at full gallop. We had not, however, proceeded far at this pace before the carriage was stopped with a jerk, and we at the same time heard a violent cracking of wood. The door of the carriage was instantly opened, and when we got out we beheld a very curious scene. On one side was a tilèga half upset, with a man and a woman thrown out of it into a ditch, but happily unhurt. The horses which drew it were struggling violently, being entangled in their harness. Our six post-horses, moreover, were lying on the ground in a heap. The near wheeler (of four) was struggling with his hind quarters under the carriage, between the fore and the hind wheels; another of the wheelers was on his back, with his heels up in the air, and fast in the rope-traces. The two others were in different positions, and the leaders, strange to say, were undermost, with their heads turned the contrary way to that in which we were going. The postilion's horse was lying stretched on his side unable to move, with his head and shoulders under the fore-axle, and his companion was in nearly the same position. The pole was snapped across in the middle. The peasant in the tilèga was drunk, and had caused this accident by driving against us or our horses. The shock, which, as we were going at full gallop, was very great, threw down the leaders; the wheelers then fell over them, the horses all getting entangled in the rope harness; and the carriage was stopped by running on the horses. How the leaders in falling got their heads turned round where their tails had been I cannot explain, but such was the fact. Our first inquiries naturally were as to the fate of the postilion, and we had the great satisfaction of finding that, though he must have fallen with his horse, he had contrived to roll himself immediately out of the way, and had escaped completely unhurt. If he had not got clear of the other horses and of the carriage, he must inevitably have been crushed to death; and his escape was most wonderful. At the first appearance of affairs, I thought that some of the horses must be disabled, and that our broken pole would at any rate be the cause of a long delay. However, a number of people assembled, and, without cutting a single rope or strap, they succeeded in about half an hour in releasing all the horses; none of which, when we saw them on their legs, appeared to be seriously hurt, although the road, on which they had fallen, must have been tolerably hard from the frost, which had now lasted more than a week. The next consideration was the broken pole; but with the handiness and ready contrivance which seem innate to this people, our Russian attendant proceeded to splice the two pieces together with a rope and a piece of wood. The operation did not last five minutes, but the repair was so well and effectually done, that the pole, which was never meddled with again till we reached our journey's end, was then as firm as ever; and we might have travelled with it in that state back again to Moscow. In about three quarters of an hour from the moment of the stoppage we were enabled to proceed, and we met with no further adventures in the course of the journey. Early the following morning we reached the town of Columna, about eighty miles from Moscow; and passing through one or two small towns in the course of the day, we got to Riazan, a considerable place and the capital of a government, by seven in the evening. We proceeded, as I have already said, without resting; and on the Friday night we drank tea at Kazloff, reaching the town of Tamboff, about three-and-twenty miles hence, to breakfast the following morning. The road most part of the way was tolerable, as the weather was dry. It was in general enormously wide, and being unstoned it resembled a rough ploughed field, through which the narrow beaten track meandered like a footpath. The country was but little wooded after the first half of our journey, and from Kazloff to Tamboff, a distance of fifty miles, it was entirely open, and in fact a steppe. The moon, the night that we traversed this district, was at the full, but about eleven o'clock it began, to our great surprise, to fail us, and at length the darkness became so great that our yemstchik stopped, declaring that he could not see his horses, much less the road, which is at all times very easily lost in these unenclosed plains. With some lucifer-matches which we had in the carriage we lighted one of the lamps, the other being useless, owing to a broken glass; and the servant 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 |