#he do be archin tho

[devilat-thedoor]

🩵Saturday morning Jakedown🩵

[screampied]

I READ YOUR HATE SEX FIC AND AUGHHHHHH. I ACTUALLY HAD TO HOLD MYSELF BACK BUT YOU DIDNT COME TO PLAY

i showed my friend the geto one and i couldnt stop laughing bc of the “girl bye” i texted her like what do you see in this man LMFAOO I LOVE UR WRITING DIALOGUE ITS SO FUNNY

sukuna had me archin when he told me to i was like ‘yes sir!’ and was up and ready to go 😛

BUT TOJI?? i like hate sex, i like toji, BUT TOJI HATE SEX?? i couldnt hold myself back. THE ARCHING DIALOGUE, AND WHEN HE WAS LIKE “ill take as long as i want to and youd still be wet for you” he was NOT laying, he could take a year and my legs would STILL be open, no sza 😻 and that daddy bit caught me off guard bc the way he was like “what was that?” i giggled. loudly. AND WHEN HE WAS LIKE “nuh uhhh” LIKE LEMME SUCK UR DICK MAN 😞😞 and then when we admit it hes like yeah you fucking did GIMME YOUR SPERM PLS TOJI I NEED IT ☹️‼️

anywhos ur fic had me on the FLOOR, i lover it 😻😻

— pearl anon <3

PEARLY BAE MY LOVE HEY HEY 🙊🤍

AOODLGKBLB IM SO GLAD U THINKKKK SO. i kept giving up on it but i had to post something before i work on gojo’s new fic 🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️🙆‍♀️. i'm glad i finished tho, it came out to be like 5k words PLES i love hate sex a lot. u showed your friend 😭😭?? IM SO EMBARRASEODFLHLKH. yessssssssss toji and sukuna i had lots of fun writing them. i loveeeee writing dialogue too it’s my favorite. THE DIRTY TALKKKKK. i love writing dirty talk it’s one of my favorite kinks tehe. YESSSS. open no sza omg. IKNOOOWWWW RIGHTH idk i feel like toji has a daddy kink, like if you call him that he’d make you repeat it n humiliate you AAAERVH asshole. NUH UH 😭😭😭 omg right i’m not even a toji girly but he’s so fun to write heheh

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Wednesday 3 June 1840

6 40/..

11 20/..

fine but dull morning R15 ½° at 7 10/.. – breakfast at 10 – Had Hein while at breakfast but sent George to hear what he had to say – would do the carriage in a week for 30/. silver – said I wanted the carriage on Friday or Saturday at farthest – he must write down what had to be done – I should see General Orloff this morning – at my journal and had written thus far now at 1 10/.. – George had gone to dinner at 11 40/.. promising to be back as soon as possible to go with us to make visits – not arrived now at 1 10/.. nor at 1 40/.. – could wait no longer – off at 1 40/.. chez Madame Golovin – received in her garden house summer house – summer salon – nice good room – there she staid all the day – only returned “chez elle” le soir – the garden very pretty – the vines grown so as to cover the wood frame of posts and cross pieces, and formed a pretty covered way from the house to the summer salon – sat near ½ hour with her, and Mademoiselle G- and another lady? or who was she sitting with them – glad to hear our voyage had si bien reussi – said we should have made our call earlier but dans le tourment par nos domestiques – mel autre tourment – explained Georges’ being out, and his having commenced faire l’impertinent at Elizabethpol [Elizavetpol'] – asked if all the authorities had done all they could – yes! mentioned that the commandant was a good sleeper and had kept us waiting 4 hours for our podorojna in going but had called on our return and was very civil and intelligent – gave the compliments of Mr. Quartano and said his wife was très bien – had been chez Madame la commandant as dame de confiance or something – Madame G- said Quartanos’ history was a romance – he had been monk and everything – I said he had not told us that – she said he was now chief de police – no! still the tartar – the place of chef de police a very good one – all the chefs de police became rich – then spoke in praise of Madame Tchekmareff – la meilleure des personnes – had sent us breakfast and supper and we dined chez elle – Madame G- said she did not know her – knows him the commandant her husband but not the lady tho’ a muscovite – was colonel Broussiloffs’ report a good one? perhaps the smoking and want of dignity might not be relished at headquarters? of course, I said no more – then to the Kotzebues’ – out – returned as we left the door – I returned to speak to Mademoiselle K- who will come and sit with us a little at 6 p.m. tomorrow – compliments and thanks to her brother and asked for letters for Koutaïs – then left our cards chez les Braïko – then chez Madame Bésoc – then into Madame Latchinoffs’ house but nobody about so came away – she sets off tomorrow Madame Golvin told us for Moscow – then chez les Orloff – at dinner left cards – then to Chwastoffs’ – received – sat about ½ hour or 25 minutes with Madame C- going to her belle mère in a fortnight to be absent 18 months till her expected infant has some teeth – to be born in 7ber. and she will then be with her bell mère at Pskoff en grande route (chaussée) from St. P- to Warsaw – her husband to go with her as far as Stavropol Persian silks at 3 ½ abasses per archine – if we bought much might get it for 3 ¼ abasses – perhaps he will [?] himself in her absence with the company of the French consul le baron Sauveur de la Chapelle, who is to be domicilié chez Mr. C- pendant le temps – married, but his wife (the consuls’ wife) not here – why does not England send a consul here? – home at 3 40/.. – had George in – my manner so quiet but determined [impertinence] or

would not have been easy – much trying to excuse himself – I would not attend this but begged to know at what hour il devait diner – at last he said it was for me to fix that and I fixed 3 to 4 – never to go out but on my business (as he said they breakfasted here in the house) before 3 – to go exactly then and always be back at 4 – I told him that everybody knew, must know how I was inconvenienced – this seemed to have some effect I said if I did not know the usages with Russian servants, I could at least inquire here what they were – George said here was not Russia – the servants ate when they could, and did as they could – tea at 5 – wrote and sent note to Madame Besoc – sorry had not seen her this morning – hoped Mr. Besoc had received the letter from my banker at Moscow – (vid. other end of book) – and sent George to Hein to desire the carriage might be done as soon as possible – answer about 6 ¾ Mr. Besoc would call upon us at 7 this evening and Hein too whose estimate = 32/. silver – George brought back and tried to explain – brought also Mr. Marcs’ letter  saying he had received my letter and forwarded the money = 4200/. – 45/. postage to the care of Mr. Besoc according to the direction – then till now 7 ¾ wrote all but the first 4 lines of today – Had Hein about 7 ¼ for a long while – the sum and substance are that he will not answer for karkass (body) of our kibitka holding together – it is too heavy – mentioned a tarendass body on sale – will look at it and let us know tomorrow all about it – I will consider the matter to give an answer tomorrow - he cannot let us have our kibitka before Saturday week - - wrote out copy of letter to princess R- and note left with Mr. Braïko, and note tonight to Madame Bésoc at the other end of this volume and had just written so far now at 9 55/.. – fine day – hot walking this morning and hot now this evening – George and Domna went to take a bath at 7 ¾ and returned at 10 ½ I ½ in bed – R16 ¾° and F nearly 70° now at 10 40/.. p.m.

