Inshort，ofsuchimportanceisthisfairofNijni-Novgorod，thatthesumtotalofitstransactionsamountsyearlytonearlyahundredmilliondollars。
Ononeoftheopenspacesbetweenthequartersofthistemporarycitywerenumbersofmountebanksofeverydescription；
gypsiesfromthemountains，tellingfortunestothecredulousfoolswhoareevertobefoundinsuchassemblies；ZingarisorTsiganes——
anamewhichtheRussiansgivetothegypsieswhoarethedescendantsoftheancientCopts——singingtheirwildestmelodiesanddancingtheirmostoriginaldances；comediansofforeigntheaters，actingShakespeare，adaptedtothetasteofspectatorswhocrowdedtowitnessthem。Inthelongavenuesthebearshowmenaccompaniedtheirfour-footeddancers，menageriesresoundedwiththehoarsecriesofanimalsundertheinfluenceofthestingingwhiporred-hotironsofthetamer；and，besidesallthesenumberlessperformers，inthemiddleofthecentralsquare，surroundedbyacirclefourdeepofenthusiasticamateurs，wasabandof“marinersoftheVolga，“
sittingontheground，asonthedeckoftheirvessel，imitatingtheactionofrowing，guidedbythestickofthemasteroftheorchestra，theveritablehelmsmanofthisimaginaryvessel！