68 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



Why the chain is always long the owners of the dogs 

 are unable to explain, beyond the fact that chains and 

 custom are alike hereditary ; but the stranger who 

 unwarily saunters into the yard and manages to hop 

 beyond the danger circle by a few spasmodic jumps, as 

 the dog springs at him, not unfrequently makes the 

 mistake of jumping too far. A second wolf-fanged 

 brute rushes at him from the other side, and, as he 

 momentarily speculates on the chance of being torn 

 down, a third tries to reach him from the body of the 

 old sleigh toward which he has begun retreating. All 

 three tug and struggle violently to break their tethers, 

 and to menace them with stick or stone only serves to 

 redouble their rage. The writer had a pair of trousers 

 converted into material for the ragman by these sav- 

 age sentinels, before we had been on the road a week, 

 but no blood was spilled. After a couple of narrow 

 escapes one becomes wary by instinct, and never enters 

 a Russian court-yard without due precaution. 



Away from the railways, the traffic one sees on the 

 Russian highways is a far better index to the state of 

 the country and the condition of its people and insti- 

 tutions than the mere tourist ever comes in contact 

 with. Our route was along the main road between 

 Moscow, Kharkoff, Kief, and other Southern cities. 

 As far as Kharkoff and Kief it is a very fair macadam 

 road. The vehicles are peculiarly Russian, and a pic- 

 turesque feature are the troikas, with three, and 

 the tchetvarkas with four horses abreast ; the horses 

 and the duga (the bow that connects the shafts) 

 are hung with bells that jingle-jangle merrily as the 

 teams sweep by at a smart gallop. 



