-bells, and,
above all, the knowledge that we were in the land of the Kalmuks,
wrought us up to a state of nervous excitement that made us see
everything in the hues of fancy.

"At daybreak our eyes were turned eagerly towards the Volga, that
flashed in the glories of the morning sky. From the elevation we had
reached we could survey the whole country; and it may easily be
conceived with what admiration we gazed upon the calm majestic river,
and on its multitude of islands, fringed with aspen and alder. On the
other side, the steppes, where the Kirghiz and Kalmuks encamp, extended
as far as the eye could reach, till limited by a horizon as smooth and
uniform as that of the ocean. It would be difficult to imagine a grander
picture, or one more entirely in harmony with the ideas evoked by the
Volga, to which its course of upwards of six hundred leagues assigns the
foremost place among European rivers."

* * * * *

At the outset of her journey, Madame de Hell had exclaimed: "What
happiness it is to escape from the prosaic details of every-day life,
from social obligations, from the dull routine of habit, to take one's
flight towards the almost unknown shores of the Caspian! It is strange,
but it proves that my vocation is that of tourist, that what would daunt
the majority of women is really what charms me most in the forecast of
this journey."

Assuredly, the details of every-day life were left behind when the
courageous lady embarked upon the Volga, and set out for the famous city
of Astrakhan. All around her was new and strange, and each day, each
hour, brought before her eager mind some fresh subject of speculation.
She paid a visit to a Kalmuk prince, Prince Tumene, and found herself in
the midst of a new world. The prince's palace was built, she says, in
the Chinese style, and pleasantly situated on the green side of a
gentle slope, about one hundred feet from the Volga. Its numerous
galleries afforded views over every part of the island on which the
palace was situated, and commanded a long reach of the shining river.
From one angle the eye looked down on a mass of foliage embosoming the
glittering cupola and the golden ball above. Beautiful meadows, studded
with clumps of trees, and highly cultivated fields, spread out their
verdure to the left of the palace, and formed a succession of
landscapes, like pictures in a panorama. The whole was enlivened by the
figures of Kalmuk horse