g out, such precautions are taken that even foreigners are
hardly affected by the severity of the weather. Every one wears
velvet, fur-lined boots in his carriage, and cloaks likewise heavily
lined with fur. At seventeen degrees below zero the theatres are
closed, and every one remains at home. I am perhaps the only person
who, not suspecting how cold it was, ever took it into my head to pay
a visit when the thermometer was at eighteen. The Countess Golovin
lived rather far away, in the broad street called the Prospekt, and
from my house to hers I met not a single carriage, which surprised me
considerably. I nevertheless went on. The cold was such that at first
I thought my carriage windows must be open. Upon seeing me enter her
drawing-room, the Countess exclaimed: "Heavens! How could you go out
this evening? Do you not know that it is nearly twenty degrees?" This
made me think of my poor coachman, and without taking off my pelisse I
at once returned to my carriage, and was driven home as quickly as
possible. But the cold had so attacked my head that I was benumbed. My
head was treated with Cologne water to restore the circulation;
otherwise I should have gone mad.

One very astonishing thing is the small effect which this severe
temperature has on the common people. Far from their health suffering
in consequence, it has been observed that there are more centenarians
in Russia than anywhere else. In St. Petersburg, as in Moscow, the
great lords and all the notables of the empire drive six-or
eight-in-hand; their postilions are little boys of eight or ten, who
ride with amazing dexterity. There are from two to eight horses, and
it is curious how these little fellows, so lightly clad, with their
shirts sometimes open on their chests, cheerfully expose themselves to
cold which certainly would kill a French or Prussian grenadier in a
few hours. As for me, who was content with two horses for my carriage,
I was surprised at the submissiveness and resignation of the coachmen.
They never complained. In the most rigorous weather, when waiting for
their masters either at the theatre or a ball, they sit still without
budging, and only knock their feet against the box to get a little
warmth, while the little postilions lie down at the bottom of the
staircases. I must acknowledge, however, that the coachmen are
provided by their masters with furred coats and gloves, and that, in
the event of the cold being unusual, if any noblemen