DOWN THE VOLGA.
A difference of three rubles in the fare does not compensate the traveller for the discomforts of the second-class cars from Moscow to Nijni Novgorod, and Dr. Winstock took first-class tickets for his little party; indeed, it does not pay to go there at all, except during the great fair. The cars were very good, in one of which was the innovation of a door connecting two compartments, and our party took possession of it, though one gentleman had already seated himself there. He was very polite, and spoke French, so that the doctor was not at all anxious to get rid of him. The train started. The landscape was about the same as on the road from St. Petersburg; consequently there was little to be seen from the windows.
The train was late, and did not arrive at its destination till nine o'clock in the morning. Most of the students, by doubling up on the seats, had slept very well, and were tolerably fresh. They entered the fine brick station, and seated themselves in the restaurant. The Tartar waiters were all attention.
"Breakfast—Déjeûner—Frühstück," said Lincoln who had seatedhimself with Scott and Bill Bobstay.
The waiter smiled blandly, and shook his head.
"Café," added the commodore.
"Da," which is the Russian for "yes."
"Bifstek?"
"Da."
"Will you have the same, Scott?" added Lincoln.
"No; I think not. Please to ask him for mutton chops, boiled eggs, and fried potatoes," replied Scott.
"Suppose you ask him yourself," laughed the commodore.
"I don't speak any Russian. I'm afraid to learn it; think it would knock my teeth out."
"What will you have, Billy?" added Lincoln.
"The same that you do."
"I don't see that I can get anything else. Where is Mr. Blownynozeoff?" continued Scott.
"Who is he?"
"Why, the Russian that rode with us."
This gentleman now appeared with the doctor, whom he had been assisting to procure tickets for the steamer, and he was kind enough to order breakfast for the whole party. It was good, and well served, with nothing peculiar about it, except that the butter was in glass jars, the inside of metal, and very dirty and cheesy. There were plenty of droskies at the door, and three of them were taken for the ride to the steamer.
"Go ahead, Switchemoff," said Scott, as he seated himself with Billy Bobstay.
The Russian gentleman directed the drivers where to go, and theystarted. Descending a gentle slope, the party came to the fair grounds; but they were not to examine these till their return from Kazan. The road was very dusty, and in wet weather the mud is very deep. Crossing the Oka River on a bridge of boats, the travellers entered what is properly the town, and soon reached the point on the river where the steamers lay. There were several of them at the quay, and it was difficult to determine which was the right one, since neither the doctor nor the students could read her name on the ticket or on the boat. But the card was shown to a man, who pointed to the right steamer, and they went on board of her. As in other parts of Europe, porters always stand ready—too ready, sometimes—to carry the travellers' baggage, and one who cannot speak the language has only to show his ticket to one of them, and he will be conducted to the right place.
The party, having first-class tickets, hastened aft to where the best cabin is usually located, and went below. The accommodations were not elegant, certainly. There were no berths, only divans around the apartment, which the students made haste to secure, by placing their bags upon them. Having performed this necessary duty, they returned to the deck to examine the steamer, and see the strange sights. The craft was rather odd in shape, her bow and stern being depressed more than the part amidships, so that the deck sloped down, going forward or aft. The "bridge" is a platform between the paddle-boxes, of considerable size, which only first-class passengers are permitted to occupy. Upon it is the steering-wheel, which is about six feet high.
"See here! How's this?" said Scott, as he led the way forward. "What isthis coop for?"
It was a house on deck, containing a stairway, and a small room with a table in it. The apartment was handsomely furnished, and was even luxurious compared with the after cabin.
"Let us go in, and see," replied Billy Bobstay; and they entered.
Descending the stairs, they came to a cabin in the forward part of the vessel, with a broad divan around it, like the other, but covered with drab cloth. It was very neatly furnished, and provided with every convenience except berths.
"We are first-class, and we have got into the wrong coop," said Scott.
"That's so," added Lincoln. "We will change our baggage."
"Perhaps we may be mistaken. This may be the Czar's cabin," suggested Scott.
At this moment a short man, wearing a very long black frock coat, entered. When he saw the passengers, he promptly removed his cap, and bowed, so that the students concluded he was one of the stewards.
"I say, Knockmyheadoff, is this the first-class cabin?" demanded Scott.
The man smiled sweetly, and shook his head.
