Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-09-09
RUssIA's GREAT RIVER.
Strange Scenery and Comforts Found
in a Trip on the Mother volga.


H --
"Matushka VoIga,'' Dear Mother
Volga." That is the favorite eXciama-
tiOn among the common people Oh
Russia when they want TO imply what
their country owes to its mightiest
European river The grand Siberian
streams have no such place in their
affection. These flow to the sterile
North, but the Volga, flowing East by
South. and in springtide flooding vast
reaches of the black earth steppes, is
the bountiful nurse Of Europe's biggest
granarieS.
The Volga has none of the scenery
which ennobles the "blaue Donau IN
many of it's reaches and denies, In the
Transylvanian and Carpathian dis
tricts. but it has a charm ali its own.
A sense of grandeur comes over the
mind of the traveller who starts where
the river begins to be naVlSapie Ior
good steamers. at Rybinsk, and follows
its course day after day and night
after night, for whole week, till he
reaches the Caspian. One soon sur
renders to that placid, indefinable,
imperial claim of superiority to every
thing else that the Continent can show
in competition with this majestic
stream by which in all nineteen great
provinces are watered.
The Volga is a summer stream. Its
course is only open for seven months,
from the end of April to about the end
Of the second week in November. But
the Russians love it as much in winter
as in summer, for in their glorious,
bright. and enchanting season of snow
and ice they find it magnificent high
way for sleighs, linekas and trolkas,
and on it from thousand villages they
come down TO hold singular services.
such as the blessing of the Waters
and the Baptism in the Volga.' But
the ordinary traveller wanting to
traverse the whole of the centre OF
European Russia, can never do so IN
any more delightful manner than by
leisurely studying the life prevailing IN
singularly picturesque iations, first
in the upper course of the river, from
Rybinsk to Mini Novgorod; then in
the great middle section. between Mimi
Novgorod and Kazan; and lastly in the
imposing, wide-spreading lower reaches
down to Astrakhan. In all these stages
he will find the mighty volume of the
VOlga alive with manifestations of the
activity of q vast empire. The water
communications of Russia are all but
perfect, and an enormous proportion of
it's heavy traffic is managed on the
great rivers and the interlacing canals.
Multitudinous sandbanks and islands
constitute "a notable feature of the
VoIga throughout it's whole course.
Most of these disappear in the spring,
when the ice is all melted and the tre-
mcndouS floods sweepover that marvel
lous black earth zone" of steppes
which is almost entirely confined to the
regions of .he country along the left
bank. The right, or southern bank is
for many hundreds of miles elevated
far above the opposite side. This
strange characteristic gives Il singular
aspect to the river, on account of it's
great bends and constant windings.
Very often the vcyager imagines that
the course is presently to lie between
ranges of hills. He finds as the jour-
ney unravels that the heights are all
on one side. Many of the villages and
towns on that side thus present quite
n commanding aspect. On a ridge of
about one hundred and fifty feet will
be seen ~ number of churches, each
with five dones. flashing with gold i'm
the radiant sunlight, and with crosses
towering above the cupolas. Probably
the little town thus adorned consists
mainly of gray wood built huts. Or on
the other bank will be seen q fine
forest. with its rich green eXpanse
furnishing contrast to the blue bosom
80 4l,r u
of that grand boskage of birches or
oaks or pines will surely be seen soar
ing up some sacred edifice. Often the
walls of the churches are white, the
roofs blue, the cupolas green and the
crosses suvered or gilded.
The steamers are splendid and are
the only craft built in Europe which
resemble the grand Mississippi steam
boats. Every American visitor is
charmed with the similarity. At Min
Novgorod you change from the smaller
boat in which you started from
Rybinsk, if you came from st. Peters
burg, or at Yaroslav If you come from
Moscow, TO embark on the Volga, a lit
tie lower down than Rybinsk. But
| apart from he size of the boats. a trir
| on any of them (and there are several
competing companies doing a very
prosperous business) is Il real voyage
de luxe. The cooking and fare ought
to satisfy the most epicurean fastid-
iousness, but there is not the slightes,
attempt to conform to the tastes OF
gourmonds from western Europe. The
officers and crew seldom speak any
thing but Russian. excepting when the
vessel happens to be commanded by
some retired naval officer. You car
always distinguish when that is the
| case by his splendid uniform. Such q
| captain is sure to speak good French
But the dinner carte is always in Rus
sian. and it is hopeless display o;
hieroglyphics for any tourist knowing
nothing of the language. The fare Is
luxurious.
Russia is the land of mystic extremes
Ii overflows with food in richest variety
and incalculable abundance; and YET
it is a sphere of periodical famines
curious to say especially in the BLACK
earth zone" itself. On the steamers
the dinners and all other meals are pure
ly Russian. but they are of the highest
excellence. The delicious preparations
of sterlet and sturgeon, grilled in the
fish's own fat. and served with the ia
nous ulha, or amber saucer yyould