on the box was obliged to hold the light in his hand, and occasionally to walk with it before the horses; by which means we managed to creep along at a foot's pace till about two o'clock in the morning, when the moon began to re-appear.

Two or three days ago I was looking at an almanac, and J perceived that, although on this occasion we had selected the period of a full moon for our journey, we had unwittingly fallen on the night of a total eclipse. In travelling over Russian roads, moonshine becomes a matter of considerable importance.

On reaching the town of Tamboff I was told that the road to this place was so heavy, that it would be necessary to put extra horses to the carriage. Accordingly, when we got into the vehicle again, we found no less than nine horses tackled to it-six wheelers abreast, driven from the box, and three leaders with a postilion mounted in the middle. This drove of animals, however, we found by no means superfluous, for a great part of the road lay through a heavy sand, so deep that the horses sunk in it to the fetlocks, and the fellies of the wheels were covered.

The general character of this part of the country is open plain or steppe, unclothed by trees. Immediately around this spot, however, are very extensive woods of oak and Scotch fir. The former is mere copse and brushwood, but much of the fir timber is large and fine. The soil, where not covered by sand, consists in general of a rich deep black mould, entirely free from stone, and producing heavy crops without manure.* In addition to the usual produce of Russia, large quantities of a particular kind of cucumber, to be salted for winter use, are grown in the fields in this district.

The neighbouring woods abound in hares and foxes, and in blackcock. They are also much infested by wolves. Snipes and woodcocks, and the double-snipe, are plentiful earlier in the year; but they have now taken flight for the winter. The cock-of-the woods, or capercailzie, is not very rare, and a few days ago we surprised an eagle eating a hare. The open

* In Tamboff I afterwards saw the manure of the town brought down to the river in the course of the winter and piled on the ice, to be carried away by the spring floods. It was in fact regarded as a nuisance to be got rid of.

plains supply gelinottes and red-legged partridges; so that there is no lack of game. Rabbits, I believe, are not to be found in Russia, and I have never seen a donkey.

We are to spend the winter in the town of Tamboff, to which place we are going shortly for a few days to see a large fair of horses and goods of every kind, which is held annually at this season. A country fair in this central province-for we are nearly equidistant from Petersburg, Odessa, and Astrakan, the Baltic, the Black Sea, and the Caspian-can hardly fail to present some new and interesting pictures of Russian character and Russian life. I am much pleased with the opportunity thus offered to me, and when we return you shall have some description of what we have seen. My brother-in-law will have business as well as pleasure to occupy him at the fair, for since our arrival he has received a consignment of nine thorough-bred horses from an aunt of his wife, a Princess Madatoff, who has a breeding stud on her estate in Georgia, near the Araxes. One of these horses is intended as a present to my brother-in-law, and two others are for a nephew of the proprietress, while the remaining six are to be sold at the fair. At present, therefore, we have seven at our disposal, and we amuse ourselves by exercising some of them daily. Most of these are hot showy horses, and they all have imposing pedigrees, the translation of which commences, as you will anticipate, with "In the name of the Prophet.' The estate from which these horses come is close to the frontier of Persia. They are accustomed, when turned out to graze, to be picketed by one hind foot to a stake, which is moved when necessary. The person in whose charge they have been sent gives a wonderful account of the luxuriance of the grass in his country, which he says is abundantly irrigated in summer by the melting of the snow on their lofty mountains, up the sides of which, as the heat increases, they, like the Swiss herdsmen, gradually move their animals to higher elevations to graze. You will think that we are living in a semi-Asiatic family; but my brother-in-law and his wife speak excellent English, and their relative, Princess Madatoff, is a very good Christian, and no doubt an accomplished lady of European tastes and habits, though she resides among a Mahometan population in Asia.

LETTER X.

Fair at Tamboff — Fire-engines to assist the police — Tartar purchasers of horse-flesh-Don Cossacks - Mode of backing a colt - Trotting-matches Town of Tamboff- Hall of assembly. Constitution of the assembly of the nobles-Office of Marshal of the nobility-Mode of transacting business-Functions of the assembly - Accident to the Emperor near Tifflis - His proceedings in Georgia-Anecdote of the Grand-Duchess Marie.

Rascazava, November 10th, 1837. WE returned into the country, a few days ago, from Tamboff, where we spent a week, to see the fair of which I made mention in my last letter, and which was instituted, it seems, in commemoration of the finding of an image of the Virgin, which is now at Veronish, and which, like the Palladium, was sent down from heaven, and at length discovered, after having been hid for many years on earth.

