The shops of the dealers in wax -lights naturally occupy a great space here. The population of Moscow use at least three times as many tapers for their saints as the people of St. Petersburg ; and in the thousand churches of this city, many a hundred weight of wax is consumed for pious pm-poses. The bees of the Ukraine and Lesser Russia furnish the greater pai't of this commodity.
All liquids, such as beer, wine, &c., are excluded from the commerce of the Gostiimoi Dvor and the Ryadi ; also all bulky articles, such as hay and straw, and such things as must be had in all the comers' of the city ; bread, for example. In this commercial quarter, the dealers are exclusively Russian, with here and there an Asiatic, but no West Europeans. For the wine drinkers there are the Cave Anglaise, and the Cave Frangaise, but they offer nothing for particular observation, being in all respects like those of St. Petersburg, except that the wines of Greece and the Crimea are also to be had. In St. Petersburg, Greek wine is seldom drunk, and Crimean not at all ; here they are nmch liked ; the Santorino particularly, which may be had at a low price all over Russia. The Crimean wineshops are generally establishments belonging to the proprietors of the southern vineyards.
The fine West European wares, French books, and objects of ornament and luxury, French and English cloths, and Swiss confectionaries, are to be found on the Kusnetzkoi-Most (Smiths bridge). All the inscriptions there announce something foreign, and recommend themselves in the French language. In the print-shops it is easier to find views of London, Paris, Calcutta, and New York, than of St. Petersburg or Moscow. I asked in one for some Russian costumes, and was told they were expecting them from Paris. Many more pictures are manufactured at Moscow than in St. Petersburg, but they consist
224 THE SECOND-HAND MARKETS.
exclusively of bad imitations of originals published in London or Paris. It is incredible what numbers of caricatures of cupids and goddesses, celebrated men and women, and other pictures, issue from Moscow for the supply of the interior. Moscow's original genius shows itself only in representations of churches, saints, &c.
At the foot of the Kremlin, the flower-market of Moscow is held. It is a repetition of what may be seen in spring in the hay-market of St. Petersburg, but much prettier. In Moscow it has the appearance of a village of which every house stands In Its own garden. Huts of painted wood are filled with cherry-trees in blossom, with roses of all kinds, and all such flowers as will not bear exposure to the open air. Before the door sits the guardian of these fragrant prisoners. The huts stand at a certain distance from one another, surrounded by flower-beds and little shrubberies, every bed containing only one kind of flower. Here Is a whole bed of violets, there a painted field of ranunculus ; behind are ranged the larger kinds of plants and bushes. In whose branches the birds twitter and chirp as in their native groves. A more agreeable stroll cannot be Imagined than among these huts, to look at their contents, and talk with the quiet dealers about their flower trade. On the limits of the colony, a number of vehicles are constantly at work, convejang flowers and shrubs to and from the market, and at onq, end of It are the waggons of those who visit the place only for the one day, who have no regular stand here, but carry about with them house and garden on four wheels.
Many flowers are sold here, but more are liired only. Many great personages, who are not much in the habit of giving dinners, or wish to make an extra show on some particular occasion, find their account in boiTowing rather than buying. Every rose, cherry, and orange-troe has therefore its selling price and its letting price, which amounts, if the plant be a choice one, to several rubles.