Notwithstanding the taste of the Russians for straight lines, many think with me that it would have been better to have placed the fair by the side of the old city on the crest of the mountain, the summit of which might have been rendered accessible by gentle, terraced slopes. At the foot of the hill, on the borders of the Oka, the objects too heavy and bulky to be carried up, might have still remained, by the side of their vessels, while the livelier, retail fair would have been held on a spacious platform at the o·ate of the lofty city. Imagine a hill crowded with the representatives of all the Asiatic and European nations. Sueh a peopled mountain would have produced a grand effect: the marsh, where the travelling population now swarms, produces very little.
The modern engineers, so skilful in all lands, would then have had whereon to exereise their talents ; the poets, the painters, the admirers of noble sites and picturesque effects^ the sight-seers, who are become quite a nation in this century, in which the abuses of activity produce fanatics in idleness, — all these men, useful through the money which they expend, would have enjoyed a magnificent promenade, far more attractive than that afforded them in a bazaar where no point of view can be gained, and where the air breathed is mephitie; while it merits consideration, that sueh a result would have been obtained at much less expenditure of money than it has cost the emperor to establish his aquatic fair.
The Russian peasants are the principal commercial
agents in this prodigious market. Nevertheless, the
law forbids the serf to ask, or the freemen to grant
him, a credit of more than_??e
к 2
196BAD FAITH OF THE NOBLES.
deal with some of these people, on the strength of their word only, for two hundred thousand — five hundred thousand francs; and the dates for payment are very distant. These slavish millionnaires, these Aguados of the glebe, do not know how to read. In Russia it is requisite that the men should possess great natui`al intelligence, to supply the want of acquired. The people are very ignorant of arithmetic. For centuries they have reckoned their accounts by frames, containing series of movable balls. Every line has its colour ; each indicates units, tens, hundreds, &c. This mode of calculation is sure and rapid.
It must not be forgotten that the lord of these enormously-wealthy serfs could despoil them in a day of all they possess, provided he did not injure their persons. Such acts of violence, it is true, are rare, but they are possible.
No one remembers that any merchant ever suffered by his confidence in the peasants with whom he dealt: so true it is, that in every society, if only it be stable, the progress of morals corrects the faults of institutions.
I have, however, been told that, on the other hand, the father of a Count Tcheremitcheff, who is now living, once promised liberty to a family of peasants, in consideration of the exorbitant sum of 50,000 roubles. He received the money, and retained among his serfs the despoiled family.
Such is the school of good faith and probity in which the Russian peasants arc instructed, under the aristocratic despotism, which crushes them in spite of the autocratic despotism which governs them, and
TRICES 0Г MERCHANDISE.197
which is often powerless against its rival. Imperial pride contents itself with words, forms, and numbers ; aristocratic ambition aims at things, and makes a profit of words. Never did a master receive more adulation and less obedience than the deceived,
The governor of Nijni, M. Boutourline, has very politely invited me to dine with him daily during my stay in the eity: to-morrow he will explain to me how conduct similar to that of Count Tcheremitcheftj rare everywhere and in every age, cannot be now repeated in Russia, I will give the summary of his conversation, if I can make anything out of it; for hitherto I have gathered little from the lips of the Russians but confused language. Is this owing to the want of logical minds, or is it done purposely, with the view of perplexing foreigners ? It is, I believe, attributable to both causes. By continually endeavouring to hide truth from the eyes of others, people become at last unable to perceive it themselves, except through a veil which daily thickens.
Nothing is cheap at the fair of Nijni, except articles that no one cares to buy. The epoch of great differences in pi`iee in different localities, is passed: everywhere the value of things is known: the Tartars themselves, who come from the centre of Asia to Nijni to pay very dear for the objects of luxury supplied by Paris and London, bring, in exchange, commodities of which they perfectly well know the value. The merchants may still avail themselves of the situation of the buyers to refuse them articles at a just к 3
198TUEQUOISES OF THE BUCHAKIANS.
price; but they cannot deceive them. Yet they do not abate their prices; they coolly ask too much; and their probity consists in never departing from their most exaggerated demands.
In a financial point of view, the importance of the fair continues to increase yearly; but the interest which attaches to the singularity and picturesque appearance of the assemblage diminishes. In general, the fair of Nijni would disappoint the lover of the grotesque and the amusing. Every thing is dull, stiff, and regular in Russia, except, at least, in moments when the long-repressed instinct of liberty bursts forth in an explosion : then the peasants roast their lord, or the lord marries his slave; but these rare outbreaks are little talked of: the distances and the measures taken by the police prevent isolated facts being circulated among the mass.
In my promenades through the central portion of the fair I saw the Buchanans. These people inhabit a corner of Thibet bordering upon China. They come to Nijni to sell precious stones. The turquoises that I bought from them are as dear as those sold in Paris; and all stones of any value are equally high in price. The dealers in these stones pass the year in their journey, for it takes them, they say, more than eight months to go and come only. Neither their persons nor dress struck me as very remarkable. I scarcely believe in the genuineness of the Chinese at Nijni; but the Tartars, Persians, Kirguises, and Calmucs suffice for curiosity.
The two last-named barbarians bring, from the solitudes of their steppes, herds of small wild horses to sell at the fair. These animals have many good
KIRGUIS IIORSES.199
qualities, both physical and moral; but their make does not recommend them. They are, nevertheless, excellent for the saddle; and their character causes them to be valued. Poor creatures ! they have better hearts than many men : they love each other with a tenderness and a passion that prevents them from ever voluntarily separating. So long as they remain together they forget exile and slavery, and seem to believe themselves in their own country. 'When one is sold, he has to be cast, and forcibly dragged with cords out of the enclosure where his brethren are confined, who, during this violence, never cease attempting to escape or rebel, and to neigh piteously. Never have I seen the horses of our own country show so many proofs of sensibility. I have seldom been more affected than I was yesterday, by the sight of these unhappy creatures, torn from the freedom of the desert, and violently separated from those they love. I may be answered by the line of Gilbert:
Un papillon souffrant lui fait verser des larmes.
but I shall not care for being laughed at, feeling sure that if the reader had seeu the carrying-out of these cruel bargains he would have shared my feeling. Crime, when recognised as such by the laws, has its judges in this world; but permitted cruelty is only punished by the pity of kindly-disposed people for the victims, and, I hope also,
