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Rh and one of them is surmounted by an obelisk which bears a duck carved in stone, in remembrance of the fact that Peter the Great used to shoot ducks on a pond near the monastery.

For what they saw at Troitska we will refer to Frank's journal:

"There were crowds of beggars along the road from the railway-station to the gate of the monastery. It seems that the place is an object of pilgrimage from all parts of Russia, and the beggars reap a goodly harvest from those who come to pray at the shrine of the saint. Before the railway was opened, the high-road from Moscow seemed to pass through a double hedge of beggars, and the traveller was never out of hearing of their plaintive appeals for charity.

"We were cordially welcomed to the monastery, and one of the monks, who spoke French, accompanied us through the place. There are ten

churches within the walls, the oldest being the Church of the Trinity, and the largest that of the Assumption. The shrine of St. Sergius is in the former. It is an elaborate piece of workmanship, of pure silver, weighing nine hundred and thirty-six pounds, and is so constructed that the relics of the saint are exposed. Near the shrine is a painting of the saint, that was carried in battle by Peter the Great and the Czar Alexis, and there is a record on a silver plate of other battles in which it was used. 18