"We left Nijni about noon, and the captain says we shall be twenty-four hours getting to Kazan, where he will stop long enough for us to see the place. As I write, we are passing Makarieff, formerly the seat of the great fair, but now of little importance.
"There are many boats and barges floating with the current in addition to the huge tows which are managed by the steamboats. The captain says that before steam navigation was introduced there was a great deal of towing by horse-power; and how do you suppose it was done?
[Illustration: LAUNCHING A RUSSIAN BARGE.]
"There was an immense barge, with powerful windlasses or capstans, which were operated by horses walking in a circle as in the old-fashioned cider-mills. A huge cable, all the way from a quarter of a mile to two miles in length, would be sent up stream, and either anchored in the channel or fastened to a tree on shore. When all was ready the horses were set in motion, and the towing-barge, with all the boats and barges attached to it, slowly ascended against the current. Progress was very slow, but it was safe, as there was no danger from exploding boilers or overheated furnaces. As many as two hundred horses were sometimes employed by single barges.
[Illustration: TARTAR VILLAGE NEAR THE VOLGA.]
"Our captain says that back from the river are many villages of Cheramess, a people of Tartar origin, who preserve many of their ancient customs. They are loyal subjects of the Government, and in nearly all their cottages one will find the portraits of the Emperor and Empress. In accordance with their custom of veiling women, they hang a piece of thin gauze over the portrait of the Empress.
"The summer road between Kazan and Nijni is on the south bank of the river; the winter road is on the ice, and is marked with green boughs placed in a double row, so that the road cannot be missed. These boughs are placed by the Administration of Roads, and no one can travel on the ice of the river until it has been officially declared safe. The south bank is quite abrupt, while on the north the country frequently stretches off in a level for a long distance. Most of the towns along the banks are said to have been founded by John the Terrible in his expedition for the capture of Kazan.