PREFACE. 



IN the following pages the author has endeavored 

 to give an unbiased picture of the Russians and their 

 country, as seen by him from the saddle, on a horse- 

 back ride of more than one thousand miles through 

 the heart of the country, from Moscow to Sevastopol ; 

 thence up the Don and the Volga to Nijni Novgorod. 



When in Moscow, preparing for the horseback 

 journey, I was fortunate enough to enlist the enthu- 

 siasm of Sascha Kritsch, a young Russian who had 

 just completed his studies, and was eager to distin- 

 guish himself by a noteworthy achievement in the 

 saddle before joining the cavalry. He could speak 

 English, and both as an interpreter and a companion 

 I found him of much value. He' accompanied me as 

 far as Ekaterinoslav, about two thirds of the distance 

 to the Black Sea, when the heat and fatigue of the 

 southern steppes, together with the suspicions and 

 vexatious interference of the police, caused him to dis- 

 pose of his horse and return to Moscow by rail. 



I may say that, in so far as I permitted myself the 

 indulgence of preconceived ideas, my wish was to 

 exploit the better, rather than the more objectionable, 

 features of the government, and the economic and 

 political conditions of the country. Before the ride 



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