Front the 
 
 Land of the Midnight Sun 
 To the Volga.
 
 FROM THE 
 
 Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 TO THE 
 
 BY FRANCIS C. SESSIONS 
 President of the Ohio Historical and Archaeological Society 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY E. W. DEMING 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 WELCH, FRACKER COMPANY 
 189O 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1890, BY WELCH, FRACKER CO.
 
 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 to the Volga. 
 
 i. 
 
 TRAVELING TOWARD THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 
 
 WE left Copenhagen with regret ; it 
 was one of the most attractive cities 
 we had seen. Prince Bonaparte, of France, 
 arrived at our hotel, just before we left, with 
 his wife and five servants. He had the pecu- 
 liar Bonaparte nose and features, and it was 
 at least interesting to look at the descendant 
 of one who became so prominent in the 
 world's history. 
 
 We crossed by steamer the Malmo Sound 
 to Malmo, and here first entered Sweden, 
 and took cars for Gottenborg. The coun- 
 try through which we pass looks much like 
 the northern part of Vermont and New
 
 io From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 Hampshire, with its stony fields and stone- 
 wall fences, red houses and barns, white 
 birch trees, brooks, small lakes full of water 
 lilies, white meeting houses, and the old- 
 fashioned well-sweep for drawing water, 
 which we used to see in boyhood days fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 Our first dinner in Sweden was peculiar in 
 finding a table loaded with food, and every- 
 one pitching in for themselves. There are 
 no servants, and if you do not get enough 
 to eat, it is your own fault. The good- 
 heartedness of the Scandinavians is pro- 
 verbial, and it was first observed on giving a 
 little girl ten ore, equal to one cent she 
 shook hands with all of us, and curtsied 
 several times. 
 
 We begin at once to see why Sweden is 
 called the Land of Three Thousand Lakes, 
 for we pass lakes continually. We stop over 
 night at Gottenborg. We were fortunate 
 again in having a letter to another son of 
 Professor Sinding, who is connected with 
 the largest cable and telegraph construction 
 company in Europe. He went with us over 
 the city, and we noticed canals and bridges in 
 every direction, reminding us of Amsterdam. 
 
 Gottenborg is a beautiful city, and in our
 
 To the Volga. n 
 
 ride to the Oreas Mountain, to get a view of 
 the city and surrounding country, we passed 
 numerous pleasant-looking villas. One at 
 the foot of the Oreas is owned by Oscar 
 Dickson, the wealthiest man in Scandinavia, 
 who has fitted out several scientific expedi- 
 tions to the Arctic Ocean. Professor Nor- 
 denskjold is at the head of the last expedi- 
 tion, and on account of his scientific attain- 
 ments was offered by King Oscar the title 
 of Baronet, which he refused. 
 
 At this place the celebrated Gottenborg 
 licensing system was first adopted. We have 
 heard it discussed in the United States a 
 great deal, and I was anxious to know how 
 it worked, as many opinions have been ex- 
 pressed in regard to its effect in restraining 
 drinking. Our friend, Mr. Sinding, spoke 
 highly of the good results, and said that 
 drunkenness had diminished greatly. The 
 leading feature of the system of licensing, 
 or rather of non-licensing, is that a temper- 
 ance company is formed to buy licenses and 
 existing -<ghts, and to open a limited num- 
 ber of s.iops for the sale of pure and un- 
 adulterated spirits, and control the sale to 
 proper persons, and none in small quantities 
 to drunkards, the manage/ having no interest
 
 12 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 in the sale of the spirits. After deducting 
 interest at the rate of five per cent, on the 
 capital expended, the company hands the 
 whole of the surplus profits over to the 
 municipality. Mr. Sinding said the profit 
 was large, and was used for helping the poor, 
 etc., of the city. I have learned its good 
 effects in many of the cities in Sweden and 
 Norway, and I shall try to get all the in- 
 formation I can in regard to it. All the 
 larger cities in Scandinavia are adopting it. 
 
 Our train to Christiana followed, for some 
 distance, the Trollhatta Canal, which is one 
 of the most remarkable products of engineer- 
 ing skill, uniting Gottenborg and Stockholm, 
 and uniting the Vennor and Veltor Lakes 
 with the Gota River. The greatest difficulty 
 met with was the Trollhatta Falls, which are 
 a succession of rapids about one hundred 
 and twenty feet high, one of the finest falls 
 in Sweden, but to us who have Niagara and 
 Yosemite Falls, did not seem worth hardly a 
 notice. 
 
 The great Swedenborg, who was a native 
 of Stockholm, I believe, was one of the 
 engineers to draw plans for the erection of 
 sluices at Trollhatta, commissioned by King 
 Karl XII., at the beginning of the eighteenth
 
 To the Volga. 13 
 
 century. The whole length of the canal is 
 two hundred and forty miles. It is quite a 
 curiosity to see the large steamers going 
 through the locks as if going up a steep 
 precipice. We noticed printed on our cars 
 as follows : " Gjennemgaaende till Christiana" 
 which means through to Christiana. 
 
 On passing the line from Sweden to Nor 
 way we notice at once a different country, 
 for it is the mountains which separate Sweden 
 from Norway. From the flat country of the 
 former we have the mountains and pictures- 
 que views of the latter. The houses are 
 painted yellow. All the stations are beauti- 
 ful architectural depots. The farmers are 
 cutting their grass, and the curious poles, 
 about eight feet high, stuck up around the 
 meadows, we could not understand, until \ve 
 saw them placing the cut grass around them 
 to dry. In some fields long poles are put 
 horizontally, and the hay is laid upon them 
 to dry, the season being so wet and uncer- 
 tain, that it is necessary for them to hang up 
 the grass so that the wind may help the sun 
 in drying it. 
 
 Christiana, the capital of Norway, is 
 reached, and although nine o'clock at night, 
 the sun is just setting. Our dinner is an-
 
 14 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 nounced, and we find a great variety of cold 
 meats and cold fish. We have been travel- 
 ing all day and are hungry, and after we have 
 fully satisfied our appetites, we are told that 
 the hot meats are now ready. Only a few 
 could remain to digest the hot meats. After- 
 ward we were told that it is customary in 
 Norway to have the cold meats first. 
 
 We leave Christiana by the steamer Orion, 
 and we enjoy the delightful scenery down 
 the Christiana Fjord for seventy miles, until 
 we come to the stormy Skagarrak. It is 
 about two thousand six hundred miles to the 
 North Cape and return. The fjords are 
 numerous. One, the Trondjhem, is one hun- 
 dred and twenty miles long. A fjord is an 
 arm of the sea and is pronounced ford. The 
 scenery the first day is picturesque and grand, 
 with Christiana in the background, and 
 numerous islands and hills covered with yel- 
 low houses, looking in the distance like chil- 
 dren's play-houses, and the little steamers 
 and sail-boats plying hither and thither. We 
 soon come to Horten, an important naval 
 station, where the fjord is five miles wide. 
 In some places, however, it is only five hun- 
 dred feet wide. It is a splendid situation for 
 a fort, and well sheltered.
 
 To the Volga. 15 
 
 A short distance from here, at Gokstad 
 Sandefjord, is the mound which contained 
 the " Viking Galley," which is now in Chris- 
 tiana. We soon leave behind us the rich, 
 green vegetation, and nothing is seen but the 
 barren rocks, which almost touch each other 
 from island to island. As we go out to sea it 
 begins to grow stormy and rough, and the 
 old stormy Skagarrak keeps up its reputation. 
 Most of the passengers had left the deck for 
 their berths, only two of us remained " to 
 fight it out on that line," if it took all night. 
 Soon my companion succumbed, and rushed 
 to the side of the ship and showed signs of 
 distress. I was determined to keep my repu- 
 tation as a good sailor, gained by crossing 
 the Atlantic five times, and the English chan- 
 nel, and the Irish and North seas a number 
 of times without being sick, but at last old 
 " Skagarrak " conquered. 
 
 We were glad to leave the ship at Eker- 
 sund, two hundred miles from Christiana, 
 and charter a train on a little railroad run- 
 ning across the promontory twenty-eight 
 miles, and escape a rougher sea, and wait the 
 arrival of the steamer at Staranger. This 
 little road is built on purpose to accommo- 
 date passengers on the steamers, who want
 
 1 6 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 to escape the most stormy place to the North 
 Cape. Although the road is only twenty- 
 eight miles long, it is so crooked that it took 
 our express two ard one-half hours to run 
 the distance. 
 
 We are glad to get to this quaint old city 
 of Bergen, with its thirty thousand to forty 
 thousand population, and after getting well 
 domiciled at our hotel, make for the Bergen 
 bank to draw some money. The main street 
 is called " Strandgarden." We are at once 
 amused at the Norwegian dress of the wo- 
 men, so odd and quaint, with their high, 
 white caps, and large white capes, and new 
 and yellow bands, and bright handkerchiefs 
 and bodices, and heavy, plain woolen dresses, 
 with full, plain skirts and wooden shoes. We 
 get the wrong direction to the bank and step 
 into a dry goods store, and make out to ask 
 them the way to the bank, and they send 
 with us a clerk to show the way. On arriv- 
 ing we find a splendid banking room. We 
 were struck at the absence of protection from 
 thieves around the teller's counter, and, look- 
 ing around, find that I am the only one of 
 the customers with my hat on. When they 
 come into the bank they take off their hats 
 and seat themselves on a bench, until their
 
 To the Volga. 17 
 
 turn comes to be waited upon ; no talking, 
 except on their business, and then only in a 
 low tone. 
 
 When my business wiis finished I looked 
 around and found the same young clerk who 
 had come in with me to show me back to my 
 hotel ; I tried to make him understand that 
 I was obliged to him, but that I was going 
 to the fish market, this being Saturday, and 
 the greatest fish market in the world ; he 
 finally shook hands and left me everywhere 
 the people are so kind and attentive. 
 
 The fish market is curious enough ; the 
 end of the harbor comes up to the side of 
 Torvet Square, and along the quay are three 
 horizontal iron railings, and on the water 
 side the numerous fishing boats come up, 
 bows inward, the fish lying loose all over the 
 boat, and the owners stand and barter with 
 the customers on the quay, and hand down 
 their buckets to get the fish. I did not see as 
 beautiful a display of fish even at the great 
 Fishery Exhibition at London, which had 
 just been opened at Hyde Park, when we 
 were there. 
 
 Here were all sizes and colors, some large 
 ones resembling in color our gold fish, some 
 with all the colors of the rainbow ; large,
 
 1 8 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 splendid salmon; another like our white fish, 
 but much larger. We have seen only one 
 meat shop in Bergen ; fish is cheap and 
 plentiful, and seems to be the main article of 
 food. All along the wharf were vessels un- 
 loading their dried codfish, which were piled 
 up like cordwood, filling the warehouses ; 
 these fish, we understood, are shipped to 
 Spain and other Catholic countries, where 
 they do not eat meat on Fridays. 
 
 On our walk about the city we see some 
 terrible scurvy-disease covering the faces, 
 ears, hands, arms and bodies of some of the 
 people. We learn that it is leprosy. This 
 frightful disease is prevalent in Norway 
 among the peasants, especially on the coast, 
 on account of eating so much salt-fish with- 
 out vegetables, and also due to a lack of 
 nourishing food, and living in damp houses, 
 where they salt the fish. We passed a hospi- 
 tal for lepers, and the lepers are not allowed 
 to marry, so that a hereditary disease is kept 
 in check. 
 
 In front of a great fur store we see skins 
 of fresh-killed bears, and those of other wild 
 animals ; a large trade is done here in furs. 
 The Gottenborg temperance plan is in vogue 
 here, and we have seen only two drunken
 
 To the Volga. 19 
 
 persons, one was a colored sailor from Africa, 
 and he was more of curiosity than a monkey 
 show the other side of the street, on account 
 of his color. 
 
 Our Sunday in old Bergen was a most de- 
 lightful one ; the weather was cool and the 
 sun shown bright, which is an unusual thing, 
 and it has the reputation of being the most 
 uncertain place as to weather in Europe ; a 
 pleasant day is an exception ; the people 
 were out en Masse, and the churches were 
 crowded, judging from the three Lutheran 
 churches which we attended, and many of the 
 worshippers had to stand up. 
 
 We could not understand a word the priest 
 (the ministers are all called priests in Scandi- 
 navia) said, but he had an earnest, scholarly 
 manner, and held the attention of the audi- 
 ence closely to the end ; he wore a gown and 
 had on a high, wide ruffle, which made him 
 look like the old pictures of John Huss or 
 Calvin. The ritual was simple ; almost the 
 whole service was sung, even the scripture 
 was monotoned. The precentor, in a black 
 frock coat, stood on one side of the priest 
 and faced toward him instead of the choir 
 and congregation ; the singing was slow and 
 drawling.
 
 20 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 I learn that there are scarcely any churches 
 in Norway or Sweden, but the state churches, 
 which are orthodox Lutheran, and religion 
 seems to have a strong hold upon the people. 
 The priests are state officials, and are paid to 
 perform prescribed duties by the state, and 
 they must be graduates of a university. 
 
 After the communion service there was a 
 large number of babies presented for bap- 
 tism. The priest, after reading the ritual, 
 went around and made the sign of the cross 
 with his hands over the face of each babe, and 
 then he went around and blessed each one ; 
 then the mothers came forward to the front, 
 and he read the covenant to them, and took 
 water in his hands and poured it over the 
 head of the child three times, and said, 
 " Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." 
 
 We noticed, as we visited the cemetery, to 
 see the grave of Ole Bull, who was a native 
 of Bergen, and was buried here, that there 
 was a large number of women and girls 
 washing off the monuments and gravestones, 
 and placing beautiful bouquets of flowers 
 upon the graves. We understand this is the 
 pleasant custom every Saturday night 
 through the summer, and in the winter 
 evergreens are used, Roses and flowers had
 
 ICELANDKRS.
 
 To the Volga. 21 
 
 just made their appearance this summer, and 
 this was the first Sunday for flower decorat- 
 ing this year ; and more than usual attention 
 was given to mowing the grass and making 
 everything attractive for the masses who 
 visit the hallowed spot on Sunday. Ole 
 Bull's grave was in the center of the ceme- 
 tery, .vhere walks extend from east to west 
 and north to south. There was no stone to 
 mark his grave, but the earth was raised 
 over it, and it \vas covered with English ivy, 
 and on the top was a beautiful bouquet and 
 a number of white pond lilies. 
 
 We had a beautiful sun, although at nine 
 o'clock at night, and I never saw the sky, 
 even in Italy, more soft and mellow. 
 
 On our way to the hotel we noticed the 
 servant girls were scouring the brass knobs 
 of the doors and washing the entrances. 
 This is also the custom every Saturday night. 
 
 We never saw such beautiful calceolarias 
 and pelargoniums as are at the windows of 
 almost every house. As we passed up the 
 most beautiful street for private residences, 
 there were many villas high up on the 
 mountain side, overlooking the two lakes 
 and the fjord. The street is called " King 
 Oscar's Garden," and the flags were flying
 
 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 from the residences of the different con- 
 suls residing on the street ; and from a 
 beautiful villa we noticed the stars and 
 stripes, which looked to us more beautiful 
 than ever in comparison v/ith the others ; 
 and then it reminded us, in this far off land, 
 of our home, and we took off our hats in re- 
 verence of the old flag. 
 
 The little dun-colored Norwegian horses, 
 more like ponies, are very tough and intelli- 
 gent, and when you go past them, one feels 
 like patting them> they look at one so re- 
 sponsively. When the driver stops them in 
 the street, and wishes to leave them, he 
 fastens a cord to the cariole and then around 
 the horse's foot, just below the fetlock. We 
 had quite an experience in ordering a cariole 
 for an evening ride. We wanted one with 
 one horse and places for two persons, instead 
 of that we found at the door of the hotel one 
 cariole with two horses and seats for four 
 persons, and one cariole with one horse and 
 for one person. The liveryman thought we 
 ought to take them as they were ordered the 
 day before, and were in great demand. We 
 had the pleasure, therefore, of inviting our 
 party to take an evening ride with us ; so 
 much for not speaking the language.
 
 To the Volga. 23 
 
 The ride, by steamer, among the thousands 
 of islands, with the bare rocks and curious 
 shapes, some as high as three thousand feet, 
 and the water falls, are almost as grand as 
 the Yosemite valley, in California, and as 
 picturesque as Lake George, in our own 
 country, and Lake Lucerne in Switzerland ; 
 and all this scenery continues along the coast 
 of one thousand miles. We stop at several 
 fishing towns, and get off the steamer to take 
 a look at the natives. The women all look 
 sad and bent over, with their eyes cast on the 
 ground, high cheek-bones and low foreheads, 
 and wear coarse flannel dresses and high- 
 colored shawls upon their heads. 
 
 Some of the towns are situated on three or 
 four islands, and little steamers go and come, 
 which give them the appearance of a minia- 
 ture Venice. We are glad to come to 
 Throndhjem, and remain three or four days, 
 and take excursions into the country, and can 
 well unite with the old song, " Det er saa in 
 ferest in Throndhjem hvile," " 'Tis so plea- 
 sant in Throndhjem to dwell." It is about 
 the latitude of southern Iceland, and the 
 largest northernmost town in Europe, and has 
 a population of from twenty to twenty-five 
 thousand.
 
 24 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 Throndhjem was the old capital of Norway 
 until the liberation in 1814 ; it lies on a pen- 
 insula, and on the beautiful fjord, after which 
 it is named, and which we had just come up. 
 The cathedral here is the oldest and finest in 
 Scandinavia, and is built on the spot where 
 Saint Olaf was buried, and attracts to this place 
 multiudes of pilgrims from Norway and other 
 countries. Olaf landed here in A. D. 995, he 
 found the people pagans ; having himself 
 been converted through English missionaries, 
 he came to Norway from that land and set 
 about converting the people, and to him is 
 given the credit of converting the Norwe- 
 gians to the Christian religion. 
 
 Olaf was killed in a great battle fought 
 near here in 1030, and he has been ever since 
 regarded as the patron saint of the Scandi- 
 navian churches ; and Christianity became 
 permanently and securely fixed in spite of 
 the political and religious disturbances. The 
 great cathedral erected to his memory, and 
 having been several times nearly destroyed, 
 is being restored. In the eleventh and 
 twelfth centuries the kings of Norway were 
 buried here ; by the Constitution of Norway 
 all the sovereigns of the country are required 
 to come to Throndhjem to be crowned in the
 
 To the Volga. 25 
 
 cathedral. Oscar II., the present King, and 
 the Queen came here in 1873, and the cere- 
 mony was performed in- this old cathedral ; 
 thus the memory of Saint Olaf is kept fresh 
 in the minds of the people. Our courier in- 
 formed us that Longfellow spent some time 
 in Norway, and translated a poem, which, if 
 I remember correctly, was entitled, " Saint 
 Olaf." The first line of one verse is 
 " Saint Olaf, he rideth over the plain." 
 
 The views from the mountain called Bloese- 
 voldbakken, which we ascended, rewarded us 
 well for the tiresome walk, as did also a 
 walk to a beautiful waterfall, called Lerfos, 
 upper and lower. 
 
 The United States Consul informs us that 
 the exportations from the United States are 
 increasing, and consist mostly of petroleum 
 and agricultural machines, and other articles 
 are finding their way here ; I noticed our 
 steamer unloading at one of the docks kegs 
 of paint marked " Gloucester, Mass." 
 
 The words of the Norwegian language 
 seem so long that it is almost impossible to 
 pronounce them, and some seem odd enough 
 to us ; over a book store was a sign with, 
 " Bog-og Papierhandle," on it, which means 
 Book and Paper Store.
 
 26 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 The living at the hotels is abundant ; we 
 have several kinds of fish at every meal and 
 various kinds of meat, including bear and 
 reindeer flesh. The air is cool and bracing, 
 and one feels ready to do full justice at 
 every meal. 
 
 After passing through an infinity of small 
 islands, we come to an island called Torgen, 
 with a mountain called Torghatta (marked 
 hat). The mountain, eight hundred feet high, 
 resembles a hat ; our steamer stops, that all 
 who desire may ascend and observe an aper- 
 ture through the mountain ; it is about sixty- 
 two feet high, and one can see through the 
 aperture the distant sea with the vessels and 
 shipping.
 
 To the Volga. 27 
 
 II. 
 
 THE TORGHATTA MOUNTAINS. LAPLAND. HAM- 
 MERFEST. CHARACTER OF THE LAPS. 
 
 'T^HERE is a legend connected with Tor- 
 ghatta Mountain which represents "a 
 giantess who was pursued by her lover while 
 her brother attempted to rescue her. The 
 torghatta, or hat, of the latter, having been 
 pierced by an arrow shot by the amorous 
 lover, the sun shone through the aperture, 
 and metamorphosed the distressed maiden 
 into stone the pursuer being, at this junc- 
 ture, only one hundred and five miles away ! " 
 In passing the giantess the natives sometimes 
 raise their hats with mock ceremony. 
 
 At one place a bride and groom came 
 aboard, and a large number of boats with 
 young people accompanied them to the 
 steamer. It was a gay scene, as the steamer 
 departed, to see the girls flirt their handker- 
 chiefs with the words " Farvell ! farvell ! " 
 The word is spelled with a v j there is no w
 
 28 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 in the Norwegian language, and v is used in- 
 stead. 
 
 At Svolvaer, a fishing town, we go ashore, 
 and find only a few houses on the rocks, and 
 all over the town are posters announcing a 
 theatre. We inquire for the theatre, and are 
 pointed to a tent ; the performance is unique 
 enough, and is easily moved from place to 
 place for the amusement of the poor fisher- 
 men and their families. 
 
 All these towns are occupied by the families 
 of fishermen who are off to the Lofodon Is- 
 lands and other places. We have on board 
 two officials of the Norwegian Government, 
 who are intelligent, and give us much valu- 
 able information. In speaking of these fisher- 
 men, one of the officials said, at one of the 
 islands he called on the priest, where there 
 was a small church, and inquiring in regard 
 to his success, the priest replied: "Our 
 church and our cemetery are occupied by 
 women and children. You go into the latter, 
 and you will only see the graves of women 
 and children ; all the men are drowned at 
 the fisheries ; sometimes as large a number 
 as five hundred will be lost at one time in a 
 terrible storm." 
 
 We soon arrive in Lapland, and a number
 
 To the Volga. 29 
 
 of Laps come on board, and are a great 
 curiosity to us all. They say that they have 
 only a small herd of reindeer, and have just 
 come over from Sweden. Their dress is of 
 reindeer skins, and is very peculiar, quite as 
 odd as the dress of Indians. There are about 
 twenty thousand Laplanders in Norway, and 
 in all Scandinavia only thirty thousand. It 
 seems as if they are dwindling away as fast 
 as the Indians of North America. The Laps 
 once dominated the whole of Scandinavia. 
 They were once a race of hunters, and the 
 reindeer is the whole source of their wealth, 
 and was, no doubt, formerly an object of 
 chase only. 
 
 We arrive at Tromsoe, the capital of Lap- 
 land, and take a walk through the old town, 
 but defer our visit to their camp and herds of 
 reindeer until our return from the land of the 
 midnight sun. 
 
 We have been remaining up all night to 
 witness the sun, that does not go below the 
 horizon in this region for nearly three 
 months from May to August and does not 
 appear for nearly three months in the winter; 
 it is dark from December first until the last 
 of January, so that lamps have to be used all 
 the time. When light comes, they celebrate
 
 30 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 it with firing of guns, dancing and a general 
 holiday. There has been no darkness since 
 we entered the Arctic circle ; indeed, for 
 .several days we could see to read all night. 
 At Tromsoe we sat up all night to watch the 
 sun, and, as it does not set, we expected to 
 see it ; but the mountains intervened, and we 
 did not see it at twelve midnight, but could 
 see its rays on all the distant mountains in 
 the w r est, and on the hill sides. It had a pe- 
 culiar rosy hue, and was one of the most at- 
 tractive views in our life. We did not get a 
 view <3f the sun itself until about one o'clock 
 in the morning. 
 
 We arrive at Hammerfest, the most north- 
 ern town in Europe, or, I believe, in the 
 world, and leave at once for the North Cape, 
 and remain up all night, and at twelve mid- 
 night the Captain sounds the whistle, and 
 the sun is about twice the size of its disc 
 above the horizon, a shout goes up, and we 
 have a splendid view of the midnight sun, 
 and are well satisfied with our journey of 
 nearly five thousand miles to see it. 
 
 The sun at twelve midnight was one half a 
 point east of north ; it seemed to move along 
 the horizon for awhile and then commenced 
 rising in the heavens. We steam along with
 
 To the Volga. 31 
 
 intense interest for North Cape, watching the 
 sun all the time. We cannot express our 
 feelings, all is hushed in silence. Carlyle 
 revels in the idea that " while all nations are 
 asleep, we stand here in the presence of that 
 great power which will wake them all." 
 
 Each one has his own peculiar thoughts, 
 and much has been written, but words fail to 
 express our individual sensation. We have 
 read and studied in our geography, half a 
 century ago, that in this part of the world 
 the sun shone all the time for six months, 
 and darkness reigned for six months, but it 
 is a little less than three months. 
 
 We soon reach the North Cape, and go 
 ashore in our little boats to ascend the cape, 
 which is about one thousand feet high. The 
 ascent is steep and rugged. Creeping, some- 
 times on our hands and knees, with singular 
 feelings about the region we are in, we get 
 to the top and walk about three miles to the 
 end of the promontory over the rocky ascent, 
 until we look off toward that great unknown 
 Arctic ocean, and it seems as if we had come 
 to the end of the earth, and were gazing upon 
 the confines of the eternal regions, that we 
 saw in the distance the outlines of the land of 
 which it is said "there is no night there."
 
 32 From the Land of the Midnight Sitn 
 
 We are told that we are only two days' sail 
 from the original ice, and that three days' 
 sail will take us as far north as where the 
 Jeanette was lost. On the top was a monu- 
 ment, erected to the memory of the time, in 
 July, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, 
 when King Oscar II. visited the place. It 
 was a granite-shaft seven feet high, imbedded 
 in a strong stone wall. Last winter it was 
 blown over, showing the great power of the 
 wind here. 
 
 We take a last look at the ocean, and a 
 Russian steamer is in view, which is sup- 
 posed to be hunting for whales. A few other 
 fishing boats are seen. On our way down we 
 gather some twenty varieties of arctic flowers, 
 some very beautiful, and the ladies take them 
 to press as a memento of this visit. 
 
 When we arrive at the ship the fishing 
 lines are out, and those that remained had 
 their own sport fishing for flounders. We 
 have had flounders for breakfast, flounders 
 for dinner, and flounders for supper ; and we 
 expect, when we get on the sea, from all ac- 
 counts of the roughness of the voyage around 
 the cape, we shall get floundered all night, or, 
 rather, I forgot there is no night here. We 
 have got about used to sleeping during the
 
 To the Volga. 33 
 
 time that it is day here, and watching the sun 
 when it is night with us in America. 
 
 We stop at the Norpolanhotel (North Pole 
 Hotel), and the fishy smell all over the old 
 town of Hammerfest is terrible to endure. 
 About fifty fishing vessels are starting off for 
 the fisheries, and it is an interesting sight. 
 Such jabbering and talking is jargon itself. 
 On the high rocks on shore are the women 
 and children of the fishermen, watching their 
 fathers and brothers, who may never return, 
 depart. 
 
