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 seated
himself 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 they
started. 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
is this 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
this moment.
"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?"
"The _Stafet_, 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 on
Wednesday, 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 any _habeas 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
covered with 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 improving
the 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
in safety 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 in
some 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 no
bed-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
the people 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 his face 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.
"Professor _Anglisky_!" 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 steward
seemed 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
by their 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 are
painted, 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
the highest 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 and
_caviar_, 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.