MOSCOW. 
144 
chap, the shrill notes of rustic pipes, the clapping of 
i ^ hands, and the wild dances of the gipsies, all 
mingle in one revelry. The wives of merchants, 
in droskies, and on foot, display head-dresses of 
matted pearls, and other most expensive attire. 
In costliness of apparel, there is no difference 
between a Moscow princess and the wife of a 
Moscow shopkeeper ; except that the first 
copies the fashions of London and Paris, while 
the other preserves the habit of her ancestors. 
During Easter, promenades take place every 
evening, varying occasionally in the site of 
cavalcade. They are made in carriages and on 
horseback; the number of the former being 
greater than any public festival assembles in 
other cities in Europe. The intention of such 
meeting is of course the same everywhere; to 
see and to be seen. Equipages continue to 
pass in a constant order, forming two lines, 
which move parallel to each other. Beautiful 
women, attired in expensive but becoming 
dresses, fill the balconies and windows of the 
houses between which all this pageantry moves 
towards its destination. Hussars and police- 
officers are meanwhile stationed in different 
parts, to preserve order. When arrived at the 
place particularly set apart for the display of 
the procession, the stranger with amazement 
beholds some objects which are singularly 
i 
