344 DRIVING. 



done honour to a huge sleigh that holds a dozen people, and is 

 drawn by as many horses, is brought to the door. The notables 

 of the party take their places therein, and the others bestow 

 themselves in small sleighs that, as a rule, carry but one person, 

 but which with careful packing and at a pinch will hold two. 

 Then the expedition starts demurely for 'the Islands/ the 

 favourite summer resort of the St. Petersburg fashion. In 

 winter it is almost deserted. Once arrived at a circular open 

 space amongst the wood where passers-by are very rare, it seems 

 to be generally understood that a certain amount of reserve 

 may for the moment be put aside, and the proceedings begin 

 to be somewhat lively. The first result is that all the horses 

 are taken out of the small sleighs, which are then attached 

 by a rope to the big one in single file a la queue-leu-leu. 

 Then the huge machine starts off round and round the cir- 

 cle as quickly as its dozen horses can gallop, with its tail of 

 smaller fry in tow ; the fun of the thing and the avowed 

 object being to see if sufficient pace can be attained to swing 

 some or all of the small sleighs off the track and scatter them 

 and their occupants in the soft snow outside. Whether the 

 experiment be successful or not, it is sure to be followed, as 

 soon as the horses can gallop no more, by a wild game of 

 snow-balling, and that by something exceedingly like what we 

 should call a bear-fight, a name that has no particular sense 

 with us, but which might have been invented to describe such 

 a romp amongst the snow and fir-trees. 



When nearly every member of the party has been made to 

 look like a snow-man and has no more breath left in his body, 

 the fun perforce ceases, and when toilettes have been repaired 

 and original colour restored to the outer garments, the horses 

 are re-harnessed and the party returns gravely to the town. 



There is no pleasanter capital than St. Petersburg in the 

 winter. There are no more agreeable comrades nor firmer 

 friends than those once made amongst the Russian noblesse, 

 and there are certainly few more exhilarating pastimes than 

 sleighing in such good company. 



