314 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



there was a better crossing close to them. The water 

 proved to be shallow enough, in all conscience, where 

 they were, and Texas crossed without further objec- 

 tion. As for the fair bathers, they contented them- 

 selves with dipping down in the water until I had 

 passed through. 



This, however, is only preliminary. It is as a study 

 of character rather than form that I would endeavor 

 to present to my readers a few brief impressions of the 

 Russian woman. 



An English governess whom I met in Moscow, who 

 had spent twenty years in Russia as tutor in the fami- 

 lies of the nobility, toid me that Russian ladies of rank 

 and wealth are nearly all " spoiled children." Their 

 virtues are warm-heartedness and financial generosity, 

 though she unwittingly qualified the latter by adding 

 that they knew nothing of the value of money. 



Russian ladies are clever and talented, but are afflicted 

 with both mental and physical laziness. In a young 

 ladies' conservatory there will be a very large percent- 

 age of promising pupils, but very rarely indeed does 

 one of them get beyond that rather vague point. One 

 of the teachers of the Moscow Conservatory, speaking 

 to my informant on this subject, said that out of fifty 

 bright, promising pupils who came within his especial 

 sphere of observation, not one turned out a success. 

 The trouble is, lack of will power to persevere to the 

 end — a poverty of application. They learn to speak 

 a language readily, but not to write it, the reason being 

 that the former requires next to no mental effort in a 

 person of ready perception, while the latter demands 

 close application and attention to study. 



