JOURNAL

OF A

TOUR FROM ASTRACHAN TO

KARASS.

ALL things being in readiness for commencing the projected tour to Karass, I left the mission house, Astrachan, on Friday 8th October, a little after nine o'clock, A. M. and, accompanied by Messrs Jack, Dickson, Mitchell, Macpherson, and others, proceeded to the banks of the Volga, for the ferry between Astrachan and the Calmuc steppe, on the right bank of the river. In order that every thing connected with the journey might be done agreeably to the police of the country, a passport for myself, signed by the committee of our colony at Karass, and another for John Abercrombie, one of the ransomed Circassians, were presented and regularly entered at the ferry passport-office; after which we took our seats in the passage boat, and bade adieu, for a time, to the capital of the ancient kingdom

A

of Astrachan. When crossing the river, which, at the ferry, may be from two to three versts in breadth, we had a delightful view of the shipping in the harbour and roads, and of the churches, spires, and other public buildings of the city; as well as of the island on our right in the midst of the Volga, and the varied scenery which met the eye, the moment it was directed to the opposite shore. In the course of about half an hour, we reached the landing place, when an obstacle occurred, which we feared might occasion us considerable inconvenience. The Tartar, whom we had engaged to conduct us to Georghievsk on the Russian lines, lived about two versts above the ferry at the village of Selonka, where he was to wait our arrival; and to our astonishment we found, on making enquiry, that of all the carts usually about the place, there was not a disposable one to take our luggage to his quarters, the last of them having left it just as we landed. In about a quarter of an hour, however, we descried some of the carriers on their way back from the village, which superseded the necessity of sending a messenger on purpose. On their arrival, one of them was instantly engaged; and having committed the care of the luggage to John Abercrombie, we set off on foot, at an easy pace, for Selonka. Scarcely had we left the ferry, when our attention was arrested by huge columns of

In

smoke, which indicated the breaking out of a fire among some of the buildings in the suburbs of Astrachan, north of the Culum. a few minutes, flames were perceptible amid the volumes of smoke which issued, in close succession, from the place where the fire had begun; and ere we had advanced half-way to Selonka, the buildings seemed all in a blaze. How impressive the scene! associated, as it instantly was, in our feelings and reflections, with the anguish that might be rending the hearts of some of our fellow-creatures, on being driven out of their habitations by a merciless element which threatened their complete destruction. Happily, however, in less than an hour, the smoke began to subside, which encouraged the hope that the progress of the conflagration had been so far arrested, as to prevent its communication to the adjacent houses, though the appearance of the flames furnished but too good reason for apprehending that the buildings where it had broken out, had been burned to the ground.

Arrived at Selonka about mid-day, when we found the Tartar ready to receive us. The vehicle, in which he had agreed to take us to Georghievsk, was a Tartar arba; which, in its structure, very much resembles a carrier's cart, with this difference, that it is much more unwieldly and clumsy. Like our carts, it has only two wheels, (about five feet in diameter)

whereas the Russian carriages, from the chariot of the noble to the telega of the peasants, have four. The length of the arba from end to end, I should think, is at least thrice the diameter of its wheels, which, in connection with the elevation given it by the height of the axle, is apt, at first sight, to produce a repulsive sensation, by suggesting the idea of its being very liable to be overturned; an apprehension for which there is much less reason, I understand, than one would naturally imagine from its appearance when in motion; as not to speak of the care with which it is balanced, the extent of surface presented by the wheels, prevents them from sinking so far in soft ground, as less ones must do under the same weight, and in this respect contributes to their security. When intended for the accommodation of travellers, the arba is fitted up with a kibitki or covering, which is sometimes made of wood; in which case, it might pass for a similar vehicle, known on the banks of the Clyde, by the high sounding name of a caravan; but more frequently of good stout hoops, over which is thrown a covering of felt or mats, when it might bear a comparison with a covered cart and though less agreeable in its appearance, it is in reality the more comfortable of the two, the length of it being more than sufficient to allow a man to stretch himself upon it as a bed, which is seldom the case with an