coke’s TRAVELS IN RUSSIA.

577

tTie ftraw upon which I lay, and more than once by a lefs inoffenfive animal. AtTabluka, a village where we palled the night of the 27th, a party of hogs, at four, inthe morning, roufed me by grunting clofe to my ear. Not much pleafed either withthe earlinefs of the vifit, or the falutation of my vilitors, I called out to my fervant,“ Jofeph, drive thele gentry out of the room, and flrut the door. 5 ’ “ There is no doorthat will ffiut,” replied Jofeph, with great compofure, t£ we have tried every expedientto fallen it without fuccefs ; the hogs have more than once boen excluded, but have asoften returned.” This converfation effectually roufing me, I determed to refign tomy unwelcome guefts that litter which I could no longer enjoy ; and contemplated, bythe light of a flip of deal, the furrounding fcene, lVIy two companions were ftretch-ed upon the fame parcel of ftraw from which I had juft emerged ; a little beyond ourfervants occupied a feparate heap ; at a fmall diftance three Ruffians, with long beards,and coarfe fackcloth ffiirts and trowfers, lay extended upon their backs on the bare floor;on the oppofite fide of the room three women in their clothes flumbered on a longbench, while the top of the ftove afforded a couch to a woman drefled like the othersand four fprawling children almoft naked.

The furniture in thefe cottages confifts chiefly of a wooden table or drelfer, andbenches faftened to the Tides of the room : the utenfils are wooden platters, bowls, andfpoons, with perhaps one large earthen pan for cooking. The food of the peafants isblack rye bread, fometimes white, eggs, falt-fiffi, bacon, mulhrooms ; their favouritedifh is a hodge-podge of fait or freffi meat, groats, and rye-flour, highly feafoned withonions and garlic, which are much ufed by the Ruffians.

The peafants were greedy of money; almoft always demanded previous payment forevery trifle, and were in general much inclined to thieving. In Poland it was notnecefl'ary to be always upon the watch; and we frequently left the equipage during thewhole night without a guard : but in Ruffia, without the precaution of regularly ftation-ing a fervant in the carriage, every article would foon have difappeared ; yet evenwith this expedient, the watchfulnefs of our Argus was continually baffled by the fu-perior vigilance of the natives, and the morning generally announced fome petty lofs,to which the night had given birth.

The peafants at every poll were obliged to furnilh us with horfes at a fixed and rea-fonable rate, which had the ill efFedt of rendering them extremely dilatory in their mo-tions ; and as our only interpreter was a Bohemian * fervant, not perfectly acquaintedwith the Ruffian language, his difficulty in explaining, joined to their backwardnefs inexecuting our orders, occafloned delays of feveral hours for a change of horfes. Thepeafants added in the capacity of coachmen and poftillions ; they always harnefled fourhorfes a-breaft, commonly put eight, and fometimes even ten horfes to our carriage : asthe ftages were for the molt part twenty, and fometimes thirty miles, and the roads ex-tremely bad. They feldom ufed either boots or faddles, and had no fort of ftirrup,except a rope doubled and thrown acrofs the ho.rfe’s back. Each horfe was equippedwith a fnaflle-bridle, which however was feldom inferted in the mouth, but generallyhung loofe under the jaw. The method of driving was not in a fteady pace, but byftarts and bounds, with little attention to the nature of the ground : the peafants fel-dom trotted their horfes, but would fuddenly force them into a gallop through theWorft roads, and fometimes as fuddenly checked their fpeed upon the moft level fur-face. A common piece of rope fervecl them for a whip, which thdy feldom had anyoccafion to ufe, as they urged their horfes forwards by hooting and whilliing like cat-

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* The Bohemian and Ruffian languages are both diakCts of the Sclavom’an tongue.

VOL. VI. 4 K

calls*