A VISIT TO THE TROITSKA MONASTERY, AND WHAT WAS SEEN THERE.—CURIOUS LEGENDS.—MONKS AT DINNER.—EUROPEAN FAIRS.—THE GREAT FAIR AT NIJNI NOVGOROD.—SIGHTS AND SCENES.—MININ'S TOMB AND TOWER.—DOWN THE VOLGA BY STEAMBOAT.—STEAM NAVIGATION ON THE GREAT RIVER.—KAZAN, AND WHAT WAS SEEN THERE.—THE ROUTE TO SIBERIA.  
The Troitska (Trinity) Monastery is about forty miles from Moscow, and reached by railway in little more than two hours. Our friends took an early start, intending to see the monastery and return the same day which is by no means difficult, as there are three trains each way every twenty-four hours. Fred had spent the previous evening in reading up the history of the place they were to visit. As soon as they were seated in the train he gave the following summary to his companions:
"The monastery was founded in 1342 by St. Sergius, a son of a Russian nobleman of Rostof, who was famed for his intelligence and piety. The Princes of Muscovy used to ask his advice in their contests with the Tartars, as well as in other matters. Dmitry of the Don sought his blessing before going to the battle of Kulikova, where he defeated the Tartars; he was accompanied by two monks, disciples of Sergius, who fought by Dmitry's side during the memorable battle. In consideration of the great services thus rendered, the monastery received grants of land and became very rich. St. Sergius died in 1392, and it is said that he remained a simple monk to the last.
"In 1408 the Tartars laid the monastery waste, and scattered the monks. They reassembled about fifteen years later, and the monastery was re-established. It has never since been recaptured, though it was besieged by thirty thousand Poles in 1608. The monks made a vigorous defence, and the siege was finally raised by a Russian force which came to their assistance. The French started from Moscow for the monastery in 1812, but only went about half way. The tradition is that the saint appeared miraculously, and covered the road leading to the monastery with such an array of soldiers in black that the French did not dare to attack them.
[Pg 272]
"While the Poles were in possession of Moscow in 1612, the monastery aided the inhabitants with food and money. The Poles again sent an army to conquer the place, but it was repulsed by the monks without any assistance from the Russian soldiers. The plague and the cholera, which have both visited Moscow, have not entered Troitska, and consequently the place is much venerated for its sanctity.
 COPY OF PICTURE IN THE MONASTERY.
"There is a legend that when the saint first came to the spot he met a huge bear in the forest; the bear rushed forward to destroy him, but suddenly paused, and from that moment the saint and the bear were friends. For the rest of their days they lived together, and when the saint died the bear remained on the spot, and gave evidences of the most earnest grief. This story is implicitly believed by the orthodox Russians, and the gentleman from whose writings I have taken it says he heard it from the lips of a Russian lady, and narrated so artlessly that it would have been painful to have expressed any doubt of its truth."
Other legends of the monastery, and incidents showing its prominence in Russian history, whiled away the time till the station at Troitska was reached. After a substantial breakfast at the railway-station, the party proceeded to the famous edifice, which is more like a fortress than a religious establishment. Its walls have a linear extent of nearly a mile; they are twenty feet thick, and vary in height from thirty to fifty feet. They would offer little obstruction to modern artillery, but it is easy to see that they could make a stout resistance to such cannon as the Poles possessed three centuries ago. There are towers at the angles, eight in all,[Pg 273] and one of them is surmounted by an obelisk which bears a duck carved in stone, in remembrance of the fact that Peter the Great used to shoot ducks on a pond near the monastery.
For what they saw at Troitska we will refer to Frank's journal:
"There were crowds of beggars along the road from the railway-station to the gate of the monastery. It seems that the place is an object of pilgrimage from all parts of Russia, and the beggars reap a goodly harvest from those who come to pray at the shrine of the saint. Before the railway was opened, the high-road from Moscow seemed to pass through a double hedge of beggars, and the traveller was never out of hearing of their plaintive appeals for charity.
 WINDOW IN CHURCH OF THE TRINITY.