"He don't speak English," said Lincoln, producing his ticket, and showing it to the steward.
The man glanced at it, bowed, smiled, and swung his hands about to indicate that it was all right.
"Do we belong in here, or not?" asked Scott.
"What's the matter?" said a short, stout man, entering the cabin at thismoment.
"Do we belong here, sir?" added Lincoln, showing him the ticket.
"Yes, sir; this is the first-class cabin."
"Do you belong to the boat, sir?"
"I do. I am the captain."
"Good! and you speak English like an American," added Scott.
"I can speak it some. I have been in New York."
"Have you? Give me your hand!" shouted the joker. "I am glad to see a man who has been in the United States."
The captain took the joker's offered hand.
"I have been in New York and San Francisco," he added.
"You are my friend for life. My name is Scott."
"And you are a seaman?"
"Salt as the inside of a pickle barrel. Allow me to introduce you to Commodore Lincoln, in command of our squadron at Cronstadt."
The captain took off his cap to Lincoln, and accepted his offered hand; but he seemed to be a little puzzled at his title.
"What steamer is this, captain?"
"TheStafet, Captain Ekovetz."
The conversation was continued for some time. The steward was sent for the bags in the other cabin, and orders given to make the Americans as comfortable as possible. The captain was very zealous to serve his passengers, and they all went on deck together.
"Can you tell me, captain, when a steamer, which left Tver onWednesday, arrives at this place?" asked the doctor, who had joined the students below.
"She should be here now, sir," replied the captain; "but I think she has not come yet."
"Two of our young men ran away from us at Tver, and must have taken this steamer."
"Ran away—did they?" laughed the captain. "This is a bad country for them, then, for we don't have anyhabeas corpus, or anything of that sort. The police will stop them, if you wish it."
"I do wish it."
The obliging commander of the steamer went on shore with the doctor to the police office, attended by Vroome, the third master. A description of the fugitives was given through the captain, and the police officer made a note of Vroome's uniform, as like those worn by De Forrest and Beckwith. The party returned to the steamer, and as the hour for starting had arrived, the fasts were cast off, and the Stafet was soon making her way down the mighty Volga. Her deck was crowded with third-class passengers, who were the peasants and laboring men of the country. They were abominably dirty and miserably dressed, several of them wearing the long sheep-skin coats, the wool inside. Others wore long, light-colored coats, very ragged. Not a few of them, instead of boots, had coarse cloths wound around their feet and ankles, bound on with strings nearly as large as a bed-cord. Some of them were eating their dinners, which they carried with them, consisting of the blackest of bread and dried fish. These men were the serfs who had been liberated by the noble policy of the present emperor.
The Volga, at Nijni, is about two thirds of a mile wide, and is coveredwith boats of all sorts and sizes. The depth of water between this point and Kazan does not admit of the passage of the largest passenger steamers. The voyager from Tver to the Caspian would change steamers for larger ones at Nijni and at Kazan. Merchandise is transported on the river in boats, the largest of which are about a hundred and fifty feet long, with a single mast, well forward, and appear to be very substantially built. In the middle there is a house on deck, generally with an Oriental dome, painted green, which is possibly a chapel. There are other smaller boats, and a tug steamer tows from four to eight of the different sizes. These boats are owned by corporations, such as the Volga Transportation Company. Vast quantities of wheat are conveyed from Saratoff, and other places, to the head of navigation.
The students gathered on the bridge, or hurricane deck would be a more proper name for it. Two Russian pilots were at the tall wheel, and they looked as little like sailors as it is possible to conceive. They wore the long sheep-skin pelisse, with pants stuffed into their boots, and Cossack or Tartar caps. They looked particularly solemn; but they are said to know their business perfectly.
The navigation of the river is very difficult in some places, and it requires not a little skill and experience to keep the boat in the channel. In shoal places, dikes have been built to turn the course of the current, or to keep it within certain limits. Large sums of money have been spent by the government in dredging and otherwise improvingthe navigation. In August the river is generally low, and there is an extensive prospect of sand-bars between the banks of the stream. The Volga flows through a flat country, but there is a ridge on the right bank, which, in places, causes the formation of a considerable bluff.
