204 PETERSBURG IN WINTER 



A very safe fluid on which to encounter great cold is un- 

 doubtedly tea. One of the few innovations to which my 

 residence in Russia converted me, was the drinking of that 

 beverage a la Russe. Everybody in that country labours 

 under the delusion that their tea, coming as it is supposed to 

 do overland in caravans, is the only tea outside of the 

 Celestial Empire which is fit to drink. Eleven years ago my 

 wife and I stayed for about a month at Shanghai, where w r e 

 ran a horse-breaking class, which everybody joined, and we 

 had a delightful time. While there, I took particular pains 

 to find out all about this caravan fetich. Mr. Ringer and 

 other leading tea merchants assured me that the finest Indian 

 Hill tea was better than any that could be found in China, 

 principally because it was manufactured under skilled 

 English superintendence, and according to the latest scien- 

 tific methods. The dirty, careless way tea is picked and 

 manufactured in China is simply disgusting, and the in- 

 feriority of the product has been the cause of its decline in 

 the English market, Russians follow the Chinese custom of 

 drinking their tea very weak about four pints of boiling 

 water to a teaspoonful of the leaf. I prefer less water, say, 

 two and a half pints, and think that the Muscovite plan of 

 adding a slice of lemon is much better than our way of using 

 cream or milk. The orthodox Russian custom when drink- 

 ing tea is to chew a lump of sugar, instead of putting it into 

 the glass (for men) or cup (for ladies). As marriages in 

 Russia are very matter of fact affairs, the swain has seldom 

 an opportunity of examining his future wife beyond running 

 his eye over her. He is therefore careful when asked to tea 

 in the evening, to watch how she treats her lumps of sugar. 

 If she crunches them boldly with her molars, he rests assured 

 that she has no false teeth ; but draws the opposite con- 

 clusion, if she merely sucks them. If the young lady owes 

 more to the skill of the dentist than she would wish to 



