THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE. 63 



trative officials, of the character and worship of the Noncon- 

 formists, Primitive Methodists, and the adherents to the 

 Solemn League and Covenant, for they all have their 

 representatives here, and very numerous they are. Also 

 of their method of making this beautiful and highly- 

 polished sheet iron of theirs ; of the quality and condition 

 of the work-people at the zavods ; of the tallow-boiling and 

 sheep-slaying business ; of the mining corps of engineers ; 

 of the imperial granite and marble works ; of the lapi- 

 daries, the precious stone polishers, and engravers ; of the 

 monastery in Ekaterineburg ; of our own countrymen j 

 and of the towns, and society in general ; but it is im- 

 possible to do justice here to all that relates to a district 

 so extensive and so interesting as is this. 



' There are many other matters I should like to have 

 referred to had time permitted, especially what I have 

 seen of the exiles and convicts in Siberia, and my impres- 

 sions and experience of my first travels among the semi- 

 barbarous tribes of the Chevash, Cheremish, Mondbee, 

 and others. 



' You may perhaps think, and I feel it is the case, that 

 I have not drawn a very flattering portaiture of the 

 Russians, but that is only one side of the picture, the dark 

 side, and I can now give my view of the light side only in 

 a few words. 



'The Russian, simple and uncontaminated by the 

 foreign adulteration, especially the landed gentry and the 

 inland population, have many a bright redeeming feature 

 that stands out in bold relief from that of the group I have 

 presented. 



' Certainly they are to me an enigma. They seem to 

 unite the two extremes in every phase of their character : 

 Clean and filthy, orderly and slovenly, near and prodigal, 

 mean and ostentatious, educated and shallow, accomplished 

 and boorish, exact and indifferent, dogmatic and tolerant, 

 rigidly pious and lax of morals, early rising and sleeping 

 half the day. I sometimes think Voltaire's description of 

 the English will hit them off very well Frothy at the 