 There are large herds of reindeer near here, 
 and the laps are about the town, selling their 
 reindeer shoes, and other things peculiar to 
 their habits. 
 
 This town of Hammerfest was a scene of 
 British arrogance in 1853. It seems that 
 some English merchants here wanted to get 
 some of their goods into port for less than 
 the duty, and the authorities confiscated 
 them. After considerable talk in Parliament, 
 two men-of-war were_ sent here, and de- 
 manded of the authorities sixty thousand 
 pounds sterling, or two hundred and forty 
 thousand dollars, else they would bombard 
 the town. Finally, the Norze bank, in 
 Christiana, agreed to advance the money and
 
 34 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 save the town, and they were to pay so much 
 per year. It was, a great sacrifice for so poor 
 a town. 
 
 We leave this wonderful region with regret ; 
 it would be delightful to stay and see the 
 sun in its present condition for .weeks, and 
 visit the fishing places in the vicinity. Fish- 
 ing is the entire income, and when the fish 
 fail the people are poor enough ; last year 
 was a bad season and the whole business of 
 Norway is affected by it. From all accounts 
 the fishermen of Spitzbergen have struck a 
 ''bonanza." Report has just come that five 
 fishermen from Hammerfest had shot five 
 hundred seals in eighteen hours, and could 
 have taken more, but their guns became too 
 hot. The men lie flat on the ice and when 
 the seals' heads appear above the water shoot 
 them. 
 
 I take another look at the North Cape and 
 call to mind the words of our own Long- 
 fellow : 
 
 " And there uprose before me 
 Upon the water's edge, 
 The huge and haggard shape 
 Of that unknown North Cape, 
 Whose form is like a wedge." 
 
 which seems to stand like a rocky battlement
 
 To the Volga. 35 
 
 against the dashing water from the North 
 Pole. 
 
 Our visit to the camp of the Laplanders 
 from Tromsoe was exceedingly interesting ; 
 we walked over a rough country for some 
 distance, and in a valley under the mountains 
 came suddenly upon their huts ; they are 
 made of sticks stuck in the ground, dome- 
 shaped, and covered with sod, with a hole in 
 the top to let out the smoke from the fire in 
 the center over which a pot is suspended. 
 
 We peeped in and all looked so forbidding 
 that we hesitated to go in, for fear of fleas 
 and dirt. Around the wigwam or hut sat 
 several women at work making shoes of rein- 
 deer hides, spoons of their horns, purses and 
 various articles to sell. The dogs were hav- 
 ing a fight and things did not look inviting, 
 but I ventured in and was glad enough to 
 retreat at once. 
 
 A short distance from the encampment was 
 a herd of reindeer numbering four or five 
 hundred, and another drove was coming 
 down the mountains ; they were a great curi- 
 osity to us, with their long horns, and looked 
 much like our deer, only larger ; they are 
 mainly used for their milk, and are milked 
 twice a week, and their milk is the chief food
 
 36 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 of the Laps. We tasted some of it and found 
 it too strong to drink without diluting with 
 water. We did not get a sledge ride after 
 reindeer, on account of the snow being want- 
 ing, but we saw some of their sledges which 
 are made in the shape of a small boat or 
 skiff. The reindeer are attached to the 
 sledge and the Lap drives with a rope, and 
 from all accounts the ride must be an exhil- 
 erating one. 
 
 The Laps in this encampment own about 
 five or six thousand reindeer, they are worth 
 about four dollars each and are scattered 
 about the mountains in different herds ; when 
 they are allowed to go out of the pen they 
 present an interesting sight, as they wind their 
 way up the mountain, with the dogs keeping 
 them from running away, and the unearthly 
 screeches of the Laps add zest to the scene. 
 
 The Laplanders are of Mongolian type, 
 small of statue, high cheek bones, low fore- 
 head, light hair, small boned and little mus- 
 cles. The dress of the men and women is 
 the same, and it is difficult to distinguish 
 them apart the only way to do so was from 
 the longer tangled hair of the women. 
 
 We were quite interested in a little blue- 
 eyed baby, strapped into a kind of birch-
 
 To the Volga. 37 
 
 bark cradle or shell, with a hole at one end ; 
 the shape was like an elongated egg, and the 
 mother had a strap across her back and held 
 it in that way while about her work or when 
 going from camp to camp. 
 
 The girls have a primitive way of weaving 
 fancy-colored garters to sell ; they attach a 
 cord to a white birch bush, and drop down 
 upon the ground, with the different colored 
 threads in their hands, the work is all done 
 with the hands, no shuttle, and the ladies 
 thought it quite ingenious. 
 
 Their dress is of reindeer skins, trimmed 
 with bright red flannel, with a long frock 
 reaching to their knees, with a belt around 
 the waist, in which they carry a knife ; they 
 wear a round cap made of reindeer skins, 
 which is also trimmed with red flannel. 
 
 They are a dirty, filthy-looking people, 
 and look as if they never used ablutions. 
 They seemed as much interested in the dress 
 of the ladies of our party as we were in theirs, 
 and they would walk around the ladies, point- 
 ing to each other at what seemed to amuse 
 them, and asking for pins. 
 
 We understand from a missionary, who was 
 on our steamer, that the Government of Nor- 
 way sends teachers and preachers among
 
 38 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 them, and they are doing all they can to ele- 
 vate them ; they have their children all con- 
 firmed by the Lutheran missionaries, but as 
 they are continually wandering about from 
 place to place, it is difficult to make much 
 impression in civilizing them. They are 
 allowed to intermarry with the Swedes and 
 Norwegians, and in time may become entirely 
 extinct as a race ; a great change from the 
 powerful race which once dominated the 
 whole of Scandinavia. They are an honest 
 people, and farmers say they never intrude. 
 
 In Sweden and Finland the Laps are usu- 
 ally divided into fisher, mountain and forest 
 Laps ; the latter two are the true representa- 
 tives of the race. In Norway they are classed 
 as sea Laps, river Laps and mountain Laps ; 
 the first two settled, the last wandering or 
 nomadic. Their habits are most conserva- 
 tive, and can hardly have altered since the 
 far distant time when they first tamed the 
 reindeer. Reindeer form the chief wealth of 
 the Laps, and Thompson's lines may still be 
 taken as an accurate description of the uses 
 to which their skins and horns are put, al- 
 though one would think spoons more likely 
 than cups to be carved out of the latter ; but 
 then where would a great deal of poetry be
 
 To the Volga. 39 
 
 if the poet could not draw on his poetic 
 license at pleasure ; perhaps, however, 
 Thomson alluded to the milk 
 
 " The reindeer form their riches ; these their tents, 
 Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth 
 Supply ; their wholesome food and cheerful cups." 
 
 The mountain Laps have learned to drink 
 coffee and wear stout Norwegian cloth, but 
 they set as much store by the reindeer as 
 ever. A poo*- family will have fifty and up- 
 ward in a herd, the middle classes three hun- 
 dred to seven hundred, and the richest one 
 thousand or more. The reindeer is as be- 
 loved by the Lap as his pig by the Irishman, 
 and the reindeer often sleep in his hut in 
 much the same fashion. The Lap will whis- 
 per to his reindeer when harnessing him to 
 his sleigh, and will tell him where he is to go, 
 and declares he understands him. The rein- 
 deer is much like a stag, only smaller ; all the 
 people, animals and trees in Lapland are 
 very diminutive, the men are mostly under 
 five feet high, and the women under four feet 
 nine inches ; so great are the rigors of the 
 climate in this, as in all countries under the 
 Arctic circle, the cows, sheeg and goats are
 
 4O From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 all small in proportion. In summer the rein- 
 deer feed upon grass, and give excellent 
 milk ; in winter they feed upon moss, which 
 they scratch up under great depths of snow 
 with marvellous instinct.
 
 To the Volga. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE REINDEER. DRESS AND HABITS OF THE 
 NATIVES. PEASANT LIFE IN THE VALLEYS. 
 
 WHEN winter draws near great numbers 
 of reindeer are killed and the flesh is 
 dried and smoked to provide when the ground 
 is covered with snow, and but few birds, like 
 ptarmigan, partridges and caper-cailzie, are 
 met with ; the flesh is very nutritious, and 
 after a course of grass-feeding it is surprising 
 how soon the reindeer become fat and plump. 
 The skin makes their dresses and boots, the 
 sinews their thread and fishing-lines, and the 
 horns their spoons and domestic utensils ; 
 their utensils are not all horn ; the Laps have 
 always some kettles of copper and iron, and 
 sometimes also bowls of wood and tin ; and 
 among the rich they are even of silver. 
 
 The wandering Laps usually live in rude 
 huts, formed of trees or poles, in the shape 
 of a cone, with an opening in the center to 
 allow the smoke to escape, and a few mats
 
 42 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 are spread on the floor. Each side of the 
 fire-place is divided into three chambers, 
 separated by mats or skins, the innermost 
 for husband and wife, the next for the chil- 
 dren, and the outer for servants. When the 
 family is too poor to have servants they often 
 find room for some reindeer. 
 
 The winter dwellings are much more sub- 
 stantial, and are roofed with beams, on which 
 are hung the dried cakes of reindeer flesh, 
 while, outside, the huts are covered with 
 bushes and earth. The door is very low and 
 small, and can only be entered by crawling 
 on the hands and knees. The windows are 
 made from the intestines of seals, prepared 
 and sewed together. The furniture is very 
 primitive. Such as it is, it is made by the 
 men, who also do the cooking, and make the 
 boats and sleighs, skiddor, or snow shoes, and 
 the bows and arrows. Sometimes these win- 
 ter-huts are made large enough to contain a 
 dozen families, the separation being effected 
 by curtains of skins. 
 
 The Lap, as he appears in his own country, 
 is very different from many of the pictures so 
 familiar to us. His usual dress consists of 
 dirty old reindeer pelts and a filthy peaked 
 cap. In winter, all the dress is made of rein-
 
 To the Volga. 43 
 
 deer skins, except the cap, which is made of 
 cloth, and shaped like a sugar-loaf. 
 
 The dress of the men and women is much 
 alike. They wear their hair long and 
 straight, falling down the sides of the head 
 and back ; and as beards and whiskers are 
 never seen, it is usual to distinguish between 
 men and women by the boots. The men 
 wear long and the women short ones. The 
 costume is in the " Bloomer " style, and con- 
 sists of a short coat of skin made with the 
 hair outside. This is fastened around the 
 waist with a belt and buckle, and a pair of 
 tight-fitting breeches, made of tanned rein- 
 deer leather, are fastened round the ankle. 
 The boots, of corresponding material, are 
 peaked and turned up at the toes. These are 
 drawn over the breeches and fastened at the 
 top with a long piece of list, which keeps out 
 the snow and makes them nearly water-tight. 
 
 Even in the depths of winter ..he Laps have 
 their necks always bare. They wear no linen 
 or stockings, and stuff the boots, which are 
 very roomy, with soft hay, made from the 
 cypress-grass. Their gloves are like mittens, 
 and often ornamented with great taste. In 
 summer, the same leather breeches are worn, 
 but the coat is made of coarse cloth. The
 
 44 From the Land of the Midnight Sttn 
 
 women carry a tobacco pouch, pipe, scissors, 
 and a spoon to drink spirits from, hanging 
 from the waist. The richer Laps often orna- 
 ment these articles with silver braid. 
 
 In the winter the Laps use snow-shoes, or 
 skiddor, and they always carry a spear, with a 
 four-edged spike, about a foot in length, 
 mounted on an aspen shaft, six feet long. 
 Their equipment for the winter is completed 
 with an old skin knap-sack for provisions, a 
 rough case-knife in the belt, and a little iron 
 pipe for their delectation in smoking, and 
 sometimes a gun like a pea-rifle. 
 
 The sleighs are like small boats cut in half, 
 and only hold one person, and are so cranky 
 that the driver is obliged to use a short pole 
 to keep the sleigh steady ; so that between 
 driving the reindeer, which are fastened to 
 the sleigh, and keeping his balance with the 
 short pole, he has enough to do. If the 
 sleigh turns over, which it sometimes does, 
 the occupant can not fall out, as he is too 
 tightly packed in with skins ; but he has an 
 awkward time of it, and gets sadly bumped 
 in the snow if the reindeer dash off at full 
 speed, as they have a habit of doing. 
 
 The Laps all live by fishing and hunting. 
 Their game is elk, bear, foxes, wolves, ermine
 
 To the Volga. 45 
 
 and squirrel. The Russian Laps are chiefly 
 fishers. They are quiet, hospitable, honest 
 and inoffensive, and decidedly favorable 
 specimens of a semi-civilized race, still retain- 
 ing their patriarchal traditions. The father 
 is supreme in the family, and can apportion 
 his property at death, and disinherit any of 
 his children, should he see fit. If a son wishes 
 to leave the house and set up for himself, he 
 .can take nothing with him but his wife's 
 dowry. Drunkenness is their great failing. 
 
 Our ride on the steamer (Damskibe) " Ori- 
 on " has been three weeks. We have had an 
 opportunity to see the whole coast of Nor- 
 way, with its hundreds of fjords and lakes 
 and an infinity of islands, and its numerous 
 towns and cities, all supported by its immense 
 fisheries. At one place, which we passed on 
 our return, they told us that they had that 
 day a great success in a " catch " of two hun- 
 dred thousand herring. What we saw were 
 being packed, on a number of islands, by 
 men, women and children, and our steamer 
 was taking them away from every town to 
 Bergen, whence they are shipped to Spain 
 and other countries. At every stopping 
 place the steamer does not go up to the 
 wharf, but anchors some distance off, and the
 
 46 From the Land of the Midriight Sun 
 
 numerous boats come out to bring passengers 
 and take others ashore. Sometimes as many 
 as twenty or thirty boats push around the 
 steamer to get the first opportunity to dis- 
 charge their loads. Oftentimes quite a skir- 
 mish ensues between them. 
 
 While this is going on, other boat loads of 
 men and women are in the distance, waving 
 their handkerchiefs to friends leaving on the 
 steamers, making an exciting scene, and is an 
 oasis to the passengers who have such long 
 distances to travel, with nothing to relieve 
 the monotony, save the splendid scenery, 
 with a surprise at every turn. 
 
 A London gentleman and myself concluded 
 that we would leave the steamer at Thrond- 
 hjem, and take a ride by cariole through the 
 country for about one hundred and fifty 
 miles, and intercept the steamer at Namsos. 
 We started a day ahead of her leaving 
 Throndhjem, and took the cars for sixteen 
 miles, to a station with the euphonious name 
 of " Hell." We crossed a river which might 
 be the " Styx," but there was no " old ferry- 
 man there to ferry us over the river Styx," and 
 they have a bridge now. We passed safely, 
 and a boy pointed out to us the first cariole 
 station, or skyds, as it is called in Norwegian.
 
 To the Volga. 47 
 
 Almost every town in Norway is reached 
 by steamboats, and there are no stages or 
 conveyances through the country. The 
 government has, therefore, created a system 
 of " posting," as they call it, by cariole (at a 
 cost of about six to eight cents per mile), 
 which is a kind of gig, like a race-horse 
 vehicle, only it is ugly and clumsy in appear- 
 ance. It has two long poles and a prow- 
 shaped body, and a seat like a half bowl, just 
 large enough for one person to sit on. The 
 feet must rest on a cross-piece, directly in the 
 rear of the horse. Behind is a board, on the 
 ends of the poles, to strap the luggage onto, 
 while the " gut," (boy) or " pige," (girl) takes 
 a seat, with legs dangling, and keeps one 
 company till the next station, when they take 
 back the cariole. 
 
 There are no springs to this primitive 
 conveyance, and one can imagine the jolting 
 when a stone or a hole obstructs the progress. 
 The harness is equally primitive ; no blinders, 
 with rope lines and a small piece of board 
 each side for the iron saddle-tree to rest on. 
 The horse draws by the poles, with a kind of 
 wooden fastening attached to the harness. 
 You are yourself expected to drive. 
 
 The roads are made by the government,
 
 48 from the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 and the whole distance of one hundred and 
 fifty miles was as smooth as the roadway in 
 any well-kept park. The stations are from 
 five to eight miles apart, and each is a farm- 
 house, where they are obliged to have two or 
 three horses, according to the amount of 
 travel, always in readiness. These are the 
 farm horses, and in one instance were taken 
 from the mowing machine for our use. The 
 farmer is liable to a fine if he keeps one wait- 
 ing more than fifteen to thirty minutes, and 
 it is often a great detriment to his business. 
 
 At the second station we drove up to no 
 one came to the door (so it was at every 
 station), and we had to find our way into the 
 room where the traveler is expected to 
 register his name in the "sydsbog," or day- 
 book, and the number of horses he wants, 
 and any complaints he has to make in regard 
 to his treatment, delay, etc. In the front of 
 the book are found the laws, passed by the 
 Parliament, imposing the fines, etc., for not 
 complying with the law and fixing the duty, 
 etc. An inspector comes along at stated times 
 and makes an examination, and if anything is 
 wrong the law is very arbitrary. 
 
 We waited at one station an hour for our 
 horses to come ; they were off in the field,
 
 To the Volga. 49 
 
 " " " " * ' 
 
 some distance, at work : if the farmers have 
 not the horses at home they are obliged to 
 procure them from the neighboring farmers ; 
 we thought with such delay as this our 
 steamer would not wait for us, and with over 
 one hundred miles to drive, the prospect of 
 meeting our friends was not very encourag- 
 ing ; we started, however, with very good 
 speed, as the ponies were fresh, we soon came 
 to a gate across the road and a boy jumped 
 off quickly, and opened it, and, although we 
 started the horse as soon as possible the boy 
 jumped on and we went on at a John Gilpen 
 speed, though every few miles was another 
 gate to open. 
 
 We learned that each landholder has a gate 
 across the road at the entrance and exit to 
 his premises which gives the " skydsgut " 
 plenty to do in opening and closing them. 
 
 During the entire one hundred and fifty 
 miles we did not meet ten carioles or vehi- 
 cles ; we saw scarcely any one on the road or 
 about the farm-houses, and only saw men 
 and women in the hay-fields cutting the 
 grass and making the hay by putting it on 
 poles to dry. 
 
 There were large farm-houses with several 
 barns, the former painted white or yellow,
 
 50 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 the latter red, in every direction overlooking 
 the beautiful valleys, the farmers always 
 choosing an elevated and commanding posi- 
 tion ; the buildings are made of logs and 
 covered with boards, two stories in height. 
 and stretching out at great length ; there is 
 generally the living-house in front for the 
 family, on one side the servants " or tenants," 
 on the other side the barn, and on the third 
 side the store-house for butter and milk, all 
 of which from a hollow square ; there are no 
 cellars under the houses. 
 
 The dwellings are plainly furnished no 
 carpets, but the floors are covered with sprigs 
 of juniper, which emit a pleasant odor and 
 everything is clean and neat. In one house 
 was a sewing-machine and a woman spinning 
 wool into yarn, and the farmer at work with 
 his mowing machine out doors, the only one 
 we saw the whole distance, Around the 
 rooms are generally some very common wood 
 engravings of Christ, Luther, the Prodigal 
 Son in his different stages ; Norway's great 
 poet, Bjornsterne-Bjorson, and some of the 
 radical leaders. 
 
 The peasants are all radical and are preju- 
 diced against kings and an aristocracy, and in 
 favor of a republican form of government.
 
 To the Volga. 51 
 
 They have a good education, and are a plain, 
 frugal, industrious people, kind and uncon- 
 ventional, sit down to table with their ser- 
 vants, and each one is expected to help him- 
 self without ceremony. 
 
 We picked up a little Norwegian language, 
 which seemed to help us much, as they have 
 a horror about being ordered to do anything, 
 and at the changes when I wanted anything 
 I would say " Vaer saa gud strax," (be so 
 good at once as to do so and so) , and they 
 would run off at once, and we had no more 
 delays in changing horses. 
 
 At the third station I had a " pige " (girl) 
 for my " skyds," and she tried to be very so- 
 cial, but as I could not understand a word 
 she said, except as she would say " America " 
 and point to different farm-houses, I judged 
 that from the houses some or all of their 
 inmates had emigrated to America ; she said 
 in broken English, "I would like to go." 
 When I told them I was from America, they 
 would brighten up and say " I have a broder 
 (brother) and a soster (sister) in America," 
 and asked me, " Do you know my broder in 
 San Francisco ? Do you know my soster in 
 Mobile ? " Having no idea of our country of 
 such magnificent distances.
 
 52 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 The large emigration from Norway and 
 Sweden, which amounted to one thousand 
 per week last year, is alarming the govern- 
 ment, and they are doing all they can to pre- 
 vent it, our courier says " that our govern- 
 ment won't long hold together, on account 
 of the southern, northern and western inter- 
 ests being antagonistic ; and warns the young 
 men if they go to America they will prob- 
 ably get into a war. Such warnings don't 
 have any effect, as the news comes from those 
 who have gone to America of their success. 
 We met quite a number who were now on a 
 visit to this country ; they were mostly from 
 Minnesota. They like the climate of the 
 north-west it is more like their own. 
 
 The country through which we passed on 
 our long drive of one hundred and fifty 
 miles, was well cultivated. They raise rye, 
 barley, oats and potatoes ; but toward the 
 north end, for fifty miles, nothing but white 
 birch and Norway spruce trees and hazel 
 bushes were seen. All along the road were 
 beautiful flowers, heath, cornel, loosestrife 
 golden rod, queen of the meadow, bluebell, 
 stone-crops (several varieties), orchids, flower- 
 ing sedge, white daisy, buttercups, several 
 species of pyzola, creeping vetch and many
 
 To the Volga. 53 
 
 other common flowers and plants. One of 
 the most beautiful is a long creeping plant, 
 with small, nearly round opposite leaves, and 
 two tiny, pinkish flowers hanging together 
 from an upright stalk ; it is called Linncea 
 fort-alts, and is peculiar to Norway and 
 Sweden. The name has been adopted as the 
 emblem of the great Linnaeus, the world- 
 renowned Swedish botanist. Its low, trailing 
 habit and late bloom are considered typical 
 of Linnaeus' humble origin and late fame. 
 We found all these plants, and many more, 
 on our way to North Cape Mountain. It 
 would seem as if the season was too short 
 for plants to bloom in latitude seventy-one 
 minutes, ten degrees north, but the sun 
 shining for nearly three months brings vege- 
 tation forward most rapidly. 
 
 The first day we had ridden seventy miles 
 in our unsocial carioles over hill and dale, 
 through forests of pine, besides lakes and 
 fjords, with such diversified scenery that we 
 had forgotten how tired we were, and then 
 the sun did not go down until ten-thirty, but 
 at eleven o'clock we were glad to stop for the 
 night, and take the remainder of our journey 
 the next day. 
 
 We reached Namsos in time to go aboard
 
 54 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 of our steamer, after waiting two or three 
 hours for it to come in. These were " red- 
 letter " days for us. We had not had much 
 to eat but milk and dry wafer-like bread, 
 made of rye and oatmeal, in large, round 
 thin cakes, as much as a foot in circum- 
 ference, and piled up in the " starbur " (store- 
 house) five or six feet high, and, when it is to 
 be eaten, it can be broken into all kinds of 
 shapes, as it is so brittle. This is the only 
 kind of bread they have, and but little can be 
 eaten at once. 
 
 Everywhere, on the steamer or in the 
 towns, the Norwegians are ready to do one a 
 favor, or answer questions when they can 
 speak English, as most of the officers on the 
 steamboats can, and at the hotels ; and the 
 Government officials, whom one meets, will 
 point out this mountain, that glacier, or some 
 beautiful view, and repeat some legend con- 
 nected with the spot. One gentleman from 
 Christiana, who traveled with us nearly the 
 whole distance, was so exceedingly kind and 
 intelligent that he won all our hearts. He 
 expected to meet us on our return, but was 
 disappointed, and sent us by telegraph the 
 following message : 
 
 " Nordland, over thy silent waters, through
 
 To the Volga. 55 
 
 thy ever-lighted air, thou unfoldest for the 
 traveler's wondering sight thy magic, lofty 
 panorama, pointing to heaven ; there springs 
 forth the pure the root on earth, the crown 
 in heaven. May we meet there. God bless 
 you all, and may He carry you safe and saved 
 to your distant homes. 
 
 " Yours truly, C. NIELSEN." 
 
 This shows the kindess of the people. At 
 Tromso a gentleman went a long distance 
 out of his way to show me the post-office. 
 One of the girls on the cariole, at the end of 
 the route, when I gave her a small sum of 
 money, as is customary to the one who ac- 
 companies you, shook hands with me several 
 times ; such is the custom when they receive 
 a gift. 
 
 One would judge that most of the boys 
 are named Olaf or Oscar, and they seem to 
 worship Saint Olaf. On our cariole ride 
 through the country, we found the boy had 
 directed us out of our way about six miles to 
 Stiktesad. The view was most beautiful, and 
 all at once the boy pointed to a monument 
 and stopped the horse. There was a well- 
 trod path to an ornamented fence surround- 
 ing a monument erected to the memory of 
 Saint Olaf, who fell in the famous battle in
 
 56 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 the annals of Norway, July agth, 1030. There 
 is also a beautiful church "erected to his 
 memory near the spot where he was killed, 
 and everybody visiting the neighborhood 
 goes to this monument ; many Norwegians 
 make a pilgrimage to it, so the boy took it 
 for granted that we also wanted to go there. 
 We did not care anything for Saint Olaf, and 
 we did not like to be taken out of our way 
 six miles at that time of night, when we had 
 twenty-five miles farther to go. 
 
 Our journey by steamer, with the small 
 state-rooms, and many other inconveniences, 
 would have been tedious enough but for the 
 magnificent scenery, the delightful weather, 
 the winds, the play of the light and shade, 
 the purity of the atmosphere all quite un- 
 like the natural features that we have any- 
 where seen either in Europe or America. The 
 waters seem to be full of fish whales, cod, 
 herring, salmon, and many others, which are 
 the source of immense revenue to Norway. 
 The long line of warehouses at the landings 
 in every place are to store fish, and all over 
 the rocks, in many places, they are packing 
 or drying fish ; and long lines of girls can be 
 seen unloading codfish from the vessels, pass- 
 ing the fish from one to the other, others
 
 To the Volga. 57 
 
 spreading them out on the rocks to dry, and 
 others piling them up in round piles, over 
 which are placed dome-shaped coverings 
 when the weather is wet. 
 
 There seems to be an infinity of birds. 
 Swan, geese, pelicans, grebe ducks, auk ducks, 
 gulls, etc. The eider duck is a great curiosity. 
 We brought away an eider down quilt, which 
 is quite curious to our friends, as it is made 
 of the skins of the male eider duck. 
 
 Our tour through Norway was a great suc- 
 cess. There was so much that was grand, 
 picturesque, new to us and exciting. It cul- 
 minated in our journey, by cariole, through 
 the far-famed valleys of the Romsdal and 
 Gudbrandsdal, over two hundred miles. The 
 cariole I have already described as peculiar to 
 Norway.
 
 58 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 IV. 
 
