Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 1, 1851).djvu/308

 me, that I might not be deceived in buying certain skins, and he so readily promised me his assistance, that he again threw me for a longer time into a state of doubt. He wished to obtrude his own skins upon me; and, moreover, other merchants came to him, promising him douceurs if he would sell their goods to me at a good price. For it is the custom of the merchants to constitute themselves go-betweens in buying and selling, and to receive presents from both parties under the promise of their faithful assistance.

There is a spacious walled building not far from the citadel, called the “Hall of the Master Merchants”, in which the merchants live and store their goods, and where are sold pepper, saffron, silks, and that sort of merchandize, at a far lower price than in Germany. But this is to be attributed to the bartering of goods. For while the Russians put a high price upon skins purchased cheaply elsewhere, foreigners in their turn, perhaps influenced by their example, offer goods also bought for a small sum, and quote them at a higher price; the result is, that as each makes an equal barter of commodities, the Russians can sell goods, especially such as they receive in exchange for skins, at a low price, and without profit.

There is a great difference in the skins. In sable skins, the blackness, length, and thickness of the hair, argue full growth. If also the animal be taken at a fitting season, they raise the price, a rule which is also observed with reference to other skins. The sables are found very seldom on this side of the Ustyug and the province of Dwina, but more often, and of a finer sort, about Petchora.

Marten skins are brought from different parts; good ones from Sewera, better from Switzerland, and the best from Sweden.

I have sometimes heard of sable skins being seen at Moscow, some of which have been sold for thirty, and some for twenty gold pieces. But I never had the good fortune