[husbandohunter]

So I have a question for one of my most favorite authors (yes that's you)🥺

Lets say that BOOM you got a surprise visit and blessing from Truck-kun (murdered) and got iseaki'd right into the world of Teyvat, but you are allowed to choose who you want to be in this new world, with skills and everything just kinda wired into you, (and no you just can't make yourself OP like an archin or something)..

•What would your name be?

•What position do you want in life (eg. A Fatui harbinger, captain/member of the adventurers guild etc)

•What vision do you want?

•What weapon would you choose?

•Where would you wanna live? (Like liyue or something)

•Who do you want to help train you more?

•Who are you making your male bestfriend?

•Who gonna be your female best friend?

•Who are you making your lover?

•Who do you want as an enemy?

This is all just for fun so don't overthink it...I'm just curious is all..♥

-🔅

Nonnie you're always so sweet 😭 I just woke up and I want to think of something to say but I honestly have no words other than thank youu~ <3 I really mean it.

Ah yes the Isekai Truck-kun he's too OP but regardless I get to go to Teyvat ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Name: Nya

I would probably be an adventurer like any other, captains and stuff sound like too much work to handle....

Vision? That's a hard pick (No being the avatar right? lol) Then Electro it is! Maybe I can use it to recharge my phone if I have one with me too.

Sword sword sword. My arms too weak for claymore, my eyesight is terrible to shoot, catalysts seem complex :( and polearms require too much whacking.

For some reason my heart goes to Mondstadt. Even if my last commission from Liyue I'd always teleport to Mondstadt Katheryn xD

Having Keqing as my trainer would make sense hehe I absolutely love her fighting animations. Tho, lowkey would like Jean too.

Male best friend is Xingqiu. We can both write fanfics together ヾ(・ω・)メ(・ω・)ノ

After Eula's sidestory I wanna be her best friend too T_T Girl deserves better.

(C-Can I also go harem mode for this one 🥺) I would absolutely choose Diluc but to talk to him directly, oh boy cue to anxiety coming HAHAHA

(Enemies to lovers?:D Lol jk) Imma choose Signora for obvious reasons. For what she did to Venti >:o

Well I ended up thinking alot because this was really fun! Now I'm fully awake xD This scenario kinda feels like SAO in a way where we get to select how we wanna present ourselves (like if we can actually go in the world of Genshin sign me up) minus the "get stuck or die" trope hehe...I wouldn't be surprised if Mihoyo pulled that off with all the gacha money they have.

[solasan]

inside me like my pulse

tommy miller/oc (jenny foster even tho she isnt explicitly named in this) warnings for some mention of gore / wound treatment but nothing explicit 1.5k

Summer, 2031

It was supposed to be just a routine check.

They’ve been lookin’ into gettin’ the dam to work for the last couple months — since Old James came to Jackson, really, ‘cause turns out he was a dam engineer before the outbreak — and doin’ back-and-forth trips to it every few days, just to check it out. Old James thinks it’s doable, and, yeah, Tommy’s got his reservations, but hey, if it works—

Well, anyway. They got halfway to the damned dam and bandits fell on ‘em from all sides, and Tommy got in more than a few good shots at ‘em but they still managed to knock him off’a Lucy with a shot to the side, and he’s good, seriously, but Young James and Maria and the rest ain’t lettin’ him off that easy, so.

“I can walk, y’know,” he grumbles as he’s dragged to the clinic, one arm slung over Young James’ shoulders and the other pressed tight to the wound above his hip.

Eugene snorts, arm tightenin’ ‘round Tommy’s waist. “Right, sure, and — crap, you’re heavy — and I’m the Queen of fucking Sheba.”

“If I’m so heavy, put me down.”

“If you’re so heavy, cut down on the carbs, old man,” Eugene snarks right back, and then they’re through the clinic’s door.

“Oh, for—” the doctor swears, wipin’ her hands dry on a towel and pointin’ to the bed her and Maria dragged in from one of the houses a couple days after she arrived. “Get him on the bed, now.”

“Hear that, Tommy?” Eugene grunts, him and Young James shufflin’ Tommy between them and settlin’ him where instructed. “Pretty lady wants you on the bed. You probably haven’t heard that in a while.”

Young James snorts, but the doctor — Julia? Jenna? — slams shut the door of the cabinet she’s riflin’ through hard. “I ain’t takin’ that kinda talk in my clinic, Linden. So go on, get.”

“Ma’am, he didn’t mean any disrespect—” Young James starts, always the peacemaker, but the doctor ain’t havin’ none of it.

“Don’t make me kick your ass out too, kid.” She levels a hard look at Eugene as she draws closer, pullin’ a chair up next to the bed so she’s level with Tommy. “Y’heard me.”

Eugene shoots a look Tommy’s way — can you believe this shit? — but raises his hands in palms-up appeasement. “Yes ma’am. James, you let me know how this idiot is when she’s done, alright?”

Young James — who really is young, can’t be more than twenty — nods solemnly, lingerin’ at Tommy’s other side like a mother hen.

And then Eugene’s gone, and the doctor’s lookin’ Tommy over with barely-concealed irritation. “What’ve you gone and done now, Tommy Miller?”

And shit, how’s she know his name and he ain’t know hers? He’s boutta ask, too, except then his side twinges painfully, a feelin’ like nails on a chalkboard, and he groans, curlin’ in on himself.

“He got shot, ma’am,” Young James reports helpfully, wringin’ his hands. “In— in the belly.”

The doctor scowls. “Shit. Bandits again?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She huffs, leanin’ back in her chair to reach for a pair of scissors. They ain’t surgical scissors, neither; they’re clunky, with a bright blue plastic handle, like classroom scissors — but bigger, sharper. Kitchen scissors, maybe?

“Hope you ain’t too fond of this shirt, Miller,” the doctor remarks, pushin’ on his shoulder to ease him out of his position ‘till he’s lyin’ flat and his hand’s fallin’ away from his side, and he grumbles.

“I’m passin’ly fond of it, actuall— hey!”

She starts snippin’ away at the cotton near the hem, complainin’ under her breath about the blunt blades for a couple seconds before they finally catch and slice on through, and then she’s throwin’ the scissors on the table behind her and rippin’ it the rest of the way. 

“Yeah, well, too bad. Maybe next time, don’t get shot. Or wear a shirt you don’t like, if you’re gonna.”

He’d thought it hurt before, but the shirt peelin’ away from the bloody wreck above his hip is a whole other realm of agony, and he cries out, swearin’ and tightenin’ his fingers on the edges of the bed. It’s only when the fabric falls open completely that he can grit out, “could’a warned me first, Doc.”

The doctor snorts. “It’s a gunshot wound, Miller. It’s gonna hurt.” Then, to Young James: “You, get over here, help me turn him over.”

“Turn— you ain’t gotta turn me over, I’m fine!” Then, to punctuate his point, he struggles to his feet, keepin’ his swayin’ to a minimum once he’s up. “See?”

“God, I wish I got paid for this shit,” the doctor mumbles, straightenin’ to grab his shoulders — both of ‘em, this time — and shove his ass back down onto the bed. “You sit down and you stay there, Tommy Miller, or I swear t’God, a bullet in ya side’s gonna be the least’a your problems.”

He blinks up at her. She’s a pretty little thing, he realises; cheeks flushed from the heat, or maybe from him pissin’ her off, her eyes bluer than a sweet, clear Texas night, hair dark and chopped close to her jaw.

Formidable, too. His shoulders are gonna bruise. 

