Remarks from Fred's Note-book about Saint Petersburg, and the Habits
and Customs of the Russians.
The streets and places of Saint Petersburg are very badly paved: the
holes and ruts in them are full of mud when it rains, and of dust in
summer weather; some parts are covered with blocks of wood, like the
streets of London. Did the English learn the system from the Russians,
or the Russians from the English? Other streets are paved with little
round pebbles, very unpleasant to walk on. The side pavements are often
narrow and very uneven. The frosts of winter much unsettle the
flagstones.
The policemen at the corners of the streets look as if they were all cut
from one model, like a child's tin regiment of soldiers. They are all
tall, thin, lathy fellows, in long greatcoats, with huge moustaches and
long-handled halberds; their faces as long, solemn, and grave as if the
weight of the empire rested on their shoulders.
Mr Evergreen, who had joined us near the hotel, had a cigar in his
mouth; no sooner did the guard see it, than he made furious signs to him
to put it out.
"Dear me, he'll march me off to prison, and perhaps to Siberia!"
exclaimed our verdant friend, hastily throwing the cigar on the ground.
As we passed, I happened to turn round, when I beheld the long guard
stalking rapidly towards the still burning weed; he seized it, and,
placing it between his lips, coolly marched back to his sentry-box,
where he continued smoking as if it were his own lawful property.
These guards are said to be great rogues. I suspect he would have
dowsed his glim in no little hurry if one of his officers had hove in
sight.
Passed a troop of Cossacks of the Don, mounted on the most rugged,
roughly-caparisoned little steeds, looking as if just caught wild from
the steppes. They act as the cavalry police of the city. They are
little dark fellows, and wear fur caps with red tops to them, long brown
caftans or coats, and yellow boots; having in their hands long tapering
lances, with which they would, doubtless, prick a man in a street
disturbance, or on any other occasion, with the slightest possible
compunction.
When we first arrived, the houses, and even the streets, had an oveny
smell, which showed us how hot it had been and must often be in summer.
The westerly wind has now cooled the air, and made it very pleasant.
The Russian wheaten bread is excellent, very light and pure, made up in
long loaves or oblong rolls. We were shown a loaf which came from
Moscow, made in the shape of a basket with a handle. A housewife
returning from market hangs half a dozen of them on her arm. The bread
of peasants is very different; it is made of rye, very brown--almost
black, very close, heavy, and sour. They are, however, very fond of it,
and so are even the upper classes, who seldom make a meal without taking
some.
The streets, as one drives about, seem interminable,--long wide avenues
of trees with gardens and places extending away at right angles in all
directions. What dreary, hopeless work for a poor fellow on foot on a
hot day, who has lost his way, to find it again!
They are here called lines, like the avenues of New York, Cousin Giles
says. One is directed to the fifteenth or sixteenth line. Most of the
private residences here are in flats--few people have a house to
themselves. The entrance is either at the side of an archway, or from a
quadrangle round which the houses are built.
At the north end of the iron bridge stands a shrine, with the picture of
the Virgin Mary on it, before which tapers are constantly burning.
Every one who passes, belonging to the Greek Church, takes off his hat
and rapidly and energetically crosses himself; drosky drivers, soldiers,
peasants, rein up their horses, even going at full speed, and perform
their acts of devotion. People on foot stop and bow and cross
themselves,--some scarcely breaking off a conversation, while others
kneel before the altar and continue some minutes, if not in prayer, at
all events in the attitude of devotion. This end of the bridge turns on
pivots, to allow vessels to pass up and down.
In the streets are seen a number of pigeons, whom no one disturbs. The
Russians have a superstitious veneration for them, believing, I fancy,
that they are inhabited by the souls of their departed relatives. We,
however, had a pigeon pie at the hotel. Fruit is very dear here. We
were asked a silver rouble for a basket of strawberries, almost spoilt,
and two roubles for a melon.
We saw some excellent figures of native costumes. Three roubles were
asked for each. One of the late Emperor cost four roubles, the
additional rouble being put on in compliment to his Majesty. It would
be disrespectful to sell even a dead emperor at as low a price as a
living subject.
In every quarter of the city, over the police stations, at which the
thin halberd-armed guards are posted, are watch-towers. A man is
stationed at the top, which is fitted with a telegraph, to give notice
either of a fire or a flood. Fires may occur any day--floods in the
spring chiefly, from the rapid melting of the snows of winter. Red
flags tell of coming floods; black-striped balls by day, and lamps by
night, of fire.
