A canal crossed the Nevski Prospect, under a stone bridge near the church. At one side of it was moored a vast flat-boat, as it would be called on the Mississippi, loaded with firewood, sawed and split ready for use. Several canals like this one extend quite through the city, so that the merchandise from the Caspian Sea, the White Sea, and almost every part of the interior of Russia, may be delivered at the very doors of the warehouses. Opposite the Great Market, which is the business centre of the city, the conductor stopped the omnibuses, to enable his charge to see the several objects of interest which were presented at this point. The _Gostinnoi Dvor_ is an institution in every Russian city, but is more like the Bazaar of Constantinople than anything to which other Europeans apply the name of market. In St. Petersburg it is a vast structure, occupying an immense square, in which every article of commerce is exposed for sale. It consists of little shops and stalls, in front of which the merchant stands, ready for a trade. He importunes the passers-by to purchase, and it is not always prudent to stop and examine the goods, unless one wishes to be dragged into the shop. The bazaar itself has outgrown the building, large as it is, and extends into the neighboring streets; indeed, the whole territory in the rear, and to the eastward of it for a considerable distance, is appropriated to its uses. The Nevski Prospect, in front of the great market, is very wide, and a large portion of it is used for booths and stands, at which every conceivable article is offered for sale, such as provisions, fruit, fancy goods, furs, clothing, boots and shoes. "You can see here the national costume of the Russians, commodore," said the doctor. "I don't see anything very peculiar," replied Lincoln. "You observe that every man here has his pants stuffed into the tops of his boots. I don't know of anything that is more national than this, though in the interior you will see something more peculiar. Look at that fellow," added the surgeon, pointing to a fruit-seller. "He doesn't indulge in the luxury of a shirt, but has under his coat a calico tunic, which he wears outside of his pants." "They don't look particularly clean." "The common people are not; but the higher classes are as neat and refined as any people in Europe." "What is this tower?" asked Lincoln.