Produced by Robert J. Hall [Illustration: MOSCOW.] RUSSIA As _Seen_ and _Described_ by Famous Writers _Edited and Translated by_ ESTHER SINGLETON _Author of_ "Turrets, Towers and Temples," "Great Pictures," and "A Guide to the Opera," and _translator of_ "The Music Dramas of Richard Wagner." WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS New York Dodd, Mead and Company 1909 _PREFACE_ This is intended to be a companion volume to _Japan_, and therefore follows the same general plan and arrangement. It aims to present in small compass a somewhat comprehensive view of the great Muscovite power. After a short description of the country and race, we pass to a brief review of the history and religion including ritual and ceremonial observances of the Greek Church. Next come descriptions of regions, cities and architectural marvels; and then follow articles on the various manners and customs of rural and town life. The arts of the nation are treated comprehensively; and a chapter of the latest statistics concludes the rapid survey. The material is all selected from the writings of those who speak with authority on the subjects with which they deal. The Russian Empire is so vast that it would be impossible to give detailed descriptions of all its parts in a work of this size: therefore I have been forced to be content with more general descriptions of provinces with an occasional addition of a typical city. E. S. _New York, April 21, 1904._ _CONTENTS_ PART I THE COUNTRY AND RACE The Russian Empire _Prince Kropotkine._ Siberia _Jean Jacques Elisee Reclus._ The Russian Races _W. R. Morfill._ PART II HISTORY AND RELIGION The History of Russia _W. R. Morfill._ Church Service _Alfred Maskell._ The Creeds of Russia _Ernest W. Lowry._ PART III DESCRIPTIONS St. Petersburg _J. Beavington Atkinson._ Finland _Harry De Windt._ Lapland _Alexander Platonovich Engelhardt._ Moscow (The Kremlin and its treasuries--The Ancient Regalia--The Romanoff House) _Alfred Maskell._ Vassili-Blagennoi (St. Basil the Blessed) _Theophile Gautier._ Poland _Thomas Michell._ Kief, the City of Pilgrimage _J. Beavington Atkinson._ Nijni-Novgorod _Antonio Gallenga._ The Volga Basin. (The Great River--Kasan--Tsaritzin--Astrakhan) _Antonio Gallenga._ Odessa _Antonio Gallenga._ The Don Cossacks _Thomas Michell._ In the Caucasus _J. Buchan Teller._ Khiva _Fred Burnaby._ The Trans-Siberian Railway _William Durban._ PART IV MANNERS AND CUSTOMS High Life in Russia _The Countess of Galloway._ Rural Life in Russia _Lady Verney_ Food and Drink _H. Sutherland Edwards._ Carnival-Time and Easter _A. Nicol Simpson._ Russian Tea and Tea-Houses _H. Sutherland Edwards._ How Russia Amuses Itself _Fred Whishaw._ The Kirghiz and their Horses _Fred Burnaby._ Winter in Moscow _H. Sutherland Edwards._ A Journey by Sleigh _Fred Burnaby._ PART V ART AND LITERATURE