin, where many magnificent things are to be seen.

Here the " Constitution " of Poland lies buried in a small black box, not unlike a coffin : Resurgat ! Downstairs some splendid carriages, one a gift of Queen Elizabeth, which shows English workman ship in a very good light. The ironwork is like the Venetian. Out to the Romanoff house. The rooms about six feet high, doors four feet, beds very small, windows in proportion ; altogether like a large wax-doll house. We visited the common market for fruit and bread, crowded with filthy people very picturesque. Why does cleanliness seem incompatible with the picturesque ? Drunkenness seems very prevalent in the town ; we saw one man per fectly drunk going through the ceremony of crossing himself in the most imperturbable manner, only swaying violently to and fro ; another was walking behind a water-barrel, singing and turning the imaginary handle of this supposititious c TROITZA MONASTERY. barrel-organ.

On the 1 1 th we set out for the Troitza monastery, founded by Saint Sergius ; we had a card to a monk who formerly was a colonel and a count, though that did not stand in the way of his accepting a trifling present. We visited the bakehouse ; all the bread is blessed, and fashioned into round little loaves of the shape of a " devil on two sticks " with a thick waist. We drank some holy water, coming out of a fountain in the shape of a cross, in the yard, surrounded by lay and clerical tombs, and it was as nasty as any impure water would be. In the chapel of the Assumption some of the pictures of the Virgin are literally incrusted with emeralds as large as bantams' eggs. Returning, we went next day to the museum, a fine Doric sort of building, with cobwebs spun all over the door : no admit tance except on business, and no one had any business there.

Four of us then determined on a regular Russian dinner in a regular Russian restaurant. The waiters all wore white night shirt overalls ; we began with orange bitters, black bread, salt smoked fish, and caviare. Then six RUSSIAN DINNERS. 19 cups were placed on the table, each containing a different drink : four soups, two cold — one rejoicing in a name like Backvineyard, the other in Ochrowska, apparently milk with cucumber in small slices — and two hot, Onka and Solianca, a Polish preparation, both containing the famous Sterlet of the Volga. This fish tastes somewhat like well-fed eel : isinglass patties with the latter ; ex cellent chicken cutlets with buckwheat, Crimean sherry, champagne, and claret, the latter nasty, the second bad gooseberry, but the brown sherry very palateable. After many other dishes, some very strong yellow tea, without milk and in dimi nutive cups, finished up the whole.

This, of course, was some " caravan tea," and tasted to us very like good cowslip ditto. On the 13th we went to what our companion, the author of Murray's handbook, uneuphoniously called the Louse Market, where (dirty) merchants most do congregate on a Sunday morning. The articles exposed for sale are all second-hand here. We then went to the Church of the Christening, on the Kremlin, where we heard one of the bulls c DIRTY PRIESTS. of Basan roaring the service ; and afterwards watched a procession outside. This being a religious one all the populace took off their hats while it was passing, an excellent opportunity, as it was very raw weather, for catching cold, of which we both availed ourselves. We are sorry to say that we seldom have seen a more disreputable lot than the priests who took part in the ceremony.

They never cut their hair or shave, and all these looked as if from time immemorial no water had ever profaned the dirt upon their faces. The pro cession descended to the river Morskau, when our friend the Bull blessed the water — we hope to the increase of its cleanliness. Small temples on rafts were prepared for him at intervals on the water. It is said that the town covers as much ground as Paris did, we suppose before the octroi was removed further out. Since the Ukase of the ist of July smoking is permitted in the streets of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Walking out in a pouring shower of rain, in order to prove our waterproof for our tour, we entered the inner Boulevards of Moscow and presently came upon a large pool of the most THE BURGLAR'S FRIEND. 21 fetid water we ever had the pleasure of smelling.

Yet there are some boats upon it, just as if it would not act like the Stymphalian lake on every body's olfactory nerves. When in the stilly night we have fallen into sweet slumber we are generally awakened by a watchman making a hideous noise with a sort of rattle, that sounds like two of Christy's Minstrels' most infatuated " Bones " playing against time and each other. Probably the reason of making this noise is to afford any possible burglar timely notice of the watchman's approach — a purpose for which the now exploded shiny hats of our policemen were originally in vented. The company at our hotel dinner is com posed of several nationalities — as, two Swiss, one Frenchman, one American, three Germans, four Italians, one Irishman, and three Englishmen dined here. Our host says he will not have any more Russians in his house since a Russian colonel stole his watch !