 MOLDE. A NATIVE WEDDING. THE BEAUTIES 
 OF NATURE. CHURCH AT LISTAD. 
 
 WE started from Throndhjem by steamer 
 to Molde, one of the most beautiful 
 towns in Norway. Our attention was con- 
 tinually attracted by the most beautiful roses 
 and rare flowers in every yard, and in the 
 windows of all the dwellings, both of the rich 
 and the poor. The valley is so sheltered by 
 hills and mountains that vegetation is unusu- 
 ally luxurious, and such roses and honey- 
 suckles running over the houses in the middle 
 of August we have never seen. 
 
 There was a grand wedding in the church 
 the day we were there. The daughter of the 
 sheriff was married, and all the flags were fly- 
 ing from the vessels, and from almost every 
 house, and from the villas on the mountain 
 sides, the young ladies were out on the streets 
 in their gayest attire. Roses and flowers 
 were taken to the church in great profusion,
 
 To the Volga. 59 
 
 and a more beautiful scene we have never 
 witnessed. 
 
 Everywhere in Scandinavia we notice that 
 the fine dwellings and public buildings have 
 a flagstaff, and on all public occasions the 
 people run up the union-jack and the flag of 
 their nation, which gives a gay appearance ; 
 and to this is added the display of flags in 
 the harbor, where each vessel runs up the 
 colors of it nationality. 
 
 The views from the mountains are the most 
 picturesque in Norway. The Romsdalhorn, 
 and the long range of peculiar shaped moun- 
 tains covered with snow, the lakes and fjords, 
 with the Atlantic ocean stretching out to the 
 west, make a charming picture. This place 
 has become so attractive, by reason of its 
 scenery, fishing and hunting, that a large 
 hotel is to be erected here the coming season, 
 to accommodate the numerous tourists. 
 
 We leave this place by steamer on the 
 Romsdal fjord, winding our way out into the 
 open sea until we enter the fjord. The ride 
 the entire distance is most enchanting, with 
 the high mountains ranging from five to six 
 thousand feet, covered with snow and 
 glaciers, and on the side of the fjord, nestling 
 in among the hills, the beautiful white and
 
 6o Prom the Land of the Midnight Si/n 
 
 red farm-houses and out-buildings, and an oc- 
 casional kirke (church) on an eminence, the 
 green hillsides and valleys, quite in contrast 
 with the bare rocks along the Norwegian 
 coast, that we have been looking at in our 
 journey to the North Cape. 
 
 We arrive at Veblungsnaes, at the head of 
 the fjord, amidst a heavy rainstorm, and find 
 our carioles in waiting, and, as they are not 
 covered, we get wet through on our ride to 
 Aak, the first station, where we are glad to stay 
 overnight, and dry our clothing by the huge 
 kitchen fireplace. After supper at this old 
 unique hotel, we all go out to get a view of 
 the Romsdalhorn, usually known as the 
 Horn, which is over five thousand feet high, 
 with a horn-shaped rock running up into the 
 air over eight hundred feet from the top of 
 the mountain. In every direction are large 
 mountains, over six thousand feet high, and 
 covered with snow. All at once the sun 
 comes out, and throws its light over the dis- 
 tant heights and on the green hillsides, 
 various shades of green, gold and silver, with 
 a rainbow spanning the whole, enchants us, 
 and we all stand in admiration of this never- 
 to-be-forgotten sunset at the Aak Hotel 
 under the mountains.
 
 To the Volga. 61 
 
 Some of the ladies of our party are sketch- 
 ing the scene, but it is impossible to put in 
 the continual beautiful lights and shades 
 which \ve have noticed are peculiar to Nor- 
 way. The young landlord at our hotel keeps 
 us awake late telling of his numerous ex- 
 periences with Englishmen, while with them 
 as guide on their hunting and fishing excur- 
 sions. He is a good story-teller, and his 
 peculiar voice and broken English, and ex- 
 citing manner, short, stubby appearance, 
 with his long pipe in his mouth, are laugh- 
 able enough. 
 
 We are up early in the morning for our 
 three or four days' ride by cariole through 
 the most interesting part of Norway along 
 the Rauma and Lagen Valleys, known as the 
 Romsdal and Gudbransdal. The morning 
 was a delightful one, the sun clear, and the 
 air cool and bracing after the rain of the 
 night before. We soon rode along under the 
 lofty Romsdalhorn, extending perpendicu- 
 larly on one side of us, and the rapid Rausna, 
 full of cataracts and waterfalls, on the other. 
 The ride that day, and the novel, picturesque 
 scenes during a walk of eight or ten miles, 
 will not soon be effaced from our memory. 
 
 Some one calls this the valley of one thou-
 
 62 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 sand waterfalls ; some of them drop over 
 precipices more than two thousand feet high. 
 The walls of the gulley below have been 
 worn into deep caldrons by the action of the 
 water, which nearly disappears in spray 
 before it reaches the bottom, where its roar 
 is loudly reverberated. The whole drive is 
 one continued succession of surprises, with 
 lofty mountains and small houses along the 
 valley, white birches and alders by the road 
 side, and luxuriant pastures on the slopes of 
 the hills. 
 
 Some of our party seemed to think this 
 valley equal to the Yosemite in California, 
 but to me it does not appear so grand and 
 imposing, and not so picturesque as some 
 parts of Switzerland ; but it is peculiar to 
 itself, and well pays one fond of such scenery 
 to visit it. 
 
 We leave this valley, after a journey of 
 forty or fifty miles, and come to the Gud- 
 bransdal Valley, which is tame in compari- 
 son, but the ride gives us an opportunity to 
 see the peasantry and their farms, and pecu- 
 liar dress and mode of living. These cariole 
 rides are not recommended for their speed, 
 as one is likely to meet with many draw- 
 backs from want of horses and the dilatory
 
 To the Volga, 63 
 
 manner of the keepers at the stations, where 
 we were detained sometimes for two or three 
 hours. Only four or five horses are available 
 at each station, and if some one happens to 
 be in advance of you, you are obliged to wait 
 until the horses come back from the station 
 beyond, and then they have to be rested and 
 fed. Thus, instead of two days, as promised, 
 we were three and one-half days from Aak to 
 Lillehammer. and experienced many ludi- 
 crous scenes. Our meals were usually good, 
 as trout is abundant, and we had it at almost 
 every meal ; the bread of rye and oats was 
 thin as a wafer, hard and brittle. 
 
 At Domars we stayed several hours ; it is 
 on a high hill, and the air is fresh and in- 
 vigorating ; this point is at the junction of 
 the Gudbrandsdal, Dorufjeld and Throndh- 
 jem routes. Here we met three American 
 young ladies traveling alone, or rather with 
 only a courier ; we were surprised at their 
 independence for ladies so young ; they had 
 been to the North Cape, and were going to 
 spend the summer in Norway. In conversa- 
 tion, we found the youngest not over four- 
 teen or fifteen years of age ; \ve were in- 
 terested in seeing them pack themselves 
 away in their carioles, and drive off one
 
 64 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 after the other over the route we had just 
 traveled. 
 
 Our experience at the next station was not 
 an agreeable one, although the station mas- 
 ter claimed his descent from the first King of 
 Norway in 1030, " Harold Haanfagre," and 
 showed us several crowns, one of the old 
 King's and another a bride's silver crown, and 
 a number of old curiosities ; this man was so 
 displeased because one of our English bloods 
 came into the station on a canter, that he 
 would not allow us to have the horses for an 
 hour, and then only by coaxing and a prom- 
 ise from the young man that he should go 
 behind us. 
 
 It is delightful to notice how kind all the 
 Norwegians are to their horses ; every little 
 while the boy or girl who attends us will stop 
 them and step around to stroke their faces 
 and look over them to see if. they are sweat- 
 ing. Going up hill they also stop them and 
 let them get wind this young Englishman 
 caused us a great deal of trouble on account 
 of his fast driving, as the word was passed 
 along by the (skydot gut) boy to the other 
 stations to look out for him. 
 
 This is a historic valley and our intelligent 
 driver (Olaf Ees), who was valuable to us as
 
 To the Volga. 65 
 
 a courier, although he could speak hardly 
 a word of English, was so bright that he 
 managed to learn a good many words of us 
 and we of him it is easy to do this, as there 
 are many words in Norwegian and English 
 that are similar pointed out to us many his- 
 torical spots ; one was a mountain precipice 
 where three hundred Norwegian peasants 
 hurled down huge stones upon nine hundred 
 Scotch troops, in 1612, and killed nearly every 
 one of them, including Colonel Sinclair, the 
 commander. 
 
 The troops had just landed and were pil- 
 laging and robbing the peasants, and endeav- 
 oring to force their way through Norway to 
 join the Swedes ; a tablet in the rock com- 
 memorates the deed as follows : " Erindring 
 om BondernesTappered." A little further on 
 is a stone to show where Colonel Sinclair was 
 buried. 
 
 In the neighborhood we were shown the 
 (gaard steig) farm-house, where the leader of 
 the peasants \vho annihilated the Scottish 
 invaders lived ; near here is also the seat of 
 Dale Gudbrand, the powerful heathen oppo- 
 nent of Saint Olaf, and the scene of heathen 
 sacrificial rites. 
 
 On Sunday we attended church (kirke) at
 
 66 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 Listad ; the church is an old octagon, built in 
 1720, it is in a quaint style of architecture, 
 with a tower in the centre, which is painted 
 black ; inside were galleries all around the 
 building. When I entered I heard a voice 
 reading or praying, and looked around to see 
 where it came from, and for some time sup- 
 posed it was some one hid from view, but, 
 finally looking up, saw the priest perched 
 upon a high pulpit far above the audience. 
 He looked as if he might be the old reformer 
 Luther himself, with his long gown and 
 Elizabethian collar and ruffle around his 
 neck. 
 
 The peasants are very plainly dressed, the 
 Women wearing white handkerchiefs around 
 their necks and on their head ; barely one 
 had on a bonnet, and they looked queer 
 enough, as they would bow their heads and 
 then raise them again, all over the church. 
 Most all of the attendants were women. A 
 number brought their babes to have them 
 baptized. The priests are highly educated, 
 and much venerated by the peasants, who 
 speak lovingly of their self-sacrificing devo- 
 tion to them during the long and cold winter 
 nights, going from place to place over the 
 mountains to minister to their necessities.
 
 To the Volga. 67 
 
 The priests have small salaries, but con- 
 nected with each church is a (proestgaad) 
 parsonage, with a farm attached, which is 
 cultivated under the direction of the priest. 
 The building is usually an imposing farm- 
 house and out-buildings, the former painted 
 white, the latter red. The young people at 
 the station were preparing for a grand tea 
 party, for a Sunday night entertainment, 
 which they enjoyed hugely. 
 
 These valleys are spoken of as highly cul- 
 tivated, but to us the farms looked small, and 
 many of the houses inferior, and hardly any 
 cattle to be seen. The driver thought that 
 the cattle were off to the saeters, a pasture 
 place on the mountains, where the stock is 
 sent for the summer, and cared for by the 
 girls of the farm, generally living in little 
 huts, and returned to the farms when the 
 snow comes in the fall. 
 
 We passed continually waterfalls, and to- 
 day we had too many falls over our heads, or, 
 rather, on our heads, and had no protection 
 but our waterproof garments, which, how- 
 ever, proved equal to the situation. We 
 stopped to look at the Hunnerfos, a splendid 
 fall, spreading out over a great surface, with 
 numerous rapids.
 
 68 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 We were glad to reach Lillihammer, the 
 end of our cariole journey of three and one- 
 half days, tired and wet enough, and were 
 glad to continue our journey by steamer, on 
 the beautiful Lake Mjoesen, the longest in 
 Norway, being sixty-three miles in length- 
 On each side are beautiful farm-houses and 
 green hillsides, and the scenery quite in con- 
 trast with what we have been witnessing for 
 the past three or four weeks. At the end of 
 the lake we take railroad for the beautiful 
 city of Christiana, the capital of Norway, 
 where we spend a few days most agreeably, 
 visiting the various places of interest, among 
 them the " exposition " for Scandinavia, 
 which is now in progress. Here we do not 
 find much of interest, only what is peculiar 
 to the northern countries. Some of the paint- 
 ings in the art gallery are quite creditable, 
 especially those of some of the beautiful 
 fjords and fishing towns we had visited. We 
 were glad to see that some of the finest were 
 by Mr. Normann, a Norwegian artist, with 
 whom we had traveled to the North Cape. 
 He was continually taking sketches, and it 
 seems to me, no country in the world abounds 
 in such grand scenery for the artist's pencil. 
 
 The American consul, to whom I was
 
 To the Vofga. 69 
 
 favored with a letter of introduction, was very 
 attentive to us, and accompanied us through 
 Oscar Hall, and pointed out to us the beauti- 
 ful scenery around Christiana, and invited us 
 to his lovely villa, a short distance from the 
 city, where he has a farm of one hundred and 
 fifty acres adjoining. The buildings are ex- 
 tensive, and of an old style of Norwegian 
 architecture, of which I was anxious to ob- 
 tain a photograph, they were so quaint. The 
 grounds are laid out in the old English style 
 of parks and lakes. The consul's wife is an 
 American lady. He is a Norwegian, and I 
 wish all our consuls were so worthy of their 
 position. He rendered us much valuable ser- 
 vice in obtaining information for shipping 
 goods to America, and about the laws and 
 customs of the country. 
 
 Norway is greatly excited, politically, now, 
 and a great impeachment trial is going on in 
 Christiana, in the Parliament buildings, be- 
 fore the highest court. It seems the King, 
 Oscar II., vetoed some bill, passed by the 
 Parliament, and the ministry and counsellors 
 confirmed it, and the country became so 
 aroused about their rights being interfered 
 with, that they have undertaken to impeach 
 them. We were" in the court, but could not
 
 yo From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 understand a word. The names of the eleven 
 were handed to us, as printed and lying on 
 the desks of the impeaching court. 
 
 The peasants of Norway are republicans, 
 and are quite radical in their views, and are 
 jealous of any infringement upon their rights. 
 The inhabitants of the cities are, on the other 
 hand, conservative. We could not quite under- 
 stand the controversy, but by the excited dis- 
 cussions on the steamboats, and the pam- 
 phlets scattered over the country, we judged 
 the excitement to be at fever heat. 
 
 One of the leading papers here published 
 a review of Colonel Robert Ingersoll's lec- 
 tures on the Bible, and in the review printed 
 long extracts from his works, and for this the 
 paper has been summoned before the court of 
 Norway for "blasphemy," and this is also 
 creating a great deal of discussion, some of 
 the leading papers taking the ground that it 
 is interfering with the freedom of the press, 
 others that it is a dangerous, unlawful docu- 
 ment to print.
 
 To the Volga. 71 
 
 V. 
 
 THE KING AND HIS REALM. DESPOTISM TO- 
 WARD SENTIMENT. NORWAY AND SWEDEN 
 CONTRASTED. 
 
 OSCAR II. is King over Norway and Swe- 
 den, and yet the two nations do not seem 
 to have anything else in common ; they are 
 only united for defense. Their language, 
 habits and laws are distinct. Even in passing 
 from Norway to Sweden we had to undergo 
 an examination of our baggage, showing that 
 duties are charged on certain articles passing 
 from one country to the other. The King 
 lives most of the time in Stockholm, and the 
 people of Norway are jealous of it. He 
 comes to Christiana, according to law, when 
 Parliament convenes in September, but only 
 remains as long as he is obliged to, in order 
 to carry out the law. The King is much 
 liked by the aristocracy, and seems really to 
 be a man of ability and culture. The Ameri- 
 can Consul informed us that a literary asso- 
 ciation offered a premium for the best Scan-
 
 72 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 dinavian poem. The committee who were to 
 decide were not to know the authors of the 
 different poems, and when they selected the 
 poem they considered the best, they found 
 the author was King Oscar II., which much 
 pleased his admirers and the aristocracy. 
 
 When I asked the peasants, " Why do you 
 not have a republic in Norway, you are largely 
 in the majority ?" they replied, " We would 
 not be allowed to be a republic, other nations 
 would interfere." The situation in Norway 
 is becoming daily more serious ; the impeach- 
 ment trial of the ministers, just concluded, 
 has had the effect of irritating the King. The 
 late premier, whom the Supreme Court of 
 the kingdom sentenced to loss of office and a 
 heavy fine, is rewarded with the Serafimer 
 Cross, the highest distinction for civic merit ; 
 and another minister, who was also fined and 
 censured by the same tribunal, has been ap- 
 pointed chief of a new cabinet. All the 
 other lately appointed ministers are extreme 
 conservatives. 
 
 Every editor, whether in Norway or 
 Sweden, who has the courage to criticize the 
 King's conduct with any degree of spirit, is 
 unceremoniously thrown into jail, preliminary 
 to trial for offending his Majesty. With the
 
 To the Volga. 73 
 
 utmost nonchalance this same Majesty, how- 
 ever, writes a letter, or so-called dictamen, 
 expressing his opinion of the Norwegian 
 Parliament, and the highest tribunal of Nor- 
 way, and it is superfluous to remark that his 
 opinion is highly uncomplimentary ; but 
 when Bjorstjerne Bjornson in turn expresses 
 an equally uncomplimentary opinion of the 
 dictamen, its royal author responds by trying 
 the editor who has published Bjornson's let- 
 ter for crime n laesae majestatis. Bjornson, who 
 has been living in Paris during the last year, 
 as soon as the intelligence reached him, took 
 the first train for the North, and has now ar- 
 rived in Norway, and declared his purpose 
 to assume the responsibility for his own 
 words. Probably he has been imprisoned, 
 though no intelligence to that effect has yet 
 reached us. Intense excitement is reigning 
 throughout the country, and everybody asks 
 his neighbor, with bated breath, " What will 
 happen next?" That Bjornson will be tried 
 is inevitable, and the chances are that in that 
 trial the Government will be sowing the crop 
 of dragon-teeth which sooner or later will 
 sprout forth in armed men. 
 
 Some of the most valuable farms in Nor- 
 way would be spurned as a gift by American
 
 74 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 husbandmen, who are seldom content with 
 .places of sudden undulation, or indeed, with 
 anything but pieces of rich prairie or bottom 
 land. But the Norwegians are industrious 
 and thrifty grangers, have comfortable barns 
 and fine cattle, and generations of families 
 succeed each other in possessing and working 
 their mountain farmsteads. Their houses are 
 substantially constructed of wood, and inside 
 there is an air of comfort and cleanliness. 
 But what of the farm ? " Look about you," 
 says Chambers' Journal, " mountains hem us 
 in on all sides ; there is no room for fields as 
 we know them at home ; but grass grows 
 luxuriantly among the rocks, with -occasion- 
 ally a patch as large as an ordinary villa gar- 
 den ; there the farmer cuts a portion of his 
 hay crop on which his horses and cattle are 
 mainly dependent during the eight winter 
 months. But his hay field is yet wider 
 spread. Glance upwards some fifteen hun- 
 dred feet there, where an opening occurs in 
 the dwarf birch, and you will observe the 
 diminished form of a man busy at work. 
 That is the farmer, a thorough mountaineer, 
 cutting the grass which grows on yonder 
 narrow ledge of rock. He has been up since 
 early morn, and will probably not descend
 
 To the Volga. 75 
 
 till evening. Not a tuft of grass will be left 
 ungathered ; not a foot of level ground on 
 that steep and rugged mountain side but will 
 be visited, and its small crop carefully re- 
 moved by the industrious bergsman. If he 
 has a wide stretch of field (hill pasture or 
 moorland) in his boundary, the farmer erects 
 wooden sheds, in which he stores his hay till 
 winter, when, by an ingenious contrivance, he 
 has the whole rapidly and easily conveyed to 
 the valley. A familiar object in a Norwegian 
 glen is the strong steel wire which stretches 
 from the foot to the summit of the mountain. 
 Down this wire the bundles of hay are ex- 
 peditiously sent without labor, and then car- 
 ried in sledges to the steadings. Without 
 such a method many weary journeys would 
 be necessary ere the hay required for a long 
 winter could be brought down. It appears 
 the Norwegian farmer borrowed the idea of 
 his Jiay telegraph from his brother hillsmen 
 of ' L he Tyrol about eight years ago. The hay 
 crop is the product of natural grass, no seed 
 being sown nor any admixture of clover 
 being used. 
 
 Norway presents us with the grandest pic- 
 ture of the effects of peasant proprietorship ; 
 there the land has, from time immemorial,
 
 76 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 been the property of the laborer who tills it 
 it has never been poisoned by the foul curse 
 of feudalism. The title deeds of these pea- 
 sant holdings are in a dead language, and the 
 names of the peasants are those of the dis- 
 trict ; the results are marvellous. Land 
 which no English or American farmer would 
 or could cultivate under our agricultural sys- 
 tem, even if receiving a liberal bounty per 
 acre instead of paying rent, is there made to 
 support whole families, and that by the same 
 race as ourselves and in latitudes hundreds 
 of miles further north, some of it even within 
 the Arctic circle. 
 
 Sailing along the coast of Norway the 
 tourist passes here and there little oases, 
 called "stations," where the steam omnibus 
 halts to land and embark a passenger or two. 
 If a careful observer, he may learn that in the 
 midst of the rocky desolation there is a de- 
 posit of rock fragments and gravel left by an 
 ancient glacier in a hollow formerly filled 
 by the ice. This is cultivated, is a dairy farm 
 and fishing station, farmers and fishers being 
 all freeholders and capitalists, no such class 
 as laborers without property existing there. 
 
 One of the grandest of the Norwegian fjords 
 is the Geiranger ; it is walled by perpendicu-
 
 To the Volga. 77 
 
 lar precipices from one thousand to three 
 thousand feet high. Sailing along the fjord, 
 a boathouse is seen here and thereat the foot 
 of the dark wall. Looking skyward directly 
 above it may be seen what appear to be toy 
 houses on a gree.: patch ; closer observations 
 reveals moving objects ; a field-glass shows 
 that they are cattle, goats, and children, 
 tethered to bowlders to prevent them from 
 straying over the edge of the precipice. A 
 family resides up there, cultivating this bit of 
 ancient ground, backed by craggy mountain 
 tops, with a foreground of precipice above 
 the fjord. The only cummunication between 
 these eagle-nest farmers and the outer world 
 is by the boat below ; how the boat is reached, 
 where is the staircase of ledges on the face of 
 the precipice, is incomprehensible to the pass- 
 ing tourist ; in most cases no indication of a 
 track is visible. Nothing but absolute pro- 
 prietorship by the cultivator could bring such 
 land into cultivation latitute sixty-two de- 
 grees, altitude two thousand to three thous- 
 and feet ; summer only three to four months 
 long ; the ground covered with snow during 
 six to eight months of every year requires 
 a race such as we found the Norwegians to 
 be : intelligent, kind, frugal and industripus.
 
 78 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 The five hundred thousand of them now in 
 our own country, and more coming in every 
 year, will be welcomed as the right kind of 
 citizens to make good republicans, and the 
 more that come the better. 
 
 We had the good luck to witness a very in- 
 teresting ceremonial namely, a village wed- 
 ding, when about fifty persons assembled, all 
 in their holiday costume the women in 
 bright-colored petticoats and bodices, with 
 beautiful white chemisettes. They were a 
 very pleasant looking group the men strong, 
 well-knit fellows, but all fair-skinned, with 
 flaxen hair and kind blue eyes. 
 
 The bride was a demure young woman, 
 % somewhat overweighted with necklaces and 
 bracelets (which we understood to be heir- 
 looms), but more especially by an immense 
 gilt crown running up in tall points to a 
 height of about eight inches, and studded with 
 many colored crystals. It was a most gorge- 
 ous head-dress, and belongs to the village. 
 
 Every village is supposed to have one, 
 which is hired for the occasion by the parents 
 of the bride. But, like the plain ribbon or 
 snood of the Scottish highland maid, no Nor- 
 wegian bride is entitled to wear this crown of 
 honor unless her character is above suspicion ,
 
 To the Volga. 79 
 
 and this, unhappily, is so very exceptional, 
 that the hiring of the crown is now consid- 
 ered almost invidious on the part of the few 
 who may certainly claim it ; so the custom is 
 dying out, and we esteemed ourselves fortu- 
 nate in having witnessed a nuptial cermony in 
 which this picturesque bridal decoration was 
 worn. 
 
 There was no architectural beauty in the 
 very plain, barn-like church, \vhich had no 
 pretense at decoration. The Lutheran ser- 
 vice, which, of course, was conducted in Nor- 
 wegian, seemed to us like that of the Scotch 
 Presbyterian church All the men sat on one 
 side and the women on the other, according 
 to the usual custom. The parson, in his 
 black gown and white fluted collar, per- 
 formed the simple service, in which a wed- 
 ding ring shaped like a double heart did duty 
 in place of our plain circlet. He then as- 
 cended the pulpit and delivered a very long 
 exhortation which, being beyond our com- 
 prehension, was to us only suggestive of 
 Longfellow's charming lines : 
 
 " Long was the good man's sermon, 
 Yet it seemed not long to me 
 For he spake of Ruth the beautiful, 
 And still I thought of thee."
 
 80 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 There was one feature in the ceremony 
 which we noted with especial interest, therein 
 recognizing a lingering trace of pre-Christian 
 days. The pulpit stands in the centre of a 
 large chancel, and, at a pause in the service, 
 all the wedding party walked solemnly thrice 
 around it, in sidewise procession a pretty 
 revival of old Norse paganism. 
 
 Any one with an observing eye cannot but 
 notice a great difference between Norway 
 and Sweden, while visiting the two countries, 
 although under one king, Oscar II., who is a 
 Swede. The relation between the two coun- 
 tries does not seem to be cordial, and I 
 should not be surprised if there should be, 
 before many years, a permanent breach. The 
 constitutions are quite different, that of Nor- 
 way being more democratic in its character 
 than that of the sister kingdom, and t'rfe peo- 
 ple of the former seem more democratic, and 
 do not worship the king, as many seem to do 
 in Sweden. There have been, however, great 
 changes in the Constitution of Sweden since 
 1860, under Oscar I., who was exceedingly 
 popular, and the Constitution of Sweden has 
 been brought more into harmony with that 
 of Norway, with its two Chambers, both now 
 elective.
 
 To the Volga. 81 
 
 In visiting the half dozen splendid palaces, 
 maintained by the two governments for the 
 king, four in Sweden and two -in Norway, 
 one can not but wonder that intelligent peo- 
 ple could be satisfied at the immense expense 
 it involves to keep up royalty. With a popu- 
 lation of only about five million (two million 
 in Norway, and three million in Sweden) 
 these great palaces are kept up just to sup- 
 port the king's family. The cost of the 
 palaces, and maintaining of the king's house- 
 hold, no doubt is more than it costs to main- 
 tain all the great benevolent and educational 
 institutions and hospitals in any one State of 
 the United States. 
 
 I took note of what I saw in the palaces, 
 and the beautiful grounds and hunting parks 
 attached to them, but to go into the details 
 of what I saw would be only a repetition of 
 what has already been described in other 
 countries. Gold and silver dining sets, the 
 most expensive paintings and statuary, 
 Sevres ware, and gobelin tapestry, and furni- 
 ture of the most expensive nature, are not too 
 good for each of the six palaces of the King 
 of Sweden and Norway. 
 
