IVOSHTSHIKS
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The constant plague of the ivoshtshik is the pedestrian, who in Russia is invested with immense privileges. In other countries a man thinks himself bound to take care that he is not run over; but in Russia, he who walks afoot troubles himself but little about the matter, and thinks the coachman alone is bound to be careful. If the horse or carriage merely touch a foot-passenger, without even throwing him down, the driver is liable to be flogged and fined; should the pedestrian be thrown down, a flogging, Siberia, and the confiscation of the whole equipage, are the mild penalties imposed by the law. " Have a care," cries the ivoshtshik. " Have a care thyself, and remember Siberia," is the probably reply of the leisurely wayfarer. The moment the cry is raised that a man has been run over, a brace of butshniks rush out from their watchboxes, and the carriage, whoever it may belong to, is carried away as a police prize. The poor coachman is immediately bound, and the fl attering prospect of an emigration to Siberia is immediately held forth to him, whether the accident have arisen from his own fault or not. Cases of great severity sometimes occur ; but it is difficult to point out any other way of checking the wild way of driving in which the nobles frequently indulge.
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