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THE    KAKTBBOOK    BYROIT. 


Now  Ready,  with  Portrait,  and  carefully  compiled  Index, 
Post  8vo.,  9s. 

LORD    BYRON'S    POETRY.     Complete 

Edition.  Printed  in  a  small  but  clear  type,  from  the  most  correct 
text,  in  one  compact  Volume,  so  as  to  enable  Travellers  to  carry 
it  with  their  other  Handbooks,  without  risk  of  its  being  forfeited 
at  the  British  Custom-houses. 

"  In  compactness  of  size,  and  clearness  and  beauty  of  type,  this  is  a  model 
of  a  book  for  a  Tkaveller's  Libeaet.  Mr.  Murray's  object  has  been  to 
produce  an  edition  of  Loed  Byeon,  which  should  not  encumier  the  port- 
mcmteau  or  carpet  hag  of  the  Tourist.  A  more  beautiful  specimen  of  typo- 
graphy we  have  never  seen." — Notes  and  Queries. 

"  This  is  a  complete  edition  of  the  poems  of  Lord  Byron,  in  one  post  octavo 
volume,  and  the  most  compact  edition  of  these  poems  which  has  ever  been 
published.  As  a  companion  fm-  the  traveller,  nothmg  can  be  more  valuable." 
— Observer. 

Also,  as  a  Pocket  Volume,  Fcap.  8vo.,  3s. 

BEAUTIES    OF    BYRON:    Being    Selections 
from  his  Prose  and  Poetry. 

JOHN  MURRAY,  Albemarle  Street. 


LONDON: 
JOHN    MURRAY,    ALBEMARLE    STREET. 

1849. 


HANB-BOOK  y 


FOR 


NORTHERN    EUROPE; 


INCLUDING 


DENMARK,  NORWAY,  SWEDEN, 
FINLAND,  AND  RUSSIA. 


ISIEW     EDITION,     PARTLY    RE-WRITTEN,     AND     CORRECTED     THROVGHOVT. 


IN    TWO    PARTS. 
PART  11.    FINLAND  AND  RUSSIA. 

WITH  MAPS  AND  PLANS. 


LONDON: 
JOHN    MURRAY,    ALBEMARLE    STREET. 

1849. 


THE    ENGLISH    EDITIONS    OF   THE    HAND-BOOKS    FOR   TRAVELLERS 
ARE    PUBLISHED — 


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In  France,  at 


BY    CARON. 

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dins. 

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Jos.  MOLINI. 

Antoine  Beuf. 

ROLANDI. 

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Mure. 

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&  J.  Valla;(DI. 

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Perugia 
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taine. 

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tistische  Anstalt 
&  I.  Palm. 

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Vannucchi. 

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DiNi;  M.  Merle. 

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..    Herman     F.     Mun- 

STEB. 


In  Switzerland,  at 


Aarau 
Basle 
Bern 

Constance 
Freiburg 
St.  Gallen 
Geneva 
Lausanne 


BY    SAUERLAENDER. 

Schreiber  &  Watz. 

Huber  &  Co. 

Gluckbr. 

Herder. 

Huber. 

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Gers. 


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Zurich 


Meyer. 

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SECTION    IV. 

FINLAND. 


PKELIMINART   INFORMATION. 


1.  Passports.  —  2.  Money.  —  3.  Steam-boats. —  4.  Posting  and  Diligences. 
5.  General  View  of  Finland. 


ROUTES. 


89.  Stockholm  to  St.  Petersburgh 

by  steam-boat,  touching  at 
Abo,  Helsingforss,  and  Reval  357 

90.  Stockholm  to  the  coast,  and 

thence  by  the  Aland  Islands 


91.  Stockholm  to  St.  Petersburgh, 

bv  Abo,  Helsingforss,  and 
oViborg      .         .         .         .370 

92.  Abo    to    Tornea,    along  the 

Eastern  Coast  of  the  Gulf 


to  Abo      ....  370  I  of  Bothnia         .        .        .376 

1.  PASSPORTS  AND   POLICE. 

Unless  the  traveller's  passport  has  been  visS  by  the  Russian  Minister  or  Con- 
sul at  Stockholm,  he  will  not  be  permitted  to  take  a  berth  on  board  the  steamer 

o 

for  Abo  and  St.  Petersburgh.  The  fee  to  the  Russian  Consul  for  his  vise  is  a 
dollar  banco,  and  this  vist  on  a  Swedish  passport  will  be  sufficient,  and  all  that  is 
required  to  land  at  Abo. 

