JOURNEY FROM ST. PETERSBURG. 15 



Russia's innumerable windmills, the very sight of which 

 is more than enough to put the nose of the 

 Newcastle grindstone out of joint for ever ; and along 

 the banks of the Volga, for no less a distance than six 

 miles, heaps of iron from Siberia, the finest that the 

 world can produce. We exhaust ourselves with the work 

 of inspection, and when all is over, and it is time to 

 return by the night express to Moscow, the tenth has not 

 been seen. 



' It is estimated that fully half a million traders visit 

 the fair during eight weeks, and the estimate cannot be 

 very far wrong, according to all reports. Curiously 

 enough, the estimate is taken from the quantity of bread 

 consumed, the Government compelling the bakers to send 

 in a return each morning of the amount of bread they 

 sell. The money exchanging hands during the fair 

 exceeds 16,000,000 sterling. I travelled from the fair 

 to Moscow in the company of a German Jew 7 , a wholesale 

 St Petersburg store-dealer, who had purchased 84,000 

 roubles' upwards of 9000 worth of Siberian rags for 

 purposes of paper manufacture. The purchases are in 

 many cases so large that credit for twelve months, and in 

 some instances for two years, is asked for, and given. In 

 the case of large dealers, the rule is to pay at one fair for 

 what was bought the previous year. It is generally 

 supposed that the gradual extension of the railway 

 system must in time lessen the influence of this gigantic 

 fair ; but it is very evident that it will be many years 

 before the glory of Nijni is a thing of the past. This 

 year the trade has been immense, and as the Russian 

 merchants have bad it all to themselves, just as they had 

 in the year after the Crimean war, their rejoicings are 

 unbounded. Three hundred millions' worth of goods in 

 roubles were brought forward, and by the middle of 

 August one hundred and eighty millions had been sold. 

 The consequence was, that the fair would close earlier 

 than usual, and with stocks of goods cleared out, the 

 manufactories will have a prosperous year to look forward to. 