An omnibus, probably built in England, passed us with four horses; a
postilion, dressed in a drosky driver's hat and long coat, rode the
leaders, while another man in a similar costume sat on the box to steer
the wheelers. The omnibuses are painted black or dark red--very
sombre-looking conveyances, making one think of prison-vans or hearses.
Some of the little country carts are curious-looking affairs. They are
built with ribs, and look like a boat with the stem and stern cut off;
the hind wheels are kept on by a bow, one end of which comes out from
the side of the cart, and the other presses the axle.
We remarked the washing stages on the Neva. In the centre is a long
opening, at which the women stand and dip in the unfortunate garments to
be cleansed, and batter them with a mallet.
There are also large stages with buildings on them for swimming baths.
On one we saw "Swimming School," written in German. A foot regiment
passed us with black-and-brass helmets, dark-drab long coats, black
belts and scabbards. They had a very sombre appearance, but were
fine-looking fellows, evidently fit for service.
A number of wood boats are unloading at the quays. They are huge
flat-bottomed barges, of white planks slightly fastened together. They
are broken up and burnt like their cargo. The wood they bring is
chiefly birch, and is cut up in pieces fit for the stove. The canals
are crowded in some places with these boats. A number of vessels,
chiefly Dutch, were unloading at the quays close to the Winter Palace;
but not a particle of mercantile dirt or litter was to be seen. Carts
came and quickly transported the cargo to less polished regions. It
took us just two minutes and a half to walk rapidly from one end of the
Winter Palace to the other. That does not seem much, but let any one
try how much ground he can get over in that time at a walk, and it will
give him a good idea of the extent of the building.
Droskies can be hired at a very cheap rate. For less than sixpence one
may go from one end of the city to the other, and that is no trifling
distance.
The peasant women whom we have seen in the city are dressed in rough
greatcoats and boots, with coloured handkerchiefs tied over their heads
and under their chins. Their appearance is not attractive.
On Sunday we went to the church of the English Factory, of which Dr Law
has been minister for many years. The outside is like a house. The
residence of the minister is under it. There is also a library attached
to it. The church itself is a very handsome hall. The ladies sit on
one side, the men on the other. Several persons in Russian uniforms
were there. Their parents probably were English, and, though they have
entered the Russian service, they are allowed to adhere to their own
form of worship.
We find the Russian language perfectly unpronounceable. It is said to
be like Hindustanee; for instance, a stick is _palka_ in Russian, and
_palkee_ in Hindustanee, and there are numerous words equally alike in
the two languages. It is very rich, we are told. There are but few
words expressing the same thing. In English we say a man, a dog, and a
tree dies; the Russians say a man dies, or rather departs, a dog
perishes, a tree withers. This shows that, heathens though they were
when their language was invented, they must have believed in the
immortality of the soul.
The late Emperor disliked drinking and smoking. If either a military or
civil officer was known by him to have been intoxicated, from that
moment his promotion was stopped, if even he escaped being dismissed
immediately from his office. The Emperor passed an edict prohibiting
smoking in railway carriages. On one occasion, the Grand Duke Michael,
who was going a short distance with a party of friends by the train,
appeared on the platform with a cigar in his mouth, but threw it away
before stepping into the carriage. This he did to show his respect for
the Emperor's edict, for no one would have ventured to stop him had he
smoked on. Even then most of the imperial family smoked, as does the
present Emperor.
Log-huts, very similar to those used in Canada, are the usual
habitations of Russian peasants. They are found close up to that mighty
city of Saint Petersburg. A groove is cut in the length of the log,
into which the log above it is let. The interstices are filled with
moss. They are considered far warmer than any brick or stone houses.
Sometimes they are boarded over, and when painted gaily have a cheerful
aspect. Ordinary plank houses are used in summer, but would scarcely be
habitable in winter.
When people during the winter are travelling in Russia, they do not use
hot bricks or water-bottles, as the Canadians do, for their feet, but
wear very thick fur boots, made of ample size, so as in no way to impede
the circulation of the blood. A tight boot is painful and dangerous,
and many a person in consequence has lost a foot, even his life. When
walking, India-rubber goloshes are worn, which are taken off when a
person enters a house. A very large thick fur cloak, in which a person
is completely enveloped, is worn when travelling. It is thrown down in
a corner as soon as a person enters a house, where it lies like a heap
of dirty clothes.