 In traveling through the two countries we 
 did not see school-houses scattered along the
 
 82 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 country, as in the United States, and on in- 
 quiry of our courier, I learn that the schools 
 in the country are held in the farm-houses. 
 Education in Sweden and Norway is compul- 
 sory, all children being required to attend 
 school who cannot satisfy the authorities that 
 they are receiving sufficient education at 
 home. 
 
 In Sweden places of instruction are divided 
 into three kinds, the folkskolor, or " people's 
 schools," answering to our public schools ; 
 all mannaskolor, " public schools," which are 
 to be found in all the larger towns, and the 
 universities. All of these are under the con- 
 trol of the ecclesiastical (and educational) 
 department, and partly under the bishops 
 and clergy of the diocese to which they belong. 
 
 The State churches are Lutheran. The re- 
 ligious instruction is entirely under the 
 management of the pastor. The minimum of 
 subjects taught before a pupil can leave 
 school and be confirmed, are reading, writing, 
 arithmetic, church catechism, Bible history 
 and singing. But the higher branches are 
 also taught. Besides these, popular schools 
 of a more advanced kind, called folkhogskolor, 
 designed to give a higher culture to the labor- 
 ing classes, are being established in different
 
 To the Volga. 83 
 
 parts of the country. To each of the higher 
 schools a library is attached. In all schools 
 botany is taught in the lower classes. The 
 bishop of each diocese seems to have control 
 of, or is supervisor, of the schools in the dio- 
 cese, and he appoints an inspector for each 
 school. 
 
 Great importance is attached to gymnastic 
 exercises throughout Sweden, both as a 
 means of giving a healthy physique, and also 
 as a remedy against certain kinds of bodily 
 ailment. For such purposes the Gymnastika 
 Centralinstiut was founded by Per Henzik 
 Ling, the great inventor of Swedish gymnas- 
 tics. This establishment is divided into three 
 departments. One to train officers to super- 
 intend gymnastics in the army and navy. A 
 second to train teachers of gymnastics for the 
 town and country schools, and a third for the 
 study of gymnastics as a system of medical 
 treatment. The system has been adopted 
 with more or less success in Germany, Eng- 
 land, and other countries. 
 
 We visited the great university at Upsala, 
 with its one thousand two hundred students, 
 about forty or fifty miles from Stockholm. 
 This is considered the historical and intel- 
 lectual centre of the kingdom to which it
 
 84 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 belongs. Anciently it also formed the strong- 
 hold of Paganism, memorials of which 
 abound in the tombs and monuments of the 
 neighborhood. The town looked old, and 
 does not have the appearance of life and 
 thrift. The old cathedral is the first object 
 that attracts attention. It was begun in the 
 year 1260, and finished in 1435. It * s built 
 upon the site of the old heathen temple, 
 Upsala, an edifice spoken of in the early Saga 
 legends to have been of enormous size and 
 immense wealth. 
 
 We were here more interested to see the 
 place where the great Linnaeus was buried 
 in the cathedral than to see the tombs of the 
 Kings of Sweden. We were shown the place 
 where Linnaeus lived ; we see the evidences 
 of his genius in the great botanical institu- 
 tion built here in connection with the college 
 herbarium, fine floral collection and many 
 rare plants, although in latitude of more than 
 sixty degrees. There is a fine building in the 
 gardens, with a good statue of Linnaeus in a 
 sitting posture with a book, on which is the 
 little flower called Linnaa borealis, which 
 has been adopted as the emblem of the great 
 botanist. We saw this flower in the pine 
 forests in the north of Norway, and picked a
 
 To the Volga. 85 
 
 quantity of it to bring home with us. 
 Linnaeus is called, by the Swedes " The 
 King of Flowers." He was the first one to 
 perfect anything like a systematic and 
 scientific manner of classification of plants 
 and animals. 
 
 In the library we see the famous Codex 
 Argejitiis, a translation of the four gospels 
 into Maeso Gothic by Bishop Uphilas, dating 
 from the fourth century, written on one hun- 
 dred and eighty-eight leaves of parchment, 
 in gold and silver letters, on a reddish 
 ground this was captured in the thirty 
 years' war. We are shown here the three 
 great mounds, or burial places, from the 
 bronze age. They are attributed to the 
 heathen gods Odin, Thor and Frey, whence 
 we have Onsday (Wednesday), Thorsday 
 (Thursday), Freyday (Friday). These mounds 
 look very much like the mounds seen in 
 many of the Middle and Western States, and 
 are interesting as suggesting the sources of 
 our names for the days of the week. The 
 highest mound, sixty-four feet, was cut 
 through in 1864, to enable the Universal 
 Ethnographical Congress, that met in Upsala, 
 to examine the inside of it. Fragments of a 
 skeleton and some ornaments were found.
 
 86 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 Hundreds of smaller mounds can be seen for 
 miles around. 
 
 Stockholm is one of the most beautiful 
 cities in Europe, and has a population of one 
 hundred and seventy-five thousand to two 
 hundred thousand. The situation of it on 
 islands, on a plain and on rocky hills, sur- 
 rounded by water and numerous islands in 
 almost every direction, makes it exceedingly 
 picturesque, and it is well called the "Venice 
 of the North." From the Belvidere and the 
 top of the elevator one is astonished at the 
 lovely panorama of the city, and its forest of 
 trees and rocks which surround it ; Lake 
 Malar, with the beautiful islands covered 
 with verdure, the summer villas of the wealthy 
 citizens, and the fifty steamers plying in every 
 direction ; the Baltic at our feet, with its 
 busy traffic, all presents a scene of unrivalled 
 beauty and attractiveness. 
 
 We are glad to have Sunday come, and to 
 take a day of rest, for this sight-seeing keeps 
 one busy with body and mind. We attended 
 service at the cathedral, and at the Katharina 
 Kyaka, founded in 1609, on the spot where 
 the victims of the " Stockholm Bloodbath," 
 of 1389, had been interred, where a large num- 
 ber of burghers had been cruelly murdered.
 
 To the Volga. 87 
 
 \Ve notice the priests in Sweden do not 
 wear the Eii.zabethian collar as in Norway. 
 The services seemed to us just like those of 
 the Roman Catholic church ; the priest be- 
 fore the altar in his scarlet and gold vest- 
 ments, and the ringing of the little bells and 
 turning his face to the altar, with his back to 
 the audience, and many other things gave it 
 the appearance of a Catholic rather than a 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 We expected to hear splendid music in the 
 city of Jennie Lind and Christina Nillsson, 
 who have so charmed us by their wonderful 
 voices ; no one has ever seemed to me to 
 equal Jennie Lind in the bird-like sweetness 
 of her voice. But the music in the churches 
 has slow, minor tones, and nothing especially 
 to note in the voices in any of the churches 
 which we attended. Near this church is the 
 house where Swedenborg, the celebrated 
 mathematician, philosopher and author of the 
 New Jerusalem church doctrines, lived ; our 
 guide informed us that there are none of his 
 followers in Sweden, but that an Englishman 
 (there are many of those who follow his relig- 
 ious system in England) purchased the little 
 summer house that was in the garden, and 
 took it to England.
 
 88 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 All about the city, on the islands, where 
 one goes by steamer, are gardens, and one 
 hears most delightful music. On Sunday 
 evening there were great crowds of people 
 at King Park, in the center of the city, to 
 hear the music and to promenade ; opposite 
 our hotel near the palace, on the River Nord, 
 which runs rapidly between Lake Malar and 
 the Baltic, is a garden where every night is 
 music and we found this a most attractive 
 place. 
 
 Our ride by steamer to Drottingholm Pal- 
 ace on Lake Malar, a lake about eighty miles 
 long, with over one thousand two hundred 
 islands on which are many beautiful villas, 
 the summer residences of the wealthy citizens 
 of Stockholm, was an enchanting one. The 
 palace was built in the sixteenth century and 
 contains many sumptuously furnished apart- 
 ments and paintings, and the grounds are 
 laid out in the old French style with sculp- 
 ture in bronze and marble. 
 
 There seems to be something new to see in 
 Stockholm every day, and our time there 
 seemed altogether too short, and we put this 
 city down as a place to visit again. The pic- 
 ture gallery in the museum building contains 
 many works of art by the old masters, but we
 
 To the Volga. 89 
 
 were glad to turn our attention to those of 
 the Swedish school which represent land- 
 scape, fjord, lake and mountain scenery by 
 Tidemand, whose paintings in Oscar Hall, 
 in Christiana, around the dining-room near 
 the ceiling and representing the " Seven Ages 
 of Peasant Life," certainly indicate that he is 
 one of the best artists in Scandinavia ; and 
 his paintings here, where there are quite a 
 number, show great genius as an artist, and 
 the people are proud of him ; our consul at 
 Christiana thinks he is superior to any other 
 Swedish artist. 
 
 I have before remarked that they have 
 adopted in Norway and Sw r eden the " Gotten- 
 borg system " of regulating the liquor traffic ; 
 it is sold to what is called a Temperance 
 Company, who must pay all profits into the 
 municipality, and no one is allowed to sell 
 who has any interest in the profits. Or a 
 city or a district may refuse to sell liquor at 
 retail. Liquor shops are closed in the coun- 
 try, and in town may be closed by the author- 
 ities, on Sunday and holidays. Stockholm 
 adopted the " Gottenborg system" in 1877, 
 and the police statistics show that drunk- 
 enness and crime are steadily decreasing. 
 
 At the tables, at hotels and private houses,
 
 90 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 they have a liquor called pomaraine, a kind of 
 " schnaaps," and most of the gentlemen and 
 ladies drink a small wine-glass full before 
 eating, which they say is an appetizer. It is 
 villainous tasting stuff with a flavor like 
 chloroform and is made of potatoes. They 
 have a curious custom before each meal ; a 
 decanter of this liquor is placed on a side 
 table with all kinds of cold meat and fish, and 
 the guests are invited into the dining-room, 
 each one steps up and takes a glass of liquor 
 and helps himself to the cold meats, then 
 walks around the room or out of doors and 
 chats for awhile before he is invited to sit 
 down to a regular warm meal. Some of the 
 party, not understanding this custom, made 
 the full meal on the cold viands, not knowing 
 that they were merely an introduction, or 
 appetizer as they call it.
 
 To the Volga. 91 
 
 VI. 
 
 ACROSS THE BALTIC TO FINLAND. THE CHAR- 
 ACTER OF THE FINS. 
 
 OUR ride across the Baltic Sea, from Stock- 
 holm to Finland was one of the most 
 charming of our tour ; the scenery, for forty 
 miles, until you reach the open sea, is one of 
 continued picturesque islands, and on each 
 side are more of the beautiful villas of the 
 wealthy citizens of Stockholm. 
 
 After a good night's sleep and a smooth 
 sea, we find ourselves in the morning winding 
 our way among the innumerable Aland 
 Islands ; the sailing is intricate and danger- 
 ous, but picturesque ; we are obliged to stop 
 nights on account of the danger and diffi- 
 culty in navigating among the rocks. 
 
 The Gulf of Finland, which we enter, is in 
 possession of Russia ; by occupying the 
 Aland Islands she is only twenty miles from 
 Stockholm, and is, therefore, brought into 
 close proximity to Sweden. Our passengers 
 on the steamer are mostly Fins and a few
 
 g Prom the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 Russians, and a more intelligent class of 
 people than the former we never met ; they 
 were evidently from the higher classes, and 
 one of the young ladies was reported to be 
 the belle of the capital of Finland. Of the 
 party, a prominent lawyer and a member of 
 the Senate, could speak a little English, and 
 they gave us much valuable information. 
 
 Russians are quite jealous of the privileges 
 granted by the Emperor Alexander I. to Fin- 
 land on the conquest of the country, and 
 these have been further guaranteed by suc- 
 ceeding Emperors ; they have a Senate of 
 their own, composed of two hundred mem- 
 bers, belonging to four orders nobility, 
 clergy, elected by the clergy and professors 
 of colleges ; the industrial interests repre- 
 senting the large towns and cities, and the 
 peasants representing the farmers. It is 
 necessary that all or a majority agree in pas- 
 sing any law, and no troops can be raised 
 without their consent ; in the Crimean war 
 only about five hundred troops were from 
 Finland, just enough to say to the Emperor 
 that she was represented ; they have their 
 own army and navy, educational and postal 
 systems. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia is not called Empe-
 
 : A LAPLANDER'S HfT.
 
 To the Volga. 93 
 
 ror of Finland, but Grand Duke of Finland. 
 The population is over two million ; they are 
 mostly Protestants (Lutherans), and they are 
 obliged to teach their own language and not 
 the Russian in their schools ; indeed they are 
 allowed a kind of local self-government. 
 They do not like Russia, but with Russia 
 " might makes right," and they cannot help 
 themselves, as Russia feels the importance of 
 controlling the Baltic, and until her surrender 
 to Peter the Great, in 1809, Finland was fight- 
 ing the ground between Russia and Sweden 
 continually. 
 
 We stop at Abo, the former capital of Fin- 
 land, which was removed to Helsingfors on 
 account of her people being wanting in loy- 
 alty to Russia. We had been warned to have 
 our passports " vised " by the Russian Consul 
 at Berlin, and to be doubly prepared, we had 
 it done also before leaving Stockholm ; at 
 Abo, a number of Russian custom-officers 
 came on board the steamer and took our pass- 
 ports, and examined closely our baggage, but 
 in a gentlemanly manner, quite in contrast 
 with some of our New York custom-house 
 officers. 
 
 No person is allowed to go in or out of 
 Russia, not even her own citizens, without a
 
 94 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 passport ; the officers examined every nook 
 and corner of the steamer, taking the bed- 
 clothes from the berths and looking under 
 them ; the captain informed us that he is sub- 
 ject to a heavy fine if any one is found on 
 the steamer without a passport. 
 
 We got into a " drosky," a peculiar low 
 kind of a vehicle, for a drive about the city, 
 and especially to visit the old cathedral. Abo 
 is the most ancient city in Finland and has a 
 population of over twenty-five thousand, not 
 a large number for a city that dates from the 
 twelfth century, when Christianity was first 
 introduced into this .wild and cold region. 
 The cathedral of " Saint Henriks " is not in- 
 teresting architecturally, but historically ; it 
 was the cradle of Christianity in Finland ; the 
 vaults of the chapels are like the Catacombs 
 and are filled with the remains of the early 
 distinguished families. On one of the monu- 
 ments is an epitaph to " Catherina Mans- 
 dotten," a girl taken from the ranks of the 
 people by Eric XIV., in the twelfth century, 
 and who, after having won the Swedish dia- 
 dem, returned to Finland and died in ob- 
 scurity, while her royal husband ended his 
 days in prison. 
 
 There is a beautiful stained window in the
 
 To the Volga. 95 
 
 chapel, representing the Queen Catherina, 
 leaving her glory and grandeur, which she 
 bequeaths to Sweden, and descending the 
 steps to the throne, with her hand affection- 
 ately placed on the shoulders of a page, 
 which typifies Finland. The other page, of 
 whom she appears to be taking leave, repre- 
 senting Sweden. Many ancient monuments 
 are here, but the most interesting, the bones 
 of Saint Henriks, have been removed to Saint 
 Petersburg. There is here an old castle, 
 built in the thirteenth century, and other ob- 
 jects of interest. We ascend the observatory 
 in the botanical gardens, and get a fine view 
 of the beautiful city and surrounding country.
 
 g6 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 VII. 
 
 * 
 
 ST. PETERSBURG, THE GREAT CAPITAL. SIGHTS 
 OF INTEREST. THE PALACE AND FORTRESSES. 
 
 WE can hardly realize that we are in this 
 great city of a million population, 
 founded by Peter the Great, in 1703. Some 
 one describes St. Petersburg as " the eye by 
 which Russia looks upon Europe." It is built 
 on both banks of the Neva, and on several 
 islands, which one can see from the cupola of 
 St. Isaac in a clear day. Fourteen rivers and 
 streams, and. eight canals, intersect the city 
 in various parts. It was the design of Peter 
 the Great to build the city on the north side 
 of the Neva, formerly belonging to Sweden, 
 which was taken "by him from Sweden, but 
 his councillors advised a different course, as 
 Sweden might win back her possessions, and 
 he would lose his city. 
 
 Everywhere one sees relics of this wonder- 
 ful man. Our second day in St. Petersburg 
 was a holiday " Transfiguration day " and 
 we concluded to spend our time in visiting
 
 To the Volga. 97 
 
 the churches, and witnessing the services, and 
 seeing the people. Our hotel is on St. Isaac's 
 square. Our rooms front the grand old 
 cathedral of St. Isaac, and we never tire of 
 admiring its grand proportions of " modified 
 Byzantine " simple and lofty style of archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 All the ground about St. Petersburg is flat 
 and uninteresting, but the situation of the 
 cathedral is on one of the largest squares, and 
 is surrounded by lofty, splendid buildings, 
 which give to it an imposing appearance. It 
 is remarkable how different from most of tHe 
 Greek churches it is, with hardly an orna- 
 ment, built of stone from the Finland granite 
 quarries. There are one hundred and twelve 
 pillars, sixty feet high and seven feet in 
 diameter. Over the main building is the 
 central cupola, about three hundred feet 
 high, supported by thirty pillars of polished 
 granite. The cupola is covered with gold, 
 and on the top ball is a golden cross, three 
 hundred and thirty-six feet above the ground. 
 One hundred and eighty-five pounds of gold 
 cover the cupola, not including the cross. The 
 interior of the church is grand and gorgeous 
 in the extreme, with its different colored 
 malachite colums and lapis lazuli pillars. The
 
 98 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 floor and walls are of polished marble from the 
 Russian quarries in Siberia. All the beauti- 
 ful paintings on the walls are by Russian 
 artists. The gilding is profuse, as in all 
 Greek churches. We were glad to be located 
 near it, that we may often visit it, and get a 
 view of the city after ascending nearly five 
 hundred and fifty steps. It was commenced 
 by Catherine II., but half completed by Paul. 
 One Russian writer paid the penalty of exile 
 to Siberia by saying, " This church is a sym- 
 bol of three reigns, granite, brick and destruc- 
 tion." One notices, on entering a Greek 
 church, large piles of candles, which are 
 being sold to every one that comes in, 
 who light them and go up to the altar, 
 or pass them up through the crowd of 
 worshippers, to be placed in one of the 
 holes in a large silver stand, after crossing 
 his breast a number of times with the thumb 
 and two forefingers of his right hand and 
 falling oh his knees before the altar. His 
 prayers are short, and he goes out with his 
 face to the altar, kneeling and crossing him- 
 self. They seem to think the offering of a 
 lighted candle has some miraculous power 
 which saves them from their sins. I under- 
 stand the sale of wax candles is a source of
 
 To the Volga. 99 
 
 large income to the church. We saw a babe 
 in the mother's arms placing a candle in its 
 place and crossing itself under its mother's 
 instructions. " Flame with the worshippers 
 is a symbol of the continued life of the good." 
 
 Every one in these crowded churches to- 
 day, men, women and children, seemed so 
 sad and devotional, that one could not but 
 feel that this was true devotion to their 
 Maker according to their knowledge. There 
 are no sacred ceremonies, no marriage, no 
 burial, and no baptism without a light, either 
 lamp or wax candle, and illuminations are a 
 great feature in Russian churches. 
 
 There are no organs or musical instruments 
 in their churches, and all the voices are male. 
 We never listened to such grand, harmonious 
 music, as we heard in the Russian churches. 
 We were told that the choicest music was at 
 the " Monastery of St. Alexander Nevsky," 
 one of the most noted in Russia, and for its 
 building and decoration Peter the Great ex- 
 pended immense sums. The marble was 
 brought from foreign countries, the precious 
 stones from Siberia, and pearls in abundance. 
 Paintings from Rubens, and other of the old 
 masters, adorn the walls. The shrine of 
 Alexander Nevsky is of silver, and weighs
 
 ioo From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 nearly thirty-five thousand pounds. Over it 
 are silver angels as large as life, with silver 
 trumpets, as everywhere there are life-size 
 portraits of Peter the Great and Catharine 
 II. The archbishop officiated to-day, and the 
 ceremony was extremely gorgeous with the 
 gold and silver wardrobes of the archbishop 
 and priests. On one side of the altar were 
 thirty-five monks, and opposite thirty-five boy 
 singers. The bishop would intone the 
 prayers, and one side would respond and 
 then the other, and following altogether. 
 The bishop was very large, with a rich, heavy 
 bass voice, and we never heard such soprano 
 and alto voices from any, however, as these 
 monks possessed. The harmony was like the 
 rich tones of an organ, rising to the grandest 
 sounds, and falling to the minor, soft, sweet 
 tones of the organ. There did not seem to be 
 many voices, but one voice. We never ex- 
 perienced such thrilling delight in music. 
 The bishop seemed to be preparing for sacra- 
 ment, and the unleavened cakes were borne 
 on a silver altar by six priests through the 
 cathedral, followed by a procession of priests, 
 and the altar placed on the floor, where the 
 carpet, or rug, had been prepared for it, and 
 the singers all marched down singing ; and.
 
 RUSSIAN VILLAGE AND PEASANTS.
 
 To the Volga. 
 
 after various performances and burning of 
 incense, and swinging silver incense lamps, 
 they return to the main altar, after stopping 
 at different places, once directly in front of 
 us, and the singing was continued until the 
 end of the service. All of the service by the 
 voice was intoning or singing. 
 
 The church is a fashionable one, and the 
 Emperor is sometimes present. They show 
 you in the cloister an immense number of 
 gold staffs, pearls and precious stones, and 
 the bed on which Peter died. 
 
 We visit the " Preobrajenski," or fortress 
 church, adorned within and without with 
 trophies from conquered nations. We found 
 the greatest crowd of people here, outside and 
 in, and we could hardly push our way through, 
 so great was the mass of human beings, all 
 peasants or common people, with the peculiar 
 dress of the women, with red bodices and red 
 handkerchiefs on their heads. We soon 
 learned the cause of the crowd. Alexander 
 II. 's uniform and sword, with spots of blood 
 upon it, which he wore when assassinated, 
 were exposed to view in a silver case, and the 
 people lingered around it as if the Czar had 
 just been killed. I understand the people 
 never weary of looking at them and stopping
 
 102 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 at the beautiful chapel erected where the 
 bombs exploded and the Czar was killed. 
 Even shrines are in the railroad stations with 
 a picture of him, which the people worship. 
 Evidently the common people are loyal to the 
 autocratic power, and they do not forget that 
 Alexander II. saved more men from slavery 
 than any other human being by the eman- 
 cipation of twenty-two million of serfs in 
 1861, giving them their liberty. The Nihi- 
 lists evidently do not come from this class, 
 but, as our intelligent guide said, from 
 the nobles who had their means of sup- 
 port taken from them by the emancipation 
 act. They were accustomed to hire out 
 their serfs and received a large income 
 from that source, and the enemies of the 
 government are in its own household. The 
 lower classes, our guide informed us, would 
 almost take the life of any one heard saying 
 anything against the Czar. 
 
 Sunday was as quiet and orderly a day in 
 St. Petersburg as in any city in the world, and 
 the churches in the morning were crowded 
 with people, and the great bells, one weighing 
 sixty-four thousand pounds, of St. Isaac's, and 
 the numerous other bells awakened us with 
 their melodious silvery sounds.
 
 To the Volga. 103 
 
 We went to St. Isaac's Cathedral and heard 
 a sermon. By the attention given by the 
 great audience standing (there are no seats in 
 the Russian churches), we have no doubt they 
 were deeply interested, and there must have 
 been an immense sale of wax candles from the 
 number burning around the church. 
 
 We went from there to the English Episco- 
 pal Church, and found a small audience and 
 heard an impotent sermon that we could 
 understand. We enjoyed the singing and 
 services in our own language. 
 
 We witnessed a number of funerals on the 
 street, some with pall-bearers dressed in black, 
 bearing the corps on their shoulders, followed 
 by a little family, weeping, on foot, and other 
 funerel processions with the hearse covered 
 with gold and silver trappings and white 
 plumes and silver harness upon the splendid 
 large black horses, with a retinue of splendid 
 carriages. One thing was noticeable that 
 when a funeral procession passes, no matter 
 who they w r ere, all take off their hats and stop 
 a minute. It is wonderful how the people of 
 all classes, high and low, rich and poor, seem 
 to worship the Czar and the church, as they 
 are one with them.
 
 104 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE FAMOUS CATHEDRALS. FOUNDLING HOS- 
 PITALS. VERITABLY " A CITY OF PALACES." 
 
 A LARGE cathedral is to be erected on 
 the spot where the Czar was assassinated, 
 and twelve million rubles had already been 
 raised for that purpose. Among the other 
 cathedrals we visited was the Kazan, dedi- 
 cated to our Lady of Kazan. It is built 
 after the style of St. Peter's of Rome. 
 Diamonds and precious stones of the most 
 costly and exquisite beauty are seen every- 
 where ; but the silver case contained, as 
 the priest showed us, the genuine right 
 hand of " John the Baptist," a piece of 
 " the Holy Cross of our Saviour," " a Picture of 
 Saint Luke," taken from life, " a piece of the 
 shirt of our Saviour," and a miraculous image 
 of the Virgin, brought from Kazan in 1579, 
 covered with fine gold and precious stones, 
 valued at one hundred thousand dollars. 
 There are a great many churches here, and
 
 To the Volga. 105 
 
 it would tire the reader to follow us with 
 all of interest that we saw. 
 
 Another great crowd was at Peter the 
 Great's cottage, which was the first house and 
 cottage he built in 1703. A great many 
 things, including the celebrated boat of Peter 
 the Great, which he built and sailed himself, 
 having served as an apprentice to a ship- 
 builder. The great crowd seemed to be push- 
 ing their way to a little chapel which was for- 
 merly used for his dining-room. Candles 
 were sold and lighted, and carried to the 
 altar, and we are informed that all Russians 
 leaving St. Petersburg on a journey, come 
 here and make an offering to the miraculous 
 image of the saviour which accompanied Peter 
 the Great in his battles, an<J assisted at the 
 battle of " Poltava." They believe if they do 
 this that prosperity during their journey and 
 a safe return will be vouchsafed to them. 
 When the Russians are in great trouble they 
 go to St. Isaac's Cathedral, and when they 
 desire " business prosperity " to accompany 
 them, they go to the Kazan Cathedral. If in 
 sickness they go to the Preobrajenski Church ; 
 if to be married, to St. Peter and St. Paul, 
 and buy a candle and place it on the altar and 
 make an offering. All these add largely to
 
 io6 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 the coffers of the church finances. In the 
 church of St. Peter and St. Paul, with the 
 highest spires in Russia, three hundred 
 and seventy-one feet high, all the Em- 
 perors have been buried since the foun- 
 dation of St. Petersburg. Alexander II. and 
 his wife are buried here and a great num- 
 ber gather about his sarcophagus, which is 
 covered continually with wreaths of flowers 
 brought from different parts of the empire. 
 Near him is that of his wife with a beautiful 
 memorial in marble in a reclining posture 
 with an angel over her weeping. We bought 
 a copy of a memorial printed in Russian, with 
 fine portraits of both. 
 