The fair is not held in the town for fear of fire, but on an extensive steppe or down, about three quarters of a mile off.

On this down a perfect village was erected of wooden booths, in which shops were opened for the sale of all kinds of goods, especially every article necessary for winter clothing, which was at the time exceedingly attractive, as we had a hard frost during the whole week. There were several fur-shops, very handsomely provided with skins of all kinds, and of all prices; bear, fox, sable, beaver, wolf, and a variety of others, of which I do not know the names. Russians sometimes go to an enormous expense in fur; but a handsome fox-skin for a lady's cloak may be had for about eight pounds; and a beaver collar, which is the handsomest and most agreeable fur for the purpose, for a lady or gentleman, will cost from eight to twelve pounds. A bear-skin pelisse, which is only fit for wearing in a sledge or in travelling, costs about thirty pounds. There were also Tartar merchants, with shaven heads and skull-caps, who sold shawls, dressing-gowns, slippers, and all kinds of eastern manufactures; while close by them were drapers, silk

mercers, and all the tradesmen requisite to furnish a lady's toilette, with goods home-made or imported from England or France. The shopkeepers were all wrapped up in furs, for the booths were bitterly cold.

Who would expect, at a country fair, to find church-bells for sale! There were a number of all sizes, some being of a very considerable weight of metal. They were hung on wooden frames in an open space, so that a customer could easily ring them to judge of their tones. . I was told that there was always a certain demand for these bells at the fair.

A number of fire-engines were stationed round the booths, to be useful not only in the event of fire, but as assistants to the police in keeping order; since, in case of a mob of drunken and disorderly people assembling at night, an engine playing into the midst of them speedily disperses the crowd.

The horse-fair altogether presented a most curious scene. A large space of the steppe was thickly covered with tilègas, or little waggons, behind which the horses for sale were tied; and the strange figures of the people in their sheepskin coats and fur caps, with their long beards, had anything but an European character. In one part of the fair were to be seen showy horses, covered with gaudy cloths in bright colours, and tied three or four together behind tilègas, where from time to time they created a disturbance by kicking and fighting with their companions or neighbours. Among these were our six eastern steeds, destined by their owner to procure for herself a plentiful harvest of roubles, and to become sires of renown in the breeding studs of Tamboff. The former expectation, at least, will have been much disappointed, for unfortunately such horses were not now in demand. In another quarter were Tartars bargaining for miserable worn-out animals, such as in England may be seen awaiting their time in the paddock adjoining a kennel; but which the Tartar purchases as food, not for his dogs but for himself; horse-flesh being the principal fare of these Russian Mahometans, who are tolerably numerous in this neighbourhood.

In another part of the fair, again, were dealers from the Don, with large lots of Cossack and Bashkir horses. The Cossack horse is small, raw-boned, and spare, carrying little

flesh, and apparently not equal to any great weight; but he is far better than he looks, and is hardy, active, and enduring: he is little used for harness, his master being a horseman bred and born. The Bashkir horse is short and punchy, with a thick neck and a dull heavy head; but he will travel seventy miles without stopping or tiring. The Cossack and Bashkir horses at the fair were chiefly wild unbroken colts, and they were not haltered like the rest, or tied behind tilègas, but enclosed twenty or thirty together, in pens surrounded by a strong railing. In each pen was a lad with a whip, who kept the horses moving slowly round and round.

It was amusing to watch the process of showing these colts to purchasers. When a customer fixed his eye on one of them, and wished to examine him and see his action, the dealer, with the help of a long stick, threw a noose over the horse's head, and pulled it tight round his throat. The bar which closed the pen was then let down, and the lad inside, keeping the other horses away from the opening, drove out the one which had been selected. He, of course, finding himself apparently free on the open plain, immediately tried to run away; but his escape was not to be effected, for his owner had a firm hand on the rope round his neck, and a vigorous pull tightened the noose so as almost to strangle the horse. The assistant, having now closed the pen, came to his master's aid; and having forced a bridle on the head of the poor frightened brute, boldly jumped on his back. The colt naturally resented the aggression by rearing, kicking, plunging, and doing all in his power to rid himself of his unceremonious rider. The Cossack, however, held fast by the mane, clung tightly with his legs, and kept a firm seat. Presently he urged on the horse, his master still holding the rope round the animal's neck. After a minute or two the colt became more tranquil ; the end of the rope was given to the rider, and he was left to take care of himself. He immediately set off at full gallop across the steppe, and returned after a while at the same pace, pulling up with some difficulty when he reached the spot from which he had started.

This process, which I saw followed with two or three horses, reminded me of the account given by Sir Francis