"We reached Kazan as promised soon after noon, and had the rest of the day for seeing the place. We were all ready when the boat touched the shore, and were off as soon as we secured a carriage. The city is about five miles from the river, but we found the drive to it not at all uninteresting. We passed through a suburb where a mosque and a church standing close together symbolized the friendly relations between the Russian and Tartar inhabitants.
"Kazan is a handsome city with about sixty thousand inhabitants, of whom one-third are Tartars. We drove through the Tartar quarter, and found it very much like the Russian, with the exception of the people in the streets and the signs on the shops. The buildings have the same general appearance, and were probably built by Russian architects. John the Terrible destroyed a large part of the city soon after its capture. He levelled everything in the Kremlin, including the tombs of the Tartar kings, and since his day the city has been swept by fire no less than three times. Consequently there is very little of the ancient architecture; a portion of the Tartar wall of the Kremlin remains, and that is about all.
"Kazan is famous for its manufactures of leather, soap, candles, and other things, and there are said to be nearly two hundred factories in and around the city. It is specially celebrated for its tanneries, and annually turns out large quantities of 'Russia leather.'
"We hadn't time to visit the University of Kazan, which has about five hundred students, and ranks first in the Empire for instruction in Oriental languages and literature. It has Persian, Arabic, Chinese, and other Oriental professors, and we were told that a student might study any one of twenty-six languages within its walls.
"Of course we could not neglect the cathedral, where is preserved a miraculous picture, which was found unscathed in the midst of the ashes after a great conflagration. On its head is a diamond crown, presented by Catherine II. Near the town is a pyramidal monument in memory of those who fell during the siege and capture of the city.
"Just at dusk we returned to the _Nadeshda_, where we found a substantial supper waiting for us, and made the acquaintance of a fellow-countryman, Mr. Hegeman, who was to be our companion for the remainder of the voyage. He was familiar with Russia, having lived in the country nearly twenty years, and travelled in all parts of it. He was well informed on every subject, and gave us a great amount of valuable statistics and descriptions. We talked until quite late in the evening; and when he joined us at breakfast the next morning the boat was steaming down the Volga and nearing the mouth of the Kama, where several passengers were to leave us.