sold for as much as thirty or forty shillings
a pound.

The company being assembled in the
ballroom, business begins with a polonaise; in
which the dancers—like the fairies in the
house of Theseus—make the entire circuit of
the mansion, tripping it in stately procession
through sitting-rooms, bedrooms,
lobbies, corridors, up-stairs, down-stairs, in my
lady's chamber, and so back into the
ballroom by another door. Then they waltz;
then they quadrille; then they eat apples and
confectionary; then they drink orgeat and
lemonade. Then they dance a pot-pourri,
which is a jumble of all dances under the sun,
and which makes the entire company
excessively hot. Waltzes follow directly, then
quadrilles. Then two hours are devoted to
the labours of the mazurka; then cups of
strong broth are handed round; this being
the customary hint of supper time. The
cavaliers then hand their ladies to the supper-room,
where there is a costly banquet, and especially
a frothing ocean of champagne. That is the
fashionable drink for gentlemen and ladies in
Kazan, and costs in that town, be it observed,
twelve or fourteen shillings per bottle. After
supper, dancing is resumed in a tempestuous
manner, and the prudent begin to retire about
three o'clock in the morning.

Nearly half the year in Russia consists
of holidays appointed by the Church and
Crown. On every important holiday the
Kazanites are astir, travelling about; every
one to congratulate all his or her friends.
And, in addition to the public festivals, there
are a great many private festivals to
celebrate, as birth-days, wedding-days, baptismal-
days, and other days. All these demand
visits and feasts, and every visitor at every visit
is required to drink a health in at least one
bumper of champagne. The consumption of a
bottle of wine is the natural result of a round
of morning calls.

Bachelors in Kazan never dine at home.
The nobles who are married, and have
establishments, keep open house; and as a rule
maintain at the disposal of all friends a public
dinner-table. It is only on particular occasions
that a special dinner-invitation is given. It is
understood that any one who cares to dine
with his friend will come and do so. He
confers an obligation. There are thirty or
forty of such very open tables in Kazan.
The dinner-hour is four o'clock; and the
rover has only to choose for himself every
day the cook or host from whom he thinks
he shall obtain the greatest satisfaction.
Directly after dinner all rise and retire.
Guests go at once home for the necessary
nap before a night of dancing.

But they do not all dance; many gamble.
Men and women, and even children, of all
grades, are card-players. Master and guests
gamble tor gold in the saloon, and servants
game for copper in the antechamber. Old
hands are known sometimes to be fastened
for forty-eight successive hours to the card-
table; only leaving it to bolt the necessary
food. The fascinating young ladies of Kazan,
when they should be preserving with closed
lids the lustre of their eyes, will often sit
down to cards immediately after dinner,
and play till it is time to dress for the night's
ball. They and the young gentlemen like
naturally enough, the game of Preference;
older ladies and gentlemen prefer whist,
piquet, and écarté. A ruinous game of
hazard, called bank, used to be popular,
but was forbidden by the Emperor, as father
of his people.

At Carnival time the Cauldron boils
a gallop. Tartars visit Kazan by
thousands, in rude sledges, harnessed with
three horses abreast, and at the rate of
three miles for a penny give the luxury of
wild drives to the common people. Then
there is no safety for the legs of any soul
afoot: these vehicles are thundering about in
droves that cover all the streets; and a man's
only safety lies in using one of these sledges
himself, if he must go abroad. The
authorities have tried once or twice to interfere
with the custom; but it is sanctioned
by the use of centuries, and cannot be
disturbed. After Carnival comes Lent,
when there are no ragouts; and the most
luxurious are bound to eat miserable stuff
prepared in oil. There are no balls, there is
no theatre, and the disconsolate fasters betake
themselves for solace to wine and cards.
Faces grow yellow and thin, and the depressed
spirits leap up cheerfully when Easter puts
an end to the probation. At Easter there
is a custom of kissing. As in other parts of
Russia, eggs are commonly exchanged; and
whoever says to another, "Christ is risen,"
must be answered, "He is truly risen," and
receive and give three kisses. The street
boy may get in this way three kisses from
the most fastidious of high-born damsels;
anybody may be compelled by the custom
to kiss anybody else; and whoever walked
for the first time into Kazan at this season
of the year, would be greatly astonished at
the performances he would behold. There
was once an English custom of a similar kind,
but it is now obsolete except in a few rural
parishes.

At or soon after Easter, in the month of
April, the waters of the Volga rise, and
The Cauldron boils over; the whole country
round about Kazan is a vast lake. The
lower parts of the town are submerged;
the rest of it becomes an island. This
state of things is welcomed by the
merchants, because it enables them to have their
goods conveyed home cheaply and easily.
There is in May an annual fair and
promenade by the side of the flood, and the wives
and daughters of the Kazan merchants rouge
their faces, and put on their diamonds to
walk upon the boulevards of the fortress, see
the traffic of the boats, admire the expanse of