Huh.

Once she’s happy he ain’t goin’ anywhere, she nods, then scoots her chair back so she can take a look at his back. It takes a minute or so, but eventually, she sighs. “No exit-wound. Just what I wanted to see when I woke up this mornin’.”

“Ain’t you doctors s’posed to be taught about bedside manner?” Tommy grumbles under his breath.

The doctor — what is her goddamned name? — gives him a witherin’ look, before pushin’ him so he’s lyin’ down again. “Ain’t you patients supposed to listen to your doctors?”

Tommy pulls a face, watchin’ her fine, small hands pull first one latex glove and then the other on.

“You, uh— James, right?”

“Yes ma’am,” Young James confirms, clearin’ his throat and pullin’ himself tall.

“James. I got a bottle’a whiskey in that cabinet, just behind you. Can you grab it for me?”

“Where in the hell’d you get whiskey?” Tommy wonders aloud, watchin’ Young James follow her instructions like a well-trained little puppy.

She sighs. “Charlottesville.”

“Char— why Charlottesville?”

“It was there. Thanks, kid,” she says this last to Young James, who’s retrieved the whiskey and passed it to her.

“You’re welcome,” he says, clearin’ his throat again, ears lookin’ a bit pink.

Well, shit. Tommy doesn’t know whether to laugh or roll his eyes.

Only he don’t have time to do neither, ‘cause the doc’s uncappin’ the bottle and shufflin’ closer. “Now, this is gonna hurt.”

“Wh— c’mon, don’t I at least get a sip first? Anaesthetic, that kinda thing?”

She sighs again, lookin’ half like she wants to clock him in the jaw, before passin’ it over. It burns on the way down, behind his teeth and all the way to his belly, but it’s a good kinda burn. Better than the one in his fuckin’ side, at least, Jesus.

The whiskey makes a sloshin’ sound against the glass when he passes it back to her, and that’s the last thing he thinks for several seconds, ‘cause then she pours it over his wound and shit does that hurt.

“Motherfucker,” he wheezes once the world sharpens again, hands fistin’ in his jeans, back archin’ like he’d been kicked in the goddamn gut. “I’m— I’m gonna throw up.”

“James, get a bucket.”

“Can do, ma’am.”

“Alright,” the doctor sighs, combin’ one gloved hand over his hairline. He focuses on the feelin’ of her fingers against his scalp, breathin’ steadily through his nose like some lightweight teenager boutta hurl. “Easy. Worst part’s over.”

“W— worst part?” Tommy laughs throatily, pressin’ the back of his hand to his mouth to try and stop the bile he can feel swirlin’ in his belly from spewin’ right into her pretty face. “Yeah, you ain’t kiddin’.”

“Betcha regret the whiskey now, huh?”

Tommy groans.

Young James must’ve found one of the horse-feed buckets outside, ‘cause when he comes back, his footsteps are joined by the clang of metal against tile. “You doing okay, boss?”

Tommy waves his hand vaguely in the air. “Right as rain, Jim.”

Young James wrinkles his nose. “I asked you not to call me that.”

“We ain’t done yet, y’know,” the doctor interrupts, and when Tommy looks at her, she’s slidin’ some thread through a needle.

“Wh— wait, ain’t you gonna take the bullet out?”

She sighs, bitin’ her lip as she casts those bright eyes over Tommy’s whole form. “You ain’t pale, and you’re bitchin’ enough you’re clearly alert, so I don’t think you’re bleedin’ too much inside. Don’t wanna go diggin’ and fuck somethin’ up.”

After a sec, she hums, then leans in and presses two fingers to Tommy’s neck. He blinks up at her, then back to her pale wrist, which is all he can see of her hand at this angle. Her gloves are all rubbery and weird-feelin’ on his skin, but her fingertips are warm and firm, unyieldin’ against his skin.

“Nah,” she says eventually, and Tommy starts, meetin’ her eyes. “Your pulse ain’t weak. It’s strong, actually— you got a fast heart.”

Tommy clears his throat, meets Young James’ eyes. Yeah, tell me about it, he thinks, and then: aw, shit, I can’t even make fun of him now.

[anne-lister-adventures]

Tuesday, 11 March 1840

8 25/’’

2 3/4

Fine morning another thorough wash in spite of circumstances – Had piled all portmanteaus against one door and set our table against the other and made a screen of 2 chairs with our clothes just beginning to dress when their curiosity could hold out no longer and they gently opened our folding doors and peeped in at these and the windows till we sat down to breakfast at 8 55/’’ and afterwards at intervals – Reaumur 10 1/4º in our room at 8 50/’’ a.m. – In fact, children or grown people stood looking at us all the time we staid – 

Seeing the master of the house among the gazers asked him in – George had brought us some brick-tea to look at – It is (said the Master) in a cake one half archine (i.e. 14 in.[inches]) square = 4/80 – It seemed about 1/2 in.[inch] or more thick – Made up in China – Cheaper than the other tea ∴[therefore] the Cossacks here have lately began to drink it – They boil it up with milk, and salt, and butter – A piece about 2 in.[inches] long and not an in.[inch] broad he said would be enough to make 30 tasses – But they cannot take it now – It is their grand Carême – Encore 7 weeks of Carême and they are not allowed to take milk or butter - ∴[therefore] their fish is cooked with oil – 

Chinese brick tea (Image source).

2 Traineaux de Poste à 3 chevaux – A smallish Kibitka-body with merely a seat for the driver – And hay in the bottom on which A-[Ann] and I had one of our mattresses to sit on – Our Courier and George followed in the other Traineau – 

Off at 10 10/’’ – We put on our Chalats (Shubes) over our fur cloaks – My Sarepta night-cap under my dark blue cloth waddled Jupp travelling cap, and my fur cloak collar pulled up to my eyes, and over all this my black satin much waddled pink satin lined Moscow bonnet tied tight down – After setting off, tied my pocket handkerchief over the bonnet to keep all tighter and pulled up my Shube collar which came up as high as the top of my head – A sheaf of hay to cover our feet – I had had hardly a peep-hole – But it was no loss – So thick, we could scarce see a dozen yards ahead – My eyes being still tender were still not sufficiently guaranteed from the piercing north wind – (Or wind in our teeth but rather to the left for I have yet to learn whether we went North or South) pulled up the great pelerine of my Shube and throwing it up over my head against the wind, the wind kept it in its place, and I was comfortable afterwards – The wind was very cold and searching yet Gross tells me that at 10 1/2 (on our being gone) Reaumur stood only at -8º and the same at 6 this evening – It is always cold on the river and there seems to be an extra force of wind – Tho’ it is strong enough on the Steppes – I should think the village is not seen at any great distance nor even the church? 

