A RIDE FROM MOSCOW TO REZAN.

FROM THE NOTE-BOOK OF AN ANGLO-RUSSIAN.

"So Dmitri, mon frère, you really are going to explore the heathen land of Rézan, and leave Moscow just as all the gaiety is beginning. Well, bon voyage mon ami; but be advised, and at the first station on the road give your yamstchik a sound flogging, for any thing, or nothing, and he will carry you to Rézan like an angel; if you do not, take my word for it, he will get disasterously drunk, and break your neck, or drown you.'

Thus spoke my comrade Yermoloff, a hair-brained hussar, as he emptied the last glass of champagne for a stirrup-cup, and while concluding his sentence, the personage who was to be the subject of the discipline he recommended (and practised by the by,) was announced.

My future driver was introduced by his father, with whom I had agreed for the vehicle and horses that were to carry me to Colomna, ninety versts from Moscow, and who was a red-bearded old scoundrel, having no other good quality than that of owning the sturdiest little horses and strongest built kibitkas in Moscow.

"There, Dmitri Andréitch," said he, thrusting forward his young hopeful, making at the same time a profound reverence, and smoothing his beard; "there, your nobility, is my Yashka, who will have the honour of driving you, and you will find him a molodets (a smart young fellow), trust me.'

"I would not trust you for the skin of a bean-stalk, you old rascal," chimed in Yermoloff; nor would Mr. Andréef, if he knew you half as well as I do; but mind, if you have not put plenty of hay in the bottom of the kibitka, and given him good horses, I'll introduce you to the notice of the Tchastnci pristaf (major of police) as sure as you are born, you red-bearded old sinner.”

Accustomed to such language from his superiors, iny worthy contractor for travelling made a smiling reply, and pushing his son forward again, said,

"Ask Yashka about it, noble sir; Dmitri Andréitch will lie soft and ride fast, will he not, my son ?"

Yashka grinned an affirmative, and stood hat in hand, ducking his head like a mandarin in a tea-shop, while I scanned his appearance. He was a tall youth, dressed in a kaftan, or long loose coat of brown cloth, buttoned over the left-breast, and girded at the waist with a sash of blue worsted, the regular costume of the Yamstchiks; his lowcrowned, broad-brimmed hat was decorated with a large leaden buckle, set round with coloured pieces of glass, from which dangled a peacock's feather.

The kibitka, in which I was to make my journey, was a conveyance very similar in shape to a longitudinal section of a monstrous barrel, with a board tied upon the front part as a seat for the driver; the hinder half of the vehicle was furnished with an arched head like the tent of

a waggon, over which was stretched a leather covering, with an apron and curtain in front to keep out the rain. This bit of luxury the redbearded Stepan Ivanitch did not fail to dilate upon, for the more usual material is a piece of matting, or at best a tarpawling, over the ribs of the head. At length all was ready, Yermoloff wished me a safe passage over the ruts and rivers, charging me not to forget the thrashing for Yashka, and as night set in, we rumbled over the stones of Moscow on our way to the Ragoshkaia barrier.

Now be it understood that the conveyance above described is utterly destitute of springs, or of any substitute for them, being merely bolted to the axletrees of four wheels, whose naves, a full yard in length, play upon the long wooden axles with a free lateral motion, producing a mixture of jolts and oscillations while traversing the paved streets of the city, and creating some misgivings in my mind as to the pleasures of my future locomotion. However, the passports examined and the pavement cleared, we went on smoothly enough at a tolerable trot, and having forgotten to leave my flint and steel unpacked, and therefore unable to light my chibook, I laid myself down to doze while the state of the road would permit me to do so. I could not sleep for the constant jolting, and whenever I opened my uppermost eye, the result of my observations generally was, that Yashka was nodding on his seat, and the horses were profiting thereby to walk leisurely. Then I had to shout "Pashol!" (go on!) which my sleepy driver, aroused by the sound, translated to his horses by " Noo!" whereat they mended their pace until he again dozed, and I had to repeat the process, varied from time to time by sundry raps on the head with my pipe-stick.

If there be any talent beyond pilfering and praying, for which the lower orders in Russia are distinguished, it is that of sleeping. The seven sleepers of Ephesus were undoubtedly Russian moojiks. The coachman sleeps on his box; the postilion in his saddle, or before his horses' feet; the isvostchik on his droschka; and any day on the Finland road, you may find a string of Finn carts crawling along, the men and horses fast asleep; the former on the top of their carts, the latter mechanically plodding on, until the whole establishment capsizes into a ditch, and gradually wakes up, with a vague idea that all is not quite right. They seem to have the faculty of taking at any time naps of from forty to any given number of winks; and I have frequently in the suburbs caught the bootoshniks, or watchmen, leaning on their halberts, bolt upright, and fast "as watchmen ;" while to come into the hall, on leaving a house, and find your servant awake, forthwith creates a suspicion that he has been after no good in your absence, unless there was some one to gossip with.

