CHAPTER XXIV.
FAIRS OF ASIATIC RUSSIA.
Irbit, in the government of Perm, in Asiatic Russia.—The town is small, with a population of little more than 1,000. It is enclosed with palisades, and contains two churches and a market-place surrounded with shops. Here in past times a noted fair was held annually, attended by Russian merchants on their way to Kiakhta. In more recent times it has been superseded by the fairs of Yekaterinburg and Nijni.
Kiakhta (sometimes designated Maimatchin, the depot for commerce).—This town is situated in Asiatic Russia, in the government of Irkutsk, on the Chinese frontier. The fair appears to have been established by treaty between China and Russia towards the latter part of the sixteenth century. The mode of business is after the fashion of those early barter marts, which fairs originally were. The reason for this state of things here is that the Russians are prohibited from exporting their coin, and there is no rate of exchange or other facilities for bills of exchange between the two countries. The Russian commodities are transported by land from St. Petersburg and Moscow to Tobolsk. From thence the merchants and merchandise may embark upon the Irtish down to its junction with the Oby; they can then work up the last-named river as far as Narym, where they enter the Ket, which they ascend to Makoffskoi-Osteog. At that place the merchandise is conveyed about ninety versts on land to the Yenisie. It is then necessary to ascend that river, the Tunguska, and Angara to Irkutsk, cross the Baikal Lake, and go up the river Selenga almost to Kiakhta. On account of the labour of working up so many rapid rivers, and of the incessant transhipments—which can hardly be accomplished in one summer—many prefer to go overland altogether. They make as a general rendezvous the town of Irbit, where a considerable fair was formerly held. From thence the progress is in sledges during the winter to Kiakhta, which is usually reached in February—the season in which the chief commerce is carried on with the Chinese. The Russian merchants purchase on their way all the furs they can find in the small towns, where they are brought from the adjacent countries. When they return in the spring with the Chinese goods, chiefly tea, occupying great bulk, the water route is preferred. Formerly the woollen cloths of Prussia were conveyed to this fair in large quantities—to the value of some £1,500,000—by the Russian merchants. The manufactories of Poland and Russia now furnish the cloth taken to China.
The mode of procedure in the dealings is this: The Chinese merchant comes and examines the goods he requires in the warehouse of the Russian trader. When the price is settled, the goods are sealed in the presence of the Chinese. Both parties then repair to the Mai-ma-tshin, where the Russian chooses his commodities, and leaves behind him a person of confidence, who remains in the warehouse until the Russian goods are delivered. About 8,000,000 lbs. of tea, of which two-thirds are of superior quality, were formerly taken into Russia as the proceeds of this barter. There is a small duty levied on the produce of each country. The trade has fallen off since sea-borne tea became prevalent. Much of this now goes to Odessa through the Suez Canal.
Yekaterinburg (or Ekaterinburg or Jekaterinburg), in the government of Perm in Asiatic Russia, forming the capital of the mining districts of the Ural. It is a modern place, and a considerable fair has sprung up, superseding that formerly held at Irbit.
FOOTNOTES
[1] We shall find that at a later period the sale of slaves was introduced into the fairs and markets of England and the north of Europe generally.