There  is  no  search  whatever,  either  of  person  or  property,  on  landing  at  that 
town.  The  deck  of  the  packet,  on  its  arrival,  is  quickly  covered  with  soldiers 
and  policemen,  and  a  sentinel,  with  fixed  bayonet,  stands  at  the  gangway  until 
it  is  ascertained  that  all  parties  on  board  are  duly  provided  with  passports,  and 
they  may  then  go  on  shore  without  obstruction  of  any  kind.  Before  quitting 
Abo,  a  new  Finnish  passport  must  be  obtained  from  the  governor,  but  there  is 
no  occasion  to  present  oneself  in  order  to  procure  it.  The  expense  is  trifling, 
about  Zs.  English,  and  the  delay  in  obtaining  it  will  materially  depend  on  the 
amount  oi stimulus  administered  to  the  employe.  All  difficulties  will  then  vanish ; 
the  governor,  who  five  minutes  before  was  gone  into  the  country,  will  be  in  his 

R 


350  PASSPOBTS    AND    POLICE^MONEY.  Sect.  IV. 

house ;  his  secretary,  who  was  fast  asleep,  will  now  be'ioJiis.^ffi^^^aRdpErue  to  the 
promise,  the  precious  document  will  be  brought  to  the  traveller  within  the  ap. 
pointed  time.  From  Abo  to  Helsingforss  you  are  not  even  reqiiired  to  produce 
your  passport ;  but  a  new  one,  precisely  similar  to  the  last,  must  be  procured 
before  quitting  the  latter  city,  which  will  carry  the  traveller  as  far  as  Viborg, 
The  expense  of  this  is  about  the  same,  and  the  delay  about  two  or  three  hours. 
This  passport  is  vise  once  only  at  Lovisa,  but  no  charge  is  made,  and  it  hardly 
occasions  any  loss  of  time. 

At  Viborg  is  experienced  the  first  taste  of  the  real  formalities  of  the  Russian 
police  system.  The  traveller  must  attend  in  person  before  the  chief  officer  of 
the  police,  and  answer,  provided  they  have  any  language  in  common,  the  regular 
questions.  Where  were  you  born  1  Have  you  ever  been  in  Russia  before  % 
What  is  the  object  of  your  present  journey  %  You  then  pay  about  4s.  for  a  Pa- 
daroshna,  or  licence  for  post-horses  to  St.  Petersburgh,  and  about  as  much  more  for 
a  new  passport.  The  Padaroshna  must  be  produced  at  every  station,  before  the 
postmaster  dares  to  supply  fresh  horses,  and  no  firman  of  the  Sultan  was  ever 
looked  at  by  the  most  orthodox  Mussulman  with  more  reverence  than  is  this 
permission  of  His  most  gracious  Majesty  the  Tzar  to  the  bearer,  to  travel  with 
two  or  more  horses,  as  therein  expressed.  Furnished  with  this  Padaroshna, 
the  traveller  will  not  be  called  upon  to  show  his  passport  anywhere  on  the  road, 
not  even  on  entering  St.  Petersburgh.  For  further  information  concerning 
Passports  and  Padaroshnas,  see  preliminary  observations  in  the  Russian  Section 
of  this  Hand-Book. 

