headed obliquely across the river toward a dozen tow-boats frozen
in the ice. The navigation of the Volga employs more than four hundred
steamers, three-fourths of which are tows. Dead walls in Kazan
frequently displayed flaming announcements, that reminded me of St.
Louis and New Orleans. The companies run a sharp rivalry in freight
and passenger traffic, their season lasting from April to October. The
gross receipts for 1866 of one company owning thirty-four boats, was
one million, two hundred and fifty-three thousand, and some odd
roubles. This, after deducting running expenses, would not leave a
large amount of profit. The surplus in the case of that company was to
be applied to paying debts. "Not a copeck," said my informant, "will
the stockholders receive in the shape of dividends."

I did not obtain any full and clear information touching the
navigation of the Volga. The steamboats run from Tver, on the Moscow
and St. Petersburg railway, to Astrachan, at the mouth of the river.
The best part of the business is the transport of goods and
passengers,--chiefly the former,--to the fair at Nijne Novgorod. The
river is full of shifting sand-bars, and the channel is very
tortuous, especially at low water. The first company to introduce
steam on the Volga was an English one. Its success induced many
Russians to follow its example, so that the business is now over done.

Here, as in the Siberian rivers, the custom prevails of carrying
freight in barges, which are towed by tugs. All the steamers I saw
were side-wheelers.

We changed horses on the south bank of the Volga, only twelve versts
from Kazan. The right bank of the river presents an unbroken line of
hills or bluffs, while the opposite one is generally low. The summer
road from Kazan westward follows the high ground in the vicinity of
the river, but often several versts away. The winter road is over the
ice of the Volga, keeping generally pretty near the bank. A double
line of pine or other boughs in the ice marks the route. These boughs
are placed by the Administration of Roads, under whose supervision the
way is daily examined. No one is allowed to travel on the ice until
the officials declare it safe.

Night came upon us soon after passing the first station. The road was
a combination of pitch-holes, water, soft snow, and detours to avoid
dangerous places. The most unpleasant drives were when we left the
river to change horses at the villages on the high ban