OEOL-TULA. 391 



the artisan classes are most numerous outside of Poland ; here is the historic capital 

 of Great Russia, which later on became that of all Eastern Slavdom ; here converge 

 great arteries of the railway system. This region supplies, with Poland and Little 

 Russia, the heaviest contributions to the public revenue, and for aggressive purposes 

 it may be regarded as the very heart of Russia. With the exception of the Mord- 

 vinians, the inhabitants are all Yeliko-Russians. The indigenous Finnish tribes of 

 the East have long been absorbed by the Slav element, and the Golad Lithuanians, 

 who dwelt to the west of Moscow, have disappeared without leaving any traces 

 beyond the geographical names of a few villages. 



Oral, or Arol, capital of the province of like name, and situated on the Upper 

 Oka, is one of the cliief cities of Russia. Founded in 1564, after the conquest of 

 the country from the Tatars, its old site was abandoned after a fire in 1079 ; 

 hence the new town, only two hundred years old, comprises extensive quarters, 

 consisting of little wooden houses, which still present quite a temporary appear- 

 ance. But thanks to the four railway lines converging here, and to the Oka, 

 already navigable at this point, Orol has become a busy commercial centre, 

 doing a large export business, especially in cereals and hemp. These are the chief 

 products supplied by its two neighbours, BoUxhov and Mtzcnsk, both on tributaries 

 of the Oka. The women of Mtzensk are mostly engaged in the lace industry. 

 The place is surrounded by tumuli, recalling the fierce struggles formerly 

 carried on in the neighbourhood between the Tatars, Cossacks, Lithuanians, and 

 Poles. 



North of Orol the Oka flows successivel}^ by the towns of Belov, one of the 

 great centres of the hemp trade, Likhvin, and PeronicJil, the latter bearing the 

 same name as the Galician Przemysl. After its junction with the Ugra, which 

 nearly doubles its volume, the Oka turns from its northerly course eastwards, and 

 a little below the bend stands the city of Kaluga, capital of a government, and set 

 apart as a residence for Moslem princes interned in Russia. It belongs to the 

 industrial district of Moscow, and produces leather, linens, and sweetmeats highly 

 appreciated in Central Russia. Here the Government has an artillery depot ;ind 

 a powder-mill. The other large towns of the province, Jizdra, Kozchk, MchIi- 

 chovsk, Medln, Malo- Yarosiaretz, Borovsk, all lie west of the Oka, on tributaries of 

 that river o\. of the Ugra. When the French invaders left behind them the ruins 

 of Moscow in 1S12, they penetrated into this part of the country, but after the 

 murderous battles of Tarutino and Malo-Yaroslavetz they were forced to the north- 

 ward, in the direction of Smolensk. 



Tula, also a provincial capital, is more populous than either Orol or Kaluga. It 

 stands on the Upa, an eastern affluent of the Oka, and is the chief railway station 

 between Moscow and Kharkov. But its importance is mainly due to the Government 

 small-arms factory, established here bj^ Peter the Great in 1712, and now producing 

 about 70,000 rifles yearly, besides swords, bayonets, and other weapons. Tula is 

 the Russian Birmingham, and also manufactures knives, mathematical instruments, 

 machinery, and gold and silver plated wares, besides supplying 200,000 samovars, 

 which are so indispensable to every Russian household. The Tula factories have 



