I3 2 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



version to Christianity than to transfer their heathen 

 conceptions and ceremonies from the household idols 

 of their ancestors to the holy ikons of the Orthodox 

 religion. A cock and hen are carried into the new 

 house and turned loose, whilst the head of the family 

 respectfully holds the ikons until the cock crows, 

 before placing them in their new corner. As great 

 misfortune would come upon the family should chan- 

 ticleer refuse to lend his support to this all-important 

 ceremony, care is taken to ascertain beforehand the 

 crowing proclivities of the various members of the farm- 

 yard flock, so as to select one that maybe depended on 

 to make himself heard in no uncertain manner. 



On the ninth day of the ride we crossed the second 

 provincial boundary line, which took us out of the 

 province of Tula into Orel, and we passed through the 

 town of Msuesue. Strange to say, we here discovered, 

 among the moujiks, a local peculiarity that one is almost 

 sure to find among the peasants of certain localities in 

 any Eastern country. In reply to our inquiries about 

 distances, they always replied that it was a " verst and a 

 half," regardless of the actual distance. You find the 

 same thing in Persia and in Asiatic Turkey. It is sim- 

 ply a curious phase of Oriental politeness, which leads 

 the people to give the traveler an answer such as they 

 imagine will fall pleasantly on his ear. In certain parts 

 of Persia, the writer found it next to impossible to 

 learn the actual distance to any given point ahead, 

 owing to this extremely annoying peculiarity. They 

 take it for granted that the desire of the questioner is 

 to arrive as quickly as possible at the end of the 

 fatigues and discomforts of the road, and so they sim- 



