freshments to keep them in good humour. When they have reached a part of the country well known as being the resort of wolves they prepare for the sport: the manservant who has charge of the pig gives its tail two or three pulls, which has the desired effect of causing as many loud squeaks; the bag of hay to which the rope is attached is then thrown out behind and trails after the sledge. A few more pulls at the tail and a few more squeaks as they go on cause the rushing sound of wolves to be heard at a distance, and very soon the pack is in sight, all eager to obtain the dainty bit of pork which the sounds warn them must be somewhere near at hand; their peculiar yelp brings others out of the forests, who all join in the pursuit. The repeated squeaks of the poor pig convince them that it is right ahead, and they fancy it must be in the bag of hay, consequently all their efforts are to reach it, whilst as fast as they advance within gunshot they are picked off by the rifles of the hunters: the bodies are left on the snow, but the peasants are sent the next day to pick them up, as their skins are valuable to line cloaks with. An old gentleman with whom some of my friends were acquainted was so fond of this sport that, even when years had rendered him too feeble to take his place with the others, he often accompanied them in his close carriage, and used to fire upon the wolves from the window. One day he shot an enormous one, that fell, as he thought, dead on the snow: it lay perfectly quiet and motionless; he saw that it was wounded, for its blood had already dyed the ground, and the old sportsman, delighted with his success, descended from his carriage, determined upon seizing his prey to show it as a trophy to his companions, who were now a considerable distance in advance. The cunning wolf let him come quite close without showing the slightest sign of life; he then suddenly sprang up, seized the old gentleman by the throat, and tore it so dreadfully before the coachman could interfere that he expired almost instantly. The animal had, it appears, only been slightly wounded, and was enabled to make good his escape into the forest. The summer amusements are agreeable in the country, and are enjoyed with greater zest on account of the long dreary winter and the weariness induced by continually gazing on snowy plains during the previous six months. No sooner has the ice disappeared than summer commences; the ground quickly becomes covered with verdure, the trees with foliage, and numberless lilies of the valley and buttercups (but no pink-edged daisies, alas!) are to be seen intermixed with what we call Canterbury-bells and various other wild flowers: even the dog-rose is often met with. There are no hawthorn-bushes, or Mayhedges, or honeysuckles, or wild vines, blue-bells, cowslips, or violets, such as we see in the shady lanes of merry England; but the linden-flowers,* the white blossoms of the mountain-ash, the bright flowers of the flaxfields, the varied forest tints, from that of the sombre pine to the light birch, the beautiful sky, and the majestic eagle floating magnificently on the air, are sufficient to inspire us with admiration. *The Russians make a kind of tea out of these blossoms, which they take as a cure for a cold; also of dried raspberries, which is used for the same purpose-a decoction of either producing a violent perspiration. continual beating has never yet succeeded in teaching any people. In regard to their want of sobriety they must be judged with the greatest indulgence. I have referred before to the inducements held out to them: to these we must add their excessively cold climate, which renders some stimulant almost necessary, and the love of excitement prevalent in all ranks in Russia: in the upper classes this is gratified by public amusements; but in the lower by the gaiety and forgetfulness induced by intoxication. We must pity the poor Russians rather than condemn them, and earnestly pray for the time when their rulers will see that true power consists in their enlightenment rather than in their demoralization. I remember, when the last revolution took place in France, and Louis Philippe was obliged to fly the country, it became the topic of conversation in a large evening party; the Russians there present exultingly exclaimed that the two greatest nations in the world, namely, Russia and England, in the midst of all the countries of Europe, 'were alone tranquil and unshaken, even by the agitation and throes of monarchies surrounding them on all sides. "Yes," said a gentleman near me, in an under tone, "his excellency says truly, but he forgets to add that there is a slight difference in the two people: yours is the repose of the living, but ours is the slumber of the dead. Russia should have for its flag a death's head and the motto Resurgam." CHAPTER XII. - Wolf-hunt -- Landed proprietors Sketch of the country - The wolves: dreadful Occurrence - A child lost - Winter amusements A cunning animal Summer sketch Russian costumes - The national dance - The peasants Avarice of the landowners Serfs and their treatment - Cruel and unprincipled proprietors - Opinion of the upper classes. MR. OLIPHANT, in his interesting account of his voyage down the Volga, mentions having fallen in with a vulgar landowner, who was addicted to habits of intemperance, and who was the envy of all because he was rich enough to become intoxicated on English bottled porter. Undoubtedly there are such low characters to be met with, but I believe they form exceptions to the general rule, for I must say that, as far as it was possible for me to judge, the landed proprietors in Russia are for the most part a very different class of individuals; they are not perhaps very refined or well-informed-far from it; and it is not possible that in the existing state of things they could become so. Many of them live with their families on their estates, surrounded by their serfs; their mode of existence is monotonous enough, and only varied by an occasional visit to the capital, or to the neighbouring town; the friends with whom they are acquainted are similarly situated with themselves. When we consider the immense distance the cities are apart, the total want of good roads, and the wide extent of their estates, it would be ridiculous to expect the high polish and great continual beating has never yet succeeded in teaching any people. In regard to their want of sobriety they must be judged with the greatest indulgence. I have referred before to the inducements held out to them: to these we must add their excessively cold climate, which renders some stimulant almost necessary, and the love of excitement prevalent in all ranks in Russia: in the upper classes this is gratified by public amusements; but in the lower by the gaiety and forgetfulness induced by intoxication. We must pity the poor Russians rather than condemn them, and earnestly pray for the time when their rulers will see that true power consists in their enlightenment rather than in their demoralization. I remember, when the last revolution took place in France, and Louis Philippe was obliged to fly the country, it became the topic of conversation in a large evening party; the Russians there present exultingly exclaimed that the two greatest nations in the world, namely, Russia and England, in the midst of all the countries of Europe, were alone tranquil and unshaken, even by the agitation and throes of monarchies surrounding them on all sides. "Yes," said a gentleman near me, in an under tone, "his excellency says truly, but he forgets to add that there is a slight difference in the two people: yours is the repose of the living, but ours is the slumber of the dead. Russia should have for its flag a death's head and the motto Resurgam." |