"We were cordially welcomed to the monastery, and one of the monks, who spoke French, accompanied us through the place. There are ten churches within the walls, the oldest being the Church of the Trinity, and the largest that of the Assumption. The shrine of St. Sergius is in the former. It is an elaborate piece of workmanship, of pure silver, weighing nine hundred and thirty-six pounds, and is so constructed that the relics of the saint are exposed. Near the shrine is a painting of the saint, that was carried in battle by Peter the Great and the Czar Alexis, and there is a record on a silver plate of other battles in which it was used.
[Pg 274]
 PITY THE POOR.
"There are other pictures of the saint displayed on the walls of the church. The whole interior of the building is covered with ornaments in massive silver and gold, and it is no wonder the French made an effort to plunder the monastery when they learned of the treasures it contained. There is a representation of the Last Supper, in which the figures are of solid gold, with the exception of the Judas, which is of brass. The images are covered with pearls and precious stones in great profusion. In some cases they are so thickly spread that the metal can hardly be seen.
"In the Church of the Assumption is a two-headed eagle, which commemorates the concealment of Peter the Great under the altar during the insurrection of the streltzi. They showed us a well that was dug by St.[Pg 275] Sergius, and discovered after its locality had been unknown for nearly three hundred years. Near the church is a tower two hundred and ninety feet high, and containing several bells, one of them weighing sixty-five tons. Russia is certainly the country of gigantic bells.
"A description of all the churches at Troitska would be tedious, especially as we have spoken of the two of greatest interest. The sacristy is in a detached building, and contains more curiosities than I could describe in a dozen pages. There are mitres, crowns, crosses, and other ornaments that have been given to the monastery by the various rulers of Russia or by wealthy individuals, many of them set with jewels of remarkable size and beauty. A copy of the Gospels, given by the Czar Michael in 1632, is in heavy covers, ornamented with designs in enamel; in the centre of the design on the front cover is a cross made with rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, and there is a similar though smaller cross on the back.
"The robes worn by the priesthood are as numerous and costly as those we saw at Moscow, and so are the ornaments that accompany them. The pearl head-dress which Catherine II. wore at her coronation is preserved here, and serves as an ornament on a priestly robe. There is a crown presented by Elizabeth, and an altar-cloth from John the Terrible. And so we could go on through a long list of magnificent gifts from kings and emperors, and an equally long array of vestments worn by high dignitaries of the Church on state occasions.
"The piety of the pilgrims is shown by their adoration, not of these jewelled crowns and diadems, but of the wooden utensils and coarse garments which belonged to the founder of the monastery. These relics are distributed among the glass cases which contain the costly mementos we have mentioned, with the evident intention of setting forth as clearly as possible the simple ways of his life.
 CURIOUS AGATE AT TROITSKA.
"One of the curiosities they showed us was a natural agate, in which there is the figure of a monk bowing before a cross. The cross is very clearly defined, and so is the cowled figure kneeling before it, though the latter would hardly be taken as representing anything in particular if regarded[Pg 276] by itself. We examined it carefully to see if there was any deception about it, but could not detect it if there was. The monk, the cross, and the rock on which the cross stands appear to be wholly formed by the natural lines of the agate. The stone is about four inches high, and oval in shape; on one side it is rather dull and opaque, but it is bright on the other, and distinctly shows the eyes of the monk.
 PAPER-KNIFE FROM TROITSKA. ST. SERGIUS AND THE BEAR.
"The monks of Troitska wear black caftans topped with high black hats without brims; black veils hang down over their shoulders, and nearly every monk wears his hair as long as it will grow. We saw them at dinner in their refectory, where one of the number read the service while the rest went on with their eating and drinking; they were talking freely among themselves, and did not seem to listen at all to the reader. In general they appear to be well fed and cared for, and, so far as we could observe, their life is not a rigorous one. They offered carvings in wood, ivory, and mother-of-pearl, and we bought several of these things to bring away as curiosities. Among them was a paper-knife, with the handle representing St. Sergius and the bear in the forest. The work was well done, and the knife will make a pretty ornament for somebody's desk in America.
"When we entered the refectory the monks invited us to dine with them, and we regretted that we had already breakfasted at the railway-station. There is a lodging-house for travellers attached to the monastery, and comparing favorably with a Russian hotel of the rural sort. Nothing is charged for the rooms, but the lodger who can afford it must pay for his food, and in addition he is expected to drop something into the contribution-box which the monks will show him before his departure. The cooking is said to be excellent, and the table as well supplied as any in Moscow. They have a pilgrim's table, where one may dine free of charge, but the food is simple and limited in quantity.
