the shrine of St. Sergius in pure silver, and weighing 936 pounds. The relics of the saint are exposed to view, also his staff and robes, which are placed in the altar-screen in a glass case. The picture of the saint, suspended on the wall near the shrine, was carried many times into battle, and bears on the back a silver plate, with a record of the military occasions honored by its presIt was carried by the Czar Alexis, by Peter the Great, and was used in blessing Alexander I. in 1812.

ence.

The cathedral is filled with massive silver ornaments of great value, and we would particularly call attention to a representation of the Last Supper in the archbishop's stall, the figures of which are of solid gold, with the exception of that of Judas, which ⚫ is in brass. The images are all richly adorned with precious stones.

The chapel next the cathedral was first built in 1552, but has been several times reconstructed. Beside it stands another chapel, erected over the cell in which the Virgin, attended by the two apostles, appeared to St. Sergius. The church called the Assumption of the Virgin has five cupolas,and some fine frescoes painted in 1681. In this church is a large two-headed eagle in wood, placed here to commemorate the concealment of Peter the Great under the altar when he fled for refuge from the Streltsi.

Another chapel contains a well discovered and dug by St. Sergius in 1644, when the monastery was in great need of fresh water. A monument erected in 1792 stands between the Church of the Assumption and the belfry, with a record of the principal historical events connected with the monastery.

The belfry, which rises to a height of 290 feet, was designed by Rastrelli, and finished in 1769. One of its bells weighs nearly 65

tons.

The Church of Sergius Radonejski is rendered interesting by the immense refectory and gallery running round it, which were built in 1692, and by an iron roof of peculiar construction, added in 1746 after a fire.

Among the many other buildings within the monastery walls we recommend the palace built by Peter I. as being well worthy a visit. This building is now occupied by

the Ecclesiastical Academy.

In the sacristy, which occupies four rooms of a detached building, notice a copy VOL. III.-L

of the Gospels presented by the Czar Michael in 1632, with covers ornamented with enamel, bearing in the centre a large cross, with emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. Notice also a mitre presented by the Empress Anne to the Archimandrite Warlaam, adorned with large pearls and spinel-rubies.

The priestly robes worn and displayed here vie in magnificence with those in the Kremlin at Moscow, and are literally weighed down with precious stones. On one of these robes the pearls that adorned the brows of Catharine II. on the day of her coronation may be seen. Two very singular objects are shown here, said to be natural productions: one is a jasper stone, with a cross formed by two white veins in the centre; the other is an agate surrounded by garnets, in the centre of which is a pattern representing a monk in adoration before a crucifix. Notice also a beautiful altar-cloth embroidered with large pearls, and with emeralds and sapphires en cabochon dispersed among them. The coarse woolen robes and wooden vessels used by the founder of the monastery are also shown here.

A visit should be made without fail to the studios of painting and photography within the monastery, where beautiful pictures may sometimes be purchased at very moderate prices.

About one and a half miles from the monastery is the "Hermitage of Gethsemane," founded by Philaret, metropolitan of Moscow, in 1845. Carriages may be procured at the railway station in order to visit this retreat. The church, which is remarkable for its simplicity, is dedicated to the ascension of the Virgin into heaven, and can only be entered by women on the 16th (28th) and 17th (29th) of August, the feast-days of the church.

The catacombs in the vicinity are inhabited by monks who have made vows of exclusion from the light of day and from man.

Breakfast or lunch may be had in a good hotel which stands opposite the Troitzkoi Monastery.

ROUTE 90.-From Moscow to Nijni Novgorod.

Every one going to Russia during the summer will be anxious to visit the great fair held annually at Nijni Novgorod, or Lower Novgorod (as distinguished from the

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Great Novgorod, on the Volkhof), from the 27th of July to the 22d of September, new style, the best time to visit the fair being about the end of August. An express train leaves Moscow every night during the fair, and reaches Nijni Novgorod, which is 273 miles distant, in 12 hours. Fare, 12 rs. 30 c. The most important town passed en route is Vladimir, founded in the 12th century by Vladimir Monomachus, and containing 15,000 inhabitants. The ancient portion of the town is surrounded by three walls, forming, as at Moscow, the Kremlin, Kitai Gorod, and Beloi Gorod. Of the churches, twenty-two in number, that of the Assumption is the most important. Here may be seen some ancient pictures on the altarscreen, the painting of the Virgin dating from 1299; also three silver shrines, in which repose three canonized princes of Vladimir.

On arriving at Nijni Novgorod the traveler had better devote the entire day to seeing the fair, returning, if possible, to Moscow in the evening, as the hotels, besides being overcrowded, are also very uninviting.

