RIGA (the capital of Livonia, Baltic Provinces) had several centuries since, two considerable fairs, one held in May, the other in September, very much frequented by English, French, Dutch, and other merchants. At the period of these fairs the town wore a very commercial aspect, and the port was thronged with ships. The local customs were peculiar, and gave rise to difficulties. The townsmen had priority in the selection of warehouses, and in the sale of commodities, and as a result the vessels of foreigners were unduly detained, and the selection of the produce made in advance of their opportunities. Hence it was recorded in the middle of the last century that these fairs were on the decline. ROSTOF, on the river Don, near its mouth in the sea of Azof (Lake Nero), and famous for its manufactures of white lead, vermilion, and other mineral and chemical substances; also for its linen manufacture. Large fairs are held twice a year, when very considerable numbers of cattle and horses change ownership. VORONEJ, on the Voronej river, near its confluence with the Don; one of the most flourishing towns in southern Russia. Its trade is in grain, linseed, tallow. Four fairs are held annually, the larger being those of 9th May and 29th August (O.S.). Markets are held three times a week. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XXIII. NIJNI-NOVGOROD.[10] This may now be pronounced the great mercantile fair of the world. It probably bears a greater resemblance (but on a larger scale) to that of Sturbridge in its best days, than any other of past or present times. It is almost the last remaining type (in Europe) of the mediæval form of commerce. The origin and early history of this fair are somewhat obscure. Authentic records attest that mercantile gatherings were held at Nijni so early as 1366; and tradition points to a still earlier origin. Before Kasan was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in 1552, Russian merchants were prohibited from attending fairs in that province. A considerable fair then held was the precursor of the present. The Russians held a fair at another place on the Volga. In 1641 the monks of the monastery of St. Macarius, by virtue of their charter, founded a fair at _Makariev_, seventy-one miles below Nijni. Of this fair I have already given some account. “The monks of the monastery (says Michell) very cleverly made Nijni a place of religious as well as commercial resort, and levied taxes on the trade which they fostered.” Up to 1751 the tolls had still been collected by these monks; but in that year the fair became the property of the State. In 1824 it definitely fixed at Nijni-Novgorod. It was probably removed here temporarily in 1816, when the town of Makariev was destroyed by fire.