ve their ears unprotected; a passing troop of soldiers--
fine, large, hardy fellows--wear the strip of black woolen over their
ears, but leave their _bashlyks_ hanging unused on their backs, with
tabs tacked neatly under shoulder-straps and belts, for use on the
Balkans or some other really cold spot. Most of the ladies, on foot or
in sledges, wear bashlyks or Orenburg shawls, over wadded fur caps, well
pulled down to the brows. We may be sure that the pretty woman who
trusts to her bonnet only has also neglected to put on the necessary
warm galoshes, and that when she reaches home, sympathizing friends will
rub her vain little ears, feet, and brow with spirits of wine, to rescue
her from the results of her folly. Only officers and soldiers possess
the secret of going about in simple leather boots, or protected merely
by a pair of stiff, slapping leather galoshes, accommodated to the
spurs.

For some mysterious reason, the picturesque nurses, with their
pearl-embroidered, diadem-shaped caps, like the _kokoshniki_ of the
Empress and Court ladies, their silver-trimmed petticoats and jackets
patterned after the ancient Russian "soul-warmers," and made of pink or
blue cashmere, never have any children in their charge in winter.
Indeed, if we were to go by the evidence offered by the Nevsky Prospekt,
especially in cold weather, we should assert that there are no children
in the city, and that the nurses are used as "sheep-dogs" by ladies long
past the dangerous bloom of youth and beauty.

The more fashionable people are driving, however, and that portion of
the one hundred and fourteen feet of the Prospekt's width which is
devoted to the roadway is, if possible, even more varied and
entertaining in its kaleidoscopic features than the sidewalks. It is
admirably kept at all seasons. With the exception of the cobblestone
roadbed for the tramway in the centre, it is laid with hexagonal wooden
blocks, well spiked together and tarred, resting upon tarred beams and
planks, and forming a pavement which is both elastic and fairly
resistant to the volcanic action of the frost. The snow is maintained at
such a level that, while sledging is perfect, the closed carriages which
are used for evening entertainments, calls, and shopping are never
incommoded. Street sweepers, in red cotton blouses and clean white linen
aprons, sweep on calmly in the icy chill. The police, with their
_bashlyks_ wrapped round their heads in a manner peculiar t