the doing,
And the rapture of pursuing
Is the prize the vanquished gain?"

BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA.

"Pushed off from one shore, and not yet landed on the other."
_Russian Proverb._

The railroad from Moscow to Nijni-Novgorod had been opened but a
fortnight before. It was scarcely finished, indeed; for, in order to
facilitate travel during the continuance of the Great Fair at the latter
place, the gaps in the line, left by unbuilt bridges, were filled up
with temporary trestle-work. The one daily express-train was so thronged
that it required much exertion, and the freest use of the envoy's
prestige, to secure a private carriage for our party. The sun was
sinking over the low, hazy ridge of the Sparrow Hills as we left Moscow;
and we enjoyed one more glimpse of the inexhaustible splendor of the
city's thousand golden domes and pinnacles, softened by luminous smoke
and transfigured dust, before the dark woods of fir intervened, and the
twilight sank down on cold and lonely landscapes.

Thence, until darkness, there was nothing more to claim attention.
Whoever has seen one landscape of Central Russia is familiar with three
fourths of the whole region. Nowhere else--not even on the levels of
Illinois--are the same features so constantly reproduced. One long, low
swell of earth succeeds to another; it is rare that any other woods
than birch and fir are seen; the cleared land presents a continuous
succession of pasture, rye, wheat, potatoes, and cabbages; and the
villages are as like as peas, in their huts of unpainted logs,
clustering around a white church with five green domes. It is a monotony
which nothing but the richest culture can prevent from becoming
tiresome. Culture is to Nature what good manners are to man, rendering
poverty of character endurable.

Stationing a servant at the door to prevent intrusion at the
way-stations, we let down the curtains before our windows, and secured a
comfortable privacy for the night, whence we issued only once, during a
halt for supper. I entered the refreshment-room with very slender
expectations, but was immediately served with plump partridges, tender
cutlets, and green peas. The Russians made a rush for the great
_samovar_ (tea-urn) of brass, which shone from one end of the long
table; and presently each had his tumbler of scalding tea, with a slice
of lemon floating on the top. These people drink beverages of