Ignorant of English ; and then, as to the language of eyes, fingers, and gesticulation, in these he is sure to be at home. If he have an Italian behind him, he will abuse his horse with an " Ecco kakoi canaille, signor^'' and a Mahometan he will be equally certain to commend to the protection of Allah.
The constant plague of the isvoshtshik is the pedestrian, who in Russia is invested with immense privileges. In other countries a man thinks himself bound to take care that he is not run over ; but in Russia, he who walks afoot troubles himself but little about the matter, and thinks the coachman alone is bound to be careful. If the horse or carriage merely touch a foot passenger, without even throwing him down, the driver is liable to be flogged and fined ; should the pedestrian be thrown down, a flogging, Siberia, and the confiscation of the whole equipage, are the mild penalties imposed by the law. " Have a care," cries the isvoshtshik. " Have a care thyself, and remember Siberia," is the probable reply of the leisurely wayfarer. The moment the cry is raised that a man has been run over, a brace of butshniks rush out from their watchboxes, and the carriage, whomever it may belong to, is carried away as a police prize. The poor coachman is immediately bound, and the flattering prospect of an emigration to Sibeiia is immediately held forth to him, whether the accident have arisen from his own fault or not. Cases of great severity sometimes occur ; but it is difficult to point out any other way of checking the wild way of driving in which the nobles frequently indulge. As it is, they are always urging their poor fellows to go faster, and the consequence is, that, wide as the streets are, and severe as the law is, accidents are constantly occurring, and every now and then you hear that this prince's fine four-in-hand is in the clutches of the police, or that that count's coachman is undergoing an inquiry.
I was once witness myself of a ludicrous scene to which the dread of these severe enactments gave rise. The equipage of the Countess T. came rolling down the Nevskoi Prospekt, and had the misfortune to throw down a poor old woman, but, as was afterwards found, without doing her any otlier harm than frightening her. The ladies in the carriage fainted, but the coachman, having a lively picture of Siberia and the kngut before his mind's eye, put his whip into motion immediately, and the horses dashed off at a full gallop. All the butshniks in the neighbourhood joined immediately in the chase, for on these occasions they give each other a signal. To seize the spirited horses by the reins was impossible ; but a few of the servitors of the police, bolder than their fellows, clung to the carriage behind, in the hope, probably, that, as it must stop some time or other, they would be able to make good theii prize in the end. Coach, coachman, and horses, appeared all irretrievably lost. Prince L., an active '0ung man and a friend of the countess, perceiving the danger to which she was exposed, rushed upon the carriage, and by main force tore away the two fellows that were clinging to it, and flung them into the snow. The butshniks. furious at the loss of their prize, now fell upon the poor prince, whom they dragged away to their wooden house ; but he struggled and kept the door open till he recognised among the crowd some powerful acquaintance, through whose intercession he was enabled to escape the consequences of his good-natured infraction of the laws.