At 11 40/’’ (in 1 1/2 hour) alighted at the Palace of the Prince – A comfortable 2 story high wood (board) Russian House in form of

each front having in the centre a 2 story 4 style portico or balcony the top finished in a pediment – And each end ditto ditto ditto – A row of tallish pyramidal poplars all trees I noticed near the house – 

8 or 10 steps up to the centre room in which a large green cloth covered billiard table – On the left a goodish dining room right the salon in which we sat, and then a room hung round with Circassian and other guns, pistols (so very handsome) and side arms, and a broad 4 or 5 ft.[feet] wide carpet-covered divan the whole breadth of the room under the 2 windows – 2 armoires with some China and cups and saucers, and a carpeted bench and this, if I mistake not, all the furniture – The salon carpeted – Sofa and large mahogany table in front of it, and chairs &c. 1/2 length picture in oil of the Emperor and Empress over the sofa – Poêle – Print of Temirazoff Governor General of Astrakhan – 

The belle soeur of the Prince and her daughter received us at the door – She in a green satin wadded Chalat with red chemise &c. underneath – And handsome high 4 cornered sable rimmed hat, the top full of waddling like the Moscow coachmen’s caps and girdled round with gold brocade – The daughter’s cap not bordered round the face with fur and rather different and she had a light printed cotton or muslin Chelat on – The lady very civil – Could not speak a word even of Russian but of the 4 men servants 2 could speak Russian that with George we got on very well – 

The Prince was at his prayers in the little chapel in the garden close behind the house – Prays from 5 to 9 a.m. and from 5 to 9 p.m. every day) – Not obliged by his religion to do so – But does it from inclination – Prays alone – Query – Is he studying? For he seems an intelligent man – According to their religion they should pray 3 times a day – Fast occasionally but then allowed milk and butter – No regular Sunday – But service 3 times a month – Every ten days – 

Perhaps it was 1/4 hour before he came – They say here he is 70 – If so, he is one of youngest looking men of his age I have ever seen – Remarkably good countenance – Good teeth – An agreeable good looking stoutish gentlemanly man – His manners easy and prepossessing – Moderately Mogul as to features – Might pass unremarked among Europeans – i.e. not remarked as one of another race – 

Prince Serebjab (right) with his brothers.

The lady decidedly the very type of mogul features – Very high broad cheek-bones – Very small eyes &c. complexion very difficult to express – Slightly copperish? The Prince more so – The girl Æt [aetatis] 14 less decidedly of mogul feature – The boy Æt [aetatis] 13 more so than his sister and was he slightly marked with small pox? Perhaps we shall see him again at Astrakhan – He has an older brother studying at Kazan where the Lord is a Mongol who is professor of Mongol – Coffee excellent 2 cups each soon after our arrival – Asked if we would not take something before going away and it was settled we were to dine – Had George all the while as interpreter – 

A Mongol Bible that is book of their religion – Their Bible – From Kazan brought for us to look at, on my inquiring about books in Mongol – Partly in Thibetan (the language of Thibet) and partly in Mongol – The latter read from top to bottom – And lines from left to right – The Thibetan in horizontal lines read from right to left – The grand Lamas (he pronounced it Lammās, with an S) the head of their religion – Buddist – Same as in China – And Chinese language same as Mongol, or the Mongols and Chinese understand one another – Mongol books to be bought at Kazan – But not at Astrakhan – 

The Prince descended from Tchinghis Khâna (Tchin-ghis Khâ-nah) in the 20th generation – 20 generations since – If George interpreted rightly but either his French or Russian or both serve him badly for he has apparently difficulty very often in understanding what is said as well as in translating it – Asked why his nephew was not called Ghinghis or if there was no one of this name – No! It would be a sin to call anyone after this great man – He was too great to have his name given unworthily – 

The Prince quite independent – Pays no tribute to the Emperor, but if called upon furnishes a regiment and defends the frontier – Is Colonel in the Russian Service – Commanded his regiment at Leipzig against Napoleon in 1813 – Wounded by a ball – Did not feel it much at the time – Soon healed and was well – But felt it (began to feel it) 2 years ago and now cannot bear to sit for long together on this account – Lost 1/2 his men at Leipzig – He had some archers there – No archers now – All armed now with gun, pistols, and pike à la Cossaque and clothed the same – He pronounced it Kassak – Find their own horses &c. &c. and the Emperor allowed pay during the campaign – Mongol for quiver = Cōlt-Tchăh and Noonoon = archer Pnash noonoon = archer – 

The Prince is very well with the people at the Cavcase but not with the Tartars of Boukharah, or others (It stuck me that Cōlt-Tchăh resembled Xoλxis the ancient name of the Valley of Koutais …..) about 200,000 Calmucks, the Prince a relation of our Prince here, went some time since to China – No news of them – perhaps they are taken as serfs? But I cannot depend upon George – 

The Emperor of China has an allowance made to him, and cannot do as he likes – Our Prince here much better off – Independent – Can do as he likes – Never stirs out of the house in winter – always lives in it but travels in summer – His brothers live in tents in summer – His brother for he has but one left – He about an hour from our arrival all ready (arrived at 11 40/’’) and we were off to the church – 

The Prince never quitting the house, his belle soeur took charge of us and a nice lively Russian window widow of an employé of the princes and he keeps her – The lady took me by the arm and seated herself by me in the small Traineau, and a larger with A-[Ann] and the widow and George followed – The Lady put her arm round me to hold me safe if there was any little jolt ∴[therefore] I regularly afterwards attached myself to her – Gave her my arm each time afterwards – Covered her gloveless hands (the Prince had a pair of nice light gloves lying on the table in the house) with my cloak, and we were very good speechless friends – The church may be about 1/4 mile from the house and near it and between it and the house the village – Partly Kibitkas partly goodish Russian wood (board) cottages – I could count about 100 Kibitkas (going and returning) – I observed 2 or 3 instances of their being smeared over with mud plaster and one or 2 instances of 2 tents joined by a sort of passage -  

As if these luxurious Calmucs wanted more room than their neighbours – In fact they are Russianizing – The Prince has a Russian Cuisinier – One of his people who has served an apprenticeship I suppose to a Russian – And George said he had one who had learnt cooking in Paris served an apprenticeship there (George said) – The church built 15 years ago – The only Buddhist church in Russia – Planned by his brother who was killed at Warsaw – Brick, white plastered over – After the model of a Thibet temple – Looks exactly like Chinese –

The outer line a low brick wall with brick pillars and wood palisading – Right on entering a handsome new building not quite finished for priests to live in and for a clocher or its equivalent – No bells – Call to prays by one of the large and one of the small trumpets, Kengree-ga and Bēw-ě-răh – Left on entering a wooden (board, unpainted) house where the priests now live – The 2 circles on each side 2 tent-temples – With each its altar and appurtenances – Circular open 6 style A-[Ann] says 7 style wing portico on each (like Kazan church at St. P-[Petersburg]) wooden steps, several up to the large square tower, equivalent of clocher – 

The main temple. (Image Source)

The ground floor forming a vestibule the great and only entrance into the church and here our Princess left her hat, (the handsome cap before noticed) her black hair parted down the middle of her head and made into one long, case-enclosed braid on each side – The thundering music, the din of drum and trumpet commenced as we reached the steps – Vestibule – Nave – A side aisle of 3 arcades on each side – Over the end of nave a lower square tower to give light – And the apse, the sacrum sacrorum for the altar and its appurtenances – 

Khusheutovsky Khurul. Kalmyk temple. Astrakhan, South Russia city on Volga River (Image Source)

The Prince had ordered a grand service (their high mass) for us – 9 priests (left on entering) on one side and 7 on the other on their hams on carpets, and on the same side as the 9 at this end the 2 blowers of the big trumpets – Beginning at the top end (nearest the altar) vis à vis 2 priests with each a curious little bell besides him