The fair extends, like an immense town of shops, on a triangular piece of ground between the Oka and the Volga. In the centre stands the governor's house, the lower floor of which has been converted into a bazar for the sale of articles which are chiefly of European production. There is also a very good restaurant under this house, where a fair dinner may be obtained. It would be impossible to give a detailed description of this immense mart, or of the innumerable articles sold here, but we would advise the traveler intending to make any purchases to take with him an honest courier, or he will hardly be likely to get his money's worth. It is generally well to offer half the sum demanded by the merchant, and nothing should be bought without long bargaining. Curious old silver, silver belts, etc., are sometimes to be had for reasonable prices. The Chinese Row is chiefly occupied by the tea trade, large quantities of that article being brought here both by land and sea. Here some specimens of tea may be bought which are hardly ever to be had in any other market. A small canal surrounds the bazar for protection against fires, which are of frequent occurrence, while underneath the

ground is intersected with stone sewers, which are filled with water several times a day by pumping it from the Volga and Oka. This is considered necessary as a sanitary precaution.

Smoking is not allowed within the precincts of the fair under a fine of 25 rubles. Mercantile gatherings were held at Nijni as early as 1366. In 1641 a charter was granted to the monastery of St. Macarius, 71 miles below Nijni, by which they were empowered to levy taxes on the trade carried on here. This right the monks retained until 1751, when the fair became the property of the state, and its revenues were farmed for $450. From 1697 to 1790 the trade increased in value from $60,000 to $22,500,000. The present value of the trade is estimated at over $80,000,000, while the average number of traders who assemble daily to barter the products of Europe for those of Asia is from 150,000 to 200,000.

ROUTE 91.-From Moscow to Odessa, via Tula, Orel, Kursk, Kharkoff, Poltava, Krementschug, Elizavetgrad, and Balta. Time, 33 h. 20 m.; fare, 40 rubles 63 copecks.

Tula, situated about 121 miles from Moscow, on the road to Odessa, contains a population of 10,500. This town is chiefly noted for its hardware and for its manufactories of fire-arms, which were first established in Russia by the Dutch in 1553. The art of making guns was taught to the Russians by artificers brought from foreign countries for that purpose, and from 1613 the manufactories of Tula were worked exclusively for the state. Under Peter the Great an impetus was given to this manufacture, large numbers of young men being sent here by order of the Czar, and kept at work under strict discipline. By the year 1720 there were thus 1160 gunsmiths at work, who produced annually 15,000 muskets, 2000 pairs of pistols, and 1200 pikes; while twelve years previous to that time there were but 122 artificers, who produced in all about 244 culverins and arquebuses. This trade received a severe blow at the death of Peter the Great, little attention being paid to it by his successors until the time of Alexander I., in whose time the government factory produced about 13,000 weapons per month.

Cutlery is also made at Tula in large

Kursk, 325 miles south of Moscow, is situated on the River Tuskor, near its junction with the Seim, and presents a very pretty appearance, owing to the gardens with which it abounds. Several large fairs are held at and near Kursk annually for the sale of grain, tallow, hemp, etc., in which the district abounds. This town was fortified in 1586 to protect it against the incursions of the Tartars; a small portion of the wall of the fortress is still extant; this was triangular in shape, protected on two sides by the rivers Tuskor and Kur, and on the other by a deep ditch, which was converted in 1783 into a beautiful square. The town contains nineteen churches of stone, the most important being the cathedral, built in 1733, and the church of St. Sergius, erected in 1762. In the latter a copy of the Gospels, printed in 1698, may be seen.

The Monastery of Bogoroditsky-Znamensky, or Apparition of the Virgin, was founded in 1612, and contains a miraculous image held in great veneration. The story runs thus: On the 8th of September, 1295, this image of the apparition of the Virgin was discovered in a wood on the banks of the Tuskor by some inhabitants of Rylsk, a neighboring town. Being carried to Rylsk many times, it as often returned to the spot where it was first seen, until, finally, a chapel was erected for it, in which it remained for 302 years, until a monastery was founded, in which it was deposited. The image was transferred to Kursk in 1615, but it is carried annually in procession back to the monastery on the ninth Friday after Easter, and remains there until the 12th of September.

Kharkoff, distant 465 miles from Moscow, is one of the principal centres of trade in Russia. Population, 52,000. This town has an extensive trade in wool, the principal sales of which take place at the Trin

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Poltava, 526 miles from Moscow. ulation, 28,000. This town is situated on two hills, between which the River Vorskla wends its way. Four miles southwest of the town is the plain on which was fought the famous battle of 1709, when Charles XII. was defeated at the head of his Swedish army. In the centre of the field is a mound of earth forty feet high, which covers the bodies of the Swedes who fell. The whole is surmounted by a cross. An iron column within the town also commemorates the Russian victory.