Spitting is as common among all classes as we heat that it is in
America. Carpets have only of late years been introduced into the
houses of the opulent, but people spit over them just as they did over
their brick floors. A refined sort of spittoon has been introduced,
with a high handle. By touching a spring the lid flies open, and drops
again when made use of. Uncle Giles says the inventor would have done
better to have invented some means of breaking his countrymen off a
dirty habit; perhaps, however, the hot air in the rooms, and the sharp
air outside, may have something to do with it.
The English here say that the habits of social life among the Russians
have very much improved since they mixed with them: I do not know what
view the Russians take of the case.
Thirty years ago, palaces and public offices were alike dirty in the
extreme; but the Emperor Alexander, after his visit to England,
introduced great improvements. Now the public offices at Saint
Petersburg, at all events, are kept fairly clean. I do not think,
however, that the housemaid has got so far south as Moscow; it is too
holy a place, in a Russian's idea, to make cleanliness necessary.
An English friend told us that once upon a time he went to pay a visit
to a great man, who lived in a great house. The entrance-hall was
unspeakably dirty; round it, against the walls, were a number of
ottomans, on which slept numerous shock-headed, sandal-footed,
long-coated, red-shirted serfs, with their master's fur cloaks rolled up
as pillows. The next hall was scarcely cleaner. The third was
gorgeously furnished, but no neat-handed housemaid, apparently, ever
entered to sweep the floors or brush away the cobwebs. An ante-room was
a shade better; while the great man's private chamber looked really
comfortable, as if he had imbibed a sufficient regard for cleanliness to
keep himself out of the dirt.
Perhaps with the same object the late Emperor introduced foot pavements
in Saint Petersburg. Formerly foot passengers had to pick their way
from stone to stone among rivulets of mud. English ladies used to be
much admired for the propriety of their walking dresses; now, on account
of the undue length of their gowns, they kick up so great a dust that it
is most unpleasant to walk behind them. Uncle Giles says, "Perhaps they
do it to keep off danglers." Russian ladies never think of walking in
the city--the streets of Saint Petersburg, in truth, do not tempt them;
in spring and autumn they are thick with mud, in summer with the finest
dust.
The ladies of Russia are, like those in other countries, very fond of
lap-dogs, and give very high prices for them. The groom who came over
with us brought two dozen, shut up in hen-coops, and expected to get 20
pounds at least for each of them.
The wealthy Russians generally give enormous prices for luxuries. Our
captain on one voyage brought over some oysters, which sold, he told us,
at fourpence each. They are not to be found in the Baltic. He made
about nine hundred per cent, by them. Saint Petersburg is very ill
supplied with salt-water fish; there are neither lobsters nor flatfish.
It is generally supposed in England that the very finest tea is to be
found in Russia, brought all the way overland from China. This an
English friend assured us is a mistake. There is certainly very good
tea in Russia, but what costs there ten shillings is not superior to
what can be bought in England at from four to five shillings. Very
large quantities of very bad tea are smuggled over the German frontier,
a large proportion probably having come round from China by sea, and not
considered good enough for the English market.
Our friend on one occasion, being on his way home overland, having
missed the diligence, had to stop a day at Tilsit, a place celebrated
for the Articles of Peace signed there between Napoleon and the Allies.
While wandering round the town, he saw large storehouses with chests
piled upon chests of tea. He asked where all the tea was to go. Some
people would not answer, but others told him that Russian merchants came
and bought it, and carried it away over the frontier. Large quantities
used to be smuggled through Finland, which has different custom
regulations to those of Russia. A light duty only was charged on tea in
that country, but how to get it into Russia was the question. To effect
this, logs of wood were hollowed out, filled with tea, and floated down
the streams. Carts loaded with casks of apples entered the country;
inside the casks were chests of tea. This sort of smuggling just suited
the taste and enterprise of a Russian peasant.
Once upon a time, the cart of an unfortunate smuggler broke down in
front of the Emperor's palace. Not only did the cart break, but so did
the casks of apples, and out rolled the chests of tea. The affrighted
smugglers fled, and left their property to the police, whose samovars
did not probably smoke the less merrily in consequence. At all events,
the _contretemps_ opened the eyes of the Emperor somewhat to the folly
of having high restrictive duties with a frontier so enormous as that of
Russia; but, whatever were his plans of reform, the war and death cut
them short. Large quantities of tea are at the present time imported
into the neighbouring German ports, for the acknowledged object of
sending them into Russia.
Of course, as is to be expected, there is much bribery and corruption in
all departments of Government. An officer of the Guards, Count ---, was
appointed chief of the Custom-house. He had not much practical
knowledge of business, but he resolved to make amends for his deficiency
in that respect by looking into things with his own eyes. Once upon a
time the daughter of one of his subordinates was married, and he was
invited to the feast. Now, on so important an occasion, if a man has
not a house of his own large enough to entertain his guests, he borrows
one from a friend. On this occasion the father of the bride borrowed
one from an official in his own department. When Count --- entered, he
admired the furniture and the rooms, and everything in it.
