ts are brought forth, strange
and not inharmonious airs fall upon the ear, supplemented here and
there by songs the words of which are utterly unintelligible except
to a small circle of participants. The whole scene forms a motley
picture, as party-colored as Harlequin's costume, while the whole is
shadowed by the ever-present, vigilant Russian police. Smoking is not
permitted in the streets or among the booths; to light a match even
subjects one to a fine, such is the great fear of fire; but still the
unmistakable fumes of tobacco which permeated the atmosphere showed
that within the walls of their own apartments smokers were freely
indulging in their wonted habit. The governor's business residence
during the fair is very near its centre. The lower portion for the
time being is transferred into a grand bazaar, for the sale of the
lighter and more choice fancy articles, including European
manufactured goods. There is here also a large restaurant where a
good dinner may be had at a reasonable price, the bill of fare
embracing the peculiar dishes of many different nationalities,--and
though others did, the author did not partake of Tartar horse-flesh.
A boulevard extends from behind the governor's house towards the
cathedral and an Armenian church. The shops along this thoroughfare
are principally occupied by goldsmiths and dealers in silver-ware.
Some apparently very ancient examples of the latter would have
delighted the eye of a curio hunter; they were in the form of clasps,
mugs, drinking-horns, and spoons of quaint designs, no two alike,
affording an endless variety from which to choose.

We were told of some curious doings of the light-fingered gentry who
are naturally attracted to the fair, and who drive a very successful
business during the few weeks of its continuance, provided they be
not detected and locked up. These rogues are not confined to any one
nationality, but are composed of immigrants from far and near. They
seem equally adroit however, whether Asiatics or Europeans. One was
arrested during the late season at Nijni upon whose person eleven
purses and porte-monnaies were found as the product of a single day's
operation. The rascal was a Polish Jew, "childlike and bland." He was
apparently a pedler, dealing in tapes and shoestrings. Some London
thieves the year before the last, having heard of the great Russian
fair which continued so many weeks, drawing together purchasers from
many lands, who came wi