, and some other combustible, we were told that this peat
had been successfully used on the Russian war-steamers, proving
superior to coal in the ordinary form, besides taking up much less
room in the ships' bunks. As to procure fuel for her ships of war has
been a problem difficult to solve heretofore, this immense storage of
peat looked to us as if designed to meet this special purpose. The
peasantry, as we have said, are generally quite poor, though many of
them now own their little farms, which the want of pecuniary means
compels them to work with the most primitive tools; besides which
they are entirely unaided by the light of modern agricultural
experience. No other country, however, is so rich in horses, mines of
gold, silver, copper, and precious stones, or in the more useful
products of iron, lead, and zinc. The fecundity of the Russians is
something elsewhere unequalled; still the inhabitants average but
about fifteen to the square mile, while Germany has nearly eighty,
and England a hundred and fourteen. The average climate is not
unfavorable to health, though there are insalubrious districts whose
condition is traceable to local causes. The birch forests with their
tremulous, silvery aspect, delicate and graceful, increase as one
penetrates towards central Russia upon this line; and there is ample
evidence of fair fertility of soil, which is by no means made the
most of. Rye, barley, oats, and flax seem to constitute the
principal crops under cultivation: while it was observed that nearly
every cabin, however humble, had its low, sheltered line of
rudely-constructed beehives, honey taking the place of sugar among
the common people. The villages were of rare occurrence, but when
seen presented road-ways as broad as the boulevards of great cities,
yet only lined by low, turf-roofed cabins. The winter season is so
long and severe that it is difficult for the peasant to wrest from
the half-reluctant earth sufficient upon which to subsist. He lives
in a log-cabin of his own construction; wife, daughter, and son all
join the father in hard field-labor, not a small share of which was
observed to be ditching, in order to render the marshy soil available
for crops. The brief season must be made the most of, and therefore
many hours are given to work and few to sleep. These peasants are
surrounded by all sorts of superstitions from their very birth. Each
of the many festivals of the year has its strange rites, songs, a