I refer the reader to the authors I have already cited, for a description of the colonies of Tcheremisses, Tschouvaschis, Votiaguis, and Tartars. I shall only say of these last, that the neatness of the inside of their houses astonished me, doubtless because I had been a little too much accustomed to the contrary defect among the Kamtschadales, Koriacs, &c. These Tartars lead sedentary lives; they are husbandmen, and have considerable quantities of corn and cattle: the religion they profess is the Mahometan.
The head dress of the Tcheremisses struck me with its singularity; it is a small shell of wood, eight or ten inches long, and four or five broad, placed near the root of the hair upon the forehead, and the upper part with an inclination forward. This is fastened with a knot, and then covered with an handkerchief, white embroidered or figured, and, out of preference, they chuse the most glaring colours and the most crowded patterns. The handkerchief, which is very large, and hangs loosely behind, is edged with a broad fringe, or lace of gold or silver, in proportion to the wealth or luxury of the wearer. The rest of their dress cannot better be compared than to a robe de chambre.
I met a caravan of Bohemians who asked me for money, and informed me that they were going to people and cultivate a small canton on the borders of the Wolga, near Saratoff.
The necessity of having my passport examined by the governor of Casan, and the difficulty of procuring horses, as I arrived late, kept me in this town till break of day. The Wolga, which washes its walls, renders the situation pleasant; the houses are for the most part built of wood, and the churches of stone. I was told that it is the see of an archbishop.
Beyond the Wolga[114], a river famous for its navigation, and which pours itself into the Caspian sea, I passed before the towns of Rouzmodemiansk and Makarieff. The latter, celebrated for its linen manufactures, is, property speaking, but a village. I was at a small distance from it, and had just crossed a bridge, ill constructed, and that trembled under my carriage, when my impatience was near costing me my life. My postilion, animated by my repeated exhortations, drove me with great rapidity[115]: on a sudden I heard something strike hard against the box of my kibitk; I thrust out my head, and received a blow that made me instantly fall back in my carriage. A cry, uttered by the courier who rode with me, informed me that I was wounded. In reality a stream of blood ran down my forehead: the carriage stopped, I alighted; it was the circle of my wheel that was broken, the edge of which had struck me with the greater violence, in consequence of our speed. On putting my hand to the wound, it appeared large and deep: I conceived that the skull was injured, and I considered myself as a dead man.
It is here I can say with truth, that language is too weak to describe the excess of my despair. After surmounting so many obstacles, so many perils; at the very gates of Petersburg, where I ardently longed to embrace, in my arms, the best of fathers, whom I had not seen for four years; on the eve of entering my native country, of acquitting myself of my embassy, by delivering my important dispatches, and to be struck by a mortal blow! The reflection overcame me; I felt my knees tremble and my head turn round; the succours of my companions fortunately brought me to life: I armed myself with courage, tied a bandage tight about my head, the wheel was adjusted in the best manner it could, and we soon gained the preceding stage to Nijenei-novogorod.
I left my kibitk in this village to the care of my soldier, with orders to have it repaired, and to follow me immediately to the next town. While my post carriage was harnessing, and my box put into it, I entered a public house, and had some very strong brandy poured into my wound, and a good compress placed on it, which enabled me to proceed to Nijenei-novogorod, which was from twenty-five to thirty wersts.
The surgeon major, at whose house I stopped, was not at home, and in order to wait for him, I was conducted into a most filthy habitation. The desire of not being known, and the uncertainty I was in respecting my wound, induced me not to announce myself to the governor. In the afternoon I returned to the surgeon’s, but to no purpose. Impatient of suffering, without knowing what might be the effect of my wound, I asked if there was no one else who could assist me, and they mentioned a podleker, or surgeon’s mate, who, after many difficulties on his part, came to me. His address gave me no favourable impression respecting his talents and sobriety; it had all the bluntness and tottering gait of a drunken man. In the mean time the necessity of having my wound probed, overcame the repugnance I felt of trusting myself to such hands; but the wretch had forgotten his instruments. Who would suppose that a pin was the probe he borrowed? Having examined it, he informed me, in a fluttering manner, that my skull was laid open, but not at all fractured, and that with the application of brandy and water I might continue my journey; he then advised me to be blooded. The idea of trusting my arm to such a drunkard made me shudder. Having thanked, paid, and dismissed him, I got into my carriage, happy to be rid both of the operation and the operator.
Nijenei-novogorod is situated, as every one knows, upon the Wolga, and is similar to all the Russian towns. When I passed through it, it boasted of the honour of having a company of national comedians.