The regulations for steamers passing each other appear to be excellent, and collisions to be impossible. The boat going down stream has the right of way. She whistles, and the officer of the deck waves a flag in the daytime, a lantern at night, on the side which the other boat is to pass him. The steamer going up stream whistles in reply, and a flag is waved in the direction the down boat is to take. If they are to pass on the starboard hand, both officers go to the starboard side, on the paddle-boxes, raise the flag, and drop it over on this side, repeating the movement several times; if on the port side, the signals are made accordingly.
There is nothing like variety of scenery on the river, and in a short time the view becomes very monotonous. There are occasional villages to be seen on the shore, but they are composed only of log-houses. The larger towns have one or more fine churches. Late in the afternoon the Stafet made a landing at one of these places, and the greater part of the deck passengers left the boat. On the bluff was a church with a green dome, and the Russian cross at the summit. As soon as they landed, all the peasants turned their faces towards the church, crossed themselves, and bowed reverently. A few dropped upon their knees, and bent to the ground. In this manner they thank God for bringing them insafety to their journey's end. No one seems to notice them, or to regard their conduct as at all singular.
The boat stopped long enough at this place to "wood up," the work of which was done by women, while scores of stout men stood by, looking on. These women were of all ages; but none of them were handsome enough to excite the sympathy of cold-blooded foreigners. They wore calico dresses, with the belt or waist directly under the arms. The wood was carried on two poles, forming a hand-barrow, and the women bore loads which would have strained the backs of ordinary men.
"That's mean," said Scott. "I don't see how those men can stand by, and not lend a helping hand."
"You are in Russia," replied Lincoln.
"Don't men have souls in Russia?"
"Yes; and customs too. This seems to be one of them," laughed the commodore.
"See that little one. She is not more than sixteen. She isn't bad looking, either; at least, not so bad looking as the rest of them."
"If you feel bad about it, Scott, you can take a hand in the job yourself."
"I will," said the joker, as the girl passed him, laughing merrily, with the pole in her hand. "Let me carry it for you;" and Scott attempted to take the pole.
She stoutly resented this interference, till Captain Ekovetz spoke to her, for he had heard the conversation. The girl laughed, and so did the old woman who worked with her. The poles were laid down and loaded,and Scott picked up his end. His share of the weight was all he could stagger under, and the solemn Russians laughed heartily at his gallantry.
"That's enough for me," said the joker, when he had dumped the load. "Here, Miss Maidenoff, I'm off."
The girl tittered, and Scott gave her a twenty-copeck piece, which she accepted with surprise and pleasure.
"Don't back out, Scott," said Lincoln.
"I thought I would back out while I had a back to back out with. The idea of that girl carrying such a load is cruel. It is enough for a pack mule."
"But the old woman sold you," laughed Billy Bobstay.
"Sold me?"
"She evidently understands the mechanical powers in practice, if not in theory, for she loaded the poles so that you carried two thirds of the weight. Probably she takes the other end with the girl."
"These women claim this work as their privilege," said the captain. "If the men should attempt to bring the wood on board, the women would think it was mean in them."
"Their education has been neglected," replied Scott. "This is going in for women's rights with a vengeance."
"At every railroad station where I have bought tickets, they were sold by ladies, and all of them spoke French," added the doctor. "Women have a sphere in Russia, and some of them are well educated. You will find the women at work in the fields in every country of Europe, and insome of them they do all the worst drudgery. In Holland we saw women dragging boats on the canals, while a man stood at the tiller, with a pipe in his mouth, smoking."
The steamer started again, and the party went into the cabin to order their dinner; but with the Russian steward this was no easy matter, though he knew half a dozen words of German. He set the table, and brought on the dinner, which, however, was anything but what was ordered. The first dish after the soup was meat, chopped fine, made into cutlets, breaded, and fried. It was followed by a course of small birds with jelly, and ended with a dessert of dried fruit. It was a very good dinner, and the party were well satisfied with it.
On the bridge Scott got acquainted with the mate, a short man, and about as thick as he was long. Though he could not speak a word of English, and the joker not a word of Russian, they had some long talks, to the great amusement of the other students. The mate laughed prodigiously when he spoke, and permitted Scott to make his speeches, the joker being equally indulgent to him.
"I say, Mr. Fatmanoffsky, don't you think that wheel is twice as big as it need be?" said Scott.
The mate laughed, and talked Russian, but, as he pointed at the wheel, he was evidently talking about it. Even the solemn pilots were amused, either at what the Russian said, or at the absurdity of two persons talking together when neither could understand the other.
