A Riddle

A famous riddle states: "As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with 7 wives.  Each wife had 7 sacks, each sack had 7 cats.  Each cat had 7 kits.   Kits, cats, sacks and wives, how many were going to St. Ives?"  The key word to help solve the riddle is the word "each."  This tells us that we are multiplying each number (not adding).  Seven wives times seven sacks times seven cats times seven kits.  So, how many were going to St. Ives?