2.    MONEY. 

As  the  traveller  will,  in  all  probability,  journey  from  Stockholm  to  St.  Peters- 
burgh by  sea,  a  small  sum  will  be  sufficient  to  defray  his  expenses  thither  by 
that  mode  of  conveyance,  and  his  Swedish  paper  notes,  if  few  in  number,  may 
be  exchanged  on  board  the  steamer.  Should  it,  however,  be  his  intention  to 
travel  through  Finland  by  land,  a  larger  sum  will  then  be  reqviired,  and  as 
the  Russian  law  prohibits  the  exportation  of  coined  money,  there  will  be  some 
difficulty  in  procuring  it ;  should  this  be  the  case,  a  letter  of  credit  from  a 
Swedish  banker  or  merchant  to  one  at  Abo  or  Helsingforss  will  be  the  best  and 
most  profitable  mode  of  obtaining  the  needful.  Should  the  traveller,  on  arriving  at 
Abo  or  Haparanda,  be  furnished  with  English  sovereigns.  Napoleons,  or  other 
foreign  coin,  he  had  better  get  them  changed  at  a  merchant's,  otherwise  he  must 
have  recourse  to  the  master  of  the  inn,  or  trust  to  the  honesty  of  some  worthy 
Jew  or  Jew  Christian,  who  will  supply  him  with  the  necessary  coin  at  a  rate  of 
exchange  that  will  plainly  inform  him  he  is  victimized ;  not  an  agreeable  feeling 
on  entering  a  new  country ;  the  imposition,  however,  should  be  borne  with  a 
good  grace,  for  there  will  be  no  help  for  it.  Finland  had,  until  recently,  a  cur- 
rency quite  distinct  from  the  Russian,  consisting  entirely  of  paper  money,  the 
value  of  the  lowest  note  being  about  twopence  English,  the  smallest  bank-note 
in  Europe ;  this  system  has  wisely  been  changed,  and  the  old  Bancd  Assigna- 


Finland.  steam-boats.  351 

tion  notes  have  alltbeen  called  in.  The  new  notes  of  the  Bank  of  Finland  are  pre- 
cisely similar  in  amount  to  those  of  Russia,  and  each  is  equally  current ;  the 
notes  represent  a  certain  number  of  silver  rubles,  that  denomination  being  of 
the  value  of  35.  Ad.  English  according  to  the  exchange ;  thus,  there  is  a  note  of 

£     s.     d.  /,  .^ 


8  Rubles,  silver  0     10  0       r^'i ^  ■  ^0   'j.f>fyy^ 

5        „  0     16  8      ^      l^  .  c-v     — 

10        „  1     13  4 

25        „  4.3  4 

The  silver  ruble  is  divided  into  one  hundred  silver  kopeks,  and  forms  the 
basis  of  the  whole  currency.  The  gold,  silver,  and  copper  coins  are  struck  at  St. 
Petersburgh  for  the  whole  empire ;  they  are  as  follows  : — 

GOLD.  SILVER.  COPPER. 

Sil.  rub.  Sil.  kop.                      Sil.  rub.  Sil.  kop. 

Imperial 10     30                             1  3 

Pol,  or  half  Imperial 5     15                            |  2 

A  Piece  of 3       9                           ^  1 

30  Sil.  Kop.     i 

25      „  i 
20      „ 
15      „ 
5      „ 

For  further  information  respecting  the  Russian  currency,  see  preliminary  in- 
formation in  the  Russian  section  of  the  Hand-Book.      L    ^n  ^^ 

3.    STEAM-BOATS. 

The  distance  from  Abo  to  St.  Petersburgh  may  be  accomplished  in  about  80 
hours  of  actual  travelling,  which  may  be  allotted  as  may  best  suit  the  traveller's 
inclination  and  powers  of  endurance.  We  left  Stockholm  by  the  Abo  steam, 
packet  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  reached  the  Russian  capital,  with  post-horses, 
the  following  Monday  at  about  the  same  hour ;  we  lost  no  time,  and  the  journey 
was  a  most  fatiguing  one.  But,  as  we  have  before  remarked,  the  most  conve- 
nient and  agreeable  mode  of  travelling  in  Finland  is  by  sea.  The  steamers, 
which  are  well  found  though  not  large,  leave  Stockholm  for  Abo,  Helsingforss, 
Reval,  and  St,  Petersburgh  every  Thursday ;  and  the  traveller  has  by  this  route 
the  opportunity  of  visiting  the  arsenal  of  Reval,  and  thus  taking  a  passing  peep  at 
Esthonia.  These  boats  stop  at  Abo,  Helsingforss,  and  Reval  during  a  portion  of 
each  day,  and  alford  the  traveller  the  opportunity  of  stretching  his  legs,  geolo- 
gizing the  granite,  and  satisfying  his  appetite  at  the  Finnish  hotels.  Wood  is 
used  on  some  of  the  boats  that  run  between  Stockholm  and  Helsingforss,  and, 

