-- Wild-Flowers. -- City of Tver. -- Inland Navigation.
-- The Great River Volga. -- The Ancient Muscovite Capital. --
Spires and Minarets. -- A Russian Mecca. -- Pictorial Signs. --
The Kremlin. -- The Royal Palace. -- King of Bells. -- Cathedral
of St. Basil. -- The Royal Treasury. -- Church of Our Saviour. --
Chinese City. -- Rag Fair. -- Manufactures.

The distance from St. Petersburg to Moscow is a little over four
hundred miles, the railroad built by American contractors having been
constructed absolutely upon a straight line, without regard to
population or the situation of considerable towns lying near the
route. The Russians measure distance by versts. The line between the
two cities is six hundred and four versts in length, which is
equivalent to four hundred and three English miles. At the time when
the route for the railroad was surveying there was a great diversity
of interest developed as to the exact course it should follow, and
bitter disputes grew up between individuals and communities. These
varied antagonistic ideas at last culminated in so decided an
expression of feeling that the commissioners having the matter in
charge were forced to appeal to the Emperor to settle the matter. He
listened to the statement of facts, examined the topographical maps
laid before him representing the country over which the proposed road
was to pass, and settled the matter in true autocratic style. Taking
a rule, he laid it upon the map between the two cities and drew with
a pencil a perfectly straight line from one to the other, saying to
his commissioners, "Build the road exactly upon that line;" and it
was done. The cars upon this route carry the traveller directly into
the heart of Russia. One is apt to become a little impatient at the
moderate speed attained upon the railroads in this country,
twenty-five miles per hour being the average rate of progress. Yet
the roads are remarkably well built, and the rolling stock, as a
rule, is superior to that generally found in Southern Europe. It is a
remarkable fact that at the breaking out of the Crimean war there
were less than eight hundred miles of railroad in the Tzar's entire
dominions, while to-day there are about twenty thousand miles of
well-constructed and efficient roads of this character, forming a
complete system permeating all populous sections of the country; and
to this may be added an annual increase of from six to eight hundred
miles. Had Nic