"There is a studio of painting in the monastery, where the monks and[Pg 277] their pupils, forty or fifty in all, were busily at work copying from religious subjects of both Greek and Latin origin. They are not confined to church paintings, as we saw portraits of the Emperor and other members of the Imperial family, and several battle-scenes in which Russian arms have figured. There is a very good painting representing the attack of the Poles upon the monastery, and another illustrating the defence of Sebastopol during the Crimean War.
 SPECIMENS OF ECCLESIASTICAL PAINTING ON GLASS.
"The monastery was enormously rich at one time, not only in the treasures it possessed, but in grants of land and serfs which had been given by the Government. In 1764 it had one hundred and six thousand male serfs, and its lands covered many thousands of acres. Though losing its serfs, it has not been without compensation, and the monastery is handsomely supported, partly by an annual donation from the Government, and partly by the gifts of pious Russians."
Doctor Bronson and the youths returned to Moscow in the evening, as[Pg 278] they had planned, and on the next day made their preparations for continuing their journey.
Their next place of destination was Nijni Novgorod, where they wished to attend the great fair, which was then in progress. They decided to go by the express train, which leaves Moscow in the evening and reaches Nijni Novgorod in the morning. The distance is about two hundred and seventy miles, and there is very little to see on the way.
 RUSSIAN COOPER'S SHOP AND DWELLING.
The only place of consequence between Moscow and Nijni is Vladimir, named after Vladimir the Great. It has about fifteen thousand inhabitants, and is the centre of a considerable trade. Anciently it was of much political importance, and witnessed the coronations of the Czars of Muscovy down to 1432. Its Kremlin is in a decayed state, and little remains of its former glory, except a venerable and beautiful cathedral. Our friends thought they could get along with the churches they had already seen, and declined to stop to look at the Cathedral of Vladimir.
[Pg 279]
On arriving at Nijni they were met at the station by a commissioner from the Hotel de la Poste, to which they had telegraphed for rooms. In the time of the fair it is necessary to secure accommodations in advance if one is intending to remain more than a single day. Tourists who are in a hurry generally come from Moscow by the night train, spend the day at Nijni, and return to Moscow the same evening. Thus they have no use for a hotel, as they can take their meals at the railway-station or in the restaurants on the fair grounds.
"This is practically the last of the great fairs of Europe," said the Doctor to his young companions as the train rolled out of Moscow. "Leipsic still maintains its three fairs every year, but they have greatly changed their character since the establishment of railways. They are more local than general, and one does not see people from all parts of Europe, as was the case forty or fifty years ago. The fairs of France and Germany have dwindled to insignificance, and now the only really great fair where Europe and Asia meet is the one we are about to visit."
Frank asked how long these fairs had been in existence.
"Fairs are of very ancient origin," the Doctor replied; "that of Leipsic can be distinctly traced for more than six hundred years. The word 'fair' comes from the Latin feria, meaning day of rest, or holiday, and the fairs for the sale of goods were and still are generally connected with religious festivals. The Greeks and Romans had fairs before the Christian era; fairs were established in France in the fifth century and in England in the ninth, and they were common in Germany about the beginning of the eleventh century, when they were principally devoted to the sale of slaves.
"Coming down with a single bound to the great fair of Russia, we find that there was an annual gathering of merchants at Nijni more than five hundred years ago. Long before that time there was a fair in Kazan, then under Tartar rule, but Russian merchants were prohibited from going there by order of John the Terrible. The fair of Nijni was removed to Makarieff, seventy miles down the river, in 1641, where it remained a long time. The monks of Makarieff controlled the fair until 1751, when it passed into the hands of the Government, and has remained there ever since.
"The fair at Makarieff was held on low ground near the town. Owing to an inundation in 1816, the Government restored the fair to Nijni, and decreed that it should be held annually between the 27th of July and the 22d of September. The ordinary population of Nijni is about forty thousand; two hundred and fifty thousand merchants, laborers, and others[Pg 280] come to the fair, so that for two months of the year nearly three hundred thousand people are assembled here."
"How are they all accommodated with lodgings and food?" one of the youths asked.
 NIJNI NO............