Then 2 more priests the one on the right with a little wheat in a little silver cup (about the size of a lotus flower) standing before him – And the one left with a bell that he constantly rang – The head priest – Giving the lead to all the rest – the 2 little dots at the top the bells –

R.2 the chief priest – He and his neighbour next below him had each a pair of big cymbals and the 2d.[2nd] below him and the 2d.2nd from the top on the other side had each a pair of lesser cymbals – Then the 2 bottom men had each a lesser trumpet (with hautboy red) and the 4 on each side above them had each a drum – And the 2 outside R. had each a big trumpet – 8 drums, an 8 in.[inch] long segment of 20 in.[inches] diameter? cylinder called Keng-rēē-găh. 2 big trumpets 5 or 6 ft.[feet] long, Bew-ě-rah 2 little ditto Bish-Kŏor with a red mouth-piece like a hautboy – 2 great cymbals Tzong (Tzong) the hollow parts like little basins 2 lesser ditto Tzêanzin the hollow parts merely like soup plates –

The chief priest rang his bell, muttered a few words (prayers) then struck his cymbals loud and then laid them down ant struck them together on the cushion before him so that the sound was deadened as he did so did the other 3 cymbal men, and all the other instruments played all the time he played – The service lasted 1/2 hour – Besides the 16 + 2 big trumpeters, one man with pointed cap and lappeted in yellow stood at the bottom at a little distance facing the middle of the 2 rows of priests, and 2 other men in yellow with base clean shaved heads stood one on each side – In all 16 + 2 + 3 = 21 priests – 

The 18 musicians all in in a sort of robe de chambre like dress silk embroidered – Flowed rich silk – much worn – With pelerine shaped as if in remembrance of the lotus leaf?

Each wore a cap of long flowing 1/2 way down the back black silk tied at the top that is the cap finished tied up in 3 diminishing balls terminated in a little crown like ornament crown of 4 rays –

Reminding me of a flower – Whence also the fleur de lis of the Bourbons – And a Tiara, as it were of 5 petals surrounding the cap – Every cap had the same no.[number] of petals the white lily – the lotus has 5 petals – The dresses painted with lilies, lotuses, marigolds, (geums?), everything has reference to the lotus – 

At the annunciation the angel is generally painted with a white lily in his hand – The sticks that struck the drums, curious the shaft like a sceptre (constable’s staff a little sceptre) i.e. both ends top and bottom reminding one of a flower and something else – The symbol of power – The handle like a ceinture tho’ rather disguised winged idol – The head of the church and particularly near the altar hung round with Chinese like drawings of Indian deities – I carefully examined them but found the Budhist deity too much disguised to be traceable to an inexperienced eye – Yet it is at the bottom of all – 

The priests here draw – Paint – Do all the pictures – They understand – Our Princess and her nephew equally ignorant of the meaning of pictures – The people not admitted into the church – Stand outside – We were allowed to examine altar little brass images – All – Nothing evident – Little silver cup, (like lotus cups) of wheat and barley and oats mixed – And little cup of ice (eau benite – As if milk and water frozen) – And silver on tinsel flowers – Went into all the 7 tent-chapels 4 in the court and 3 rather larger outside it – An altar in each – The quantities of little brass or nice like Chinese images and pictures – A square pedestal stand on one side of 2 of their altars that the idol ought to be upon and a sort of sceptre in front of 2 of the altars, with a protuberance made to receive something – Inquired – George said a plate to hold the offering – Or what the priests ate – This column and its proper Budhist companion ought to be one on each side of each altar – 

At the doors of the 3 tents outside was a cylindrical bundle of reeds one on each side the door – This paganism is a curious remain of Antiquity – The exterior of the church is very Chinese –

The clocher is square and then 4 retiring squares up to the ball on which rests the needle and above that a little ball and crescent and a point springing from middle of crescent I have inadvertently put the black-painted crescent work at the top of the retiring grade instead of the bottom? The cornice under the roof is every where triangular, in diminishing –

A very pretty cornice ‘4 grades square to ball and sceptre and top and crescent and ball – 6 columns’ (2 rows of) in each circular colonnade on returning to the palace our Prince ready to receive us – Gave me a Mongol Grammar printed at Kazan in 1835 and wrote his name in it – He had before given me his name and the names of his 2 brothers and that of the wife (our Princess) of his 2d.[2nd] brother all the brothers equally Princes and Sovereign Princes – Our Prince Cerbedjab de Tumen his tribe Tumen, and calls his village here Tumen, had 50,000 sheep when winter began – Has lost 20,000 – Ten years since such a severe winter – Last year at this time there was grass for the cattle – 

Arrzha and liqueur glasses the precursor of dinner – The spirit tasted exactly like good Noyau – 1/2 and 1/2 mare’s and cow’s milk that of today sourish already (in 4 days, fermented and give once distilled yields the common Arrzha that we tasted and that still has sufficiently left of milk derived taste to let one find out its origin – This distilled 3 times and prepared with almonds yields the Arrzha like Noyau – Tchez-gan the Mongol name of Koumis – One may call Arrzha esprit du lait – 

Dinner 1st Eesh-Kessen (looking like a Russian shredded reddish cabbage) a plat of shredded mutton – Shredded like on cabbage salad at Sarepta – Very good – Next little beef olives à la Russe with gravy good – Then Sabac fish cutlets like those the other day en route but better cooked – Then blinnys in little rolls 2 in.[inches] long and 2 in.[inches] diameter and several folds – Rather too hard and not hot enough – 2 preserve orange peel in shreds and white currants – Declined Medoc and some other French wine drank a glass made from the grapes of his own garden (4 v.[versts] off) this year – A weak white odd tasted but not disagreeable wine – The water excellent – Tasted dessert of Persian almonds, 2 sorts – Then coffee – Excellent now and in the morning – From Astrakhan but from Moscow or St. P-[Petersburg] then tea – 2 cups each – excellent – The best I have tasted in Russia – 

Admired the lady’s cap – The Prince asked how long we should stay at A-[Astrakhan] if long enough would get me a cap made, and send it to me there – Said we should only stay 5 day glad to be handsomely off putting him to so much trouble &c. – He had asked for our name I wrote as under 

‘Madame Lister de Shibden Hall dans la Conté de York d’Angleterre, et Mademoiselle Walker de Cliff Hill das la même Conté, rendent mille graces à Monsieur le Prince Cerbedjab, Prince Souverain des Calmoucs de Tumen, - de son hospitalité et de touts ses politesses – Elles desirent pour lui et pour toute sa famille le plus grand bonheur – Mardi. 11 Mars (Nouveau Style) 1840’

George explained and the Prince seemed pleased – I had asked if anyone had sketched his church &c. – Yes! An Officer (a Serjeant said George) chez Colonel Balájaefski at Astrakhan, has sketched the Prince and his people and temple – Much pleased with our day chez le Prince – 

Thanked him thro’ George as well as we could – He had ordered a Traineau and pair and a Cossak mounted en courier to take us home because we should by this means go much quicker – True – The wild screams of our Cossack and his whipping on our Courier’s post horses (spite of the driver) and seizing them by the tail and thus urging them on and our driver, too, screaming and delighted at my laughing aloud – That us over the river like magic – At the Prince’s door and at our own at 6 21/’’ in 1 6/’’ hour! Gave the men each a Silver Rouble, and then on their asking for a written assurance that I was satisfied I told the Courier to write thanks and that we had come in 1 6/’’ and I then signed                  

A Lister de Shibden Hall

Tuesday 11 March 1840

And set aside this my arms – Tea – And we drank Sackville’s health &c. on his 8th birthday – All this over at 8 - Then till now 1 25/’’ wrote all the above of today – A-[Ann] writing by me – Very fine day but bitter cold wind to the left nearly in our faces, going – At our backs in returning and besides abated since morning – the ice often sounded as if the river would not be safe very much longer – Lay down at 2 3/4 a.m. –

[in the side of the page:]      Brick Tea

[in the side of the page:]      Cerdebjab Prince of Tumen

[in the side of the page:]      Grand Lamās

[in the side of the page:]      Chinese and Mongol languages nearly the same

[in the side of the page:]      Calmuck (Mongol, Buddhist) Temple at Tumen      

[in the side of the page:]      Buddhist priests’ caps &c.

