The little town of Redutkale may contain about 1,500 inhabitants.  The men are so indolent that, during the five days that I passed here, I could not procure a few grapes or figs for love or money.  I went daily to the bazaar, and never found any for sale.  The people are too lazy to bring wood from the forest; they work only when the greatest necessity compels them, and require to be paid exorbitantly.  I paid as much, if not more, for eggs, milk, and bread as I would have done in Vienna.  It might well be said that the people are here in the midst of plenty, and yet almost starve.

I was not better pleased by the thoughtless and meaningless performance of religious ceremonies among these people.  On all occasions, they cross themselves before eating or drinking, before entering a room, before putting on an article of clothing, etc.  The hands have nothing else to do but to make crosses.  But the most provoking thing of all is, that they stand still before every church they pass, bow half a dozen times, and cross themselves without end.  When they are travelling, they stop their carriages to perform this ceremony.

While I was at Redutkale a vessel sailed.  The priests were brought on board, and were obliged to go all over the ship, and pronounce a blessing upon it on every corner of the sails.  They crept into every cabin or hole, and at last blessed the sailors, who laughed at them for their trouble.

I constantly found that there was less real religion in those places where there was the most parade made of it.

CHAPTER XXIII.  EUROPEAN RUSSIA.

DEPARTURE FROM REDUTKALE—­ATTACK OF CHOLERA—­ANAPKA—­SUSPICIOUS
SHIP—­KERTSCH—­THE MUSEUM—­TUMULI—­CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY—­
THEODOSIA (CAFFA)—­PRINCE WORONZOFF’S PALACE—­THE FORTRESS OF
SEWASTOPOL—­ODESSA.

On the 17th of September, at 9 in the morning, the steamer arrived, and an hour afterwards I was seated on the deck.  The vessel was called Maladetz; it was 140 horse power, and the commandant’s name was Zorin.

The distance from Redutkale to Kertsch is only 420 miles in a straight line, but for us, who continually kept close to the shore, it amounted to nearly 580.

The view of the Caucasus—­the hills and headlands—­the rich and luxuriant country remains fresh in my memory to this day.  In a charming valley lies the village Gallansur, the first station, at which we stopped for a short time.

Towards 6 o’clock in the evening, we reached the fortified town Sahun, which lies partly on the shore, and partly on a broad hill.  Here I saw, for the first time, Cossacks in full uniform; all those I had previously seen were very badly dressed, and had no military appearance; they wore loose linen trousers, and long ugly coats, reaching down to their heels.  These, however, wore close-fitting spencers with breast-pockets, each of which was divided for eight cartridges, wide trousers, which sat in folds upon the upper part of the body, and dark blue cloth caps, trimmed with fur.  They rowed a staff officer to the ship.