 We notice about the Russian churches a 
 large number of beggars with their plates in 
 their hands, holding them out to receive bene- 
 factions. A beggar with them is still re- 
 garded as almost a holy person, and they are 
 voluminous in their pious vows and benedic- 
 tions for a person who gives them anything. 
 
 " The Foundling Hospital " is the most in- 
 teresting institution, founded by Catherine 
 II. We were first shown by the good matron 
 to the window on the street where each in- 
 fant is received into the hospital, and it is not 
 necessarily known who brought it or where it
 
 To the Volga. 107 
 
 came from. A register was shown us where 
 these questions only are asked: "Has the 
 child been baptized? What name?" The 
 child then has a number placed against the 
 name, which is worn around its neck and on 
 its bed, when a receipt is handed to the bearer 
 of .he child, and the mother can visit it if she 
 chooses, or claim it after ten years. We 
 visited the different wards, one room where 
 twenty-five had been brought in that morn- 
 ing, and were being bathed and dressed, and 
 wet-nurses (the latter all dressed in check 
 dresses and white bodices and bare arms) as- 
 signed to them. Most of these nurses were 
 young peasant girls, who probably had 
 children in the institution unknown to the 
 manager. Many of them had two children 
 nursing at the same time. We were shown 
 into fifteen or twenty different departments, 
 and everything was clean and neat, and every 
 exertion possible made to preserve life. In 
 one room a large number were prematurely 
 born, and the manager informed us that they 
 nearly all die. The warm bathing-rooms, and 
 the dressing of the little things in white linen 
 swaddling clothes on down pillows, was as 
 delicately and tenderly performed as if they 
 were the children of the rich. In most of the
 
 io8 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 rooms as we entered all the nurses would 
 stand up with the babes in their arms. One 
 room was shown us containing a dozen or 
 more dead ones being prepared for burial, 
 another room where baths and other appli- 
 ances were used to fan the flame of 
 life apparently almost extinct. It is said the 
 number is increasing rapidly, and about ten 
 thousand are admitted annually, and about 
 fifty per cent, die before they reach the age of 
 one year, as after remaining for four weeks, 
 and having been vaccinated, they are sent 
 to the villages where the nurses formerly 
 lived. Only about twenty-five per cent, of 
 those brought to the institution arrive at ma- 
 turity. The nurses get about one dollar a 
 month for nursing and caring for them. 
 About thirty thousand in all have been cared 
 for in the adjacent villages, factories, etc. 
 
 The official who showed us through the 
 building was exceedingly polite and atten- 
 tive, and had upon his breast a number of 
 gold medals received for bravery in numerous 
 battles in which he had participated, and at 
 our request he gave us the names of the bat- 
 tles, but I do not remember. Some of them 
 were in the Crimean war, and he was on the 
 retired list, serving the government in this
 
 To the Volga. 109 
 
 way. A marble statue of Betski, the pro- 
 jector, an eminent philanthropist, and a por- 
 trait of Catherine II. adorn the walls of the 
 entrance hall. 
 
 When Russia undertakes any enterprise 
 like this, or, indeed, anything else, she seems 
 to have "Excelsior" for her motto. Some 
 argue that such institutions increase illegiti- 
 macy, and that there are a larger number of 
 illegitimate births in Russia than France. 
 No doubt there is some other reason for this 
 than the humane care for the unfortunate 
 babies. Our ladies called my attention to the 
 care given to a large number prematurely 
 brought into the world, and discussed the 
 humanity of trying to save those who, to 
 them, seemed never could become strong 
 and of good constitutions, even if kept alive. 
 In a double box, about two feet long, stuffed 
 and cushioned with down, were two little red 
 faces, about the size of the palm of the hand, 
 peeping through the soft downy caps, all 
 shriveled and drawn up. You could only 
 see the faces. Outside the box, and between 
 the bodies, was warm water, creating a warm 
 vaporous atmosphere, and if anything would 
 keep the little waifs alive this care and kind 
 attention would put life into them.
 
 no From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 At night we witnessed a scene quite in 
 contrast. We visited one of the great pub- 
 lic gardens, some distance from the center of 
 the city, called the Zoological Gardens, 
 lighted with electric light, where are a large 
 number of wild animals of all descriptions, 
 and beautiful grounds with shady trees and 
 flower-beds, and various performances, oper- 
 atic, where was some splendid Russian 
 singing, a band of music and gymnastic ex- 
 ercises, comic singing, and everything to 
 amuse the masses. 
 
 We had quite an experience with our dros- 
 ky drivers in getting to the garden. A drosky 
 is a small, low, four-wheeled vehicle, and it 
 was necessary to place my arms around my 
 wife to keep her from falling out, the seat was 
 so narrow. Five or six droskies started off 
 from our hotel together, " Jehu " like, but 
 soon they got into a race in spite of all we 
 could do. On they went, passing every one 
 on the way at a breakneck speed, which would 
 have amused our American friends. All we 
 had do was to hold our breath and hold on to 
 our seat. Our driver came out ahead and as 
 the others came following on they did not 
 care to have another drosky race. We had a 
 wild babel scene at the entrance gate, for we
 
 To the Volga. in 
 
 had made a contract with our drivers to take 
 us to the garden for a certain sum, and when 
 we came to pay them they demanded more, 
 I suppose on account of the race. We could 
 not understand a word of the Russian lan- 
 guage, and they could not understand us, and 
 they swung their whips and gesticulated until 
 the police came, and we were glad to get off 
 by paying what they demanded. The har- 
 nesses have a curious appendage ; over the 
 shoulders of the horse is a kind of inverted 
 wooden ox-bow three or four feet high. Some 
 are painted green and some fancy figures of 
 saints. I cannot understand the object and 
 it seems as if it was merely an old custom 
 which they cling to. One of our gentlemen 
 thought it was artistic, but to me they seem a 
 heavy, unnecessary appendage which adds to 
 the burden of the horse. There is not more 
 than one-quarter of the leather in their har- 
 nesses as with us, and they are light and 
 graceful. 
 
 The drosky drivers in the hottest days are 
 all dressed in a long plaited woolen frock 
 reaching to the feet, with a band around the 
 waist and a regulation cap, which gives them 
 the appearance of a priest in his long gar- 
 ments. It seems as if they must be heavy,
 
 ii2 From the Land of the Midnight Sim 
 
 cumbersome and uncomfortable, and why 
 they should be required to dress thus I could 
 not understand. In wet and muddy weather 
 the garments, all filth, draggle around their 
 feet. 
 
 " The city of Palaces." I asked our intelli- 
 gent guide. " How many different palaces 
 has the Czar?" He replied, "Fifteen or 
 twenty," and some of them, like the winter 
 palace, the largest and most magnificent 
 in the world, with its one hundred and 
 twenty-eight magnificently furnished rooms, 
 the winter residence of the Emperor. We 
 are told that since the assassination of 
 the late Emperor no one but the family are 
 allowed to visit the winter palace. After con- 
 siderable trouble and efforts of our guide, 
 who said our being Americans helped him in 
 getting permission from the commissioners, 
 we gained admission. He said Americans 
 were held in high esteem by the government. 
 
 We were delighted with the prospect and 
 gave one day to the winter palace and hermi- 
 tage. We were surprised at its immense size 
 as we approached it from the Neva. It is 
 about four hundred and fifty feet long by 
 three hundred and fifty feet in breadth and 
 eighty feet high. We pass through room
 
 To the Volga. 113 
 
 after room and various halls, covered mostly 
 with battle scenes and portraits of Emperors 
 and Queens and distinguished persons. 
 
 We have visited most of the palaces in Eu- 
 rope and have never seen anything to com- 
 pare with the drawing-rooms of the Empress, 
 with the gold-covered walls and ceilings, and 
 when illuminited at evening receptions must 
 present an enchanting scene. We were not 
 allowed to see the crown jewels, as three days 
 before they had been sealed up according to 
 custom after a coronation, and would not be 
 opened for three years. We passed through 
 the Emperor's (Alexander II.) dining-room, 
 which was blown up just as he was about en- 
 tering in 1881, killing eighteen soldiers. In 
 one minute more he would have been blown 
 to atoms. The steps under which the fuse 
 was placed were lifted from their places and 
 blown to pieces, and the rooms in the vicinity 
 more or less shattered. All the gold and pre- 
 cious stones of the Ural mountains could not 
 insure his life, and he was at last assassinated. 
 
 The rooms and bed where the late Empress 
 died, and was kept alive for six months by 
 artificial means after life seemed extinct ; an 
 ox was killed every day and the warm blood 
 put into her bath-tub and she was kept alive
 
 ii4 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 by bathing in it. These rooms are to be 
 closed and not opened to the public for a 
 generation. The present Empress' rooms 
 were splendid. She is the daughter of the 
 King of Denmark and sister of the Princess of 
 Wales of England, and is said to be the most 
 intelligent and best posted Queen in the 
 world in regard to the affairs of government ; 
 but how unhappy and anxious she must be 
 amid all the glittering jewels and silver and 
 golden wardrobe and richest lace around her 
 bed. We then come to the room where 
 Emperor Nicholas died in 1855, on a plain 
 iron bedstead, and cheaply furnished apart- 
 ments. The room, with his cloak and gar- 
 ments, just as he left it, with all the appurten- 
 ances, report of the quartermaster, etc., just 
 as it was when he heard of the defeat of his 
 army in the Crimea. He was so overwhelmed 
 with disappointment that he died suddenly on 
 receiving the news. 
 
 On every article in the room is a pocket 
 handkerchief. One of his peculiarities was 
 an extravagant use of pocket handkerchiefs, 
 and he had one on everything in the room 
 where it could be within his reach. 
 
 We visited the Hermitage gallery of pain- 
 tings adjoining the palace, founded by Cath-
 
 To the Volga, 115 
 
 arine II., who gave its name " Hermitage." 
 It forms a parallelogram five hundred and 
 fifty feet by about four hundred, and for its 
 splendid architectural proportions and costly 
 marbles is the finest gallery in the world, 
 and contains about two thousand paintings. 
 Among some of the most valuable of the 
 masters are sixty of Rubens, including por- 
 traits of his first and second wives, and 
 many others of great value ; twenty by Mur- 
 illo, including " The Assumption ; " many of 
 Raphael's, VanDyck's, Tenier's, Paul Potter's 
 and Titian's. The Hermitage has more 
 paintings by Rembrandt than all of Holland, 
 where he lived. One can never tire of look- 
 ing at these wonderful works of art by the 
 best artists of Holland, Germany, Italy. 
 France, England and Russia, which we found 
 here. 
 
 The numismatic collection, commenced by 
 Catherine II., is perhaps the largest in the 
 world, with its eight thousand specimens of 
 Russian coins, some dating from the tenth 
 century. There are over two hundred thous- 
 and specimens in these rooms, and we were 
 more interested with the one thousand speci- 
 mens or more of Etheldred II., Canute and 
 other early kings of England, which have been
 
 n6 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 found in Russia, where they must have been 
 circulated in payment for the celebrated furs 
 of Russia. The collection of gems and preci- 
 ous stones is almost without number, and one 
 gets confused with the immense number and 
 value of these specimens of vases, mosaic 
 tables, etc. 
 
 Peter the Great's room is one of the most 
 attractive, containing a large number of the 
 various specimens of his mechanical genius, 
 where we see his engravings, turning and car- 
 penter work, as he not only ruled a great em- 
 pire, but worked as a mechanic, and the tele- 
 scope and mathematical instruments which 
 he used are seen, and a wooden rod is shown 
 us of his height, which measured seven feet, a 
 large number of portraits in oil and statuary 
 and an effigy in the peculiar odd dress of the 
 time in which he lived, embroidered for him 
 by Catherine I. for her coronation. We see 
 everywhere something to remind us of Peter 
 the Great. 
 
 All Russia seems but one vast monument 
 of his genius. " He gave her six new pro- 
 vinces, a footing upon two seas, a regular 
 army trained on the Europeon system, a large 
 fleet, an admiralty, and a naval academy, edu- 
 cational establishments, and this splendid
 
 To the Volga. 117 
 
 gallery of painting and sculpture and library. 
 Nothing seemed to escape his notice. He 
 had the Russian letters altered to make them 
 adapted to printing, and changed the dress of 
 his subjects to be more in conformity with 
 the rest of Europe," and all this was accom- 
 plished in a lifetime of only a half century, as 
 he died at the age of fifty-two. His son, 
 Alexis, no doubt came to his sudden death 
 through the instrumentality of his father, and 
 he no doubt had many intrigues with ladies 
 of his court, showing traces that " the hero 
 was mixed with much clay." Forcing his 
 wife, Eudoxia, to take the veil and transferred 
 his affections to others, and finally married 
 Catherine, the daughter of a peasant and wife 
 of a Swedish corporal, whose family had been 
 taken prisoners. She was said to be an ami- 
 able but illiterate woman, who could neither 
 read or write. She succeeded Peter the 
 Great, receiving the homage of her courtiers 
 in the room in the winter palace (where we 
 are) while the body of Peter was lying in 
 state. The Russians never weary of showing 
 you something about him at nearly every 
 place we visited. At Peterhof is a low Dutch 
 looking summer house where he lived, and 
 where Empress Elizabeth used to cook her
 
 n8 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 own dinners in the great fire-place. His vari- 
 ous rooms with paintings which he purchased 
 while traveling in Holland ; his bed, night- 
 cap, dressing-gown and slippers, etc. They 
 tell an incident that occurred while he was 
 on a visit to London. While going to West- 
 minster hall he noticed a large number of 
 men with wigs and gowns on. Peter asked 
 who those people might be ? and when in- 
 formed by those accompanying him that they 
 were lawyers. " Lawyers !" he said. " Why I 
 have but two in all my dominions and I be- 
 lieve I shall have one of them hung when I 
 get home."
 
 To the Volga. , 119 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE MINING SCHOOL. MUSEUMS AND ACADE- 
 MIES. PETERHOF. DANGERS FROM NIHILISM. 
 
 WE visited the celebrated mining school, 
 which is one of the most complete in the 
 world. The superintendent gave each one of 
 us a lighted taper, and we w 2nt under ground, 
 and apparently through mountains, in various 
 directions, for a long distance, and the 
 different geological positions of the minerals 
 as they are found in the Ural mountains, with 
 layers and color of the different minerals of 
 coal, platina, iron, copper, silver, gold and 
 precious stones, sapphires, emerald, amethyst, 
 agate, rhodorite, the rock crystal, jasper, 
 chrysoberyl, and black tourmaline and dia- 
 monds. All was explained to us, and I could 
 well understand how a student would have a 
 complete knowledge of mining with such 
 practical illustrations and applications. There 
 are about three hundred pupils, and miners 
 are represented in miniature, going through 
 the operations of mining, and we could
 
 120 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 hardly realize that we were not examining 
 genuine mines. There are here, perhaps, the 
 best collection of minerals in the world. A 
 solid piece of real gold, from Siberia, worth 
 fifty millions of rubles, an immense number 
 of pearls, some as large as a walnut, the 
 largest in the world. The mineral wealth of 
 Russia is immense. The specimens of beryls, 
 tourmalines, topazes, and other precious 
 stones from Siberia are astonishing. Some of 
 the beryls were a foot in length, large tour- 
 quois, and the largest black diamond in the 
 world, a solid mass of malachite, weighing 
 thirty cwt. One becomes confused at the 
 splendid display of minerals and precious 
 stones. 
 
 There seems to be no end to academies of 
 sciences and museums in St. Petersburg. In 
 the Zoological Museum the great mastodon 
 and rhinoceros, the largest, I am told, in the 
 world, found on the banks of the river Lena, 
 in Siberia, by a peasant. These had been pre- 
 served (we are told) one hundred thousand 
 years, or countless ages, in the ice of Siberian 
 rivers, and the flesh so preserved that, when 
 discovered, wolves and bears came down to 
 feed upon them. This frame, as it was put to- 
 gether, looked to us, as near as we could
 
 To the Volga. 
 
 measure it, thirteen to fifteen feet long, and 
 two feet higher than a large elephant in the 
 vicinity. Its tusks were eight to ten feet long. 
 
 After examining numerous museums, gal- 
 leries of paintings, palaces, etc., our guide re- 
 marked, "all these belong to the Emperor. 
 He has the key to the government treasury. 
 The people have nothing ! " 
 
 Our visit to Peterhof, the present residence 
 of Alexander III., was intensely interesting, 
 as the Emperor and his family were here. 
 We were fortunate in having a most delight- 
 ful day. We took the steamer down the 
 Neva, and across the gulf of Finland, about 
 twenty miles. We could see Cronstadt in 
 the distance, and the beautiful palaces of 
 Peterhof peeping through the green forests. 
 On board our steamer were a number of 
 officers of the Russian army and their famil- 
 ies, dressed as they all seemed to be every- 
 where, with heavy cadet mixed overcoats, 
 reaching to their feet. No matter how warm 
 it is (this was a warm August day) they wear 
 their heavy overcoats. While we were talk- 
 ing with our guide, who was a Russian, I 
 noticed a number of police in uniform stand- 
 ing around us, and slyly creeping up behind 
 us, evidently to hear what we were talking
 
 122 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 about, and soon two ladies, who could talk 
 English, came near to us, and remained until 
 we changed our location, and then, as if by 
 chance, appeared near us again, and were 
 about when we were on deck, or in the cabin, 
 both going and returning. We were convers- 
 ing with our guide about the Czar, mention- 
 ing his name frequently, and asking questions 
 about the family, and the guide was pointing 
 out to me the villa where he resided, etc. 
 The guide suddenly whispered to me that we 
 must cease talking about the Emperor, as 
 the police heard us mentioning the name of 
 Alexander III. frequently, and they were 
 gathering around us to learn what we were 
 saying ; and the two ladies were private de- 
 tectives, who accompany every steamer and 
 watch every stranger to see if they can dis- 
 cover if any one has designs on the Emperor. 
 Ever since the coronation unusual precaution 
 is used. We did not feel very comfortable in 
 a strange country, and only Mrs. S. and my- 
 self, to have so many of the police and de- 
 tectives about us. Everybody seems to look 
 at each other in Russia ominously, and ask 
 " What is going to happen next ? " The 
 coronation is over. Much excitement fol- 
 lowed the publication of the rescript of the
 
 To the Volga. 123 
 
 Czar. All seemed to think in Russia that 
 after the coronation every kind of business 
 would revive ; all who were poor would be 
 rich ; all who were in prison would be free ; 
 all the exiles in Siberia would be liberated ; 
 all foreigners were to become naturalized, or 
 leave the country, and refused a passport to 
 remain. The Nihilists expected a constitu- 
 tion. It has now been three months since the 
 coronation and nothing is done. The Em- 
 peror announces that nothing will be done. 
 Business in St. Petersburg is unsettled, and 
 the government is using every effort to pre- 
 vent another assassination. When we arrived 
 at the wharf at Peterhof, a number of splen- 
 did equipages were in waiting for the officers 
 of the army. One general entered a small 
 open Victoria phaeton, drawn by four splen- 
 did horses abreast, and a number of others 
 followed. 
 
 Our approach to the grounds was enchant- 
 ing. The palaces were plain style of archi- 
 tecture, built by Peter the Great in 1720, on 
 rising ground about sixty or seventy feet. As 
 we approach them we look through the long 
 arches of trees and in the distance see fountains 
 playing in every direction, until we reach the 
 fountain called the Samson, tearing open the
 
 124 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 jaws of a lion, out of which the water rushes. 
 In front of the palace is a waterfall probably 
 one hundred feet high, falling over wide steps, 
 behind which are colored lamps, placed be- 
 hind the water for an illumination. Over one 
 hundred jets of water were playing eighty to 
 one hundred feet high, and one foot in 
 diameter. From the top of the steps we 
 have a view to the sea, five hundred yards, 
 through the forests where a river runs, and 
 the gardens laid out in terraces and flowers, 
 fountains and waterfalls ; the Lion Fountain, 
 the Neptunes, storks, nymphs, dolphins, rocks 
 and grottoes ; with the water thrown in 
 every direction all seems like fairyland. 
 We think the magnificence and artistic ar- 
 rangement superior to those at Versailles, or 
 any in the world, and we were fortunate in 
 visiting here on a day when they were all 
 playing. It was a gala day, and great crowds 
 of the elite of St. Petersburg were here with 
 their splendid equipages. Not less than one 
 hundred carriages were in a row, while 
 their occupants were promenading up and 
 down the beautiful grounds. On each side 
 were bands of music one would play and 
 then the other, and in the distance others 
 could be heard. The dresses of the ladies
 
 To the Volga. 125 
 
 were equal to any \ve ever saw in Paris, rich, 
 but in good taste. The ladies were large 
 and fair-looking, with a German look. When 
 I learned afterward that nearly one-half of 
 the population of St. Petersburg were Ger- 
 mans, accounted for the appearance of the 
 ladies. We visited the palaces and villas, 
 which are scattered through the grounds, 
 adorned with lakes and flower gardens, and 
 the chalets belonging to the royal family. 
 One especially, belonging to the late Empe- 
 ror Nicholas' wife, finished in blue with 
 mosaic floors and tables, captivated my wife. 
 
 The most attractive paintings in the palace 
 were, I should think, nine hundred or one 
 thousand portraits of beautiful Russian girls 
 from the different provinces of Russia in the 
 peculiar costumes of their country, in differ- 
 ent positions, with all the colors of their 
 wardrobes, w r ith a different expression and 
 position to each one, one leaning over a chair 
 as if listening to a lover, etc. 
 
 After spending the day here we could not 
 but cast a glance and a thought at the poor 
 Emperor and his family in their Alexandrian 
 villa, with a high wall around the premises, 
 and numerous soldiers guarding the walls and 
 entrance and not allowing any one, not even
 
 126 From ike Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 the servants, to go in or out without a pass, 
 and when he comes from or goes to the city, 
 his steamer lands far away from the other 
 landings, near his villa. We met a black 
 steamer bearing dispatches to him from the 
 Premier de Girs, who informs him what is 
 going on in his own dominions and in the 
 world, twice a day. This was a grand day 
 for us, and we came away with the impres- 
 sion that Peterhof was more beautiful than 
 Hampton Court, Versailles, Schonbrunn in 
 Vienna, or Potsdam in Berlin. On our return 
 to the steamer we found the same lady detec- 
 tives and police, but Mrs. S. did not enjoy 
 being under police surveillance in Russia. 
 
 While we were there we understood that 
 Nihilist papers were being distributed in the 
 Emperor's palace among his own household. 
 One day the Empress opened the door sud- 
 denly into the chamberlain's room, and she 
 observed that he hid a paper away in his side 
 pocket. She had him examined, and the 
 paper proved to be a Nihilist paper, and with- 
 out any trial he was summarily sent to Siberia. 
 There are a great many arrests made every 
 few days, but it seems to be the policy of the 
 government to keep it from the people, and 
 the papers say that all is peace and harmony.
 
 To the Volga. 127 
 
 X. 
 
 MOSCOW. THE CAPITAL OF THE RURIKS. THE 
 TOWN OF IVAN. THE GREAT BELL. THE 
 PEASANTRY AND THEIR CHARACTER. 
 
 OUR ride from St. Petersburg to Moscow 
 by rail was an interesting one, over a 
 splendid road, with compartment cars, which 
 are arranged for very comfortable sleeping 
 cars. All the appurtenances of the road are 
 first-class ; the road is straight and solid, and 
 the depots are large, built of stone, and of at- 
 tractive style of architecture. At the end of 
 the depot is a bell over which is a roof covered 
 with woodbine, which hangs gracefully down 
 to the ground. There are three bells of warn- 
 ing sounded before the cars start, followed by 
 blowing of the engine whistle. It is stated 
 that when the engineer o.f the road presented 
 his profile and plans to build the road, show- 
 ing how each large city could be reached, the 
 Emperor was dissatisfied, and took out his 
 rule and drew a straight line from St. Peters- 
 burg to Moscow, and said, " Build the road
 
 128 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 straight, without regard to cities or obsta- 
 cles." It was done, and branch roads had to 
 be constructed to accommodiite the cities, 
 but he had an opportunity to show his auto- 
 cratic power. 
 
 Our first view of " Matushka Moskva," 
 Mother Moskva, as the peasants delight to 
 call the capital of the Ruriks, was early one 
 beautiful morning, from our car of observa- 
 tion from St. Petersburg, just as the bright 
 sun shone out upon the eight hundred 
 churches ; many of them, with their towers 
 and turrets covered with gold, gave a most 
 thrilling feeling as we for the first time looked 
 upon the city w r ith so many historical associa- 
 tions. There is a great contrast between this 
 city and St. Petersburg the latter with its 
 wide, straight streets, and splendid modern 
 architectural buildings, all of stone or brick, 
 covered with stucco of a yellowish tint, the 
 surface of the country flat and uninteresting, 
 looks like a modern city like Chicago ; while 
 Moscow is on hills, with sudden ascents and 
 descents, with winding streets, and many of 
 the houses are frame, and the roofs are 
 painted green, and it looks like an oriental 
 city. The most prominent thing is its antique 
 churches of the showy, gaudy Byzantine
 
 To the Volga. 129 
 
 architecture, with five towers or spires. All 
 of the Greek churches formerly had seven 
 towers, but Peter the Great issued the 
 " ukase " that the churches should have only 
 five. Moscow is Russian, and you see that it 
 is Asiatic, while St. Petersburg is European. 
 On the streets we at once noticed the bright 
 red dresses and scarlet handkerchiefs of the 
 women, pinned coquettishly on the head, and 
 the red cotton shirts or smock frocks, fastened 
 around the waist by a girdle, of the working 
 men. We begin to realize that we are in an 
 ancient city, built first in the twelfth century, 
 and several times destroyed by fire the last 
 time at the entrance of Napoleon in 1812 
 and for many years the capital of Russia. 
 It is a prosperous and growing city of about 
 seven hundred thousand inhabitants, and 
 when you ask, \vhat are your business pros- 
 pects? the answer is quite in contrast with 
 the reply in St. Petersburg : " All our 
 numerous manufactories, about six hundred 
 in all, employing fifty thousand men, are in 
 operation, and there is a good demand for all 
 our products. This is the great center of the 
 Russian railway sysceui, and we expect to be 
 a larger city than our rival on the Neva. 
 Why should we not, with our central location
 
 130 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 and Russia's one hundred million population, 
 and increasing ? " We certainly have not seen 
 more activity in the streets of any city that 
 we have visited. The Kremlin has been the 
 great palladium of Russia, and is regarded 
 with superstitious veneration. We first take 
 a carriage to ride about the city, and get the 
 best view of the Kremlin, which is a triangu- 
 lar inclosure of about two miles, situated on 
 the Moskva River, and a ride along the river 
 under the Kremlin gives one an idea of the 
 oriental and picturesque hill, surrounded 
 with high, strong walls, with its thirty-two 
 churches, and the only part of Moscow which 
 was saved from the terrible conflagration in 
 1812. We enter the Kremlin first through 
 the Redeemer's gate (there are five gates in 
 all built in the fifteenth century). As we 
 passed through the gate we noticed a number 
 of women on each side bowing to the ground 
 and crossing themselves, looking directly 
 toward us, and we took off our hats and 
 bowed to them, when we were informed that 
 we were not the object of their attention, but 
 the picture of the Redeemer of Smolensk, 
 held in high veneration. We were unfor- 
 tunate in having a drunken driver who could 
 hardly sit upon the seat ; but he did not
 
 To the Volga. 131 
 
 forget to bow and cross himself several 
 times, and remind us that we were passing 
 through the holy gate, and that we must take 
 off our hats, as the Emperor and every one 
 else was expected to do. We desired to con- 
 form to the old custom and tradition, and un- 
 covered our heads. 
 
