ACROSS RUSSIA TO ORENBURG 31 
and full of choking dust, and overtopped by the neat 
churches, of which the still unfinished Kazansky sobor 
{Kazan cathedral) is the largest. 
The outskirts of the town, however, were not destitute 
of artistic sights ; for there the Tatars and Kirghiz held 
their mart, partly in the open air, partly in low wooden 
sheds. In one place were sold all kinds of carts and 
conveyances, telegas and tarantasses, brought the most 
part from Ufa; in another vast quantities of hay, piled 
up on carts, drawn by teams of four Bactrian camels ; in 
A STREET IN ORENBURG 
another horses, cattle, sheep, fowls, geese, turkeys, and 
various other live stock. Of the 56,000 inhabitants of 
Orenburg', 8000 were Mohammedans, the greater number 
being Tatars, the rest Bashkirs and Kirghiz. The 
principal mesjid (mosque) of the Tatars was particularly 
beautiful, having been built at the expense of a rich 
merchant. Among the Mohammedans there were a 
number of merchants from Khiva and Bokhara, who 
sold cotton imported from Central Asia. 
In time of war Orenburg furnishes eighteen, and m 
time of peace six, Cossack regiments of a thousand men 
each. The regiments take it in turn to serve, so tiat 
o 
