PRINCE LOUIS NAPOLEON 95 



on him as an act of civility. He did little to conceal the 

 annoyance he felt at meeting an individual who was impious 

 enough to think that any improvement could be made in the 

 existing order of things. He said not very civilly: "You 

 imagine we are a lot of barbarians who do not know how to 



o 



break in horses." I denied the accusation in the meekest 

 possible way, tried to turn the conversation on to the 

 weather, bowed my lowest and departed. General Strukof 

 is a rich man, he has a large and fine house on the English 

 Quay, close to the Galerniya riding school, he had command 

 of the Guard cavalry regiment which is now under the orders 

 of Prince Louis Napoleon, and is a critic of horses who is 

 supposed by himself to know most of the game, because he 

 sits on the fence. 



I met Prince Louis Napoleon two or three times at the 

 Galerniya riding school. He appears an amiable man, is I 

 believe a good officer, and he speaks English very well. 



As the theatres and circus are closed during Lent in 

 Petersburg, the people amuse themselves by going to the 

 Concours Hippiques or Horse Show, which is held in the 

 very large Imperial riding school that is in the Michaelsky 

 Ploshad. The chief attraction is the jumping competitions, 

 which are confined to officers and a few other amateurs, and 

 resemble in a small way similar affairs at the Agricultural 

 Hall, Islington. On the last day I was there, the darling of 

 the crowd was a Cossack officer who, whenever his horse 

 made a mistake, w r hich was often, rolled off and then 

 remounted amid the frenzied plaudits of the spectators, who 

 were bitterly disappointed that the heroism of this brave man 

 was not rewarded by his getting the first prize. 



Having nothing further to keep me in Russia, I returned 

 home by Berlin, which makes a pleasant resting-place in the 

 middle of the fifty-two hours' railway journey from Peters- 

 burg to Flushing. The Russian second-class carriages from 



