of going up the Kama, you could continue down the Volga, passing the large towns of Simbirsk, Saratoff, to Tsaritsin, from which there is a railroad to Kalatch, on the River Don, down which steamers descend to the Crimea. From Tsaritsin you may proceed down the river to Astrakhan, on the Caspian Sea, on which steamers ply to ports in Persia and elsewhere. The Volga is the Mississippi of Russia, and of quite as much importance to that country as the Father of Waters to us. The Baltic and the Black Seas are also connected by a canal which unites the Beresina, a branch of the Düna, or Western Dwina, to the Dnieper. There are several other canals which connect the great natural water-ways, so that boats may go from either of the seas on the border of Russia to either of the others. "A grand system of railroads has also been projected, as you may see on the map. The first important one built was that from St. Petersburg to Moscow, which was constructed by Americans at a vast expense, considering the nature of the country through which it passes. An English gentleman waited upon the Russian minister of finance with a letter of introduction. "'Then you have come to see Russia,' said his excellency. "'Hardly the whole of it; I only desire to see what is most curious in the country,' replied the tourist. "'Ah! I then I will first show you the contract with the Americans to build the railway to Moscow,' added the minister. "Doubtless it was a very curious document, especially in the price which his imperial majesty agreed to pay for the work. When he was asked where he would have the road located, he took a ruler, and drew a straight line on the map between the two cities; and except one deviation to avoid the erection of an expensive bridge, this line was followed, and consequently very few towns are upon the road. A line extends south from Moscow to Kief, over six hundred miles, and the communication of St. Petersburg with Odessa will soon be completed. Lines from Cracow and Warsaw to Odessa are also in course of construction. One may now go all the way by express train from Paris, Ostend, or Calais, to St. Petersburg, in three days. Russia has now forty-seven hundred miles of railway open for traffic; and nearly ten thousand miles more are to be completed in four years.[A] [Footnote A: The United States had, January 1, 1870, 48,860 miles of railroad in operation, and 27,507 miles projected and in progress.] "The principal productions of Russia are grain, hemp, flax, linseed, tallow, and lumber. Wheat is by far the most important crop, and is raised in vast quantities on the plains of Central Russia, and the _steppes_ of the south. It exported, in 1867, nearly one hundred millions of rubles' worth of this grain. Next in value is the flax crop, of which the exports amounted in the same year to about twenty million rubles." "How much is a ruble?" asked Captain Cantwell. "That is rather a difficult question to answer," replied the professor.