R  2 


352  TRAVELLING — POSTING,    DILIGENCES,    ETC.       Scct.  IV. 

on  leaving  harbour,  tliey  have  the  appearance  of  a  moving  wood-stack.  The 
fare  from  Stockholm  to  St.  Petersburgh  is  30  silver  rubles ;  from  Stockholm  to 
Abo,  10  silver  rubles.  As  these  boats  are  generally  crow^ded  during  the 
summer  months,  a  berth  should  be  secured  as  early  as  possible  ;  but  this  cannot 
be  done  until  the  passport  is  en  regie.  The  above  fares  include  meals,  while 
the  vessel  is  at  sea,  but  not  while  she  is  in  harbour.  The  voyage  from  Stock- 
holm to  Abo  is  usually  accomplished,  in  summer,  in  about  thirty  hours,  for  at 
this  season  the  long  continuance  of  daylight  enables  the  vessel  to  thread  without 
difficulty  her  tortuous  but  picturesque  course  through  the  islands — a  navigation 
far  too  perilous  to  be  attempted  in  the  dark ;  the  same  difficulties  occur  in  the 
voyage  between  Abo  and  Helsingforss,  and  much  of  the  track  the  steamer  takes 
is  buoyed  and  beaconed  oif.  On  the  fourth  or  fifth  day  after  leaving  Stockholm 
the  traveller  will  be  landed  at  St.  Petersburgh.  There  is  also  a  steamer  from 
Helsingforss  to  Viborg,  touching  at  Lovisa  and  Frederickshamm ;  the  remainder 
of  the  journey  to  the  capital  must  be  made  with  post-horses.  Another  steamer, 
which  leaves  Stockholm  for  TorneS,  two  or  three  times  during  the  season,  pro- 
fesses to  reach  that  place  in  two  days ;  but  its  movements  are  very  uncertain, 
owing  to  the  shallow  water  and  difficulty  in  the  navigation. 

4.    TRAVELLING POSTING,    DILIGENCES,    ETC. 

Between  May  and  October,  that  is  to  say  as  long  as  the  sea  is  open,  the  best 
mode  of  reaching  St.  Petersburgh  from  Stockholm  is  by  steam.  The 
scenery  of  the  coast,  which  is  far  more  interesting  than  that  inland,  is  seen  to 
greater  advantage,  and  with  half  the  trouble  and  expense.  Moreover,  with 
the  exception  of  the  road  between  Viborg  and  St.  Petersburgh,  there  are  no 
public  conveyances,  not  even  between  Abo  and  Helsingforss,  the  old  and 
modern  capitals  of  Finland.  Between  Viborg  and  St.  Petersburgh  there  is 
sometimes  a  diligence,  but  the  days  of  departure  cannot  by  any  means  be  relied 
on.  The  best,  at  least  the  most  comfortable,  mode  of  journeying  by  land,  is  in 
your  own  carriage ;  and  if  the  tourist  has  not  the  good  fortune  to  possess  one, 
he  had  better  supply  himself  with  one  at  Stockholm ;  a  travelling  caleche, 
with  harness  complete,  may  be  met  with  there  for  about  20/.  At  Abo 
he  will  (being  at  the  mercy  of  the  landlord)  pay  more ;  moreover,  as  the  stock 
of  carriages  there  consists  of  patched-up  vehicles  which  have  been  purchased 
from  travellers  returning  from  Russia,  the  chances  are  that  the  tourist  will, 
before  he  reaches  Helsingforss,  find  himself  brought  to  a  stand-still  on  the  road- 
side, by  a  regular  break  down  of  his  crazy  machine.  Carrioles,  similar  to  those 
used  in  Norway  and  Sweden,  are  the  carriages  most  generally  in  use  in  Finland, 
and  by  far  the  best  adapted  for  speed,  particularly  where  the  road  is  sandy,- 
which  is  the  case,  more  or  less,  nearly  all  the  way  from  Abo  to  Helsingforss, 
and  also  along  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  to  Bjornsberg,  and  they  far 
excel  vehicles  of  any  other  construction  for  whirling  down  hill  at  full  gallop, — 
the  only  plan  of  descending  the  sharp  pitches  in  the  road  with  which  the 


