the building gave access to
a small portico, at the other end of which there was the customary
_obraz_, or image, which is to be found in almost every house in
Russia. These _obrazye_ are made of different patterns, but generally
take the form of a picture of saints or of the Trinity. They are
executed in silver-gilt or brass relief, and adorned with tawdry
fringe or other gewgaws. The repeated bows and crosses made by the
peasantry before these idols is very surprising to an Englishman,
who may have been told that there is little difference between the
Greek religion and his own; but if this is the case, the sooner
the second commandment is omitted from our service, the better.
It may be said that the Russian peasantry only look upon these
images as symbols, and that in reality they are praying to the
living God. Let any one who indulges in this delusion travel in
Russia and talk to the inhabitants with reference to the _obrazye_,
or go to Kief at the time of a pilgrimage to the mummified saints
in that sanctuary, and I think he will then say that no country
in the world is so imbued with superstitious credences as Russia.

Above the stove, which was about five feet high, a platform of
boards had been erected at a distance of about three feet from the
ceiling. This was the sleeping resort of the family, and occasionally
used for drying clothes during the day. The Russian _moujik_ likes
this platform more than any other part of the habitation, and his
great delight is to lie there and perspire profusely, after which
he finds himself the better able to resist the cold of the elements
outside. The farm-house in which I now found myself had cost in
building two hundred roubles, about twenty-six pounds of our money,
and her home was a source of pride to the good housewife, who could
read and write, an accomplishment not often possessed by the women
of this class in the province of Russia.

By this time our former team had been replaced by three fresh horses,
and the driver who was to accompany us had nearly finished making
his own preparations for the sleigh journey. Several long bands
of cloth, first carefully warmed at the stove, were successively
wound round his feet, and then, having put on a pair of thick boots
and stuffed some hay into a pair of much larger dimensions, he
drew the latter on as well, when, with a thick sheep-skin coat,
cap, and _vashlik_, he declared that he was ready to start.

The cold was very