worse off than the colonists of Siberia: there is, in that distant exile, a vague poetry, which adds to the severity of the sentence all the influence of the imagination ; and this
ON THE ROAD.
173
inhuman alliance produces a frightful result. Besides, our convicts are solemnly convicted; but a few months' abode in Russia suffices to convince us that there are no laws there.
There were three exiles, and they were all innocent in my eyes ; for, under a despotism, the only criminal is the man who goes unpunished. These three convicts were escorted by six cossacks on horseback. The head of my carriage was closed, and the nearer Ave approached the group, the more narrowly did the courier strive to observe the expression of my countenance. I was greatly struck with the efforts he made to persuade me that they were only simple malefactors, and that there was no political convict among them. I preserved a gloomy silence: the pains that he took to reply to my thoughts appeared to me very significative.
Frightful sagacity of the subjects of despotism! all are spies, even as amateurs, and without compensation.
The last stages of the road to Nijni are long and difficult, owing to the sand-beds, which get deeper and deeper*, until the carriages become almost buried in them. They conceal immense, movable blocks of wood and stone, very dangerous to the carriages and horses. This part of the road is bordered by forests, in which, at every half league, are encampments of cossacks, destined to protect the journeying of the merchants who resort to the fair. Such a precaution reminds me of the middle ages.
My wheel is repaired, so that I hope to reach Nijni before evening.
* A chaussee is being made from Moscow to Nijni, which will be soon completed.
174SITE OF NIJNI-NOVGOROD.
CHAP. XXXTII.
SITE OF NIJNI-NOVGOROD.PREDILECTION OF THE EMPEROR FOR
THAT CITY.ТПЕ KREMLIN OF NIJNI. — CONCOURSE AT THE FAIR.
THE GOVERNOR. BRIDGE OF THE OKA. DIFFICULTY IN
OBTAINING A LODGING.THE PLAGUE OF PERSICAS. PRIDE
OF THE FELDJAGER. THE FAIR-GROUND. SUBTERRANEAN
CITY. SINGULAR APPEARANCE OF THE RIVER. THE CITY OF
TEAOF RAGS. OF WHEELWRIGHTS' WORK. OF IRON.
ORIGIN OF THE FAIR. PERSIAN VILLAGE. SALT FISH FROM
THE CASPIAN. LEATHER. FURS. LAZZARONIS OF THE
NORTH. BADLY CHOSEN SITE. COMMERCIAL CREDIT OF THE
SERFS. —THEIR MODE OF CALCULATING. BAD FAITH OF THE
NOBLES. PRICES OF MERCHANDISE. TURQUOISES OF THE
BUCHARIANS.KIRGUIS HORSES. THE FAIR AFTER SUNSET. —
THE EFFECT OF MUSIC IN RUSSIA.
The situation of Nijni is the most beautiful that I have beheld in Russia. I see no longer a little ridge of low banks falling upon a large river, but a real mountain, which looks down on the confluence of the Volga and the Oka, two equally noble rivers; for the Oka, at its mouth, appears as large as the more celebrated stream. The lofty town of Nijni, built on this mountain, commands a plain, vast as the sea. A land without bounds spreads before it, and at its foot is held the largest fair in the world. During six weeks of the year the commerce of the two richest quarters of the globe meet at the confluence of the Oka and the Volga. It is a spot worthy of being painted. Hitherto, the only truly picturesque scenes that I had
PREDILECTION OF THE EMPEROR FOR NIJNI. 175
admired in Russia were the streets of Moscow and the quays of Petersburg. But those scenes were the creations of man: here, the country is naturally beautiful. The ancient city of Nijni, instead, however, of seeking the rivers, and profiting by the riches they offer, hides itself behind the mountain ; and there, lost in the country, seems to shrink from its glory and prosperity. This ill-advised situation has struck the Emperor Nicholas, who exclaimed the first time he saw the place — ' At Nijni nature has done every thing, but man has spoilt all.' To remedy the errors of the founders of Nijni-Novgorod, a suburb, in the form of a quay, has been built under the hill, on that one of the two points of land separating the rivers, which forms the right bank of the Oka. This new town increases every year; it is becoming more populous and important than the ancient city, from which it is separated by the old Ki`emlin of Nijni; for every Russian city has its Kremlin.
The fair is held on the other side of the Oka, upon a low tract, which forms a triangle between it and the Volga. The Oka is crossed by a bridge of boats, which serves as the road from the city to the fair, and which appears as long as that of the Rhine at May-ence. The two banks of the river thus connected, are very different in character: the one which is the promontory of Nijni, rises majestically in the midst of this immense country ; the other, nearly on a level with the water which inundates it during a part of the year, forms a portion of the plain called Russia. The singular beauty of the contrast did not escape the glance of the Emperor Nicholas: that prince, with his characteristic sagacity, has also perceived that I 4
176THE KREMLIN OP NIJNI.
Nijni is one of the most important points in his empire. He is very fond of this central spot, thus favoured by nature, and which has become the rendezvous of the most distant populations, who here congregate from all parts, drawn together by a powerful commercial interest. His Majesty has neglected nothing that could tend to beautify, enlarge, and enrich the city. The fair of Makarief, which was held formerly on the estate of a boyard twenty leagues below, following the course of the Volga towards Asia, was forfeited for the benefit of the crown and country ; and the Emperor Alexander transferred it to Nijni. I regret the Asiatic fair held on the domains of a Muscovite prince: it must have been more original and picturesque, though less immense and regular, than the one I find here.
I have already said that every Russian city has its Kremlin, just as every Spanish city has its Alcazar. The Kremlin of Nijni, with its many-shaped towers, its pinnacles and embattled ramparts, which circle round a mountain far loftier than the hill of the Kremlin at Moscow, is nearly half a league in circumference.
When the traveller perceives this fortress from the plain he is struck with astonishment. It is the pharos, towards whose shining turrets and white walls, rising above the stunted forest pines, he shapes his course through the sandy deserts which defend the approach to Nijni on the side of Yaroslaf. The effect of this national architecture is always powerful: but here, the grotesque towers and Christian minarets, that constitute the ornament of all the kremlins, are heightened in effect by the striking character of the
CONCOURSE AT THE FAIR.177
site, which in certain places opposes real precipices to the creations of the architect. In the thickness of the walls have been worked, as at Moscow, staircases, which serve to ascend, from battlement to battlement,' up to
