62 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



big iron bell had suddenly disappeared from the bel- 

 fry. Nobody saw where it vanished to, but it was 

 supposed to have flown into a near-by lake; for on cer- 

 tain nights a sound, as of a bell ringing, may be heard 

 issuing from the depths. 



The flowers, the ferns, the grasses that carpeted the 

 forest, all served to conjure up in my companion's 

 mind scraps of peasant-lore, so keen and enthusiastic 

 was his enjoyment of these, our first few hours in the 

 saddle. 



Rye and potatoes were the crops that lined the road, 

 in the big open fields, which were clearings in the vast 

 forest that covers the whole of northern Russia. For- 

 est lands play a conspicuous and important part in the 

 economic affairs of the Russian country and people. 

 Russia is primarily a country of " land and timber." 

 The wealthiest Russians are those who own the broad- 

 est tracts of the one, and the most valuable and acces- 

 sible patches of the other. The most desirable pos- 

 session in Russia, setting aside choice mining or city 

 property, is a tract of heavy pine forest, accessible to 

 one of the large cities by rail or river. Facility of 

 transportation, however, is everything., A tree five 

 hundred miles inland from where a purchaser could be 

 found for it, becomes a mere encumbrance to the 

 ground, and an obstacle to cultivation ; whereas, in 

 the part of Russia traversed by our first week's ride, 

 it is one of the chief sources of wealth. 



In remote districts the peasants clear the ground by 

 burning up all but the choicest sticks of timber in a 

 patch of forest, and, by the aid of the ashes, produ2e 

 crops on soil that would otherwise be too poor for cul- 