[in the side of the page:]      Tumen from Soroglazinskaya                        13 versts

[in the side of the page:]      S-[Soroglazinskaya] from Astrakhan . .        90 1/2

 Page References: SH:7/ML/E/24/0040 and SH:7/ML/E/24/0041 and SH:7/ML/E/24/0042 and SH:7/ML/E/24/0043

[the-deeds-to-shibden]

Wednesday 3 June 1840

[up at] 6 40/”

[to bed at] 11 20/”

fine but dull morning Reaumur 15 1/2º at 7 10/” – breakfast at 10 – Had Hein while at breakfast but sent George to hear what he had to say – would do the carriage in a week for 30/.  silver – said I wanted the carriage on Friday or Saturday at farthest – he must write down what had to be done – I should see General Orloff this morning – at my journal and had written thus far now at 1 10/” – George had gone to dinner at 11 40/” promising to be back as soon as possible to go with us to make visits – not arrived now at 1 10/” nor at 1 40/” – could wait no longer – off at 1 40/”  chez Madame Golovin – received in her garden house summer house – summer salon – nice good room – there she said all the day – only returned ‘chez elle’ le soir – the garden very pretty – the vines grown so as to cover the wood frame of posts and cross pieces, and formed a pretty covered way from the house to the summer salon – sat near 1/2 hour with her and Mademoiselle Golovin, and another lady? or who was she, sitting with them – glad to hear our voyage had si bien réussi – said we should have made our call earlier but dans le tourment par nos domestiques – nul autre tourment –  explained George being out, and his having commenced faire l’impertinent at Elizabethpol – asked if all the authorities had done all they could – yes! mentioned that the commandant was a good sleeper and had kept us waiting 4 hours for our podorojna in going but had called on our return and was very civil and intelligent – gave the compliments of Mr. Quartano and said his wife was très bien – had been chez Madame la commandante a femme de confiance or something – Madame Golovin said Quartano’s history was a romance – he had been monk and everything – I said he had not told us that – she said he was now chef de police – no! still the Tartar – the place of chef de police a very good one – all the chefs de police became rich – then spoke in praise of Madame Tchekmareff – la meilleure des personnes – had sent us breakfast and supper and we dined chez elle – Madame Golovin said she did not know her – knows him the commandant her husband but not the lady tho’ a Moscovite – was colonel Broussiloff’s report a good one? perhaps the smoking and want of dignity might not be relished at headquarters? of course, I said no more – then to the Kotzebues’ – out – returned as we left the door – I returned to speak to Mademoiselle Kotzebue who will come and sit with us a little at 6 p.m. tomorrow – compliments and thanks to her brother and asked for letters for Koutaïs – then left our cards chez les Braïko – then chez Madame Bésoc – then into Madame Latchinoff’s house but nobody about so came away – she sets off Madame Golovin told us – tomorrow for Moscow – then chez les Orloff – at dinner left cards – then to the Chwastoffs’ – received – sat about 1/2 hour or 25 minutes with Madame Chwastoff going to her belle mère in a fortnight to be absent 18 months till her expected infant has some teeth – to be born in September and she will then be with her belle mère at Pskoff en grande route (chaussée) from Saint Petersburg to Warsaw – her husband to go with her as far as Stavropol - Persian silks at 3 1/2 abasses per archine – if we bought much might get it for 3 1/4 abasses – perhaps he will enliven himself in her absence with the company of the French consul le baron Sauveur de la Chapelle, who is to be domicilié chez Mr. Chwastoff pendant le temps – married, but his wife (the consul’s wife) not here – why does not England send a consul here? – home at 3 40/” – had George in – my manner so quiet but determined impertinence would not have been easy – much trying to excuse himself – I would not attend this but begged to know at what hour il devait diner – at last he said it was for me to fix that and I fixed 3 to 4 –  never to go out but on my business (as he said they breakfasted here in the house) before 3 – to go exactly then and always be back at 4 – I told him that everybody knew, must know how I was inconvenienced –  this seemed to have some effect – I said if I did not know the usages with Russian servants, I could at least inquire here what they were – George said here was not Russia – the servants ate when they could and did as they could – tea at 5 – wrote and sent note to Madame Besoc – sorry had not seen her this morning – hoped Mr. Besoc had received the letter from my banker at Moscow – (vide other end of book) – and sent George to Hein to desire the carriage might be done as soon as possible –  answer about 6 3/4 Mr. Besoc would call upon us at 7 this evening and Hein too whose estimate = 32/. silver George brought back and tried to explain – brought also Mr. Marc’s letter saying he had received my letter and forwarded the money = 4200/- 45/. postage to the care of Mr. Besoc according to direction – then till now 7 3/4 wrote all but the first 4 lines of today –  Had Hein about 7 1/4 for a long while – the sum and substance are that he will not answer for karkass (body) of our kibitka holding together – it is too heavy – mentioned a tarendass body on sale – will look at it and let us know tomorrow all about it – I will consider the matter and give an answer tomorrow – he cannot let us have our kibitka before Saturday week –  wrote out copy of letter to princess Radziwill and note left with Mr. Braïko, and note tonight to Madame Bésoc at the other end of this volume and had just written so far now at 9 55/” – fine day – hot walking this morning and hot now this evening – George and Domna went to take a bath at 7 3/4 and returned at 10 1/2  I 1/2 in bed – Reaumur 16 3/4º and Fanrenheit nearly 70 now at 10 40/” p.m. –  

 Anne’s marginal notes:

Vc (for visit/call)

Vc Vc (for 2 visits/calls)

V (for visit)

V (for visit)

French consul at Tiflis – why not an English consul?

