Jogging round the world

We do not often see carriages in America with three horses, do we? In Russia, however, they are used a great deal, and go very rapidly indeed, the middle horse trotting while the others gallop. This gives a peculiar motion to the carriage, as you might suppose. The Russian people are fond of driving extremely fast, and urge their horses on to the greatest speed. See the arch over the middle horse; it is very much ornamented, and the harness is quite gay with all its tassels and bells.

A carriage like this with three horses is called a troika. This troika has come out from Moscow to the old Petrofski Palace, which was once the residence of the royal family. You know that Moscow was, a long time ago, the capital of Russia, and it is still one of the principal cities in manufactures and commerce.

Going towards it one sees the mass of roofs like a dark green sea; nearer, many spires and domes attract the eye. The spires seem like a network of gold; the domes are in some cases gilded, in others a deep blue, covered with gold stars, and in still others are tiled with green.

In the centre of the city is the Kremlin, a hill where the buildings are particularly beautiful, among the shrubs and trees, with the tower of Ivan the Great rising above them all. At the foot of this tower is the great bell of Moscow, the largest in the world. There are hundreds and hundreds of bells in Moscow of all sizes and kinds.