On the 15th we remarked a primitive " Punch and Judy " in the streets, no scenery, no cover to the box, and the principal performer's legs TRAVELLING ORDERS. 22 were very apparent underneath. Our friend lost his way, and forgetting the name of his hotel, was unable to ask for further information until he remembered it had something to do with a ghost, Gostinska being the vernacular (here) for an hotel. We had now, through the kindness of our Charge d' Affaires at St. Petersburg, obtained letters of in troduction, and our Padarojna, or posting order for six horses, for our route from Petrovskoi, on the Caspian, to the Persian frontier, together with a Russian passport (useful), in German, French, and Russian, and a Persian visa (useless). The Pada rojna is a piece of paper for which a somewhat high charge is made, which goes, however, we believe, to the keeping up of the post-houses ; it is necessary, having to be shown at every station in order to establish a right to horses.

There are three degrees of them : we obtained the second. The first is only given to government couriers, and the third everyone must have to travel at all by post. Each class takes precedence of the other • so that a government courier coming up to a post house, while a person having the second class traveller's wit. 23 Padarojna was having his horses harnessed, would have them taken away for his benefit as the bearer of the first class order, and the other in return could take the horses destined for a third class order. We eventually found that three horses were quite enough for our use. And now, before plunging into wilder districts, we must premise that we do not hold ourselves responsible for the ortho graphy of any places or things mentioned herein after, that being entirely phonetic, nor for the opinions expressed by any of our correspondents !

Just as we were getting into our droskies to go off to the station, an Italian arrived, who spoke Russian, and offered his services as a courier. Thinking that perhaps we should not have such a chance again, we engaged him to come and catch us up at Nijni. We travelled in a saloon carriage, with an unlighted stove in the middle : although in August, the night was very cold. During the night, as we had just closed our eyes, one of our fellow-travellers, thinking us asleep, pointed at us and remarked to a companion, in German, " There, that is the way descriptions of NIJNI NOVGOROD. travel are written ; the English go abroad, see the country in this way" (he must have met with Brown, Jones, and Robinson, in Belgium !) " and then write about a country being so poor ; and their countrymen read and believe !"

We regret, for his sake, that we have not much to say about land traversed in a railway, though this appeared to us well-wooded and with much corn at intervals. After twelve hours we arrived at Nijni Novgo rod, where we bade good-bye to railways, but not to steam, for a good distance. We drove off to the Nikita Egoroff Hotel in two droskies, and must, we suppose, attempt to describe what we saw, though the task is a difficult one. For about a mile we drove along a row of one-storied wooden houses, excepting a few stuccoed, on the banks of the Oka. Every one of these houses had its whole front taken up by a shop. Then crossing a wooden bridge, crowded with mujicks of the lowest class, we passed a singular church of Italian Byzantine nondescript architecture, above which rose a steep hill on which is the permanent town.

The banks of the Oka were literally covered with PANORAMA. 25 bales of merchandise lying about, and the traffic along there was very great. We then ascended a deep ravine, crowned on the one side by the Kremlin, and on the other by miscellaneous houses. Our hotel we discovered to be right at the top of the ravine, opposite the Kremlin. Owing to the continuance of the fair we had telegraphed for rooms, which we accordingly found prepared for us. The hotel resembled a dirty South Italian one in domestic economy. After breakfast we walked to the steamboat office to secure our places. We found it situated on the highest brow of the hill, with a most lovely, nearly natural terrace in front. At the foot of the hill ran the broad Volga, here some 1600 miles from the Caspian Sea, covered with small steamboats and merchant ships of every description.

The opposite bank seemed perfectly flat as far as the eye could see, the view only broken by an occasional church with log-huts around it. A little to the right again the scene is totally changed ; the busy fair is before us, with the town on both banks of the Oka and Volga. The horizon on the left is THE GREAT FAIR. bounded by the same chain, on a mountain link of which we are at present standing. We found our inn rather far from the fair, (a two-mile walk,) to which of course we next turned our steps. Seven wooden bridges cross the river during fair time, and the banks are used as quays for disem barkation of merchandise at every available point. Crossing one of these bridges, we wandered about an inextricable labyrinth of one-storied wooden shops. However, on nearer acquaintance we found that they were all arranged according to a specific plan, with the governor's house in the centre.