Finland.      travelling— posting,  diligences,  etc.  353 

Finnish  horses  appear  to  be  acquainted.  Besides  the  carriole  there  is  another 
species  of  vehicle,  called  a  kihitka,  a  long  narrow  cart  without  springs,  and 
covered  with  a  kind  of  leather  hood,  extending  over  about  one-half  of  the 
carriage.  The  bottom  of  the  kibitka  is  usually  provided  with  a  feather  bed,  or 
a  thick  covering  of  hay  or  straw,  and  on  this  the  traveller  reclines  at  full  length. 
As  to  repose,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  will  be  obtained  in  such  a  vehicle ;  in 
addition  to  which,  you  see  nothing  whatever  of  the  country  through  which  you 
pass.  This  kibitka  is  an  introduction  from  Russia ;  the  really  national  carriage 
of  the  Fin  is  a  machine  called  a  hondkara,  and  the  traveller  should  reflect 
seriously  before  he  submits  his  body  to  the  indescribable  agonies  created  by  the 
cart  so  called,  unless,  indeed,  it  is  his  intention  to  travel  in  the  telega  when 
he  reaches  Russia ;  in  this  case  it  will  be  well  for  him  to  accustom  his  bones  and 
muscles  to  the  dislocations  which  he  will  be  subjected  to  in  the  hondkara,  for 
though  these  two  vehicles  are  equally  rough,  the  roads  in  Finland  are  far  supe- 
rior to  the  no  roads  in  Russia.  This  machine,  which  has  no  springs,  is  no- 
thing more  than  an  oblong  kind  of  box  without  a  back,  placed  on  an  axle- 
tree  and  two  wheels,  and  a  board  is  nailed  or  tied  to  the  sides  like  the  sea  of 
a  taxed  cart ;  on  this  bench  the  traveller  and  the  postillion  are  seated,  and 
there  is  no  slight  difficulty  in  keeping  an  equilibrium,  while  on  bad  parts  of 
the  road  one  is  sometimes  obliged  to  cling  firmly  to  it  with  both  hands. 
Scarcely,  too,  has  the  tourist  got  a  little  accustomed  to  the  sway  and  play  of  this 
horrid  cart,  than  he  finds  himself  at  a  post  station,  where  he  is  obliged  to  turn 
out  and  get  into  another  bondkara,  the  bench  of  which  is  perhaps  tied  at  a 
different  angle  from  the  last.  The  roads,  however,  with  the  exception  of  one 
or  two  sandy  stages,  are  excellent  from  Abo  to  within  fifty  miles  of  St,  Peters- 
burgh,  andHHi  miles  an  hour  may  be  accomplished ;  to  get  over  these  last  fifty 
miles  it  will  take  a  great  deal  of  patience,  and  all  the  traveller's  muscle  and 
nerve.  Verst  posts  are  erected  along  the  roads,  and  on  them  is  inscribed 
the  distance  to  each  town.  In  winter  there  is  a  regular  road  across  the  Gulf 
of  Bothnia  to  Sweden ;  and  also  between  Helsingforss  and  Reval,  In  March, 
1809,  Barclay  de  Tolly  crossed  over  with  a  division  of  the  Russian  army  from 
Wasa  to  Ume&  in  Sweden. 

One  great  advantage  in  Finland  is  the  not  being  obliged  to  send  on  a  courier. 
Post-horses,  supplied  by  the  neighbouring  farmers,  are  always  in  readiness  at 
the  stations ;  and  so  far  from  there  being  any  delay,  you  have  frequently  half 
a  dozen  Fins  quarrelling  for  the  honour  of  earning  your  kopeks,  and  displaying 
their  respective  ponies  to  the  best  advantage,  in  order  to  procure  your  selection 
in  their  favour ;  and,  generally  speaking,  by  the  time  you  have  written  your 
name,  &c.,  in  the  dag-hok,  and  paid  the  boy  who  takes  back  the  horses,  you  will 
find  everything  in  readiness  for  a  fresh  start. 