 We first prepare to ascend the great " tower 
 of Ivan the Great," three hundred and twenty- 
 five feet high, erected in 1600. We stop to 
 look at the largest bell in the world, called 
 " Tzar Kolokol," king of bells, which lies at 
 the foot of the tower on a pedestal, and 
 weighs four hundred and forty-four thousand 
 pounds, is twenty-six feet high, and sixty- 
 eight feet in circumference. The tower is 
 five stories high, and we counted in it thirty- 
 four bells, the largest, with the name of the 
 "Assumption" on it, weighing sixty-four 
 tons. On the top of the tower we get a 
 splendid view of Moscow, and it is certainly 
 one of the most wonderful and unique cities 
 in the world. The Kremlin is below us, the 
 Moskva winding its way through the city, 
 with the numerous boats upon it, and a great 
 number of women in their bright dresses 
 washing in the river. The splendid churches, 
 with their gold and silver domes glittering in
 
 132 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 the sunshine, the roofs of the houses all 
 painted green, and the distant hills from 
 which Napoleon first looked upon the city in 
 flames, after his long march in mid-winter, 
 all come rushing into one's mind with the 
 historical incidents connected with the terri- 
 ble march. There is a chapel in the lower 
 part of the tower, which was especially inter- 
 esting to the young ladies, and is called St. 
 Nicholas, where the young ladies of Moscow 
 all go who are about to marry, as St. Nicholas 
 is their patron saint. Near by is the cathedral 
 of the Assumption, with its five domes, which is 
 more of Saxon and Norman style of architec- 
 ture than Italian, and was consecrated in 
 1479. This cathedral is especially interesting 
 as being the church where all the Emperors 
 are crowned, and where the present Czar was 
 crowned last May (twenty-seven old style, or 
 fifteen new style), or rather crowned himself, 
 as he places the crown upon his head with 
 his own hands. The platform was carpeted 
 where he stood, and the pictures of one 
 thousand saints on the walls covered with 
 gold, all of which had been burnished up for 
 the coronation. 
 
 Among the very old and valuable paintings 
 is one which they say was painted by St.,
 
 NORTH RUSSIANS.
 
 To the Volga. 133 
 
 Luke, of the Holy Virgin. A small case is 
 opened, and we are shown a nail of the Cross 
 of Christ and a piece of his robe and various 
 other old relics of the Apostles, which they 
 seem to believe are genuine, but this does not 
 prevent us doubting it. These cathedrals con. 
 tain so many articles and rich vases studded 
 with diamonds and precious stones, as if the 
 rich mineral resources of Russia had been ex- 
 hausted to adorn the churches. Near this 
 cathedral is that of St. Michael's, where all 
 the Russian Czars were buried until the time 
 of Peter the Great. It is similar in architec- 
 tural appearance to the former and was built 
 in the fourteenth century, and was the place 
 where Napoleon stabled his horses in 1812. 
 The tomb of the greatest interest is that of 
 Ivan, "The Terrible," who forms the subject 
 of so many Russian poems. Special funeral 
 services are held here twice a year, with great 
 pomp, where the souls of all those who are 
 buried here are prayed for by the church. 
 The priest allowed the gentlemen of the party 
 (no ladies were allowed inside the " Ikonos- 
 tas") to examine the gorgeous vestments 
 and costly treasures which had been presented 
 to the church to pay for prayers being 
 offered up for the souls of departed friends,
 
 134 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 A cross which belonged to Ivan, "The Terri- 
 ble," had immense pearls in it, and an eme- 
 rald one-third to one-half an inch in diame- 
 ter. We were interested most in a splendid 
 illuminated version of the Gospels with the 
 date 1125 the earliest copy in Russia; the 
 cover was enameled and full of the most rare 
 and costly precious stones. Another church 
 near there is that of the Annunciation, where 
 all the Czars are baptized and married. Here 
 also are shown a great many relics, one an 
 image of the Holy Virgin, made of three hun- 
 dred and sixty pounds of silver and twenty 
 pounds of gold, brought from Constantinople 
 five hundred years ago, and was often carried 
 in the early battles of Russia, and was con- 
 sidered to have miraculous power. There are 
 a great many curious frescoes here, and the 
 floor of the church is paved with agate and 
 jasper. These three cathedrals adjoining 
 each other are historic on account of that of 
 the Assumption being where the Czars are 
 crowned, St. Michael's where they are buried, 
 and the Annunciation where they are bap- 
 tized and married. The place is also shown 
 where the false Demetrius fell while leaping 
 from one of the windows behind the palace. 
 Near the entrance to the Kremlin by the
 
 To the Volga. 135 
 
 Spankoi gate is one of the most curious fan- 
 tastic churches in the world, which is called 
 St. Basil, and was built in 1554, by Ivan, 
 " The Terrible." It has fifteen towers and 
 the same number of chapels inside, and is 
 painted outside with a variety of bright colors, 
 green predominating, and the architect, so it 
 is stated, had his eyes put out by Ivan so that 
 he could not build another church like it. 
 Napoleon ordered it destroyed, but it was 
 
 
 
 saved. We never shall forget that on the day 
 we visited it some fifty or seventy-five bright 
 boys came in and most devoutly were offering 
 their devotions in a solemn and graceful man- 
 ner. As they enter the chapel they drop on 
 to one knee, bowing the head to the pave- 
 ment, crossing the breast frequently with the 
 thumb and two fore-fingers of the right hand ; 
 as they return they kneel and cross them- 
 selves. The boys were so bright and all 
 dressed in linen suits, with white caps and 
 closely cut hair, that I asked our guide who 
 they were. The superintendent, who was 
 with them, informed me that they were from 
 the deaf and dumb school. I was glad to 
 meet him, and we conversed awhile as best 
 we could through an interpreter, and he gave 
 me a cordial invitation to visit the school at
 
 136 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 three o'clock p. m. All the scholars in schools 
 for the deaf and dumb in Russia are taught 
 to speak, and no instruction is given by signs 
 whatever. There are similar schools in St. 
 Petersburg and in Warsaw, which we visited. 
 They claim that every deaf mute can be 
 taught to talk, and all the instruction is given 
 orally. 
 
 The new cathedral, called St. Saviour, is 
 one of the most conspicuous in Moscow, and 
 was dedicated just after the coronation in 
 May last, and was commenced by Alexander 
 I. forty-two years ago, in commemoration 1 of 
 Russia's delivery from the French. It is of 
 stone and Byzantine style of architecture. 
 The architect was sick at the time it was to 
 be dedicated, and he asked to be taken to 
 it so that he could survey his splendid archi- 
 tectural production, and died a day or two 
 afterward, before it was dedicated. There 
 are about six thousand paintings, of various 
 historical and allegorical scenes and saints, 
 and cost fifteen millions of rubles or about 
 six million dollars. When illuminated, as it 
 was at the dedication, twelve thousand 
 candles were lighted, so arranged about the 
 inside as to present a most brilliant effect. 
 A grand cathedral is to be erected by order
 
 To the Volga. 137 
 
 of the Czar in every city in the empire in 
 commemoration of the assassination of Alex- 
 ander II. The poor peasants are just able to 
 keep soul and body together, and the cattle 
 plague is taking off thousands of their cattle, 
 yet these costly cathedrals are built by order 
 of the Czar, who holds the key to the trea- 
 sury of the empire. 
 
 There are said to be four thousand bells in 
 the city, and when they are all sounded, as on 
 Easter morning, the effect is enchanting, as 
 the great bell of the cathedral, which takes a 
 dozen men to toll it and is said to sound like 
 the rolling of distant thunder. 
 
 Some one, in his travels, describes the ring- 
 ing of all the bells in Moscow on Easter eve : 
 " At midnight the great bell of the cathedral 
 tolled. Its vibrations seemed to be the roll- 
 ing of distant thunder, and they were in- 
 stantly accompanied by the noise of all the 
 small bells in Moscow. Every inhabitant was 
 stirring, and the rattling of carriages in the 
 street was greater than at noon-day. The 
 whole city was in a blaze, lights were seen in 
 all the windows, and innumerable torches in 
 the streets. The tower of the cathedral was 
 illuminated from its foundation to its cross. 
 The same ceremony takes place in all the
 
 138 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 churches, and what is truly surprising, con- 
 sidering their number, they are all equally 
 crowded. We hastened to the cathedral, it 
 was filled with a prodigious assembly, con- 
 sisting of all ranks of both sexes, bearing 
 lighted wax tapers, to be afterward heaped 
 as vows upon the different shrines. The 
 walls of the ceilings, and every part of the 
 building, are covered with the pictures of 
 saints and martyrs. In the moment of our 
 arrival, the doors were shut, and on the out- 
 side appeared Plato, the archbishop, preceeded 
 by banners and torches, and followed by all 
 his train of priests, with crucifixes and cen- 
 sors, who were making ' three times, in pro- 
 cession, the tour of the cathedral, chanting 
 with loud voices and glittering in sumptuous 
 vestments bespangled with gold, silver and 
 precious stones. The snow has not melted 
 so rapidly in the cathedral within the Krem- 
 lin as in the streets of the city. This mag- 
 nificent procession was constrained, there- 
 fore, to move upon planks over the deep mud 
 which surrounded the cathedral. After com- 
 pleting the third circuit, they all halted op- 
 posite the great doors, which were all closed. 
 The archbishop, with a censor, then scattered 
 incense against the doors and over the priests.
 
 To the Volga. 139 
 
 Suddenly, these doors were opened, and the 
 effect was magnificent beyond description. 
 The immense throng of spectators within, 
 bearing innumerable tapers, formed two lines, 
 through which the archbishop entered, ad- 
 vancing with his train to a throne near the 
 center. The profusion of lights, in all parts 
 of the cathedral, and among others of the 
 enormous chandeliers in the center, the rich- 
 ness of the dresses, and the vastness of the 
 assembly, filled us with astonishment."
 
 140 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE PALACE, WITH ITS TREASURES. THE LOASE 
 MARKET. THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. 
 
 OUR visit to the palace was an interesting 
 one, as we pass through the different halls, 
 especially the Hall of St. George, founded by 
 Catherine II., and dedicated to the order of 
 St. George. The coat of arms of Russia is an 
 effigy of St. George on a white horse. All 
 these great halls are full of interesting his- 
 torical relics and paintings. The crowns 
 worn by the Emperors and Empresses are nu- 
 merous and costly-, especially the one made 
 by order of Peter the Great for Catherine I., 
 with its two thousand five hundred diamonds, 
 besides other precious jewels. Among the 
 valuable paintings is one of immense size, of 
 Alexander I., entering Paris with his army, in 
 1813. "Near this is a fine marble statue of 
 Napoleon, which causes to rush through the 
 mind the wonderful events connected with 
 the latter's march to Moscow, in 1812, and the 
 almost entire destruction of his army of fifty
 
 A HALT OX THE HIGHWAY.
 
 To the Volga. 141 
 
 thousand, and the next year the march of the 
 Russians triumphantly into Paris. Among 
 the old carriages, which are heavy, and quaint 
 enough, is one presented by Queen Elizabeth, 
 in 1580, to Czar Boris Godunof, whom she 
 wanted to marry. We were shown the coro- 
 nation chairs and robes, and canopy, (the lat- 
 ter made of real gold cloth), of the present 
 Emperor and Empress, and many others. 
 Our guide informs us that at the coronation 
 there were over a million of people present, 
 and the utmost good order prevailed, and 
 that it is said to have cost the government at 
 least twenty million dollars. 
 
 On account of the failure of the crops and 
 the cattle disease in Russia, a great many 
 peasants flock to Moscow, and we visited the 
 Tolkatschta, or Loase market, so called from 
 the great number of poor, dirty people, who 
 gather in a large square, where old clothes, 
 old shoes, and the poorest of cast-off gar- 
 ments, furniture, cooking utensils, etc., are 
 sold, and where a dinner of dirty soup is fur- 
 nished for two cents. We were told to divest 
 ourselves of our watches, and everything of 
 value, for a more God-forsaken crowd could 
 not be found. We were glad to escape with 
 our thumb and finger upon our nose, and
 
 142 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 brush and shake ourselves well. It has be- 
 come such a nuisance that the papers of Mos- 
 cow are calling the attention of the city 
 authorities to the effect it is having upon the 
 sanitary condition of the city. Our guide 
 was an intelligent Russian, who 'had lived in 
 Buffalo, N. Y., and was a citizen of the United 
 States. He showed me his passport, which has 
 to be renewed every year, but the government 
 has become so alarmed that they are about 
 to qompel all residents to become citizens of 
 Russia or leave the country. The censorship 
 of the press is very severe. All foreign papers 
 are closely examined, and if any article ap- 
 pears reflecting upon Russia, the papers are 
 suppressed, or a block of ink is stamped upon 
 the offensive sentence. In one of the papers 
 which I got, a part of an article on Russia 
 was stamped in black, obliterating every letter. 
 The inconvenience of having a press cen- 
 sorship is illustrated by some recent incidents 
 in Russia. A newspaper, published in the 
 Caucasus, has been compelled to suspend, be- 
 cause its particular censor chose to move to 
 a distant town, and to insist that proof sheets 
 be sent him daily for his inspection, a con- 
 dition incompatible with the prompt publica- 
 tion of the paper. One of these lord censors.
 
 To the Volga. 143 
 
 in St. Petersburg compelled a compiler of a 
 small book on French literature to correct the 
 clause, " La majeste de ma nature" on the ground 
 that the word majesty should only be applied 
 to the Czar. 
 
 Russia has two great foundling hospitals, 
 one at St. Petersburg and one in Moscow, 
 probably the largest and most complete in 
 the world. This hospital admits yearly about 
 fifteen thousand children, and they are not 
 left, as in the hospital which we visited in St. 
 Petersburg, at the door, or handed to the 
 nurse through the window, but taken to a 
 room set apart for that purpose. No ques- 
 tions are asked but " Has the child been bap- 
 tized ? " and if so, " By what name ? " The 
 child is then registered in the books of the in- 
 stitution, a number is assigned to it, which is 
 worn around its neck, and figures on its cot, 
 while a receipt, showing the same number, is 
 given to the bearer of the child, in order to 
 enable her to visit, or even to claim it, at any 
 future period, up to the age of ten years. 
 The child is then handed to its future foster 
 parent, who happens to be first on the list 
 among the uumber who are waiting in at- 
 tendance. These women often deposit their 
 own children at the hospital a few hours
 
 144 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 previous. They get about ten or twelve cents 
 a day as nurses. After remaining in the in- 
 stitution four weeks, and having been vac- 
 cinated, they are sent with their nurses to the 
 villages, where the latter belong. About 
 fifty per cent of the children die in one year, 
 owing to the severe climate and owing to the 
 universal custom among the Russian peas- 
 antry of leaving young infants alone, for sev- 
 eral hours at a time, with the " soska," or kind 
 of milk poultice at their mouths, to munch, 
 which often chokes them. Russia is not be- 
 hind any other nation in the world in her hos- 
 pitals. The Grand Duchess of Russia, widow 
 of George of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, maintains 
 a dozen large hospitals in various towns, and 
 is engaged in many public benevolent insti- 
 tutions, and has lately established a new pri- 
 vate eating-house for students in St. Peters- 
 burg. She is the wealthiest woman in the 
 world, and inherited her wealth from Cather- 
 ine II.
 
 To the Volga. 145 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE PETROFSKI PALACE AT MOSCOW. THE 
 JOURNEY TO N1JNI-NOVGOROD. THE PANO- 
 RAMA OF THE OKA AND THE VOLGA. A 
 GALA DAY. 
 
 WE rode out to a Russian encampment, 
 near the Petrofski palace and park built 
 by Catherine II. Napoleon retired to this place 
 after the Kremlin became untenable. There 
 were said to be sixty thousand soldiers in 
 camp. When the officer of the day learned 
 that we were Americans, he was exceedingly 
 attentive to us, and took us through the 
 encampment to the officers' quarters, kitchen, 
 and to witness the drill. The soldiers were 
 stout and robust, but did not look intelligent, 
 and the animal seemed to preponderate. 
 They receive only two copecks, or one cent a 
 day for their services. Every able-bodied 
 man in Russia, who has attained his twenty- 
 first year, is obliged to serve in the army, and 
 no substitutes are allowed. The regular 
 period of service is fifteen years, six of which
 
 146 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 are spent in active service, and nine in the 
 reserve. Russia has more than a million of 
 men under arms. 
 
 Our journey from Moscow to Nijni-Nov- 
 gorod, an ancient city founded in 1222, was 
 interesting as giving us an opportunity to 
 see the peasants and their villages, and this 
 Asiatic town, with its motley crowd of Per- 
 sians, Armenians, Tartars and Caucasians. 
 We first take a carriage and drive about the 
 city, and on our way across the bridge over 
 the Volga we meet a large number of Asiatics, 
 some on foot and some in vehicles, with their 
 goods and camping stuff. A steamer has just 
 arrived on the Volga from the Caspian Sea, 
 and one thousand five hundred miles via 
 Orenburg, at the lower end of the Ural 
 Mountains and Central Asia. We get a 
 splendid view of the city from Muzavief's 
 tower, and a grand panorama of the Volga 
 and Oka Rivers, with the forests of masts 
 down the river as far as the eye can reach. 
 The city is below us on both sides of the 
 Volga, and although it has but fifty thousand 
 inhabitants at this time, when the great 
 annual fair is in operation it appears much 
 larger, as the great number of shops and 
 bazars extend over considerable space be-
 
 To the Volga. 147 
 
 t\veen the Volga and Oka Rivers. A short 
 distance from the tower is " Othos," a terrace 
 built by Emperor Nicholas, where there is a 
 beautiful park, with flowers and seats, from 
 which we get a distant view of the cultivated 
 fields over which the Volga overflows in the 
 spring, making the plains rich with fertile 
 deposits. The Volga is covered with steamers 
 and barges, and we are interested in the large 
 number of Tartars, as they are engaged in 
 unloading the products of different kinds for 
 the fair. A large monument was erected here 
 by the Emperor, dedicated to a patriotic 
 butcher, " Minin," who raised money to equip 
 an army to drive away the Tartars who held 
 possession of the city. We return to the fair, 
 which was said to have been held here as long 
 ago as the fourteenth century, and is visited 
 sometimes by two hundred thousand to three 
 hundred thousand persons, mostly Asiatics, 
 and from eighty million to one hundred million 
 dollars changes hands during the six weeks or 
 two months the fair lasts. The ancient form 
 of trade is still kept up, but will be super- 
 seded by railroads and the establishment of 
 banks, etc. Dealers are obliged to offer their 
 goods here at regular times of holding the 
 fair. The iron and other metals stored in
 
 148 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 the miles of buildings have been brought 
 here from the Ural Mountains and Siberia, at 
 a great cost, for sale and distribution, within 
 a few miles of their place of production. 
 Dealers are obliged to buy large stocks, and 
 get a credit of one or two years. This adds 
 largely to the price, and in these times of 
 small margins and great competition the 
 more modern way of short time or cash sales 
 must be resorted to, and the fair will be done 
 away with, or change its peculiarity. Rail- 
 roads already extend to the Ural Mountains. 
 We were interested in examining the bazar, 
 which contains such a variety of stones and 
 minerals from Siberia, and silver made into 
 different fancy articles from the Caucasian 
 Mountains. Turks were here with their 
 goods, and Tartars, and everything had an 
 oriental appearance silks and rugs from 
 Persia. The articles made from malacite and 
 lapis-lazuli, and other stones from Siberia, 
 were numerous and beautiful, and a day 
 spent in this bazar was full of intense interest, 
 on account of the novel people and their pro- 
 ductions, which one continually meets. The 
 tea that one gets here is said to be superior, 
 on account of its coming from China over- 
 land, for it is claimed that all Lea, notwith-
 
 To the Volga. 149 
 
 standing all precaution, is deteriorated by 
 crossing the ocean. The tea is all served 
 with lemon, in glass tumblers ; a silver spoon 
 is always in the glass, which is said to prevent 
 the hot tea breaking the tumbler. 
 
 It was a gala day at Nijni-Novgorod to- 
 day, as Grand Duke Nicholas, brother of the 
 Emperor, had a grand reception here, and 
 the flags were flying, and everything pre- 
 sented a gay appearance. He was here with 
 his son and other officers of the army, under 
 the charge of the Governor and chief of 
 police. Five or six carriages in all would 
 drive rapidly through the streets, and visit 
 some of the large bazars of the fair, and 
 away the masses would rush to get sight of 
 him, and all day long the people were run- 
 ning after him, whichever way he would go. 
 After dining with the Governor (whose house 
 is in the center of the fair, and the lower part 
 occupied by a bazar for the sale of curious 
 articles from Bokhara and other parts of Cen- 
 tral Asia), he had a reception on the streets 
 by two companies of Cossacks in their pecu- 
 liar uniform, with spears or harpoons. The 
 Cossacks may be very brave and dangerous, 
 but they did not present a very attractive 
 military appearance.
 
 150 From the I.anJ of the Mul night Sun 
 
 Before leaving on the train I took a stroll 
 down by the wharves, which are ten or twelve 
 miles long, and all along I stop to look at the 
 Tartars unloading and loading the curious- 
 looking craft with grain, hides, wooden boxes, 
 wine, skins from the Caucasus, madder and 
 cotton from Bokhara, and almost every de- 
 scription of merchandise peculiar to the East, 
 and loading European goods. It was seven 
 o'clock in the evening, and all were leaving 
 their work to go to their suppers, and as they 
 passed me, men and women, I never saw a 
 more dirty, savage-looking set, and, being 
 alone, I did not feel safe, and hurried to the 
 station, meeting our guide looking for me, 
 who had become alarmed at my absence, and 
 some of the party did not quiet the ladies by 
 their stories of people who had been knocked 
 down and stripped by the Tartars on the out- 
 skirts of the city only a day or two before. 
 
 A great many gypsies who wander over the 
 Eastern world were at the fair, and the sing- 
 ing of some of the young women in the res- 
 taurants was entertaining, and showed con- 
 siderable harmony and good voices. The out- 
 skirts of the fair are more interesting than the 
 center for observation and study. The con- 
 stant succession of carts in long strings, the
 
 To the Volga. 151 
 
 crowds of laborers, the knots of earnest-look- 
 ing traders with long beards, the itinerant 
 venders of liquid refreshments and white 
 rabbit skins, the greasy, slovenly-looking 
 monks collecting the copecks of those who 
 fear to withhold their charity lest their trans- 
 actions be influenced by the evil one, the fre- 
 quent beggars, pleading for the most part 
 that they have been burned out and showing 
 the most dreadful-looking sores as evidence 
 of their veracity all these men and things 
 attest the present importance of the fair of 
 Nijni. The sales and purchases represent six- 
 teen million sterling, which pass through the 
 hands of one hundred and fifty thousand to 
 two hundred thousand traders. The bakers 
 are bound to make daily returns of the 
 quantity of bread which they sell, and it 
 is in this manner that a rough estimate of 
 the daily population is made. Great quan- 
 tities of dried fish are sold at Nijni. The 
 annual value of the sturgeon alone taken 
 in the Volga is estimated at two million five 
 hundred thousand rubles. Fairs were held 
 here as early as 1366, and tradition points to 
 a still earlier origin. Great caravans are 
 started from China, overland, which are six 
 months to a year reaching Nijni-Novgorod.
 
 152 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 XIII. 
 
 RETURN TO MOSCOW. THE HUTS AND VIL- 
 LAGES. PEASANT LIFE. 
 
 TT 7"E noticed on our return to Moscow the 
 \\ Russian villages with their huts made 
 of logs and thatched roofs, out on the hot plains 
 without a tree to shelter the people from the 
 burning sun. Not a farm house is to be seen 
 anywhere, but all huddled together men, 
 women, children, dogs, pigs and cattle. You 
 cannot tell the huts of the human from the 
 beast's. The peasants wear sheepskin clothes 
 and shoes made of some kind of bark, and the 
 women red cotton frocks, with scarlet or some 
 bright colored handkerchief on their heads 
 when they are in church, and look gay enough. 
 There does not seem to be much encourage- 
 ment for a peasant to be industrious and try 
 to get ahead in the world, as the land belongs 
 to the whole village and is all cultivated 
 together on the communal system, and the 
 village is responsible for the entire sum, 
 which the communt has to pay annually into
 
 To the Volga. 153 
 
 the imperial treasury. Each of these com- 
 munes keeps a list of the male peasants for 
 the purpose of direct taxation. The govern- 
 ment pays no attention to the number of per- 
 sons who may be born between the times of 
 the various revisions till the new revision 
 takes place. (Gogol, in his " Dead Souls," 
 uses this fact as the groundwork of his work.) 
 Every peasant who pays these taxes is sup- 
 posed to have a share of the communal land, 
 and the amount of tax imposed has nothing 
 to do with the quality or quantity of the 
 land, but is entirely personal. The commune 
 has to pay into the imperial treasury a fixed 
 yearly sum, according to the number of its 
 revision souls, and distributes the land among 
 its members as it thinks fit. The revision of 
 the land takes place about every fifteen years, 
 and the land is then distributed according to 
 the number of persons which the family con- 
 tains. This would naturally occur after each 
 census. But the various changes brought 
 about in each commune by the deaths, the 
 births, and the migrations, compel the vil- 
 lages to make the redistribution more fre- 
 quently. In some districts they divide their 
 lands yearly, while others do not do so till 
 the lapse of two or more years. The richest
 
 154 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 and best cultivated communes make redis- 
 tribution of their lands less frequently than 
 poorer ones. When the territory is vast, as 
 in the northern provinces, the land is com- 
 mon to many villages and constitutes a " ro- 
 lost." Thus in the district of Olonetz, about 
 six hundred villages are grouped in thirty 
 communes. It is singular that even the Ger- 
 man colonists on the banks of the Volga, 
 although they received their lands in sever- 
 ally, have united them under the communal 
 system. There may arise a difficulty, because 
 the active members of the various families 
 would not be the same, and accordingly in 
 some communes an attempt has been made to 
 distribute the land according to the working 
 powers of the families ; but the allotment de- 
 pends upon the will of the particular com- 
 mune. The authority of the particular com- 
 munal parliament is final and supreme. No 
 peasant challenges it, and the government 
 never interferes. The village parliament is 
 presided over by the village elder, whose 
 house is marked out conspicuously among 
 the others, and who wears as a badge of office 
 a small medal suspended from the neck by a 
 thin brass chain. The decisions of the com- 
 munal parliament are generally made by
 
 To the Volga. 155 
 
 acclamation, but whenever an ambiguity 
 arises, it is settled in the Western fashion by 
 a division. The attempt to introduce voting 
 by ballot into these assemblies by the govern- 
 ment, about fifty years ago, resulted in a 
 failure. The cottages (izba) of Russian 
 peasants are built of wood, the beams being 
 laid crosswise and the roof jutting out far be- 
 yond the bases. The furniture is of a scanty 
 description, and in addition to the chairs and 
 tables there is a large " peck " or stove, upon 
 which the family sleep, and the sacred " ikon " 
 in the corner of the room, with a lamp burn- 
 ing before it, and every one who enters is ex- 
 pected to cross himself and bow before it ; if 
 this is not done it is considered a great mark 
 of disrespect. The distribution of the meadow 
 land takes place annually. The division of 
 this and the arable land is performed by the 
 peasants themselves, who invariably effect it 
 with great accuracy. The minor rules with 
 regard to the time and manner of cultivation 
 of the land are all made subservient to the 
 general advantage of the commune. For 
 some of the above facts I am indebted to Mr. 
 Mackenzie Wallace's work. It does not seem 
 as if there would be any change from the 
 communal system, as the law, since the serfs
 
 156 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 were emancipated, allows the commune to be 
 broken up into severally, but very few vil- 
 lages avail themselves of this permission. 
 The system seems well adapted to the nature 
 and habits of the Russian peasants, who are 
 extremely ignorant, drunken and filthy, and 
 only one in ten can read and write. 
 