N (for note)

L (for letter)

V (for visit)

WYAS page:  SH:7/ML/E/24/0122

[wigglywormy]

where do you think each of the main bnha bois is most ticklish? like what body part do u gotta tickle to rek them ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

kirishima: underarms. it’s a surefire way to get him screeching immediately. all u gotta do is shove ur fingers under and he’’ll clamp his arms down but it’ll be too late, he’s already sliding to the floor and tearing up 

bakugou: that special death spot right around his top rib, not quite under his arms but close. holding him down and digging ur thumbs in and massaging has him fuckin’ howling okay he can’t take it 

midoriya: his waist and feet. tazing kills him omg, but he’s also feather sensitive so even just gentle finger tracing up his sides nearly makes him cry w laughter

denki: behind the KNEES oh jesus i wrote a fic abt this but ill talk more because i lov this spot so much. his entire body trembles like a leaf if he’s tickled here, especially if he’s held immobile so he cant bend his legs 

iida: his thighs. thicc and sensitive. kneading and squeezing really get to him, and the only ppl that know abt it are uraraka and midoriya (and todo eventually figures it out too 8))

todoroki: his ribs. hold his wrists up, and claw into his ribs really thoroughly and he’s gasping hard enough that he gets the hiccups before giggling and archin his back to get away. gentle touches work rly well too, esp tracing in between each ribs with ur fingertips

(& these aren’t main bois but they are main bois in my heart so im imcluding them)

tamaki: his ears and his back. tracing along his spine and shoulder blades makes him squeak and jolt its so cute. his ears tho, they’re almost TOO sensitive omg. u have to b really careful tickling his ears because he’ll cry if it’s too much

mirio: his stomach. he’s pretty muscular but blow a raspberry into his belly and he’s giggling like a little kid and trying to shove ur head away

shinsou: most ppl think shinsou isn’t ticklish because most of the general spots dont give any response, but his f e e t you guy. his feet are so sensitive it’s unreal. right under his toes, and the tops of his feet are the worst

[whatdoesshedotothem]

: Sunday 2 February 1840

8 ¼

2 ½

her cousin came this morning – A- came to me and lay on my bed twenty five minutes breakfast about 9 ¾ - at church a minute or 2 after 11 just service had begun (reading the Lords’ prayer) Mr. Camidge preached I suppose ½ hour+ (but as last Sunday forgot to look at my watch) from Micah vii. 18, 19 and 20 home for ¼ hour had Mrs. Howard – the Russian girl wishing her to ask if we intended to take her afterwards or not – said we should give the answer to the dame supérieure – Mrs. H- to to try to find out the girls’ feeling on the subject – she had been crying terribly – whether this was from sorrow mortification, or what sort of feeling – A- and I out at 1 10/.. – to princess Tcherkaski – she was dressing but would receive us – we waited 5 or 6 minutes and staid about 20 – she very civil – hoped we should meet again at St. P- or somewhere repeating her former phrase “comme des bonnes connaissances” sorry as before she had not made our acquaintance earlier – then to old countess Panin – left cards – her daughter, countess Wera, very ill of inflammation – received by countess A.P- and sat perhaps 10 minutes or ¼ hour – she gave us her own address here and in the country in Russian the courier would direct our letters if we could not do it in Russ[ia] – and gave me princess Oroussoffs’ address – then to the Ocouloffs’ – very kind and civil – pressed us to stay dinner – they had been here this morning and left cards and

their address in town and country the latter on the road from here to Tula (not from here to St. P-) saw Mr. O-‘s cabinet d’etude – a few some good pictures – nice comfortable study and sitting and sofa-sleeping room – shewed his full dress  coat as chambellan covered with 1500/. worth of gold lace – the coat complete costs 2300/. – that of the 2 grand chambellans costs 2800/. his petit unifrome costs 500/. – Madame O- said if A- and I were presented our dress would have a train and be à la Russe – 300/. – needed not cost more – then saw carpets made at the fabrique established by Madame O-‘s sister (Madame Statkovksy) at her Campagne near Saratof [Saratov] – on the Penza road, and not far from there – an archine (or more?) wide stairs carpet 5/. per archine – a large carpet 13 archines square she would ceder à l’instant même for 3000/. but not for less – Madame O- had said 2000/.  all this carpeting done by hand – by 20 jeunes filles – by bobbins she said – How is that? see into it at Saratof [Saratov] – our coachman nobody knew where – George said he was always to wait for – Madame O-‘s coachman had just mounted the box and driven us to the gate when our man came – gave Madame O-‘s man a 25 silver kop. piece – then left cards chez les Fischer and home at 3 ½ or (if my silver watch is 2 ½ hours too late) at 3 40/.. – A- told me monsieur was come  a little last night   enough this morning said that we should not get off till Tuesday about 10 a.m. instead of as we told everybody just after midnight tomorrow – had just written so far now at 4 ¼ - then inking over the notes princess dictated and writing to Hawkins wrote not to Mrs. Hawkins about the pots of ointment for Madame Apraxin – partly dressed – dinner at 6 – finished my toilette – A- and I out at 7 ½ - meant to have gone by the Porte rouge to leave my note dated today but written yesterday (vid. other end of the book) to ask Mr. Alexander Richter to come between 9 and 10 tomorrow – but too late – gave the note to George to be left as we returned or as it turned out to go very early (before 8) tomorrow morning – 5 or 6 minutes at Mr. Fischers’, a long table of persons playing a round gave Mrs. F- got up, and came with us into her salon – Mr. F- came – well we had gone, tho’ poisoned with tobacco, and princess O- smelt us, and questioned us about it on our going in – there at 7 50/.. – sometime before princess R- came – she was writing – very good, tho’ said she had been calculating her marche route, and was stupid – dictated note of thanks for the courier to be written on our return – How good she is! we staid till 10 – she asked us to go tomorrow evening – for she does not set off till 11 a.m. on Tuesday – best to take leave tonight – travelling would be insupportable if one had after the

SH:7/ML/E/23/0195

pain of parting like this – she said at last – one should always part gaily; for it was a better augure of meeting again – I told her I was glad of having seen Boulgakoff I knew now to whom we were indebted for our courier – B- would go à 4 pattes pour elle – she said she did not know this I said she could oblige him in some way or other – she did not know this – no one said I knows it better than you do – it was not for princess Olga but for you that he gave the courier – she (princess R-) has behaved beautifully – she has helped us without letting us find it out – nor should I have dreamed the truth about the courier had I not seen B- chez elle – his manner not hers, told the truth – she has more heart – more high mindedness –more deep delicacy of feeling than a man like him can [comprehend] – she has always reminded me of poor Sibbella – I cannot describe even to myself my feeling of sadness on parting with her – It would be terrible if such feelings could recur often – home at 10 ¼ - tea till 11 – wrote the last 29 lines till now 11 ½ p.m. fine day – then till 1 ¼ calculating tables for princess R- of her 4 horses per station from here to St. P- this and writin[g] the short explanation etc. took me till after two –

[anne-lister-adventures]

Wednesday, 12 March 1840

5 35/’’

11 50/’’

Reaumur 10º on my table (our breakfast and washing and writing table – Our only one) at 6 1/4 a.m. Quite ready – Washed and at breakfast at 5 55/’’ – Not bit here tho’ abundance of the sort of beetle and another sort of little insect likish a small beetley (hard back) ant? Do these larger insects that the people never seem to disturb and that swarm on the walls, keep them free from insects of worse kind, bugs &c.? 

