ry to the nature of kumys, even if the mare's
milk produced anything which could rightly pass as such. Fish and fruits
are also forbidden, with the exception of _klubniki_, which accord well
with kumys. _Klubnika_ is a berry similar to the strawberry in
appearance, but with an entirely different taste. Patients who violate
these dietary rules are said to suffer for it,--in which case there
must have been a good deal of agony inside the tall fence of our
establishment, judging by the thriving trade in fruits driven by the old
women, who did not confine themselves to the outside of the gate, as the
rules required, but slipped past the porter and guardians to the house
itself.

We found the kumys a very agreeable beverage, and could readily perceive
that the patients might come to have a very strong taste for it. We even
sympathized with the thorough-going patient of whom we were told that he
set oft regularly every morning to lose himself for the day on the
steppe, armed with an umbrella against possible cooling breezes, and
with a basket containing sixteen bottles of kumys, his allowance of food
and medicine until sundown. The programme consisted of a walk in the
sun, a drink, a walk, a drink, with umbrella interludes, until darkness
drove him home to bed and to his base of supplies.

We did not remain long enough, or drink enough kumys, to observe any
particular effects on our own persons. As I have said, we ate in town,
chiefly, after that breakfast of kumys-mare beefsteak and potatoes of
the size and consistency of bullets. During our food and shopping
excursions we found that Samara was a decidedly wide-awake and driving
town, though it seemed to possess no specialties in buildings,
curiosities, or manufactures, and the statue to Alexander II., which now
adorns one of its squares, was then swathed in canvas awaiting its
unveiling. It is merely a sort of grand junction, through which other
cities and provinces sift their products. In kumys alone does Samara
possess a characteristic unique throughout Russia. Consequently, it is
for kumys that multitudes of Russians flock thither every spring.

The soil of the steppe, on which grows the nutritious plume-grass
requisite for the food of the kumys mares, is very fertile, and immense
crops of rye, wheat, buckwheat, oats, and so forth are raised whenever
the rainfall is not too meagre. Unfortunately, the rainfall is
frequently insufficient, and the province of Samara often