limb or two, seeing that Nature provides him with new ones as often as they are required. 10. But although the crab is so well provided in the matter I have mentioned, seasons of great anxiety come upon him now and then, and these are when, in consequence of his constant fighting and feasting, he feels he is growing too stout for his shell; he feels that his trusty armour, on which he had so long depended, is getting too tight for him. At last the dreaded moment comes, when he can endure the pressure no longer, though he knows that his safety, if not his very life, depends upon his coat of mail. Still he feels he must throw it off, and leave himself defenceless to his enemies. II. He now crouches in some dark hole, trembling for his safety, and anxiously hoping his new armour will soon be ready. If he has a conscience, it may perhaps make him the more afraid, for he knows well enough what he would have done when he was strong, if only he had been lucky enough to meet with a soft defenceless crab, such as he is at the present time. Oh, what a juicy meal he would have made of him! Well, then, may he tremble for his own safety. 12. I once had two little crabs which I succeeded in keeping alive for some time by putting them into sea-water with sand at the bottom, and feeding them regularly. When I had had these crabs for about a month, one of them cast his shell. The other one, as it happened-perhaps because he was well fed-did not molest this crab while it was soft, and in a few days it came out again as brave as ever. 13. Shortly afterwards it came to be the other crab's turn to cast its shell, and then the ingratitude of its companion was at once seen. No sooner had the second crab cast its shell than the other rushed at him and ate him up. I am happy to say, however, that it was not many days before justice overtook him, and he also died. Adapted from the Manchester Science Lectures, by permission of Mr. JOHN HEYWOOD. THE VOLGA. I. ON all the principal rivers of Russia there are tolerably good steamers. Unfortunately the climate puts serious obstructions in the way of navigation. For nearly half the year the rivers are covered with ice, and during a great part of the open season navigation is difficult. When the ice and snow melt, the rivers overflow their banks and lay a great part of the lowlying country under water, so that many villages can only be approached in boats; but very soon the flood subsides, and the water falls so rapidly that by midsummer the larger steamers have great difficulty in picking their way among the sandbanks. The Neva alone that queen of northern rivers-has at all times a plentiful supply of water. 2. Besides the Neva, the rivers commonly visited by the tourist are the Volga and the Don, which form part of what may be called the Russian grand tour. Englishmen who wish to see something more than St. Petersburg and Moscow, generally go by rail to Nizhni-Novgorod, where they visit the great fair, and then get on board one of the Volga steamers. For those who have mastered the important fact that there is no fine scenery in Russia, the voyage down the river is pleasant enough. The left bank is as flat as the banks of the Rhine below Cologne, but the right bank is high, occasionally well wooded, and not devoid of a certain tame picturesqueness. Early on the second day the steamer reaches Kazan, once the capital of an independent Tartar khanate,' and still containing a considerable Tartar population. If any one visits this town in the hope of getting a glimpse of the East, he will be grievously disappointed, unless indeed he happens to be one of those imaginative tourists who always discover what they wish to see. Probably, about sunrise on the third day, something like a range of mountains will appear on the horizon. 3. It may be well to say at once, to prevent disappointment, that nothing worthy of the name of mountain is to be found in that part of the country. The nearest mountain range in that direction is the Caucasus, which is several hundred miles distant. The elevations in question are simply a low range of hills which in Western Europe would not attract much attention, but, 'in the kingdom of the blind,' as the French proverb has it, 'the one-eyed man is king,' and in a flat region like Eastern Russia these hills form a prominent feature. Though they have nothing of Alpine grandeur, yet their well-wooded slopes, coming down to the water's edge-especially when covered with the delicate tints of early spring or the rich yellow and red of autumnal foliage -leave an impression on the memory not easily effaced. 1 Khanate, a country, province, or district, governed by a khan, as Khiva, Samarcand, and Bokhara. the river. There one meets with curious travelling companions. The majority of the passengers are probably Russian peasants, who are always ready to chat freely without demanding a formal introduction, and to relate to a new acquaintance the simple story of their lives. Their strong desire to learn something about foreign countries makes them ques tion as well as communicate, and their questions, though sometimes apparently childish, are generally to the point. 5. The Tartar pedlar is almost sure to be a lively and amusing companion. The bundle on which he reclines contains his stock-in-trade, composed perhaps of cotton printed goods and bright-coloured cotton handkerchiefs. He himself is enveloped in a capacious greasy dressing-gown, and wears a fur in the hottest weather. The roguish twinkle in his small piercing eyes contrasts strongly with the sombre, stolid expression of the Finnish peasants sitting near him. Towards sunset he retires with his companions to some quiet spot on the deck, to recite the evening prayers. Here all the good Mahometans on board assemble and stroke their beards, kneel on their little strips of carpet and prostrate themselves, all keeping time as if they were performing some new kind of drill under the eye of a severe drill-sergeant. WALLACE'S Russia, by permission of Messrs. |