The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-06-24

RUSSIAN FAIRs.-Thc arrival Of n car
avan at Orenburg makes busy scene.
The broad but badly paved streets are
full of people. camcls, horses, sheep, bales,
bundles, dogs, dirt and stenches; the
Orient jostles the Occident; the Moslcm
utters his prayers to Allah side by side
with the Russian, who seeks the favor of
the same Divine power; there is babel
of tongues that might confuse the great
est linguist of the century; and there is
the sound and hustle of the traffic of the
whole year concentrated into few days.
If the weather is dry, there are clouds Of
dust that fill and thicken the air, and
hang like "a pail over the city; and if
rains have fallen, there is sea of mud,
in which men and animals wade, and oc-
OCCASIONALLY sink. The range of the thcr.
mometer is great, and the changes arc
sudden: blast to-day, hot as the sirocco
may come from the Turcoman steppes 10
the south, while tomorrow may bring
gale from the north laden with the glacial
chill Of the frozen ocean. The kneeling
camels alternate with restless and half.
wild horses; and quite frequently there is
commotiou among the animals, resulting
in damage to property, and general vol
ley of profanity in the combined languages
of the East and West Costumes may
be studied along with manners and hab.
its The Bokhariot with his flowing and
loose .sleeved robe stands in converse with
the Armenian, with his conical cap and
wide trowsers, and the Russian, with his
lower garments of European pattern, and
bis caftan, which reminds you very forci-
bly, Of an Ulster overcoat. Cossack po-
licemen wander through the crowd, aud
keep sharp eye on those who may be
thieves or disturbers of the peace. lu
the open square which forms the market.
place there are huge piles of merchandise
waiting to be received in the warehouse
or transported to the fair at Mini. o.
rare occasions traveller from Westerr
Europe may be seen, attracting attentio.
by the strangepess of his dress, and some
times oy the open.mouthed curiosi'
which be manifests.
The fairs of Russia are arranged at di'
: ferent periods, SO as to accommodate tn
5 merchants who wish to travel from plac
to place. That of Nijni.Novgorod, tn
greatest in the world, and having an ar
nual trade of three hundred millions 0
1 dollars, opens on the lst Of July 20. S.
7 18th, n. S., and lasts sixty days. Thre'
e months earlier there is smaller fair Il
I Orenburg, so tina. goods NAV be bough
d there and sent to Mini, In Januar
e there is a great fair at Irbi,, in the Ura
: Mountains. l have reason to remembc
c this fail as | was delayed and vexed an
: several times overturned by the hundred
: of sleds and sleighs on the Barabinskai
Steppe, carrying goods to lrbit. A fort
night after the fair at lrbit there is on
G at Minalinsk-which likewise inconven
}, fenced me in traveing-and so they g
: on throughout the year at various place
$ all having reference TO the great fair =
o Mini. The arrivals Of the caravans a
It Troitsk, Petropaulovski, and Semipala
II tinsk are timed with reference to the fairs
Il and the scenes are much like that hav
e described at Orenburg though on a smal
j. er scale