The  price  of  post-horses  is  much  lower  than  either  in  Norway  or  Sweden, 
being  2  silver  kopeks  for  each  horse  per  verst.  But  on  quitting  Abo, 
Helsingforss,  Lovisa,  Frederick shamm,  and  Yiborg,  you  pay    4    silver  kopeks 


354  TRAVELLING — POSTING,    DILIGENCES,    ETC.        Sect.  IV. 

per  verst  for  each  horse  for  the  first  stage.  The  boy  or  man  who  drives 
is  amply  satisfied  with  about  6  or  7  kopeks  per  post,  which  may  be  taken 
on  the  average  at  about  15  versts.  Travelling  with  two  horses,  the  entire 
expense  does  not  exceed  Ad.  per  English  mile.  Between  Viborg  and  St. 
Petersburgh  the  expense  is  somewhat  greater,  as  you  have  to  pay  1,|  silver 
rouble  for  a  padaroshna,  and  the  drivers  expect  more  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  capital ;  but  even  then  the  expense  of  actual  travelling  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  Finland  will  not,  on  the  average,  exceed  5d.  per  English  mile. 

The  traveller  must  not  forget  to  take  his  own  harness,  and  a  good  supply  of 
strong  rope  and  grease  for  the  wheels.  The  regular  charge  for  the  operation  of 
'^  smearing,"  as  it  is  pronounced  (though  somewhat  differently  spelt),  is  6  kopeks, 
and  travellers  should  on  no  account  omit  having  it  carefully  done  under  their 
own  inspection  every  morning  before  starting.  The  harness  is  so  made  as  never 
to  be  detached  from  the  carriage  when  the  horses  are  changed.  The  traces  are 
always  of  rope,  and  not  unfrequently  the  greater  portion  of  the  rest  of  the 
tackle;  the  reins  are  not  crossed,  as  with  us,  but  each  horse  is  harnessed  quite 
distinct  from  his  fellow,  and  on  reaching  the  station,  they  slip  out  of  their  trap- 
pings, and  another  pair  of  ponies,  without  even  a  bridle  or  halter,  are  brought 
out  of  the  stable  to  take  their  places  :  blinkers  are  quite  unknown  here.  This 
independent  style  of  "  putting  to "  is  at  first  somewhat  puzzling,  particularly 
when  the  road  is  hilly,  or  runs  along  the  bank  of  a  precipice,  or  mountain 
stream,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  and  you  are  desirous  of  attaining  more  of  the 
"  happy  medium  "  of  the  emperor's  highway  than  your  horses  seem  disposed  of 
their  own  accord  to  adopt.  It  is  surprising,  however,  how  soon  one  gets  accus- 
tomed to  the  random  travelling  over  the  wild  countries  of  the  north,  where  the 
roads  are  for  the  most  part  without  fence  or  barrier  of  any  kind,  and,  in  going 
down  hill,  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  stop.  A  low  monotonous  whistle,  on 
reaching  the  top  of  a  steep  descent,  will  make  the  horses  go  slowly  and  carefully 
until  they  feel  the  carriage  begin  to  press  heavily  upon  them,  and  then  away 
they  go,  through  sand  and  stones,  whirling  round  corners  like  the  wind,  until 
they  reach  the  level  ground,  or  if  the  road  ascends  again,  they  continue  their 
headlong  speed  to  the  summit  of  the  next  hill.  It  is  quite  useless  to  pull,  as 
the  bits  are  of  the  lightest  description,  and  their  mouths  seem  quite  insensible  to 
all  the  driver's  efforts.  They  never  stumble,  and  will  generally  gallop  for  versts 
without  betraying  any  symptoms  of  distress.  The  posting  being  so  economical,  it 
will  be  no  very  great  expense  to  pay  the  boys  well,  and  twopence  per  stage  will  be 
considered  very  handsome  :  some  persons  pay  only  one  penny.  As  soon  as  the 
traveller  arrives  at  a  station,  he  should  call  lustily  for  horses  (in  Swedish,  hostar), 
adding  as  many  words  in  that  language  signifying  "make  haste,"  as  he  can — thus, 
strast,  snart,  and  schoonda,  all  meaning  the  same  thing,  will  be  found  of  the 
greatest  possible  utility,  The  tourist  must  then  march  into  the  post-house,  and 
ask  for  the  dag-hoJc,  in  which  every  traveller  must  write  his  name,  the  number  of 
horses  he  wants,  whence  he  comes,  whither  he  is  going,  and  what,  if  any,  com- 