At length we stopped at a pond, where the horses watered; Yashka woke himself up thoroughly, and turning out of the main track, put bis animals to a brisk trot, and we entered upon a piece of road, of the kind they call in America, corduroy. This consists of logs laid transversely, and the reader may possibly imagine more pleasant things in the way of travelling, than being obliged to sit upright in a springless kibitka, and be pummelled and pitched about in a style that leads one to expect dislocation as the inevitable result. Right thankful was I when we re-entered the high-road to Colomna, and the specimen of corduroy was finished. It was very well as a curiosity, but by no June.-VOL. LXVIII. NO. CCLXX.

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means sufficiently agreeable to create a desire for further acquaintance; nevertheless, in the course of my rambles in Russia, I have been in situations where I should have hailed this rough log-road as a godsend.

About midnight we stopped at a little postoialoi door, or roadside inn, in the village of Astraftsi, where the kibitka was put under a shed, and the horses unharnessed to feed and rest. Yashka betook himself to the common room to feed also, and sleep before the fire; while the host appeared to usher me to the state-apartment of his inn, and as I wished to have some tea, shouted to his wife to bring the samováritchka. This is the diminutive for a samovár, which Herr Busch, of Moscow, who professed to teach the Russian language to Englishmen, and vice versa, used to translate etymologically, "boil himself." A samovár then is an urn, made of brass or copper, having a cavity for containing lighted charcoal, which is surrounded by the water, and is the universal hot-water generator throughout Russia. Now the article to which mine host applied the diminutive, was a machine capable of containing water enough to make tea for at least fifty people; and I should like to see the samovár which came up to his ideas of a fullgrown one. I followed the innkeeper up some crazy steps, which were a cross-breed between a ladder and a stair, into the gospodskaya komnata, or gentlefolk's room, and a dismal place it was. Behind the remnant of paper-hangings which still lingered on its log-walls, the rats were scampering up and down, squeaking for very joy at the unusual sight of a guest. The one window, with a massive wooden frame occupying a fourth of its area, consisted of four little panes of glass, which dirt and the elements had tinged with dingy, unwholesome-looking prismatic colours, looking as if putrefaction and decay were busy upon them.

A wooden chair, a rickety table, and a rough bedstead made with the axe, all in a high state of dirtiness, formed the furniture of this comfortless room. The candlestick which they placed on the table was of I know not what material, it being carefully preserved in a mixture of dirt and grease that set all curiosity at defiance, and effectually precluded the possibility of carrying about, and flaring the candle, to the loss and damage of the owner.

The tea-equipage consisted of the samovaritchka aforesaid; of a tumbler which I took the necessary precaution of washing, it having to do duty as a teacup; of another tumbler, concerning the cleanliness of which I had grievous misgivings, and which was filled with excellent cream; of a lump of black bread, and a string of barauki. These barauki are rings of dough, covered with salt, and strung on a piece of bass for the convenience of being dangled on the little finger while being eaten.

After tea, the host proposed that I should go to bed for an hour or two; but even had the bed been more tempting (and there was nothing to lie on but the battens) I was too well experienced in Russian inn-beds to trust myself in such a Quixotic attempt.

Should any of my readers chance to travel in Russia, let them eschew strange beds, for there is such a number and variety of bedfellows always provided for them, that they will soon discover that going to bed and going to sleep are two things which are not in the

slightest degree connected with each other. Declining, therefore, the proffered bedstead, I descended, and ensconcing myself snugly in the kibitka, had a sound sleep for three hours, from which I was aroused by Yashka putting the horses to, and we started again to continue our journey.

The morning was breaking freshly over the hills, and the road was alive with long trains of carts, laden with merchandise from the fair of Nijnei Novgorod; or eggs neatly packed in straw; or fresh and cool water-melons from Voroneje. Now and then a caravan from Little Russia crawled slowly along, conducted by swarthy, wild-looking peasants, some singing their monotonous ditties, others sleeping lazily on their carts, the solid wheels of which, creaking on their axles, made a rough accompaniment to the songs, varied from time to time by the lowing of the sturdy oxen which drew them leisurely on.

We passed through Bronnitsi, a tolerably large town, chiefly abounding in pigs, geese, and windmills, and made another halt for three hours at the village of Streltsovoi, our last stage before CoJomna.

