268 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



tiful. It is not to be classed with the Rhine or the 

 Hudson ; rather does it belong to the class of the 

 Danube, the Mississippi, the Yangtsi-Kiang, and other 

 principal rivers of the world. Though shallower than 

 any of these, it compares favorably with them in size 

 and length. 



In the internal economy of Russia it plays as im- 

 portant a part as the Mississippi did in that of the 

 United States before the development of the railroads. 

 The railroad system of Russia is (1890) as yet in its 

 infancy, and the great artery of commerce between the 

 lumber regions of the North and the grain-producing 

 steppes of the Southeast is the Volga. Years ago the 

 huge barges used to be laboriously towed by teams of 

 men, as are the big freight sampans on the Chinese 

 rivers ; and the burlaki, as they were called, and their 

 exhausting labors, have been the theme for the inspi- 

 ration of Riepin's brush. Later they used to haul 

 them upstream by means of anchors and capstans. 

 These primitive methods were relegated to the past 

 bv the defeats of the Crimean War, which did Russia 

 much more good than harm, by teaching her that na- 

 tional greatness could only be achieved by progress in 

 the arts and sciences. Now there are several lines of 

 good steamboats, which leave little to be desired, un- 

 less it be an increase in speed. The distance from 

 Tzaritzin to Nijni Novgorod is but 1685 versts, yet the 

 journey occupied six and a half days. 



At Samara, Simbirskh, and Kazan the passenger list 

 assumed a more polyglot aspect from the addition of 

 Tartars, many thousands of whom reside in the pro- 

 vinces of the Middle Volga. They retain their Moham- 