Just after breakfast Gross came in flippantly saying ‘a great misfortune’ – Beginning to enlarge upon breaking my St. P-[Petersburg] thermometer – This too bad – The loss too great – I never uttered ∴[therefore] his talking useless, and he wisely went away – A-[Ann] never uttered about it then or afterwards – Nor I – 

Gave a blue note (= 5/-) to the old woman of the house (the old mother?) – She very well satisfied – One of my old thin leather gloves missing – Must have fallen out of my fur glove in the Prince’s Kibitka last night – Seeking it (the glove) detained us a few minutes – The only thing I have lost since Norway – Domna lost her little sac with p.[pocket] handkerchief scissors pins and needles &c. &c. = 4/-? She said, on Sunday night at Kopanowskaya (vide bottom of p.[page] 70) – off from Soroglazinskaya at two minutes before 7 – Ha Волга, on the Volga – 

(станица Замиянооскя) at Zamianowskaya at 9 1/4, a poor and picturesque little fishing village – Unpainted board, little, cottage-like Station House but the best house in the village? We might have slept there – Neat little church – Had slept most of the way to here – Much snow in the river latterly – Fine morning – Not much wind – Have written all the above (in pencil in my note book) without glove on without my warm hand getting starved or even cold – Proof how much warmer it is today than yesterday – 

Wattled farm yards – Hay stacked on the tops of the sheds, but little to be seen now – 2 Calmuc tents in farm yards – Large iron cauldrons lying about – Using for boiling fish grease – An undulating desert of fine red sand all immediately around the village – On rising ground at a little distance there seems a roughness as if of some low shrubby vegetation – 

Off at 9 3/4 down again upon the Volga – The village lies along the sand bank close above the river – The right bank has sometime since lost its boldness (from Tzaritzine) – It is now little different from the sandy bank on the left side – Wherever a stick will grow, there is willow which fringes both banks more or less – Read Russian Grammar and sleep – Right bank low bare sand as last station – Left bank low but a line of wood – 

At 12 1/4 Lebajinskaya (the village and good church at some distance) – Station House – Lone house – Large unpainted-board Government Station House, the Imperial Eagle as usual in the pediment of the front end – Forlorn – Getting out of repair – A sort of fosse all round the house, to clear it of the surrounding sand, now 3 or 4 ft.[feet] higher than the bottom step of the 5 or 6 up to the ground floor – As if the sand avait envie de l’engloutir – Sauntered about on the bare sand hillocks while we changed horses – The very desert of the great Zahara – Fine red sand that must blow about terribly – Picked up some of the white prickly low stuff that every where covers the sand where and as much as anything does cover it hereabouts – They say there is pasturage at some distance – 

Off at 12 40/’’ at 1 25/’’ pass near under little village left bank – Is it not on an island? Our route yesterday and today has seemed very much au milieu du fleuve – At 1 50/’’ the Courier called attention to a man and boy going at a good rate on a huge camel – The 1st we had seen – The Prince’s (Prince Cerdebjab de Tumen) people, from near his garden – The large wooded island alongside us (left – a little distance) all belongs to him – In fact, he is Sovereign Prince of the Calmucks all along from here to Astrakhan – 

The camel female – À double bosse – When fat, each boss stands upright – Now that the animal is poor, and hard-worked, and has just had a young one, these bosses hang down like 2 thick flaps (perhaps 8 in.[inches] broad and 9 or 10 in.[inches] long?) when they stand upright said George the animal is four archines high – Now she is only 3 – I should guess her to stand now (to the top point of the shoulder) 6 ft.[feet] 6 in.[inches] English that is 19 1/2 hands high! I asked if she was one of their tallest – Yes! And certainly the one we saw a little while afterwards stood 2 or 3 hands lower – This man has 2 camels – Some have 20 – The laine George called it woolly hair, is cast every Spring and is worth 16 Rubles per pood – She herself is worth 100/- all this took us 12 minutes the long line of wood near (left) is an island belonging to the Prince – Gave the man a 20 Silver Kopek piece – He well pleased – The nose of the animal pierced thro’ the ligament above the nostrils and a smooth hair cord run thro’ to which the cord (rein) is tied, and by pulling this the animal lies down for the people to mount or dismount – She chewed her cud all the while – 

A Kalmyk and his camel. (Image Source)

We had been about 7 or 8 minutes in our Kibitka again when Nikolai (the Courier) called our attention to a fishing party – We alighted again, and stood from 2 10/’’ to 3 5/’’ over the square hole in the ice intently watching the outdrag of the net – The draught of fishes – It reminded me of the N.[New] T.[Testament] the manner of this being probably much the same as in the time of our Saviour – The net seemed never ending – They had got some little of it hauled out when we arrived, and it certainly took 3/4 the time we were there before we came to the end – 

The mesh seemed about 1 1/2 in.[inch] square yet 2 moderate sized frogs and good sized prawn had not escaped – The net was a good deal torn yet there was a tolerable draught – Some hundreds of fish – Perhaps a tank of 2 cube yards would have held them  

2 yards x 1 yard and 1 yard deep – There was one Poisson Blanc = 20 lbs.[pounds] at -/80 per lb.[pound] at Moscow might be had perhaps for 2/- here on the spot – This the most valuable because they salt this kind – There were 2 or 3 Sadocs nearly as large as the Poisson Blanc, or perhaps that would weigh said George 15 lbs.[pounds] and the Courier bought one (Sadoc) for us = 10 lbs.[pounds] and another sort of fish that George seemed to call something like Lyash – All the fish taken were of these 3 kinds – The latter not much valued – Our Sadok = 10 lbs.[pounds]) -/15 and the other fish was given? – There were about 30 men – Pay 25,000/- per annum for the right of fishing here – A certain extent of river – Could not learn how great – Water here about 2 archines deep and ice (said George) 1 a.[archino] thick – 

Fishing on the Volga, near Astrakhan. (Image Source)

Off again at 3 5/’’ – At 3 50/60 at Dowinowskaya – Neat red-yellow painted board Station House at this end of village on our left – We had never stopped before having our Station on our left – It seemed as if we had got to the other side of the river – How is this – Neat white green roofed church – Village apparently small and not good – Merely a fishing village – 

Off again at 4 1/4 – At 5 1/4, left, near, island of willows and a few Calmuck tents among them – By and by pass close left a line of Calmucks sitting on their hams on the ice, each (5 or 6 yards apart) at a little round hole not a foot in diameter (perhaps 8 in.[inches] diameter) fishing – Great breadth of river – Perfectly flat, sandy banks – The Cathedral seen at some distance and a church or 2 far in the distance ahead as if the Town or another Town extended far down the river – 

We seemed to come within the precincts as it were of Astrakhan at 5 3/4 and at 6 1/4 we stopped at the address given us by our Postmaster at Jenotaiewsk – Full! Drove on and inquired at 2 or 3 places – No Inn – Not a lodging to be had – What to be done – Sent to the Chef de Police – Very civil – Came and offered us his house for the night – Accepted with reconnaissance – He spoke a little French – Thankful – 

Astrakhan seen from the Volga in the late 19th century.

At 7 1/4, having waited an hour in the street and fallen 1/2 asleep, chez lui – A good salon and large anteroom – In clover – But long in getting tea – I lay on the sofa – Our fish (non Sadok) was to be boiled – But as it turned out the Cuisinier was out – There was no fire, no anything – And I had completely finished tea and lay some time on the bedstead they had brought before the fish came after 10 – A-[Ann] had waited for it – I tasted and then went on eating – Excellent – Never tasted such fish – Fresh – Fat – Full of roe – Well boiled – It was A-‘s[Ann’s] thought to keep it for breakfast – Had Domna at 10 50/’’ – Fine day –

[in the side of the page:]      thermometer broken

[in the side of the page:]      on the Volga all today –

[in the side of the page:]      Camel

[in the side of the page:]      Fishing on the Volga

[in the side of the page:]      Station on our left

Page References: SH:7/ML/E/24/0043 and SH:7/ML/E/24/0044