"No, no, no!" exclaimed the doctor, impatiently; and the party retreated, without taking a second look at the case.
The porter led them back to the entrance hall, where Lincoln and the surgeon began to ask the people who passed if they could speak English, French, or German. No one could; but at last the puzzled steward seemed to have obtained an idea, and made signs for the party to return to the droskies. They did so, and were driven away again; but the doctor expected to be taken to a church or a cemetery. He was mistaken, for the steward's idea was really a brilliant one, and he set his party down at the residence of the professor. He rang the bell, and sent in a message by the servant, who in a moment returned and conducted the tourists to the second floor, where Professor Beresford received them. The letter was delivered, and the professor extended a cordial welcome to the party. For an hour he entertained them with his accounts of the Russians, and then volunteered to show them some of the sights of the city. They went to the Kremlin, which contains a cathedral; a tower in the form of a pyramid, nearly two hundred and fifty feet high; the convent built for the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Kazan, now in St. Petersburg, though it has a copy of the original, on which glitters a crown of diamonds, presented by Catharine II.
The city of Kazan has a population of sixty thousand, of whom more than half are Tartars. They live by themselves, in their own quarter of the town, and retain their own manners and customs. They are Mohammedans, and have twelve mosques. Under the guidance of the professor the party drove to this section. The houses were generally of two stories, but the lower one among the poorer classes is devoted to the horses and other stock, or used as a store-room, while the family occupy the second story. The Tartars were easily distinguished from the Russians by their Asiatic faces and their costume. The men of the better class wear a calico tunic, and trousers of the same material. Over these they wear a long coat. The trousers are stuffed into the boots, which are generally of colored morocco, fancifully ornamented; and most of them wear overshoes, doubtless for convenience in entering the mosque. The head is close shaved, and they wear a skull-cap, often richly embroidered, but on the street they have a fur cap over it.