The whole story forms an interesting episode in the history of the country, but there is no space to tell it here; I only allude to it because it was in this monastery that Peter and his poor weak brother Ivan found a refuge until, the strelzi turning round upon Sophia, Peter assumed the government and she was sent into a convent, where she might again weave plots to her heart’s content. So it was gratitude that prompted his reverence for the Saint and his monks, and as I imagine they gained no small amount of prestige from his support. However that may be, great is the fame of the place. It was a festival of the church, and though the train was pretty full at starting, we picked up many worshippers at intermediate stations, till we were quite a crowd. The Lavra stands upon a hill, and with its picturesque towers and spires rising above its venerable battlemented walls, looks like an ancient feudal city, of which the suburbs are formed by the tea-houses, grog-shops and booths for the sale of toys and sacred images clustered round its base. Here the faithful congregate after worshipping at the shrines, and a thriving trade is done in refreshments, chiefly liquid and strong above proof, and it must be a poor pilgrim indeed who does not carry back with him a toy or two as fairings for the children, or an _ikona_ for the good wife. There were several hundreds of men and women toiling wearily up the hill at the same time as ourselves. The women were in travelling outfit, their faces bound round with kerchiefs, only the nose and eyes showing, their short skirts reaching just below the knee, and both men and women had their legs thickly swathed round with linen bands, tied together with pieces of string, and their feet encased in shapeless shoes contrived out of coarse matting. The better-to-do pilgrims carried knapsacks, while their less fortunate fellows had but their staves, with, at most, a small wallet, trusting to chance and charity for a meal or a night’s lodging. It was a mixed crowd, for besides these humbler folk there were prosperous farmers and tradesmen, whose _telegas_ and carts were standing outside the gates, making the space look like the halting-place of a vast caravan. Plutocrats and grandees were not wanting, and the numberless beggars and cripples of whom we had to run the gauntlet gathered a rich harvest of coppers and small silver coins.