The Imperial navy was manned at the beginning of 1868 by 60,230 sailors and marines, under the command of 3,791 officers, among whom are 119 admirals and generals.]

I had a letter to Colonel Molostoff, the brother of a Siberian friend and compagnon du voyage.  I knew the colonel would not be at home on the first day of the year, as he had many relatives and friends to visit.  So I sent the letter to his house, and accompanied Schmidt on a call upon Dr. Freeze, a prominent physician of Kazan.  Madam Freeze was a native of Heidelburg, and evidently loved the Rhine better than the Volga.  She gave me a letter to her brother in Moscow, where she promised me an introduction to a niece of the poet Goethe.

In the evening Colonel Molostoff called at the hotel and took me to the New Year’s ball of the nobility of Kazan.  There was a maze of apartments belonging to the nobility club,—­the dancing room being quite as elegant and as spacious as the large hall of the Fifth Avenue Hotel.  I found files of English, French, and German papers in the reading-room, and spent a little while over the latest news from America.  The male portion of the assemblage consisted of officers and civilians, the former in the majority.  There was a perfect blaze of stars and gay uniforms, that quite outshone the evening dress of the civilians.  As Kazan is old, populous, and wealthy, it is needless to add that the ladies were dressed just like those of St. Petersburg or Paris.

I was introduced to several officials, among them the governor, who had recently assumed command.  Colonel Molostoff introduced me to three ladies who spoke English, but hardly had I opened conversation with the first before she was whisked away into the dance.  The second and the third followed the same fate, and I began to look upon ball-room acquaintance as an uncertainty.

“Now,” said the colonel, “I will introduce you to one who is not young, but she is charming, and does not dance.”  We went to seek her, but she was in the midst of a gay party just preparing for a visit to the lunch room.

I was so utterly wearied after my long ride that conversation was a great effort, and I could hardly keep my eyes from closing.  I had promised to join a supper party at three o’clock, but midnight found me just able to stand.  Fearful that I might bring discredit upon America by going to sleep during the festivities, I begged an excuse and returned to my hotel.  Five minutes after entering my room I was in the land of dreams.

In the treasury of the Kremlin of Moscow the royal crown of Kazan is preserved.  The descendants of Genghis Khan founded the city and made it the seat of their European power.  For three centuries it remained a menace to Russia, and held the princes of Muscovy in fear and dread.  But as the Russians grew in strength Kazan became weaker, and ultimately fell under the Muscovite control.  Ivan the Terrible determined to drive the Tartars from the banks of the Volga.  After three severe and disastrous campaigns, and a siege in which assailant and assailed displayed prodigies of valor, Kazan was stormed and captured.  The kingdom was overthrown, and the Russian power extended to the Urals.  The cruelties of Ivan the Terrible were partially forgiven in return for his breaking the Tartar yoke.