The party retired early. There was a pillow to each divan, but nobed-clothes—none are furnished on any of the Volga steamers, and travellers usually carry a robe or two. They slept very well, for all of them were accustomed to "turning in" with their clothes on. In the morning the country appeared to be about the same, though the bluff on the right was higher, and a range of hills was seen in the distance, on the same side. At eleven o'clock, the steamer arrived at Kazan, in just twenty-four hours from Nijni. The city is seven versts from the river, though there is a small village on the bluff. The shore is lined with steamers and boats, loading and unloading. There was nothing attractive in the locality, and nothing interesting except the Tartar teamsters, on shore, who wore white felt hats, and sheep-skin coats; some of them with their feet and legs tied up in rags, others in boots or straw sandals. Four droskies were hired at three rubles apiece for the day, to go up to the city and return. Dr. Winstock wished to find the Professor of English of the University of Kazan, to whom he had a letter of introduction. It would be impossible for the party to speak a word to anybody, and the captain kindly sent the steward with them to the university.
The ride is a dreary one, over a region which is covered with water when the Volga floods its banks. On the left of the road is a curious pyramidal monument to the memory of the Russians who fell in the capture of the city from the Tartars. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Kazan, founded in the thirteenth century by the Golden Horde, a tribe of Tartars who invaded Russia. They were continually at war with thepeople of Muscovy, and after repeated expeditions on the part of the Russians against the city, it was finally subdued by Ivan the Terrible, and the kingdom incorporated in his dominions.
"I suppose we shall not go any farther east than we are now," said Lincoln, who was riding with the doctor.
"No; we are within three hundred and twenty miles of Asia now, the nearest part of which lies a little east of south of us."
"What do you suppose the people of New York and Boston are doing just now, doctor?"
"They are asleep, I hope."
"It is quarter past twelve now," added Lincoln, looking at his watch, which he had set by Kazan time. "In Boston it is two minutes of four o'clock in the morning, and in New York fourteen minutes of four. It seems very odd."
"I don't know that it does."
"My father and mother haven't begun to think of getting out of bed yet!" laughed Lincoln. "I shall remember this place as the farthest easting I have made."
After a ride of an hour the vehicles entered the city, and turned into a wide street, with fine buildings. Presently they stopped at the university, which is a very large establishment, with four hundred and fifty students. The steward led the way into the vestibule, and spoke to the porter. Then there was a difficulty which the man could not explain. He talked, made signs, and gesticulated; and it was clear that the professor was not in. The doctor spoke English, French, and German to the porter, who could not comprehend a word of either. But suddenly hisface lighted up with a smile, and beckoning to the party to follow him, he led them up three flights of stairs, unlocked a door, and entered. Conducting the surgeon to a glass case, he triumphantly pointed to a small Egyptian mummy! The visitors courteously examined it, and other curiosities in the room, which was the museum of the university. While the party were thus engaged, an elderly Russian entered the apartment, and looked curiously at the strangers. The doctor attacked him in all the languages he could speak, but without avail.
"ProfessorAnglisky!" shouted Dr. Winstock.
"That ought to fetch him," said Scott; but it did not.
"Anglisky," repeated the surgeon.
"Da!" replied the old man, at last, his face beaming with smiles, as though he had solved the problem.
Making a gesture to indicate that the party were to follow him, he led them down one flight of stairs, through a hall a hundred feet long, up another flight, through another long hall, and opened a door. The travellers entered, and he led them to a case of minerals, to which he pointed with an expression of the utmost satisfaction on his wrinkled face.
"No, no, no!" exclaimed the doctor, impatiently; and the party retreated, without taking a second look at the case.
The porter led them back to the entrance hall, where Lincoln and the surgeon began to ask the people who passed if they could speak English, French, or German. No one could; but at last the puzzled stewardseemed to have obtained an idea, and made signs for the party to return to the droskies. They did so, and were driven away again; but the doctor expected to be taken to a church or a cemetery. He was mistaken, for the steward's idea was really a brilliant one, and he set his party down at the residence of the professor. He rang the bell, and sent in a message by the servant, who in a moment returned and conducted the tourists to the second floor, where Professor Beresford received them. The letter was delivered, and the professor extended a cordial welcome to the party. For an hour he entertained them with his accounts of the Russians, and then volunteered to show them some of the sights of the city. They went to the Kremlin, which contains a cathedral; a tower in the form of a pyramid, nearly two hundred and fifty feet high; the convent built for the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Kazan, now in St. Petersburg, though it has a copy of the original, on which glitters a crown of diamonds, presented by Catharine II.