Finland.  geneeal  view  of  Finland.  355 

plaints  he  has  to  make  :  all  the  columns  are  headed  with  the  requisite  explana- 
tions in  Russian.  Save  when  posting  in  one's  own  carriage,  it  will  not  be 
possible  to  keep  pace  with  persons  travelling  in  carrioles,  and  the  traveller  will 
be  assuredly  left  to  the  quasi  pleasure  of  tracing  their  onward  route,  by  seeing 
their  names  in  the  dag-holc  at  the  post  stations.  The  verst,  by  which  all  dis- 
tances are  computed^  is  two-thirds  of  an  English  mile. 

5.    GENERAL   VIEW   OP    FINLAND. 

Finland,  with  the  two  Lapmarks  of  Kami,  TorneS.,  and  the  district  of  Viborg, 
form  a  Russian  Government.  Its  present  name  was  given  it  by  the  Swedes,  but 
the  natives  call  it  Suomemna — the  region  of  lakes  and  swamps.  The  population 
is  1,500,000. 

The  sea-coast  of  Finland  presents  throughout  its  entire  extent  the  same  suc- 
cession of  fiords  and  rocky  headlands  which  encircle  the  whole  seaward  frontier 
of  Sweden  and  Norway ;  but  the  dimensions  of  the  fiords  of  Finland  are  far 
more  limited  than  those  to  the  west  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  seldom  exceedinsf  a 
few  miles  in  extent,  although  their  mouths  contain  an  equal  number  of  islands ; 
some  of  which,  as  the  isles  of  Sweaborg,  have  been  converted  into  fortresses  of 
great  strength.  The  interior  of  Finland  is  intersected  and  broken  np  by  a  vast 
number  of  inland  lakes,  shooting  out  their  winding  arms  and  branches  in  all 
directions  ;  which  while  they  ofi^er  the  greatest  facilities  for  internal  navigation, 
render  land  travelling  circuitous  and  difficult.  Many  of  the  high  roads  pass  over 
islands  on  these  lakes,  the  natural  strength  of  whose  situation  has  been  taken 
advantage  of  to  cover  them  with  batteries ;  some  of  them,  as  at  Viborg  and 
Nyslot,  impregnable,  save  to  fraud  or  famine. 

There  is  a  most  striking  difference  between  the  inhabitants  of  the  Finnish 
provinces  to  the  west,  and  those  to  the  east  of  Viborg,  but  recently  severed- 
from  Sweden,  whose  customs  and  manners,  and  even  language,  they  had  almost 
universally  adopted.  The  Fins  along  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  scarcely 
present  any  marked  distinction  from  the  people  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the 
Baltic ;  but  the  same  good-humoured  faces,  and  apparent  anxiety  to  please,  di- 
minish in  a  very  perceptible  ratio  as  you  advance  further  inland.  Nearly  the 
same  dress,  both  of  men  and  women,  and  the  readiness  with  which  they  all 
speak  Swedish,  make  the  traveller  almost  forget  that  he  is  in  a  land  that  owns 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Tzar.  The  Fins  have  what  they  term  a  constitution,  and 
are  not  a  little  proud  of  their  national  distinctions.  The  regiiuents  raised  in 
Finland  are  not  mixed  promiscuously  with  the  general  forces  of  the  Russian 
empire,  and  their  fleet,  by  far  the  best  manned  portion  of  the  Russian  naval  force, 
forms  a  distinct  squadron,  under  the  Finnish  flag.  Beyond  Viborg  one  appears 
suddenly  thrown  among  a  strange  people  :  beards  become  almost  universal,  from 
the  post-master  to  the  driver — sheep-skins  are  worn,  and  low-crowned  hats  with  a 
profusion  of  buckles  ;  the  loose  trowsers  are  tucked  into  the  boots  ;  all  is  Russian. 
Swedish  is  scarcely  understood,  and  dollars  and  skillings  are  no  longer  current 