 The condition of the Russian peasant dur- 
 ing the days of serfdom must have been a 
 terrible one, judging from some accounts we 
 get from various sources not unlike the con- 
 dition of slaves in this country. We are told 
 of one lady who had been a great beauty in 
 her day, and being unwilling that the world 
 should become too much informed about the 
 decay of her charms, constituted one of her 
 serfs her perruquier (wig maker), and the un- 
 happy man was kept in captivity, never being 
 allowed to quit a certain room. He, how- 
 ever, at length succeeded in making his es- 
 cape, and the whole story became known. 
 We read of women murdering their serfs, and 
 one that was sentenced by the Empress 
 Catherine to spend her life in a dungeon for 
 her cruelties. Details are given of the terri- 
 ble cruelties practiced by the nobles upon the 
 serfs. 
 
 Serfdom was established in Russia by Boris
 
 RUSSIAN PEASANT.
 
 To the Volga. 157 
 
 Godunof, who issued a decree about the year 
 1600, forbidding peasants to leave the lands 
 on which that date should find them. Earlier 
 traces of it are found in the middle of the 
 thirteenth century, during the Tartar domin- 
 ion. The inhabitants of towns and villages 
 were then forbidden to leave them without 
 permission ; but the full and final attachment 
 of the soil was not consummated until the 
 close of the sixteenth century. Turgenief 
 had a horror of serfdom, and left Russia to 
 study in Germany. He writes: "That life, 
 that society, that sphere if such an expres- 
 sion may be used to which I belonged, the 
 sphere of serf-holding landowners, contained 
 nothing to hold me to my country. On the 
 contrary, almost everything that I saw around 
 me aroused within me a sense of annoyance, 
 contempt and dissatisfaction. I could not 
 breathe the same air, I could not remain in 
 the same environment with that which I ab- 
 horred. It was necessary for me to withdraw 
 at a distance from my enemy, in order to 
 charge the more forcibly against him from a 
 distance. In my eyes that enemy had a de- 
 fined name it was the right of serf-holding. 
 Under this inscription I collected and con- 
 centrated all that against which I resolved to
 
 158 From the Land of the Midnight Sim 
 
 fight to the last, with which I swore never to 
 reconcile myself. This was my ' Hannibal 
 oath.' " Turgenief regarded the serf as " a 
 strong and useful laborer, endowed with an 
 instinctive sense of morality, but being iso- 
 lated from the world, and unable to speak a 
 word in his own behalf." The classes of no- 
 bility, on the other hand, he considered as 
 "useless consumers of the peasant's labor, to 
 which they were entitled by the chance of 
 birth ; as demoralized by affluence and lazi- 
 ness, as demoralizing all that came into con- 
 tact with them."
 
 To the Volga. 159 
 
 XIV. 
 
 NIHILISM AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. TURGENIEF, 
 THE NOVELIST. 
 
 QROFESSOR MORFILL writes: " 
 
 genief, the greatest of Russian novelists, 
 in his powerfully written works, giving har- 
 rowing descriptions of the miserable condi- 
 tion of the Russian serfs, in his series of 
 sketches called ' Memoirs of a Sportsman,' 
 and a succession of able works reviewing all 
 classes of Russian society, invented the word 
 Nihilist." 
 
 I have never read a more pathetic story 
 than " The Gentleman's Retreat," and as 
 some one says, " there are touches in it 
 worthy of George Eliot." The great novelist 
 died in Paris while we were in Russia, a great 
 loss to Russia and to the world. He accom- 
 plished for the emancipation of the serfs 
 what Harriet Beecher Stowe did for the 
 emancipation of five million slaves in our 
 own country, and in his " Fathers and Chil- 
 dren," and "Smoke," Turgenief has grap-
 
 160 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 pled with the nihilistic ideas, which have for 
 a long time been so current in Russia. The 
 spread of Nihilism so rapidly in Russia was 
 caused, no doubt, by the emancipation of 
 twenty-two million of the serfs, in 1861, by 
 Alexander II., who liberated more human 
 beings by his own power and free will than 
 any other person. The nobles have hated 
 the Czars ever since, for they hired out a vast 
 number of the serfs, who were a great source 
 of income to them, and this emancipation act 
 deprived them of great sources of revenue 
 The peasants and lower class of people were 
 very much attached to their great liberator, 
 and they never tire of looking at his uniform 
 and sword, with the spots of blood upon 
 them, which he wore when assassinated, which 
 are exposed in a glass case in one of the 
 churches in St. Petersburg. They would al- 
 most tear any one in pieces who should say 
 anything against the Czar. Nihilism, no doubt, 
 is largely confined to the nobility, and to the 
 students in the eight or ten colleges, who be- 
 gin to understand that their liberties are 
 taken from them by the autocrat of all the 
 Russians, and that Russia is not advancing 
 like the other nations of the world, and are 
 becoming uneasy and dissatisfied, and there-
 
 To the Vol^a. 161 
 
 fore the frequent outbreaks among this class. 
 In order to discuss properly the modern revo- 
 lutionary movement in Russia, we must go 
 back to Alexander Herzen, whom, however, 
 it would be somewhat unfair to class among 
 Nihilists, as he was a man of much more 
 temperate character. Herzen was born in 
 Moscow, in 1812, the son of a Russian noble- 
 man. He early developed a taste for social- 
 istic theories, and was a great student of the 
 writings of Hegel. Having inherited a large 
 property from his father, he resolved to quit 
 Russia, invested his money in foreign securi- 
 ties, and took up his permanent residence in 
 the west of Europe. In some most inter- 
 esting papers, published in the Polar Star, 
 in Russia, under the title of " The Past and 
 My Thoughts," he has given rigorous sketches 
 of the strange life which he led in intimate 
 friendship with the leading political exiles, 
 among others Kossuth and Orsini. He 
 founded in London a Russian paper of 
 democratic principles, called the Kolokol (77ie 
 Bell}. In a supplement, entitled " Under 
 Judgment," minute details were given of 
 cases of injustice and oppression on the part 
 of the Government. These were ordinarily 
 so accurate that it is impossible to doubt they
 
 1 62 From tJic Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 must have been communicated by persons of 
 high official position in Russia. It also circu- 
 lated, to a great extent, in the country, but, 
 of course., secretly. In spite of its democratic 
 tone, it was always distinctly patriotic and 
 Russian. In 1865 Herzen removed to Switzer- 
 land, and died in 1870. He was the author 
 of a great many works, besides conducting 
 his journal, among them several novels, and 
 any one reading them would conclude that 
 Herzen was an honest man and a true patriot. 
 Of a very different type was Michael Ba- 
 kounin, who may be said in some sort to have 
 been the founder of nihilism. He was born 
 in 1814, of a wealthy Russian family, and 
 early showed signs of insubordination. Thus 
 having been gazetted in the Imperial Russian 
 Guards, at the age of twenty-two, he was 
 forced to leave the military service. At Mos- 
 cow he joined a club of intelligent men, who 
 were great students of the philosophy of 
 Hegel. Among these were Herzen, Granovski, 
 professor of history at the University of 
 Moscow, and author of some valuable works, 
 and Belinski, the genial critic, and other 
 prominent scholars. In the year 1841 Bakou- 
 nin went to Berlin, that he might study the 
 doctrines of Hegel more thoroughly ; after-
 
 To the l\>/ga. 163 
 
 ward he removed to Paris, and having refused 
 to return at the command of the Russian 
 Government, was now an exile. He after- 
 ward mixed himself up with the affairs of the 
 revolution at Dresden, was arrested, and 
 sentenced to death. This sentence was, how- 
 ever, commuted to imprisonment for life. In 
 1851 he was surrendered to the Russian 
 Government, and was imprisoned in the 
 fortress of Petropovloski in St. Petersburg. 
 His punishment was afterward mitigated by 
 banishment to Siberia ; he succeeded in 
 making his escape in an American ship to 
 Japan, and arrived in London in 1861. On 
 his arrival in London he joined Herzen, and 
 became one of his co-laborers on the Kolokol, 
 to which he communicated a much more 
 rabid tone. In 1865 the office of the Kolokol 
 was removed to Geneva, and here Bakounin 
 plunged into the wildest socialism. He died 
 in 1878, having been unceasing in his efforts 
 to propagate nihilism. One of his agents, 
 Nechaer, had deluged Russia with political 
 pamphlets of extreme views. Nechaer's trial 
 brought to light the fact that Bakounin had 
 filled Russia especially influencing young 
 persons with political papers of the wildest 
 and most rabid kind ; he praised Karokasor,
 
 164 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 who attempted the Czar's life in 1866, but de- 
 precated further efforts at assassination, as 
 the Czar must be reserved for the judicial 
 sentence of the people ; the aim of the revolu- 
 tion was to be universal destruction ; " abso- 
 lute void must be created, for if one old 
 social form were left, it would be an embryo 
 out of which all the other forms would renew 
 themselves,"
 
 To tJic Volga. 165 
 
 XV. 
 
 THE SOCIALISTIC PRESS. THE ORGAN OF THE 
 INSTITUTION. TOLSTOI AND THE SUPERIOR 
 COUNCIL. THE END. 
 
 1 THINK there is now a Russian socialistic 
 press in Geneva, which is very active. Many 
 articles appear in the Little Russian language, 
 especially in a magazine entitled " Gromasln." 
 The Nihilists are extremely active, and we 
 can hardly take up a daily paper but we read 
 accounts of assassinations and murders. The 
 policy of the government appears to be to 
 suppress, as much as possible, the doings of 
 the Nihilists. Many are sent off to Siberia, 
 without trial, or without it being known. It 
 would seem that they are a misguided, des- 
 perate class of men, and that nothing can be 
 accomplished by such unwise measures as as- 
 sasssination, but to unsettle the affairs of 
 Russia and cause an immense expense by 
 keeping so large a number engaged in pro- 
 tecting the country from their dastardly 
 deeds. No person is allowed to go in or out
 
 1 66 From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 of Russia without a passport, and every news- 
 paper is examined, and on every article that 
 criticises the government, or says anything 
 about Nihilism, a block of ink is stamped 
 across the objectionable words. All of this 
 espionage must keep an immense number of 
 officials employed, and it would seem that 
 financial ruin would come upon the country 
 in time, on account of the enormous expenses. 
 During the last ten years no less than one 
 hundred and sixty-five thousand prisoners 
 have been transported to Siberia, many of 
 them without any trial, by simple order or 
 resolution of the commune, never having even 
 seen a judge, on suspicion, perhaps, of being 
 Nihilists. Twenty years ago the exiles 
 traversed on foot all the distance between 
 Moscow and the place to which they were 
 dispatched ; now they go part of the way on 
 foot, in wagons, and on special barges, or 
 floating prisons, which are overcrowded, and 
 are usually kept in such filthiness that disease 
 is created. Diptheria and typhus fever kill 
 adults and children, especially the latter. 
 Corpses of children are thrown out at nearly 
 every station. When the season and state of 
 the river permits, parties of five hundred con- 
 victs, each with women and children, leave
 
 To the Volga. 167 
 
 the Tomsk prison every week, and begin 
 their foot journey to Irkutsk and Tranchaita- 
 lin. The suffering is terrible, and their num- 
 ber is increasing every year. 
 
 The Czar convened the Superior Council 
 on the loth of March for the purpose of con- 
 sidering the social question. They con- 
 sidered the question whether there really ex- 
 ists a powerful Nihilist party, and if so, what 
 their wants, and how to satisfy or crush 
 them, as the demands of the country may re- 
 quire. The council was composed of repre- 
 sentatives of the ruling classes, including 
 Count Tolstoi, minister of the interior, Lieu- 
 tenant-General Tchernaieff, General Ignatieff 
 and Miljutine, M. Abassa, and all the heads 
 of the administrative departments.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE PEASANTS OF RUSSIA. 
 
 The peasants of Russia are a superstitious class from the cradle 
 to the grave. Charms, incantations and mystic remedies in the 
 case of disease are common. A feast is held in Russia on the occa- 
 sion of a death, but also on many other stated days the dead and 
 ancestors of the village are commemorated. Even the nobles used 
 to have a noise made outside the house to keep the evil spirits off. 
 Up to this day the old women cross themselves in orthodox fashion 
 on the railway trains as soon as the cars start. The nobility of 
 Russia have been so brought under the western European influ- 
 ences that one can not see in them the anomalous characteristics of 
 the Scythians or Slavonians, as among the peasantry. They are 
 a contented, docile, sturdy race, and, as were the race from which 
 they descended, are brave, as has been proved on many a battle- 
 field. Sir Henry Havelock bears testimony to the virtues and 
 bravery of the Russian soldier. No country can show greater 
 heroism than they exhibited amid the horrors of Shipka pass. 
 With all their heroism they are servile and terribly given to 
 drunkenness. Probably they are the most drunken people in the 
 world. The ordinary beverage is a kind of fermented barley 
 (kvas), somewhat sour, but by no means disagreeable to the palate, 
 and a coarse kind of corn brandy called " vocka." 
 
 According loan old work, " It is a custom over all Muscovie 
 that a maid in time of wooing sends to that suitor whom she choos- 
 eth for her husband, such a whip curiously wrought by herself, in 
 token of her subjection unto him." Another Russian writer also 
 tells us that it was usual for the husband on the wedding day to
 
 Ii From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 give his bride a gentle stroke over the shoulders with his whip, to 
 show his power over her. In some story it is related that a wife 
 complained to her husband that he did not love her ; but upon his 
 expressing surprise at the doubt, she gave as a reason that he had 
 never beaten her ! The bridegroom knew nothing of his bride. 
 She was only allowed to be seen a few times before marriage by 
 his female relatives, and on these occasions all kinds of tricks were 
 played. A stool was placed under her feet that she might seem 
 taller, or a handsome female attendant or a better looking sister 
 were substituted. "Nowhere," says one writer, " is there such 
 trickery practiced with reference to brides as at Moscow." 
 
 A Nihilist in Moscow told me that he had given up trying to 
 accomplish anything by assassination ; indeed, he did not see how 
 any change could be brought about so long as all the peasants are 
 contented with their lot and never desire to better their condition 
 by leaving Russia for America or any other country. I do not 
 remember ever to have seen but one Russian who had become an 
 inhabitant of this country. 
 
 Russia seems to be taking pride in her own language and litera- 
 ture, and instead of imitating the French, they are developing a 
 vigorous individuality, and has a brilliant prospect for her lan- 
 guage, and is fast absorbing the Finish dialect, the Polish and 
 Lithunian. 
 
 II. 
 
 MARRIAGE IN RUSSIA. 
 
 The Russian merchant, the citizen of Odessa, retains to this 
 day some of the ancient customs of his fore-fathers. The primitive 
 character of Russian nationality has to battle hard against the in- 
 fluence of European civilization. Family influence, and especially 
 that of the home circle, however, still exists in full force. Father 
 and mother have complete moral authority over their children of 
 both sexes, no matter how old the latter may be. This authority 
 shows itself principally in the words and actions of the father. 
 He conducts his household as he pleases, and among the trading 
 class it is very rare indeed to hear of a son or daughter acting in 
 opposition to a father's will. In general the father is feared and
 
 To the Volga. \\\ 
 
 respected, the mother respected and loved. Nowhere is home life 
 the intimate family life so fully developed as in Russia, and 
 that more particularly in the class which is here called merchant 
 citizen. 
 
 The father, therefore, decides the marriage of his children, and 
 what he requires before all else is that the future wife or husband 
 should belong to the orthodox Greek Church and have a good rep- 
 . utation. Young men may marry at eighteen, young girls at six- 
 teen. Whether the future pair know each other or not, there is 
 always .1 match-maker engaged to make the overtures and to carry 
 on the negotiations on this delicate subject. "Popping the ques- 
 tion " is a profession that requires a great deal of art and intelli- 
 gence in the person who exercises it. In the first place a match- 
 maker must be a widow, not younger than thirty-five years, and 
 not older than fifty. She must be lively, good looking and full of 
 fun and wit. It is quite indispensable that she should have the 
 "gift of gab," that, as the Russian proverb has it, she need not 
 feel for her words in her pocket. A match-maker ought to know 
 everything, without showing it. Very often the match-maker is 
 the widow of a priest. After the death of her husband, when she 
 sets up in her profession, she is sure to have a large number of cus- 
 tomers, both rich and influential, to help her on in any difficulties, 
 particularly if her husband, during his lifetime, had acquired the 
 love and respect of his parishioners in the exercise of his ministry. 
 St. Petersburg, or any other large Russian city, seldom either 
 hates or despises the priest. The " white " or secular clergy are, 
 generally speaking, well instructed and well read, and lead a sober 
 and laborious life, devoting their whole time to the duties imposed 
 upon them by the church. Constantly under the v eyes of the Holy 
 Synod of the Emperor himself and of the whole of Europe, even if 
 they do not possess all the qualities necessary to constitute them 
 good ministers, they take care to be outwardly all that they 
 should be. 
 
 THE MATCH-MAKER. 
 
 The match-maker is the intimate friend of all parents who have 
 children to marry and of young lovers of both sexes. She is always 
 on the outlook, and knows how to guess the inclination of her cus-
 
 iv From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 tomers and the best time to commence operations. The custom is 
 that neither the parents nor the young people should show that the 
 latter desire to contract a marriage ; in fact, they pretend entire 
 ignorance on the subject. " Well, Ivan Ivanitch," says the match- 
 maker to the father, " you have the goods and I have the buyer ; 
 do you not think it is time to find a place for Machinka? Come 
 St. Alexander's Day (the holy man) she will have attained her 
 tenth year, with six added to her. What say you?" " Why, I 
 don't say no if my daughter says yes. Speak to her. It is her 
 business, not mine. I am an old man now, and have forgotten all 
 about these sorts of things." Now, the match-maker knows very 
 well that Machinka is in love with the young Andevrimkoff, her 
 uncle's clerk. " Come, Ivan Ivanitch, the thing is very well as it 
 is; Machinka won't say no, you'll see." "Very well," says the 
 old man, " tell me who is the predestined engaged one ? Who is 
 he? the brave fellow, and where is he?" "Guess," says she. 
 The old man names all the young men he knows without ever 
 mentioning the right one, although he is perfectly aware all the 
 time who he is ; but such is the usage. At last the match-maker 
 names him and adds: "Marriages are made in heaven, you 
 know." 
 
 When all this is settled they send for the mother, and the same 
 scene is repeated, with this difference that she bursts into tears 
 when she gives her consent. And now takes place the third scene 
 of the first act. The young lady is sent for. The match-maker 
 begins by making a long speech, in which she describes the happi- 
 ness of the marriage state, particularly the quiet happiness of the 
 young lady's own parents ; speaks of the blessings of God that had 
 evidently been bestowed upon them in the gift of children. She 
 then continues to tell of the pleasures of becoming a mother, of 
 parental love and of the way in which the young lady's parents 
 had brought up their daughter, and concludes by a serious exhor- 
 tation to respect and obey her parents. All this time Machinka is 
 standing before the tribunal, listening with downcast eyes and 
 blushing cheeks. The foregoing scenes are then acted over again, 
 and Machinka does not succeed any more than her parents in find- 
 ing out the young gentleman's name. At last the match-maker 
 declares it. If he is accepted by the young lady she throws her- 
 self at her parents feet and declares she never wishes to leave
 
 To the Volga. 
 
 them, but that, if it is her destiny, she is willing to desire theic 
 blessing. 
 
 The father then sends for the members of his household, even to 
 the janitor of the building ; all sit down and remain perfectly still 
 for a moment ; they then rise, say a prayer mentally, making the 
 sign of the cross, and the father declares to all present that his 
 daughter is asked in marriage ; that she has accepted the offer 
 because she believes it to be her destiny and the will of God ; 
 finally he gives her his blessing. All then congratulate the parents 
 of the young lady. Everybody sheds tears at the thought of the 
 separation and bowing leave the room. 
 
 The family now remain alone with the match-maker to treat of 
 the marriage outfit ; the parents ask what the young man has, 
 although they know very well ; but it is the custom. Then the 
 match-maker begins: "Well, Ivan Ivanitch, you give the princi- 
 pal bundle of goods, but what do you give into the bargain ? " 
 " Hum ! " says the old man, " the goods I furnish are so good that 
 I consider anything else useless. Let us first know what the future 
 husband has." The match-maker then mentions, one after the 
 other, everything the gentleman is to bring towards housekeeping. 
 The father listens and enumerates all he is to give his daughter, 
 and begins thus : " A large double bed, complete." The match- 
 maker says; " It is the custom;" the young lady blushes, the 
 mother sighs. The father continues: "Two marten sable cloaks, 
 one of fox fur, fifteen Lyons silk and satin dresses, ten real Paris 
 bonnets, twelve pairs of shoes, three chemises, one nightgown and 
 one petticoat," etc. After many observations on both sides, every- 
 thing is concluded. The day is appointed for the young couple to 
 be presented to each other. They then separate. The next day 
 the bride's family go to church to give thanks for the marriage in 
 prospect, which they must now make known to their friends and 
 relations. 
 
 THE FIRST KISS. 
 
 When the bridegroom is presented the whole house is in confu- 
 sion. All the relations, friends and neighbors on both sides are in- 
 vited to the house of the bride. When all the expected company 
 are assembled the match-maker comes in, leading the bridegroom
 
 vi From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 by the hand, and going straight to the head of the house, presents 
 him. The father first, then the mother, kisses him. The bride's 
 father then leads the young man to a table covered with a white 
 cloth. On the table is a silver salver, with a loaf of bread on it, 
 and on the bread a salt-cellar, with salt. Two rings one of gold, 
 the other of silver are placed on a small silver tray before a gol- 
 den image of the Virgin Mary, holding the Child Jesus in her arms. 
 With this image they bless the future couple. All the company 
 stand, the mother holding the bride, completely dressed in white, 
 by the hand, surrounded by all her dearest friends and compan- 
 ions. All bow before the image. The father takes the image, the 
 mother the bread and salt ; the young couple then kneel under the 
 image, and are first blessed by the father, the latter then takes the 
 bread and salt from the hands of the mother and gives her the 
 image, and the same ceremony is repeated. After this the father 
 and mother of the bridegroom do the like. Then comes the giving 
 of the rings ; the bride's father gives the golden ring to the bride- 
 groom, the silver one to the bride. They are now affianced to 
 each other, and give each other the first kiss. When the ceremony 
 is over, the company enjoy themselves; they chat, laugh, eat and 
 drink,' and separate after having fixed the day for the marriage. 
 During the interval between the ceremony and the marriage the 
 bridegroom spends all his evenings with his bride, often t< j te-a- 
 tete. 
 
 THE CEREMONY. 
 
 Then follows the marriage ceremony. It is also called the coro- 
 nation, because, during the ceremony, a crown is placed on the 
 heads of the affianced. Then the priest offers them a cup of wine, 
 of which they both drink, as a sign of the union they have con- 
 tracted. A solemn procession is led by the officiating priest, the 
 bride and bridegroom following him round the desk placed in the 
 center of the church, upon which is laid the Bible. This is meant 
 to represent the joys which await them, the ties which they con- 
 tract and the eternity of these ties. During the public celebration 
 of the marriage the rings worn by the young people are exchanged, 
 the husband now wearing the silver one, the bride the golden. 
 From the church the company is invited to the house of the bride-
 
 To the Volga. vii 
 
 groom's father. A week after they return to church, when the 
 priest lifts the crown from their heads. This is the final consecra- 
 tion of marriage. 
 
 All the clergy that assisted at the blessing in the church expect 
 to partake of the marriage feast. When rich merchants marry 
 their children they spare nothing to make the ceremony splendid. 
 Generally the carriage that takes them to the church is gilt, and 
 drawn by four, sometimes six, horses beautiful dappled grays. 
 The marriage over, the bride is taken home to her new family. 
 The coachman and the postillions are often richly dressed in azure 
 velvet, with gold or gilt buttons ; their belts and the ribbons 
 streaming from their hats are all gold galoons. The reins of the 
 horses, as well as their manes, are dotted with bunches of pink 
 and blue ribbons ; two huge men servants, with round hats, livery 
 coats and knee-breeches, dazzling with blue and gold, are perched 
 behind the carriage. This equipage hired for the occasion, costs 
 not less than $200, but custom will have it so. 
 
 THE FEAST. 
 
 The banquet is ordered at some fashionable confectioner's. 
 Nothing is wanting silver, crystal, flowers and lusters laden with 
 candles of the purest wax. The most perfect order reigns at these 
 repasts. The finest wines flow in abundance, and music plays 
 from time to time during the whole repast. The young married 
 pair occupy seats about the middle of the table, the parents sup- 
 porting them on both sides the rest of the company take seats ac- 
 cording to the degree of relationship or rank. If they want a very 
 grand dinner, they order a " General's " dinner, which costs $30 
 more than an ordinary one. At this dinner, so ordered, the master 
 of ceremonies invites a real old pensioned off General, who is 
 received with all the reverence due to his rank, and seated in the 
 place of honor. He is the first to drink the health of the young 
 couple, and is always helped before anyone else. He never speaks 
 unless it is absolutely necessary. He is there only for show, and 
 he does his best, in return for the $20 paid him for his presence, to 
 eat and drink as much as he can. He is accosted, when hcl|>c.l to 
 anything, arack or wine, as your Excellency. He never refuses a 
 single dish of all the thirty or more served on such occasions.
 
