Though now a town of third-rate importance--a mere shadow of its former self--it still contains about 21,000 inhabitants, and is the administrative centre of the large province in which it is situated.
About eighty miles before reaching St.Petersburg the Moscow railway crosses the Volkhof, a rapid, muddy river which connects Lake Ilmen with Lake Ladoga.

At the point of intersection I got on board a small steamer and sailed up stream towards Lake Ilmen for about fifty miles.* The journey was tedious, for the country was flat and monotonous, and the steamer, though it puffed and snorted inordinately, did not make more than nine knots.

Towards sunset Novgorod appeared on the horizon.
Seen thus at a distance in the soft twilight, it seemed decidedly picturesque.

On the east bank lay the greater part of the town, the sky line of which was agreeably broken by the green roofs and pear-shaped cupolas of many churches.

On the opposite bank rose the Kremlin.
Spanning the river was a long, venerable stone bridge, half hidden by a temporary wooden one, which was doing duty for the older structure while the latter was being repaired.