The city of Kazan has a population of sixty thousand, of whom more than half are Tartars. They live by themselves, in their own quarter of the town, and retain their own manners and customs. They are Mohammedans, and have twelve mosques. Under the guidance of the professor the party drove to this section. The houses were generally of two stories, but the lower one among the poorer classes is devoted to the horses and other stock, or used as a store-room, while the family occupy the second story. The Tartars were easily distinguished from the Russians bytheir Asiatic faces and their costume. The men of the better class wear a calico tunic, and trousers of the same material. Over these they wear a long coat. The trousers are stuffed into the boots, which are generally of colored morocco, fancifully ornamented; and most of them wear overshoes, doubtless for convenience in entering the mosque. The head is close shaved, and they wear a skull-cap, often richly embroidered, but on the street they have a fur cap over it.
"It's easy enough to catch a Tartar here," said Scott.
"Don't try," replied Billy Bobstay.
"High O! What's that? A Tartar carriage, with two ladies! That's the kind we read of."
It was an odd vehicle. The fore and hind wheels were at least twelve feet apart, and connected by two strips of board, on which rested the body of an ordinary wagon. Seated in this carriage were two Tartar ladies, in the full costume of Mohammedan countries, including the robes, and the bandages over the face, which concealed all but the nose and the eyes. Both of them were young, and they looked mischievous, as they glanced at the Americans; but they were not pretty. Scott had the presumption to touch his cap and bow as they passed. The droskies stopped at this moment.
"You will catch a Tartar if you do that, young gentleman," laughed the professor. "You mustn't take any notice of the ladies here."
"Can't one be civil and polite to them?"
"No; give them the cold shoulder."
"They smiled, and looked roguish," persisted Scott. "Their faces arepainted, too."
"All the Tartar women paint. Here is a mosque; we will go in, if you please. But you must scrape your feet, and use the mat vigorously. The Tartar gentlemen take off their overshoes before they enter, and in most Mohammedan countries they compel strangers to remove their shoes; but they are not so particular here."
The party complied with these directions, and a man admitted them. The interior of the mosque was very plain, with a gallery on one side. On the floor were dirty and ragged carpets for the faithful to kneel upon. There were no seats, and the only furniture was a stand some eight feet high, on which the Koran is read and expounded. This was one of the plainest and simplest mosques, and a few months later the students had an opportunity of seeing them in all their glory in Constantinople. The party now drove to Commonens's restaurant for dinner; after which they took another drive through the streets. Most of the students were again astonished, as they had been before, to find that a city in the eastern part of Russia is so much like one in America, though they did not cherish this view when they stood before such a quaint structure as the Cathedral Nicolski. Thanking Professor Beresford for his kindness, the party started for the steamer again, which was to leave at eight o'clock the next morning, and they had decided to sleep on board.
At an early hour they were awaked by the advent of a number of passengers coming into the cabin. Several of them were Tartars of thehighest class, and Scott called them "Cream Tartars," for they were very richly dressed. The boat started, and the students in the cabin continued to gaze at their singular companions. They called for tea, and produced their own provisions, consisting of bread andcaviar, upon which they made their breakfast. It would be considered rather shabby for first-class passengers in America to carry their own provisions, but it is all right on the Volga. At noon these Tartars attended to their devotions on the bridge without any regard to the bystanders. They spread a robe on the top of the paddle-box, and taking off their overshoes, knelt upon it. Then they put their hands behind their ears, and over their eyes, bowing their heads to the floor, and repeating their prayers.
In the afternoon the steamer passed a large boat going down the river, towed by a steamer. It had a cabin, extending nearly the whole length of it, with small, grated windows. The captain said this was a convict boat, in which prisoners were conveyed down the Volga, and up the Kama to Perm, from which they have to march to Siberia. When they reach their destination, they are compelled to work in the mines. The captain said that many of them returned, and made good citizens. At three o'clock on the afternoon of the next day, the Stafet arrived at Nijni Novgorod.