 Vin From the Land of the Mid/right Sun 
 
 These dinners are always served after the French fashion. As the 
 last roast disappears from the table, the champagne corks fly, the 
 glasses are filled to the brim, the music strikes up, and huzzahs 
 resound from all parts. But here comes the bride's father, with 
 glass in hand, going up to her bowing, and making a most woeful 
 face, saying that his wine was so bitter that he could not drink it 
 until she had sweetened it. After a great deal of pressing she rises 
 and gives her husband a kiss; her father still pretends that his 
 wine is bitter, and it remains so until she has given her husband 
 three kisses ; each kiss not only sweetens his wine, but is accom- 
 panied with roars of laughter and bursts of applause. After dinner 
 comes the ball and " general's walk." They lead him through all 
 the rooms once every half hour, everybody salutes him as he 
 passes along and he graciously replies by an inclination of the head. 
 At last, at 3 o'clock in the morning, all the young girls and those 
 who dressed the bride take her away, to undress her and put her 
 to rest ; the men do the same by the husband. The next morning 
 the house of the newly married couple is again filled with the 
 crowds of the evening before. The young wife is seated in a 
 drawing-room on a sofa with a splendid tea service before her. 
 One after the other approaches, salutes her and asks: " Have you 
 slept well, madam ? Do you feel rested after the fatigues of the 
 last night ? " She then offers tea, coffee or chocolate, according to 
 the taste of the visitor. She is throned for the first time in all 
 splendor as the mistress of the house. The most intimate friends 
 remain to spend the day with the young pair. A week after the 
 marriage the wife's family gives a series of dinner parties, evening 
 parties and balls. These fotes sometimes last fora fortnight, or 
 even three weeks or a month, and so the young people gradually 
 subside into their ordinary every-day life. 
 
 III. 
 
 HOW THE RUSSIANS KEEP WARM. 
 
 Jl he Russians have a great knack of making their winter pleas- 
 ant. You feel nothing of the cold in those tightly built houses 
 where all doors and windows are double, and where the rooms are 
 kept warm by big stoves hidden in the walls. There is no damp in
 
 1\> the Vola. 
 
 a Russian house, and the inmates may dress indoors in the lightest 
 gards. which contrast oddly with the mass of furs and wraps they 
 don when going out. A Russian can afford to run no risk of 
 exposure when he leaves the house for a walk or drive. He cov- 
 ers his head and ears with a fur bonnet, his feet and legs with felt 
 boots lined with wool or fur, which are drawn over the ordinary 
 boots and trousers, and reach up to the knees ; he nexl cloaks him- 
 self in a top coat with a fur collar, lining and cuffs ; he buries his 
 hands in a pair of fingerless gloves of seal or bear skin. Thus 
 equipped, and with the collar of his coat raised all around so that 
 it muffles him up to the eyes, the Russian exposes only his nose to 
 the cold air ; and he takes care frequently to give that organ a little 
 rub to keep the circulation going. A stranger who is apt to forget 
 the precaution, would often get his nose frozen if it were not for 
 the courtesy of the Russians, who will always warn him if they 
 see his nose " whitening," and will, unbidden, help him to chafe it 
 vigorously with snow. In Russian cities walking is just' possible 
 for men during the winter, but hardly so for ladies. The women 
 of the lower order wear knee boots ; those of shopping class sel- 
 dom venture out at all ; those of the aristocracy go out in sleighs. 
 The sleighs are by no means pleasant vehicles for nervous people, 
 for the Kalmuck coachmen drive them at such a terrific pace that 
 they frequently capsize. 
 
 RUSSIAN FINANCES. 
 
 The Russian budget was never known to show a surplus. That 
 of 1882, just made public, showsa deficit of nearly $4,000,000, which 
 is, however, an improvement over former years. The expenditures 
 for railroads during the year was about $12,000,000, incurred by 
 the pushing of the system of Russia proper into the Russian pos- 
 sessions in Turkestan. Of the total expenditures of $355.580.000. 
 the army and navy consumed $117,000,000, which, considering the 
 vastness of the forces kept up, is lower than the cost of our own 
 military and naval forces. The Russian revenue has fallen off in 
 respect to the tax on alcoholic liquor, very largely owing to the 
 decrease in consumption following the increase of the tax on liquors 
 forty per cent. Usually the receipts from this source are about 
 $120,000,000, and they have fallen off one-third. For many years 
 the Russian police were employed forcing the people to spend
 
 x From the Land of the Midnight Sun 
 
 their money in the brandy shops and get drunk, so that the govern- 
 ment might be benefited by the revenue. Prince Dolgoroukoff 
 relates that he had seen policemen dragging people by main force 
 into the liquor shops to get them drunk. That is an original way 
 of securing revenue for the Czar's government. The Russian 
 finances were very much disordered by the war with Turkey, which 
 cost $600,000,000 or $700,000,000, and was accompanied by vast issues 
 of paper currency which depreciated rapidly. The public debt of 
 Russia is believed to be about $2,000,000,000, and is not probable 
 that it will be reduced, as Russia is not likely to abandon the old 
 Petrine policy of possessing a Mediterranean littoral, which in- 
 volves European war, and she is at a continual and increasing 
 cxpence, strengthening her power and lines of communication 
 from the Ural mountains t<> the Pacific ocean an empire vast and 
 full of resources, wich some day will overshadow Russia in Europe 
 in importance. 
 
 DURATION OF LIFE IN RUSSIA. 
 
 The paucity of medical men in Russia, writes a correspondent, 
 and the habits of the rural population combine to make the Russian 
 death rate the highest in Europe. Excepting the two capitals, 
 where there are many German physicians, there is no district in the 
 empire sufficiently supplied with doctors. According to the latest 
 leturns, the average duration of life in Russia is only twenty- 
 six years. The mortality among infants is frightful. More 
 than sixty per cent die before they reach their fifth year. Nearly 
 two million children perish every year. Of eight million boys, 
 only three million seven hundred and seventy thousand attain the 
 age of military service that is to say, their twenty-fifth year ; and 
 of these at least one million are found, by reason of shortness of 
 stature and weakness of body, unfit for military duty. 
 
 RAILROADS IN RUSSIA. 
 
 Many officials there are at every station dressed in uniforms. 
 The railroads are owned by the government, and it seems as if 
 every country would be ruined by the numerous officials. Rail- 
 roads are extending all over Russia, and the Czar has extensive 
 plans according to accounts on hand, with the Czar as its most en- 
 thusiastic promoter. The proposal is to build eleven thousand
 
 To the Volga. xi 
 
 seven hundred miles of railroad in two trunk lines, one starting 
 from lekaterinenberg on the eastern slope of the Ural mountains 
 and running through Siberia to Vakutak and Nikolajen, with a 
 branch connecting with China and the region of the Amoor river ; 
 while the second line is to begin at Astrachan, connect with Persia, 
 Hcr.it in Afghanistan and India, and have a branch to Bokhara and 
 by way of Kashgar to Central Asia. The idea is to employ the 
 army in the construction of the roads in times of peace, and it is 
 judged that the work will occupy twenty years. There is thus no 
 need of immediate worry as to Russia's object in undertaking so 
 stupendous a task, if it really seriously contemplates it. It defines 
 its own purpose as the development of its agriculture and com- 
 merce by a net-work c.f railroads like that of the United States. 
 The people who are continually foreseeing Russia's seizure of India 
 from Great Britain are, however, already declaring that this pro- 
 ject has a strategic significance ; that it is of a piece with the Mery 
 country, and that the Pacific part of the scheme is but a blind to 
 facilitate the construction of a railroad south which would permit 
 the quick concentration of large bodies of troops upon Afghanistan, 
 Persia and Asiatic-Turkey. 
 
 In 1882 Russia's expenditure for railroads was twelve millions of 
 dollars, incurred by pushing the system of Russia proper into the 
 Russian possessions in Turkestan.
 
 U'ELCH, FK ACKER COMPANY'S 
 
 Recent Publications.
 
 " -- K*e-r,T; -;- 
 
 From "IN WESTERN LEVANT.
 
 THE MASTERPIECE OF THE BOOK-MAKER'S ART. 
 
 NOW READY 
 
 FRANCIS C. SESSIONS 
 
 President ef the Ohio Arclneological and Historical Society 
 
 With over Fifty Vignette Illustrations by 
 HENRY W. HALL 
 
 Printed on Warren coated paper, title page in colors, exquisitely 
 bound, with parchment label title, gilt top, etc. 
 
 Author, artist, and designer have combined successfully to make 
 
 this the most superb product of exclusively American talent 
 
 that has yet been placed upon the market. 
 
 i2mo. Cloth. $1.50, post-paid.
 
 INTO MOROCCO 
 
 \ 
 FROM THE FRENCH OF 
 
 PIERRE LOTI. 
 
 ILLfSTRATED BV 
 
 Benjamin Constant ami Aime Morot. 
 
 I2I110, ClOtll, 81.2-,. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS. 
 
 " The hit of the^ear ! '"State Journal. 
 
 " Full of color, picturesqueness and charming descrip- 
 tion." Front column revi'm 1 in X. Y. Tribune. 
 
 " A famous book." AVw Orleans Picayune. 
 
 " Rising from the perusal of these sparkling pages, the 
 reader feels as if under the lingering influence of some wild 
 dream," Front a three-column reviw in the Hartford 
 Times. 
 
 t "A very clever and readable volume by one of the most 
 unhackneyed, entertaining and imaginative of living 
 writers." -V. 1". Sun. 
 
 '' ' Into Morocco ' is vivid in rich word-coloring, and every 
 page charms \v ; th its quaint attractiveness."^,?/; Fran- 
 cisco Post.
 
 ' Loti's account of travel into the interior of that country 
 by no means lessens the feeling of mystery, but rather en- 
 hances it. He seems to have pursued his researches in a 
 sort of dream, and while observing closely and describing 
 clearly all he saw and heard, yet conveys throughout his 
 book that same atmosphere of unreality and delicious lan- 
 guor, and one lays the book down with a sigh at having 
 completed its perusal, and with the brain filled with visions 
 of white-robed veiled figures, tents, hot, sandy deserts, and 
 long trains of silently moving camels. It is an enchanting 
 book, and the picturesque illustrations add not a little to its 
 charms. Mihva ukee Sentinel. 
 
 " Only those who are familiar with the deep poetic feel- 
 ing and power of description of Pierre Loti, can obtain any 
 conception of the character of this book without reading it. 
 Readers who love the romantic, will be delighted with the 
 book." Cleveland Leader. 
 
 " Loti is, above all else, a literary colorist, and the pic- 
 tures are wonderfully warm, sensuous and glowing." 
 Chicago Times. 
 
 " Mr. Loti has an artist's eye for the picturesque." 
 Milwaukee Wisconsin. 
 
 " Rich in quotable extracts, for on every page is a pic- 
 ture worth impressing on the memory for its beauty. It is 
 vivid and inspiring. Chronicle^ San Francisco. 
 
 "A famous book, intensely interesting, beautifully illus- 
 trated." New Orleans Picayune. 
 
 "Delightful reading." Toledo Blade. 
 
 " Sure of welcome. It is a series of emotions deeply felt, 
 exquisitely translated." Boston Transcript. 
 
 " Full of charm ; not an effect is lost. We wish we had ' 
 space to quote at fuller length from this fascinating book." 
 Boston Literary ll'orld. 
 
 " One of the most fascinating books of travel that has ap- 
 peared this year." The H'riter, Boston. 
 
 " A book of sunshine." Chicago Herald.
 
 From -THE BANK TRAGEDY."
 
 The Delightful Tale of Freijclj Life and Manners 
 
 E x PI A T I o N 
 
 BY TH. BENTZON 
 
 ADMIRABLY TRANSLATED 
 
 I2>no. ?f cents. 
 
 "Far ahead of [its fellows in theme and general treat- 
 ment." World Herald, Omaha. 
 
 " Attractive, clear, smooth and free. The interest deep- 
 ens." Times, Chicago. 
 
 " A charming novel, and a welcome addition to the store 
 of first-class works." Morning Chronicle. 
 
 " A beautiful example of life displayed. The plot is in- 
 teresting, and characters strongly drawn." Chicago Tri- 
 bune. 
 
 " An admirable story." Albany Argus. 
 
 " Charming and graceful." Boston Literary World. 
 
 " It will be found delightful'" Geyer's Stationer.
 
 A FLORENTINE CHURCH. 
 
 From " On the II 'ing Through Jiuro
 
 " ON THE WING THROUGH EUROPE, by F. C. Sessions, 
 Esq.. is a modest and well written account of what a less 
 accurate man would not have seen, and a clearly given de- 
 scription of what a sensible and thoughtful pair of eyes did 
 see in Europe. The exceedingly good taste, which is evi- 
 dent on every page, is added to full and complete mention 
 of what one most wants to read about, and yet finds so little 
 written about, as related to these topics. The binding is in 
 harmony with the plan and execution of the whole volume." 
 Home Journal. 
 
 " They are written with a remarkable grace, ease and 
 clearness of style. His mind quickly seizes the salient 
 points of interest and besides penetrates into regions not so 
 often described by the ordinary traveler. It is a very inter- 
 esting and instructive little book, and reveals the author 
 as a man of vigorous intellect, keen observation, deep sym- 
 pathy and excellent powers of description." Adams, Mass., 
 Transcript. 
 
 " While written modestly, simply and with no effort at 
 vivid description, it does more to place the scenes, incidents 
 and historic associations of a tour through the British Isles 
 and on the continent of Europe before the reader intelli- 
 gently, than any similar work we have ever seen. The 
 engravings are fine, and two letters of Rev. Dr. Hutchins 
 on famous English Divines, add greatly to the value of 
 the book." Cincinnati Herald. 
 
 " The letters are well written, and the descriptions of 
 scenery, incidents, etc., are peculiarly interesting, showing 
 that Mr. Sessions has been a careful observer. * * * 
 The book is an exceedingly handsome one in printing 
 and binding, and the elegant illustrations it contains add 
 very much to its value and interest. We can cordially com- 
 mend the work to our readers. It should have a very large 
 and general circulation." Dispatch.
 
 " It is entirely unpretentious, and written in a lively and 
 pleasing style. A breezy freshness and evident sincerity 
 pervade its pages, and it is pleasant to learn what an unpre- 
 tentious writer can make out of the old cities and time- 
 honored buildings, the ancient rookeries and much-travelled 
 thoroughfares of these older lands. The printed text shows 
 good taste, and the illustrations add to its value." Christ- 
 ian at H'ork. 
 
 " ON THE WING THROUGH EUROPE is the title of just such a 
 journal of a flying tour of Europe, during the year of the 
 Paris Exposition, as we might expect from almost any one 
 of our clear-headed and sensible men of business writing for 
 the entertainment of friends at home. Lively, concise, 
 straightforward, touching lightly but intelligently upon a 
 multiplicity of topics, without falling into sentimentality on 
 the one hand, or lapsing into a too prosaic literalness on the 
 other, it is an agreeable and unaffected record of impressions 
 of travel. Its author's brief descriptions of phases of 
 transatlantic life, manners, customs, and scenes, and of me- 
 morable places and buildings, are distinguished by the busi- 
 ness man's faculty for close and sharp observation of men 
 and things, and of arriving at rapid and generally just con- 
 clusions concerning them." Harper's Monthly. 
 
 " The vast material upon which the traveler had to work 
 is certainly attractively and instructively used in the narrow 
 limits to which he confined his writing. Not the least at- 
 traction of the work is the series of twenty fine engravings, 
 certainly the finest illustrations ever published in a work 
 of this kind." Times 
 
 "A series of very sprightly and readable letters to the Ohio 
 State Journal, and we must say that they have lost nothing 
 of their freshness and interest by reappearing in book form. 
 We are reading it with great pleasure. The mechanical 
 execution of the work as shown in letter-press and en- 
 gravings is excellent very creditable to the taste of the 
 publishers. ' 'Springfield Republic.
 
 -*^, 
 
 From "IN WESTERN LEVANT,"
 
 NOW READY. 
 
 BY WHOSE HAND? 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 BY EDITH SESSIONS TUPPER, 
 
 .4 ut/ior of "By a Hair's Breadth" etc, 
 
 KOBE STIEEING, CLEVEE AMD VIGOEOUS THAN EVEN EEE 
 PEEVIOUS SUCCESSFUL NOVELS. 
 
 1.21110, Paper, 35 Cents. 
 
 ADVANCE NOTICES: 
 
 " Edith Sessions Tapper's latest novel, ' BY WHOSE 
 HAND,' is a distinct advance on her previous work in firm- 
 ness of touch and method of treatment of her subject. The 
 skill in plotmaking which the author manifests in a marked 
 degree, makes the novel a fascinating one for those who 
 wish to peruse a work of fiction which will hold the atten- 
 tion to the last paragraph. As a novelist, Mrs. Tupper im- 
 proves with each work." N. Y. Press. 
 
 " An original romance. The sedate reader (if any such 
 remain) will find the story somewhat emotional, but will 
 acknowledge its animation." Brooklyn Times. 
 
 " The authoress has an imagination which is always 
 vivid, and sometimes picturesque." Kq,te Fifltfs Waslt-
 
 JUST PUBLISHED 
 
 A PORTRAIT IN CRIMSONS 
 
 -I brig/it and entertaining Drama-novel. 
 
 CHARLES EDWARD BARNS. 
 ,M/, 
 
 Delicately printed on antique laid, bound in parch- 
 ment paper, etc. 12010. 35 cents. 
 
 Will be widely read and enjoyed by all readers of 
 this successful author.
 
 7rom "AS 'TIS IN LIFE."
 
 From "AS 'TIS IN LJFE."
 
 A STERLING NOVEL 
 
 The Chicago Tribune Frize Story. 
 
 By a Hair s Breadth. 
 
 BY EDITH SESSIONS TUPPER. 
 
 READ WHAT THE PRESS HAS TO SAY OF IT. 
 
 " Her undoubted talents are of such an order that she may 
 reasonably expect to attain high rank among the Hedonists 
 of her time." Chicago Herald. 
 
 " The authoress of this work is a bright and rising nov- 
 elist." N. 1'. Press. 
 
 " The incidents are ingenious and well wrought together. 
 This work opens a new field of enterprise to the gifted and 
 versatile authoress." -Jamestown Journal. 
 
 " This effort in the line of romance shows her power. 
 Her pen is her weapon. She has shown what she can do. 
 Her coming story, ' By Whose Hand ? ' will be looked for 
 with interest It goes without saying that every ad- 
 vantage that the plot presents is taken. The detail work of 
 the story is above criticism. ' From the introspective to the 
 mystical is but a step.' This step has been taken by one of 
 the brightest women this country has seen." Buffalo 
 ffewt. 
 
 " ' By a Hair's Breadth' is ingenious, free from affectation, 
 and told with a degree of freshness and originality." 
 N. \'. .Sun. 
 
 " It is the reportorial capacity wonderfully developed in 
 Robert Fleming, the immensely clever reporter, that works 
 up the Paul Raymond murder. ' By a Hair's Breadth ' has 
 merit, and Edith Sessions Tupper's hero knows by exper- 
 ience the advantages to be derived from the plentiful use of 
 the blue lead pencil." N Y. Times. 
 
 " One of the brightest little stories that has come to us in 
 some time. A terse dramatic style combined with the ability 
 of painting striking descriptions with a touch of the brush 
 shows that Mrs. Tupper is an artist of no mean ability, and 
 her future work will be awaited with interest. Heretofore 
 her work has been confined to lyrical poetry, but the story 
 field should know her soon again. ' Morning Journal.
 
 YKN'ICK. 
 J-'roin " On the H'/njf Through Euro/,?.
 
 FRACKER 1 <IIANY>* 
 
 EDITIONS OF 
 
 ffihe IgKJtrtrfc* xf <ha*ie* tmrntrfc t?avn. 
 
 yf VENETIAN STUDY 
 
 IN BLACK AND WHITE: 
 
 A drama-novel of stirring incident, clever intrigue, 
 with a plot of startling development, the scenes 
 shifting from Gotham to the city of the Doges. 
 
 DIGBY: CHESS PROFESSOR: 
 
 A happy and tiniqite drama-novel of New York life, 
 the interest centering in an exciting game of chess. 
 
 A DISILLUSIONED OCCULTIST: 
 
 An East Indian episode, gathering interest from 
 a home-bound student of Hindu occultisms, and the 
 recital of his tragic history. 
 
 THIRTY-FIVE CENTS EACH, POST-PAID. 
 
 THE AMARANTH AND THE BERYL : 
 
 A volume of poetical works. 
 
 SOLITARIUS TO HIS DAEMON: 
 
 Thoughts and reflections of a thinker in search of 
 
 new truths in nature and the heart of man. 
 
 \2rno. Bond parchment-paper binding, exquisitely 
 
 printed on antique laid paper, with 
 
 engraved title-pages, etc. 
 
 FIFTY CENTS PER COPY. 
 NOW RE ADY.
 
 1'HE PITH OF A FEW ADVANCE 
 
 PRESS NOTICES: 
 
 u Barns' works appeal to the more thoughtful class c,f 
 readers." Me rcu ry. 
 
 " These poems are the rtoduct of a deep dramatic in- 
 stinct. . . . ' Solitarius to his Daemon ' is an excellent prose 
 work." Telegram. 
 
 " Mr. Barns' writings show the man of thought and 
 culture . . . Solitarius is a work worthy of admiration. In 
 this his talents show to advantage.' 1 Journal. 
 
 " A work of high philosophy." Press. 
 
 " They touch a responsive chord, and furnish food for 
 many a fanciful reverie." News and Courier. 
 
 " Vigorous, equally clever, and abounding in the re- 
 sul's of much reading and thinking." Brooklyn Eagle. 
 
 " Barns is a delightful essayist, and between his well- 
 rounded periods is a rich mine of thought and philosophy, 
 expressed in a most pleasing and impressive form. One of 
 those books which is as pleasing in a second reading as in the 
 
 first. . . .The poems are full of genius of the true point 
 
 Our readers will find in these books a surprise and a de- 
 light." Christian at Work. 
 
 " These drama-novels display much curious learning and 
 a quaint humor." N, Y. Sun. 
 
 " These works will prove a valuable addition to any 
 library." San Francisco Call.
 
 hrom "IN WESTERN LEVANT."
 
 " Barns has a fertile pen. His drama-novels are pro- 
 fv.se in popular character, story and learning, written with 
 marvellous fluency.". . .Brooklyn Eagle. 
 
 " Barns is capable of excellent word-painting, admira- 
 ble technique, and moreover, a noticeably sweet and tender 
 versification. . . .Many of the poems combine a vigorous and 
 rich harmony with virility and manly sentiment." Phila- 
 delph fa Transcript. 
 
 " In spite of many defects, it is more than borne upon 
 the reader that here are books with a genuine message for 
 the world. The writer is humble, earnest and hopeful ; not 
 daunted by conventions, nor driven into mistaking them for 
 truths, but yet respectful of them, acknowledging their place 
 in the world. His reading has been wide, if not indeed pro- 
 found, and has furnished him with a rich treasury of refer- 
 ence and allusion, and more than all, he is a sturdy promoter 
 of manliness, a virtue more than slightly underrated by 
 many of his contemporaries. ...Barns will find many read- 
 ers. "Boston Herald. 
 
 " Rarns' books are unique, exciting, and beautiful 
 specimens of their art." Phila. North American. 
 
 " They cannot but be appreciated by all who seek real 
 literary gems." San Francisco Chronicle. 
 
 " A new writer has sprung into enviable prominence 
 a young poet , philosopher, and novelist, who has produced a 
 series of volumes sufficiently original in thought and admir- 
 able in quality to merit the above titles These writings 
 
 have been remarkably amiably handled by the critics through- 
 out the country, considering that they abound in crudities 
 and literary faults ; but they are the errors of a genius. Not 
 a single page of his books but bears an individuality not to be 
 
 mistaken A sincere student of nature in all itsphases. As 
 
 Barns is young, and has had exceptional advantages as re- 
 gards study and travel, there is no reason why, with his tal- 
 ents, he should not become an important factor in the litera- 
 ture of the country- ,."New York Graphic.
 
 AMSTERDAM. 
 
 Protn " On the U'ing Through Europe."
 
 A MOROCCAN' WELL
 
 " ' Solitarius' is a series of thoughtful, quaintly writ- 
 ten essays These drama-novels are readable and pleasing 
 
 productions by an author who revels in the eccentric The 
 
 volumes are choice in design, and are the very flower of the 
 printer's art." New Orleans Picayune. 
 
 " These productions are thoroughly unique. "Chi- 
 cago Inter-Ocean. 
 
 " The drama-novels are awake and alive ; and that is 
 no small virtue when so many published books are torpid. . . 
 ' The Venetian Study ' is logical and impressive. The works 
 of this author must be regarded as very promising." Boston 
 Herald. 
 
 " The drama-novels are capital stories, well told, and 
 equally brilliant." Evening Telegram. 
 
 " Barns is both a philosopher and a poet. His prose is 
 stately, strong, and graceful ; his poems are exalted in tone, 
 
 majestic in style The drama-novels are the productions 
 
 of a master of English, an artist in description, and display 
 
 a rare versatility This young author's work is introduced 
 
 to the public in a most attractive form.... The series is of 
 great value." Minneapolis Journal. 
 
 * " Barns is thoroughly in earnest, and is tilled with the 
 consciousness of the solemnity of his mission, and of the ur- 
 gent need there is in the world for the truth his art would 
 
 teach The poems show a true, workmanlike touch, and 
 
 ' Solitarius ' is a work of truth and brilliancy." Chicago 
 Tribune. 
 
 " The author of these books has read much, travelled 
 widely, and thought deeply, and is enabled to use these con- 
 ditions with effect in his writings which are elevated in tone, 
 in philosophy breathing a hopef /I, independent spirit, while 
 the reader is not allowed to forget that he is an American. . . 
 The poems are distinguished by an elevation of sentiment, 
 and a defin He purpose." Albany Journal.
 
 " Barns is a thoughtful man and a skilful workman. The 
 French, it is plain, have not a monopoly of epigrams. His 
 works are worth reading for their thoughtfulness and their 
 suggestiveness, a line often standing for a whole page, and 
 occult thoughts are put in so rational a way as to disarm 
 criticism aud charm acceptance. As to eccentricities well, 
 who would live forever in a dull, flat country." Christian 
 Union. 
 
 "The versatility of this author is shown by the simultaneous 
 issue of three volumes entirely distinct in scope and style. 
 .... The novels show dramatic power and a weirdness of 
 imagination. . . The poems are reflective and philosophic 
 often, and show a poetic fancy combined with depth df 
 feeling. In ' Solitarius' there are scattered gems of thought, 
 suggestive and inspiring." Brooklyn Times. 
 
 " What a drama-novel is can only be imagined by one 
 who has had the pleasure of reading Mr. Barns. . . . They 
 are written in a light and amusing style. They are wel- 
 come." Nassau Lit. Review, Princeton College. 
 
 "Ambitious in its serious thoughtfulness. His evidei.t 
 honesty and high purpose makes us wish him all they 
 meri t. " Critic. 
 
 " Well worthy all the refinements of the book-maker's 
 art which they bear. Satire and wisdom alternate with 
 commonplace phrases ; but there is real thought beneath the 
 words, and many of the strangest sentences are full of sug- 
 gestion. Mr. Barns has had exceptional advatanges and 
 wide experience of many kinds of life, and he has evidently 
 thought much before he has written at a\\." Writer. 
 
 "New York's Rising Litterateur." Article in Chicago 
 Herald. 
 
 " These several works bear an individuality not to be 
 mistaken. Of Mr. Barns' critics the hypercritical admit 
 that here is an author who gives extraordinary promise of 
 the future." The A utAor, Boston.
 
 . 
 
 " Ull <*c^/- 
 
 From " AS 'TIS IN LIFE.
 
 ' ' _^* 
 
 Fror.i "IX WKSTERN" J.KVANT.'

 
 k4C&a*lKSi