When we again started, it was hot mid-day, and glad was I, when after a ride of some twenty miles, my driver showed me the distant walls of Colomna, where I trusted to get rid of a little of the dust wherewith I had become reasonably well stuccoed.

The sight of the end of his journey-for I was to take another driver for the remainder of the trip-inspired Yashka and his horses with new vigour, and he forthwith put them into a gallop, promising them unheard of feeds of oats and beds of straw, if they went in good style. They seemed to comprehend him, and galloped up and down the hills, nor could I get other reply to my remonstrances than the ever ready" Ne bois !"-(never fear, sir!) So on we went, down a steep hill, with a narrow, ricketty bridge over a brook at its footYashka shouting, and protesting that it was absolutely necessary to gallop, in order to get up the hill on the other side.

Well, on we went, helter-skelter, tramp, tramp, safely over the bridge-but, lo! suddenly comes a stumble, a crash, a cry of" Kooda" whither from Yashka, and there I am, landed at the bottom of a dry ditch, with the kibitka turned bottom upwards above me—one of the horses beating the devil's tattoo on the side of the vehicle in very unpleasant proximity to my ribs; another distributing various small samples of the dried mud with his heels, which, if he intended them for my face, duly arrived at their destination.

Yashka was crying, "Ach! barin! barin !”—(Oh, sir! sir!)evidently thinking how to get out of the scrape, and avoid the flogging which he anticipated, and with good reason, I should administer to him. as soon as I got out. How I regretted that I did not take Yermoloff's advice, and pay him beforehand, thereby removing one chance of such predicaments.

At length, with the aid of some peasants, I was unhoused, and went down to the brook to get some of the dirt out of my eyes and nostrils, preparatory to belabouring my gentleman; but by the time I had washed, my temper was a little smoothed, finding I was unhurt, and the kibitka and horses all in order again, so that when Yashka came to kiss my feet, begging pardon, and vowing that it was all owing to

the off-rein breaking and causing the horses to swerve, I let him off with the promise that if he did not deposit me quickly and safely in Colomna, I would quit the score upon his ribs on our arrival.

The threat had its effect, and about three o'clock we entered the gates of that ancient city. It is situated on a slightly elevated platform, at the confluence of the rivers Moskva and Colomna, and is a place of some commercial importance as being the entrepôt of the merchandise carried to and brought from the celebrated fair of Nijnei Novgorod.

Colomna was in the olden time a possession of the Sheremetieffs, and one of that family having been falsely suspected of treasonable intentions by Ivan Grozni (John the Terrible), he was ordered to Moscow by that sanguinary monster, and stabbed by him on the steps of the throne. Three hundred of the principal inhabitants of Colomna were also butchered, and other horrible excesses were committed, the revolting details of which are related with painful minuteness by the Prince Kourbskoi, one of the favourites of the suspicious and revengeful Tsar.

"Our most recent calamity," said a gentleman of Colomna, with whom I was conversing on the preceding subject," was the appointment of two chiefs of police within eight months."

You, happy Englishmen, with all your taxes, income-tax to boot, cannot feel the force of this observation; those only who know the Russian police will comprehend its full meaning.

I cannot better illustrate the effects of such a misfortune than by requesting you to suppose all the police of London locked up for one night and the thieves to have high holiday. Your goods and chattels would change hands as did those of the inhabitants of Colomna, when two chiefs of police came into office within eight months.

We drove into the inn-yard at last, to the great contentment of all, both man and beast; I verily believe that the kibitka itself partook of the satisfaction, for it squeaked discordant jubilatés all the way from the barrier for very joy (or want of grease), and I dismissed Yashka with a present of five roubles, in admiration of which generosity he stooped and kissed my cloak with a profusion of blessings and thanks, lauding me to the skies as a prince of travellers.

After fortifying myself with a bath and a good dinner, I addressed myself to the continuation of my journey. My new driver was by no means so smart a personage as Yashka; for, in default of a kaftan, he wore a sheepskin coat, with a hole in it for every day in the year. He had a broad, flat face, with a huge aperture nearly in the centre, exhibiting a set of teeth that an exquisite might have envied for their whiteness and regularity; but nose had he none, save a diminutive apology, consisting of a pair of nostrils, and little else, deriving thence the cognomen by which he was introduced to me-Vanya the Nose

less.

In addition to these charms, he possessed a tongue as long as the great fast, and gabbled out a world of compliments in a snuffling tone; but owing to an impediment in his speech, an oration was a work of time to him, save when he chattered to his horses, which he did almost unceasingly, when he was fluent enough.

I had purchased a cossack nagaika, or whip; a formidable weapon,