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

TULA.

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. 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 suċcessors until the time of Alexander I., in whose time the government factory produced about 13,000 weapons per month.

By

Cutlery is also made at Tula in large

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

EUPATORIA.

at 10 million. Wheat is exported to the value of 174 million rubles. Wool is also shipped in considerable quantities-8 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,

founded here a fortress. In the latter part of the 15th century the Turks possessed a fortress at Eupatoria called Geslévé, which was then one of the principal towns of the Crimea. It was first occupied by the Russians in 1736, but was not finally annexed until 1783. It is now chiefly famous as being the place where the Anglo-French troops landed on the 14th of September, 1854. Almost the only object of interest is an old mosque built after the plan of St. Sophia at Constantinople, with fourteen cupolas and not a single minaret. There is also a handsome synagogue belonging to the Karaîm Jews.

If the traveler prefer, he may continue his route to Baktchissarai and Sevastopol by land, in order to do which he must procure a podorojna, or order for post-horses. This route passes through Sak, ten miles from Eupatoria, where there are mudsprings famous for their cures of rheumatism and paralysis, and through the Tartar villages of Alma, Tamak, and Burluk. We would recommend, however, proceeding by steamer to Sevastopol, whence excursions can be made to the different battle-fields and places of interest with greater facility. By this route Sevastopol will be reached in about five hours.

Sevastopol, 190 miles southeast of Odessa, contains about 8000 inhabitants. Hotels, Wetzel's and Kyst's. Carriages are both dear and scarce; the fare within the town is 50 copecks per hour. Drives to Inkerman and places in the vicinity cost a ruble and a half for the first hour, and 75 copecks for every succeeding one. A bargain had better be made for the day, and a carriage and pair of horses may thus be secured for 7 or 8 rubles. Guides may be obtained at the hotel.

SEVASTOPOL.

ant, and vineyards arc to be seen on every side; these now yield on an average 27,000 hogsheads of wine. Sheep-farming and cattle-grazing are pursued more than agriculture, although wheat, rye, and other cereals are grown. Merino sheep were introduced in 1804, and up to the present time the breed is well kept.

Sevastopol is divided into two parts, the northern and southern, by a large bay. On the northern side the traveler may see, on entering the bay, the Fort Constantine, an immense fortification of three stories, and also a few buildings erected since the war. A narrow creek to the south runs parallel with the northern bay, and on the right side of this the town is mostly situated. The barracks, docks, hospital, etc., were formerly situated on the left side, but they are now a mass of ruins.

The steamer lands at the entrance of the creek, near a broad flight of stone stairs, called the "Grafskaya Pristan," or "Count's Landing-place," with two rows of white columns, covered overhead, and forming a pavilion. Close by are the ruins of Fort Nicholas, which formerly boasted three ranges of bastions, mounted by 260 cannon, whose fire crossed that of the admiralty batteries.

Beyond the town, which spreads along the southern bay, are the ruins of the fortifications and batteries, and, although the works have been nearly all filled up or leveled, the traveler may still distinguish the termination of the Russian earthworks and bastions, and the beginning of the trenches and mines of the besiegers. These last were mostly directed against the Flagstaff Battery, or Fourth Bastion, the centre of the Russian line of defense, which is now marked by a gentle elevation, and always pointed out by the guide. Here a fine view of Sevastopol may be obtained. One of the first objects that strikes the eye is the church of St. Vladimir, a newly constructed edifice, which contains the remains of the Russian admirals Lazaref, Kornilof, Istomin, and Nakhimof. Admiral Lazaref died three years before the siege, but to the other three, defenders of Sevastopol, a monument is erected within the church.

on the 8th of September, 1855, decided the fate of Sevastopol. Thirty thousand Russians perished during the siege in the defense of the Malakhof Kurgan, or Mound, which was at first only protected by the Yellow Tower, the lower tier of which is still partly preserved. Its guns were all dismounted, however, during the first bombardment, and then the formidable earthworks were begun which afterward became the key to Sevastopol. Within the tower an unexploded mine is pointed out, and the siege works of the French may be seen around it, mostly filled up and overgrown with plants. Admiral Kornilof was killed on the Malakhof, which derives its name from a Russian naval officer who committed suicide here. The slight eminence in front of the Kurgan was the Kamtschatka Redoubt.

The Great and Little Redan may easily be distinguished in the neighborhood by their monuments.

The Russian cemetery, which lies on the north side of the town, may be reached by a ferry-boat from the great stairs. The immense gray pyramid, 105 feet high, surmounted by a cross, was raised to the memory of the troops slain in the defense of the city. The interior is fitted up as a chapel, where prayers are offered up for the souls of the victims. In front are some English guns, captured at Balaklava. Another interesting monument within the cemetery is that of Prince Gortchakoff, the commander-in-chief of the Russian forces in the Crimea, who died in 1861 at Warsaw. Within the chapel is a marble bust of the prince, with an inscription stating his wish to be buried "amid those defenders of their country who did not permit the enemy to enter their fatherland farther than the place where their graves now stand."

The British cemeteries, 126 in number, extend from the heights of Inkerman toward the Monastery of St. George, through the villages of Karani, Kadiloi, and Balaklava, as far as Kamara. Here are over six hundred monuments of various kinds, from the handsomest marble obelisk to the humblest wooden cross.

CHERSONESUS.

Chersonesus derives its name from the peninsula on which it stands, called by the ancients Chersonesus Heracleoticus, its famous city having been built seven centuries B.C. by colonists from Heraclea, on the Black Sea. This peninsula is high and rocky, surrounded on three sides by water, while on the other side is a low valley which runs from Balaklava to Inkerman. The wall which marked the limits of the peninsula may still be traced at the foot of the hills for a distance of five miles from Tchernaya Retchka to Balaklava. Within this inclosure were the villas and gardens of the inhabitants of Chersonesus, the boundary-marks of which may still be traced in many places. The wall of the town itself crossed the isthmus from the head of Quarantine Bay to Streletska Bay, and was defended by three towers, the largest of which defended the principal gate placed at the top of the isthmus. A part of this tower still remained when the site was occupied by the French, who unfortunately somewhat injured the ruins, although they placed a guard upon them later. Within the ruins an inscription was found, declaring the tower to have been restored A.D. 491.

A church is being built over the ancient Cathedral of Chersonesus, the walls of which, when first discovered, still remained standing to the height of three or four feet; a semicircular apse was also visible, and columns of fine white marble, striped with blue, marked the position of the transepts and the nave.

The market-place close to the church is easily distinguished by a great heap of earth, to which an interesting story is attached. In the year A.D. 336, Glycia, the daughter of Lamachus, chief magistrate of Chersonesus, was married to the eldest son of Assander, king of the Bosphorus, who swore, if the marriage took place, never to visit his father, even at his death, on account of the long-existing enmity between Panticapæum and Chersonesus. Lamachus died two years after, and, on the anniversary of his death, Glycia desired, according to the general custom, to give a feast to all the inhabitants of the town. Although her riches were enormous, her husband was so enraged at her prodigality, that, while pretending to praise her filial affection, he began in reality to form a plot