The Russians have several popular songs that celebrate the glories of sleigh-riding.  I give a translation of a portion of one of them, a song that is frequently repeated by the peasants in the vicinity of Moscow and Nijne Novgorod.  It is proper to explain that a troika is a team of three horses abreast, the douga is the yoke above the shaft-horse’s neck, and Valdai is the town on the Moscow and St. Petersburg road where the best and most famous bells of Russia are made.

A RUSSIAN SLEIGHING SONG.

Away, away, along the road
  The fiery troika bounds,
While ’neath the douga, sadly sweet,
  The Valdai bell resounds.

Away, away, we leave the town,
  Its roofs and spires behind,
The crystal snow-flakes dance around
  As o’er the steppe we wind.

Away, away, the glittering stars
  Shine greeting from above,
Our hearts beat fast as on we glide,
  Swift as the flying dove.

CHAPTER L.

We found the road much better after leaving the government of Perm and entering that of Viatka.  The yemshicks we took in this region were “Votiaks,” descendants of the Finnish races that dwelt there before the Russian conquest.  They had the dark physiognomy of the Finns, and spoke a mixture of their own language and Russian.  They have been generally baptized and brought into the Greek churches, though they still adhere to some of their ancient forms of worship.  They pay taxes to the crown, but their local administration is left to themselves.

Approaching Malmouish we had a sullen driver who insisted upon going slowly, even while descending hills.  Indignantly I suggested giving the fellow a kick for his drink money.  The doctor attempted to be stern and reproved the delinquent, but ended with giving him five copecks and an injunction to do better in future.  I opposed making undeserved gratuities, and after this occurrence determined to say no more about rewards to drivers during the rest of the journey.

Memorandum for travelers making the Siberian tour: 

An irritable disposition, (like mine,) should not be placed with an amiable one, (like the doctor’s.) If misery loves company, so does anger; and a petulant man should have an associate who can be ruffled.

After leaving the Votiaks, we entered the country of the Tartars, the descendants of the followers of Genghis Khan, who carried the Mongol standard into Central Europe.  Russia remained long under their yoke, and the Tartars of the present day live as a distinct people in various parts of the empire.  They are nearly all Mohammedans, and the conversion of one of them to Christianity is a very rare occurrence.  My attention was called to their mosques in the villages we passed, the construction being quite unlike that of the Russian churches.  A tall spire or minaret, somewhat like the steeple of an American church, rises in the center of a Tartar mosque and generally overlooks the whole village.  No bells are used, the people being called to prayer by the voice of a crier.