traverse is almost impassable in some places, from the depth of mud. There are large tracts of land near Tamboff, in which not a stone is to be found, and where no materials therefore for roads can be procured. I shall write again soon after we get to our journey's end, and as we shall after this remain stationary for some time, I shall probably take the opportunity now and then of sending you some general accounts of the country and the people, in default of any adventures of our own.

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LETTER IX.

Russian autumn-Journey from Moscow to Tamboff-Accident on the road-Eclipse of the moon-A coach and nine-Character of the country near Tamboff-Game-Difference between a country life in Russia and in England-Scarcity of books-CensorshipWant of country amusements-Want of independence-Law of inheritance-Relative position of master and serf-Description of a country place-Furniture and interior arrangements-Nature of property Management of peasants-Their character and habits-Fasts-Manufactories established by landed proprietorsVersatility of the Russians-Apprenticing children-Household industry.

Rascazava, near Tamboff, October 27th, 1837. ALTHOUGH according to the calendar it is but autumn, and you in England may be still enjoying warm days, I confess I feel here much inclined to believe it is winter, at the same time that I allow it to be a winter by no means disagreeable. While we were at Moscow, we had ten degrees of frost by Reaumur, and since we came here, we have had some days almost equally cold. This temperature has, however, been generally compensated by a bright sun, and I am in no way disposed to complain of the season. The Russians will not allow that winter has begun,

however cold it may be, until the snow has fallen and sledging has commenced.

We left Moscow, according to our intentions, on Wednesday, the 11th of this month, in the afternoon, and travelling day and night without stopping, we arrived at this house on the Saturday at the same hour, having been exactly three days on the road. Here M― and I met with a most warm reception from her brother and his wife, who are exceedingly kind, and with whom we spend our time most comfortably and pleasantly. In the course of the first stage from Moscow, we met with an accident which at first looked rather formidable, though in the end no one was hurt, and we were soon enabled to proceed.

The road had been for some time sandy and heavy, so that we had gone at a gentle pace, till in a long straggling village, about twelve miles from Moscow, we suddenly increased our speed, and presently found ourselves driving along at full gallop; we had not, however, proceeded far in this manner, 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 we got out, when 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; and the horses which drew it, struggling sometimes up and sometimes down, entangled in their harness.

Our six 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 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, undermost, with their heads turned the contrary way to that in which we were going. The postillion's horse was lying stretched on his side unable to move, with his head and shoulders under the fore-axle, which being low pressed upon him, 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 catastrophe 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; such however was the fact.

Our first inquiries naturally were as to the fate of the postillion, and great was our satisfaction at finding, though he must have fallen with his horse, that 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, and though the operation did not last five minutes, 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