SPRING THAW DIFFICULTIES 231 



for the peasants really did try to be quick in their 

 cluIHsy way. Our friend at Abbi, however, wa:s proof 

 against its chariii and could not be prevailed upon 

 to bestir hirtlself, so that we were more than half 

 inclined to saddle the horses and ride away without 

 him. 



At last we started. The roads were very heavy, 

 and, just beyond Abbi, the wheels of the drosky were 

 nearly a foot deep in the water. We tried hard to 

 induce the iHoujik to select the best parts of the road, 

 but he took no notice of us, and, froffl his manner, 

 may have been contemplating the advisability of up- 

 setting us altogether. 



About three miles along the road we came to a 

 Kalmuck settlement, which we had not seen before, 

 having, doubtless, passed it in the dark. A fine- 

 looking Kalmuck on horseback was driving a large 

 nuffl:ber of horses, and he saluted us as we passed. 



It was here that we decided to get out of the 

 sledge and walk for a' spell, in order to breathe the 

 horses and give them a chance on the muddy road. 

 As we walked, m^ interpreter friend shared with me 

 soJHe of the information he had ga:thered in the last 

 village relating to the Kalmucks. 



The majority of the Kalmucks in the Koksa dis- 

 trict — the last stage we had passed through — profess 

 Christianity, but they have not been a'ccorded the full 

 rights of Russian peasants, possibly on account of 

 their Mongolian descent. Possibly, however, the 

 Russian Government may have other reasons for 

 refusing theffl these rights and for not allowing them 

 to serve in the arffly. The Kalmucks are the 

 descendants of the Mongols, or Moguls, who, under 

 Chingis Khan and his nephew Batui, invaded Eastern 

 Europe in the fifteenth century, advancing Ss far as 

 Hungary and Bohemia", reducing Moscow to ashes 

 and dominating the Grand Duchy for two centuries. 



