The Russians, with all their liveliness of character, are by no means fond of any kind of exertion ; and all gymnastics, whether mental or bodily, are odious to them. In cold weather they creep behind the stove, or bury themselves in furs, instead of battling against the frost with their arms and legs, as those of any other nation would do. The butshnik creeps into his wooden house ; the soldier, if he dare, into his sentry-box ; and the isvoshtshik rolls himself up into a sort of 'tangled ball, under the mats of his sledge. In these positions many of them are surprised by sleep, and fall victims to the frost. The sentinel is found an inanimate statue in his box, the butshnik is drawn forth a mere mummy, and the poor driver is taken a petrified cripple from his sledge. The immoderate use of spirits in which the lower people Indulge very much augments the danger. The great majority of those who are frozen to death are the victims of intoxication. A severe frost never sets in, in St. Petersburg, without finding a number of drunken men sleeping in the streets ; and sleep on such an occasion is the usual stage of transition to death. The inconsiderate conduct of the rich towards their servants is another and a frequent cause of death. It is incredible how much the poor coachmen, footmen, and postilions, are expected to endure. People will often go to the theatre or to a party, and leave their equipages in the street the whole evening, that they may be able to command their services at a moment^s notice. The coachman then finds it difficult to resist the inclination to sleep ; and the little twelve-year-old postilions, not yet accustomed to watch till midnight, hang slumbering on their horses, or, winding the reins round their arms, slip down and He cowering on the frozen snow. Many a poor coachman has thus lost his nose, or has had his hands and feet disabled, while his master was feasting his palate or his ears, or indulging a voluptuous sympathy for fictitious sorrow. Fortunately for the Russian serf, the freezing to death is one of the easiest and least painful deaths which he is ever likely to suffer. Nay, some say that the sensation which accompanies it is not without some degree of enjoyment, and those who are roused from the slumber which in these cases usually precedes death, seldom show at first any thankfulness to those who have disturbed them in their passage to another world.
Extreme cold is usually accompanied by cheerful and quiet weather, so that the magnificent city of St. Petersburg rarely appears to greater advantage than when the thermometer stands at 30^ below Reaumur's zero (35 below Fahrenheit's), when the sun shines brilliantly in a clear sky, while its rays are reflected by millions of icy crj'stals. From houses and churches dense columns of smoke slowly ascend. The snow and ice in the streets and on the Neva are white and clean, and the whole city seems clothed in the garments of innocence. Water becomes ice almost in the act of being poured upon the ground. Every one in the streets appears to be running for his life, and indeed is literally doing so, for it is only by running that he can hope to keep life in him. The trodden snow crackles and munnurs forth the strangest melodies, and every sound seems to be modiHed by the lufluence of the atmosphere.
The Russians have a custom very agreeable to one desirous of buying-, namely, the custom of offering for sale within the same building almost every thing that is likely to be bought. A stranger need not, therefore, inquire where this or that article is to be found ; all he has to do, in general, is to go to one of the great markets or bazaars, and he will seldom fail to find the article he is in search of. Provisions are, of course, excepted, for which there are distinct markets.
The great bazaars of a Russian town, where all the most important articles of commerce are united, are called gostinnoye dvorui. They are mostly large buildings, consisting of a ground floor and an upper floor. The upper floor is generally reserved for wholesale dealings ; the ground floor consists of a multitude of booths or shops in which the various descriptions of merchandise are sold by retail. The dwelHngs of the merchants are away from these markets ; and when the business hours are at an end, each merchant locks up his own stall, and commits the whole building for the night to the guardianship of watchmen and dogs.
In every Russian city of any importance there is sure to be one such gt)stinnoi dvor, the extent of which may afford the travelling student in statistics a very fair standard by which to measure the commercial activity of the place. Even in the German cities of the Baltic provinces, as in Mittau, Dorpat, &c., the Russians have established such gostinnoye dvorui^ and it is only in the maritime cities, as in Odessa, Riga, Libau, &c., that they are not yet to be found.