A large fair is held here annually in July, when goods to the value of $17,000,000 are sold, more than 20,000 carts being employed to bring them from different parts of the empire. Wool is the great staple of trade, though horses, cattle, and sheep are also sold in great numbers. Leeches abound in the pools and morasses around Poltava, and have acquired such a celebrity that they are exported in great numbers to all parts of the continent.

Krementschug is situated on the left bank of the Dnieper, and has a population of 36,000. It has suffered four times during the last century by inundations, which have done great damage. The southern part of the town is now protected by two dams at Krinski village. A large trade is carried on in tallow, salt, grain, sugar, etc.

During the summer steamers ply between Krementschug and Kiev.

Passing through Elizavetgrad, founded in 1754 by order of the Empress Elizabeth, from whom it derives its name, and Olviopol, we come to

Balta.-Population 14,000; more than half of whom are Jews. Here the vine is extensively cultivated, and cattle-grazing pursued on a large scale; there being in 1860 no less than 74,200 head of horned cattle, 11,300 horses, 38,000 sheep, 14,800 swine, and 200 goats.

Odessa. Latitude, 46° 28'. Population, 119,000. Hotels, De Londres and De St. Petersburg. Carriages are to be found at every corner, mostly with two horses; fare, 40 copecks per hour.

Odessa was founded during the reign of Catharine II., after the annexation of the province of Olchakoff to Russia in 1791. The construction of the town and harbor was intrusted to De Ribas and De Volant, whose works were soon checked by the death of the empress and the accession of the Emperor Paul. In 1800, however, 250,000 rubles were advanced by the government for the construction of the port, and the privileges of Odessa were confirm ed. The Emperor Alexander caused two new piers to be constructed during his reign, and allotted one tenth of the custom-house duties to the improvement and maintenance of the harbor. The great prosperity of Odessa, however, is due to the Duke Emanuel de Richelieu, a French emigrant, who was made governor of the town in 1830, and who, with every opportunity of enriching himself, is said to have left the town with only a portmanteau, containing his uniform and two shirts, most of his income having been spent in relieving the distresses of the poor, particularly of the emigrants, who arrived always in great destitution. By him the mole, quarantine, theatre, and warehouses for foreign goods were built, and the principal streets laid out and lighted. When in 1841 he was succeeded by Count Langeron, the population of the town had increased from 9000 to 25,000.

The privileges of a free port were granted to Odessa in 1817 for a term of thirty years; but at the outbreak of the Crimean War these privileges were abolished, and an annual subsidy granted instead.

Much was done by Prince Woronzoff, who was appointed governor-general of New Russia in 1823, toward the improvement of the town. By his order the Duke's Garden was laid out, and an immense staircase built on arches connecting the Boulevard with the shore under the cliff.

Odessa was bombarded for twelve hours by an Anglo-French squadron on the 22d of April, 1854.

From 1300 to 1500 vessels visit this port annually. The exports were valued in 1864 at 30 million rubles, and the imports

at 10 million. Wheat is exported to the value of 17 million rubles. Wool is also shipped in considerable quantities—83 million rubles; while the export of linseedoil is valued at 24 million rubles, and that of tallow at one million.

The Boulevard is the principal promenade of Odessa, in the centre of which stands a bronze statue of the Duke de Richelieu, who stands facing toward the sea opposite the staircase of Prince Woronzoff. The monument to the latter stands in the square next to the cathedral, in which he is buried.

The Cathedral, situated in the centre of the town, is built in the form of a cross, surmounted by a large cupola. It stands in the centre of a square, surrounded by a balustrade, with four gates corresponding with the four cardinal points. The interior is spacious, and very elegant. There are no less than twenty Jewish synagogues at Odessa; while there are but thirteen Russo-Greek churches. As before stated, more than half the number of inhabitants is made up of Jews.

In the Museum are many interesting objects taken from the sites of the Greek colonies which formerly existed in this neighborhood-from Olbia, Panticapæum, Chersonesus, etc. The University of New Russia, founded in 1865, is one of the principal buildings of the town, which also possesses a very fine theatre.

It may be interesting to the traveler to visit the public slaughter-houses, which are on an immense scale, where many thousands of cattle are boiled down for tallow.

ROUTE 92.-From Odessa to the Crimea. The steamers of the Russian Steam Navigation Company leave Odessa twice a week during the summer for Eupatoria and other ports of the Crimea, going as far as Kertch, which is reached after a voyage of 48 hours.

At Eupatoria, which is reached in about sixteen hours, the steamer stops one hour, which affords ample time for the traveler to land and to see what little of interest the town contains. Population, 7000. A Greek colony is supposed to have existed here five centuries before Christ; but the name of Eupatoria was first given to it in the first century after Christ, when Diophantes, a general under Mithridates,