as, the fellow escaped, to my
great disappointment, though he took nothing with him. The Russian
thieves are also very expert at picking pockets, and at the time of the
coronation they had plenty of opportunities in exercising their
vocation. Harry and I lost our pocket-handkerchiefs one day, but after
that we followed Cousin Giles' advice, and fastened them into our
pockets. The Russians are great traders; they begin their mercantile
pursuits at a very early age. Little fellows, who would be playing at
marbles or hoop in England, if they were not at school, here manage
shops or stalls in the streets. They are as sharp, too, as any grown-up
men, and if they do not cheat others, they take very good care that they
are not cheated themselves. We have seen small urchins not more than
seven or eight years old with a store of wax-tapers or picture-books, or
quass, of which they pressed all passers-by with the greatest
pertinacity to become purchasers. We stopped several times with Mr
Allwick to talk to them, and we found that they knew not only all about
their own trade, but had already a good knowledge about trade in
general. Many of the richest shopkeepers in Moscow and Saint Petersburg
have sprung from this humble class of dealers.

"Many of the shopkeepers have a very Jewish look, and employ the very
mode which the Jews in London, in some of the back streets, do to induce
passers-by to purchase their wares. They stand in front of their shops,
and as soon as they see any one approaching, they step forward, uttering
praises of their goods, and, with hands stretched out, look as if they
would forcibly detain the stranger, and as if they would consider
themselves very ill-used should he not become a purchaser.

"The Russians are great eaters of raw vegetables, especially of onions
and cucumbers. They eat them pickled in salt, and most thoroughly
unwholesome they appeared. They drink also the juice of the cucumber,
mixed with water, which is called cucumber-water. It is said to form a
very cooling beverage in summer! But I suspect the water forms the best
part of the potation. They are very fond of all sorts of sour
vegetables. They have a species of apple, which they allow to freeze in
winter, in which state it is preserved, and though it has a very
withered appearance, it is really full of juice.

"Moscow is supplied with water by an aqueduct which reaches to about
three versts from the city. It is there fo