"Of course you have hired this; to whom does it belong?"
"It belongs to my friend So-and-so; he has lent it to me," was the
answer.
"Ho, ho!" thought the Count. "So-and-so must have a fine private
fortune, or else he must have the knack of fingering large bribes."
He consequently watched the unsuspecting So-and-so very narrowly, and
soon discovered that he had fingers of a most tenacious description,
which easily accounted for his handsome income. So-and-so, to his
surprise, found himself one fine morning dismissed from his office, and
compelled to retire into well-merited poverty and disgrace.
The Russians are at all times civil to strangers, and even during the
war none of the English who remained were ever insulted by them. The
English merchants, indeed, who have long resided in the country, were
allowed to move about as they liked, and several even resided at
Peterhoff, in sight of the British fleet. The only people who ever said
a word against them were some Prussians, whose direct trade was injured
by the war. Prussia herself, however, benefited by the transit of goods
across her frontier.
The mode of heating houses has been very much improved of late years.
The best houses have now fireplaces, as well as stoves, which add much
to the ventilation of the rooms. The stoves are made of brick; they are
peculiar to the country, and may be called air-stoves. The fresh air is
introduced by pipes from the outside, and, passing over the stove, is
conveyed in other pipes through the house. The air also passes over a
plate of iron, which is sprinkled sometimes with plain water, or by the
more luxurious with rose-water. By depressing or elevating this plate,
a current of air is sent through the room.
All the rooms have double windows; the inside one is removed in summer--
not the outside one, as in Canada. If the air was allowed to get in
between the two windows, the glass would become permanently covered with
frost. To prevent this, a glass panel, which opens at both ends, is
introduced between the two windows, and through this the room is aired.
Great care is taken not to begin to heat the rooms till the second
window is put in, or the glass in this case also would become coated
with ice, and would remain so all the winter.
The Russian peasants are very economical in their mode of cooking. They
are horrified at seeing the broth in which a leg of mutton is boiled
thrown away, as is too often done in England. They will make a dish out
of almost any of the herbs of the field, or of birds, beasts, or
creeping things. They make all sorts of fish soups, of which they are
especially fond; so, indeed, are the rich. All classes have an especial
affection for the black rye bread of the country. We found it very
sour, though I daresay habit might make one like it. All classes use
porridges of every description. Buck-wheat is used for this purpose, as
also to make cakes, as in America. What we call manna croup is also
used in a variety of ways. A favourite fish among the higher classes is
the sterlet, a sort of sturgeon; soup is made of it, but it is very
expensive.
Good as some of the police regulations are, others are very absurd. If
a person is wounded or otherwise injured, no one may go near him; for,
if the wounded man should die, the person who went to help him would be
carried off to prison, and certainly be tried for the murder. An
acquaintance told us that one day in winter he saw from the window of a
hotel, where he was standing with a friend, an English lady driving in a
sledge; at that moment a heavy sledge drove against it, upsetting it,
and severely injuring her. A policeman was on the point of seizing her
sledge, and would have taken it and herself to the police office, where,
to a certainty, she would have died. There was not a moment for
thought. His friend knocked down the policeman and then ran off, while
he jumped into the sledge and drove off to a hotel, whence he sent for
the lady's husband. The lady was ill for many weeks. He never heard
anything more of the knocked-down policeman, who probably, after picking
himself up, was content with the capture of the heavy sledge which had
committed the mischief.
We find that by going to Saint Petersburg we have lost two hours of
time, but, as we hope to return home, we shall get it back again. The
Russians, it must be remembered, in their love for Conservatism, keep
the old style of time, which is about ten days behind the new. This
rather puzzled us at first.
Skating is not in vogue in Russia; indeed, the ice so soon becomes
covered with snow, that there is very little opportunity afforded to
indulge in the pastime. The Montagne-Russe is the great out-of-door
pastime. Huge hills are formed of ice and snow, and placed in a line,
one beyond the other. People climb up to the top of the first with
little sledges. A gentleman sits in front and guides the sledge, a lady
holds on behind, and away they go down one hill, the impetus carrying
them up the other, or a considerable way up it, and thus the whole line
is traversed. So fond are the Russians of the amusement, that they
have, even in summer, wooden mountains with greased roads, which answer
the purpose of ice.