356  GENERAL   VIEW   OF    FINLAND.  Sect.  IV. 

Everything  seems  tamed  down  by  the  military  system,  the  road  becomes  level, 
and  wide  plains  spread  their  monotonous  extent  on  all  sides ;  the  villages,  formed 
of  a  long  straight  row  of  wooden  cottages,  lining  the  road  on  either  side  with 
their  gable-ends,  are  all  built  exactly  alike,  and  all  still  and  silent,  with  scarce 
a  living  being  to  be  seen,  except  a  few  melancholy  looking  children  and  pigs 
— the  latter  certainly  curiosities  in  their  way,  attenuated,  half-starved  looking 
animals,  with  sharp-pointed  snouts. 

The  living  in  Finland  we  found  very  tolerable,  though  certainly  by  no  means 
luxurious  :  plenty  of  dried  salmon,  beefsteaks,  and  potatoes  may  almost  always 
be  procured,  and  generally  fish,  but  that  is  usually  coarse  and  tasteless.  Port- 
wine  and  Gottenburg  porter,  both  excellenfof  their  kind,  and  mead,  of  which 
both  Fins  and  Russians  are  extremely  fond,  form  the  staple  articles  in  the  drink- 
ing way. 

Almost  all  the  Fins  of  the  western  provinces  are  Lutherans,  while  in  the 
Russian,  the  Greek  church  is  the  universal  religion.  The  transition  from  the 
pointed  steeple  of  the  Lutherans  to  the  yellow  and  green  domes  of  the  Greek 
church,  is  not  less  striking  than  the  difference  both  in  dress  and  features  of  the 
natives  of  the  different  provinces. 


Finland,     route  89. — Stockholm  to  st.  peteesburgh.       357 


KOUTES  THROUGH  FINLAND. 


ROUTE  89. 

STOCKHOLM    TO    ST.    PETBRSBURGH,    BY 
ABO,    HELSINGFOKSS,    AND    RBVAL. 

The  Baltic  may,  through  its  various 
inlets  and  fiords,  be  said  to  surround 
Stockholm  and  the  numerous  islands  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  that  picturesque 
and  charming  capital ;  and  animated 
indeed  is  the  watery  thoroughfare  there 
during  the  summer  months,  for  hun- 
dreds of  tiny  steamers  ply  in  every  di- 
rection, and  even  vessels  of  war,  as 
well  as  the  steamers  which  make  the  t^^a- 
jet  to  St.  Petersburgh,  and  other  ports 
in  the  Baltic,  ascend  one  of  these  fiords, 
and  moor  at  the  very  foot  of  the  royal 
palace,  which  stands  well,  on  an  emi- 
nence, and  forms,  with  the  towers  of 
the  Riddarhus,  an  admirable  foreground 
to  one  of  the  finest  panoramic  views  in 
Europe.  To  travellers  who  come  from 
Russia,  and  whose  eyes  have  been 
wearied  with  steppe  travelling,  this 
view  Avill  be  doubly  pleasing.  In 
other  and  more  prosperous  days  the 
Swedish  monarchs,  when  they  de- 
sired to  visit  Finland,  had  only  to  de- 
scend the  steps  of  their  palace,  and 
walk  on  board  the  man  of  war  which 
was  destined  to  convey  them  to  that 
part  of  their  dominions,  and  it  was  on 
this  spot  that  the  burghers  of  Stock- 
holm erected  a  statue  to  Grustavus  III, 
when  he  returned  from  his  victorious 
expedition  to  that  province.  The  statue 
is  of  bronze,  and  has  one  foot  turned  out 
as  if  he  were  going  to  lead  off  in  the 
**  Pastorelle."  "  Did  the  artist  dream,' ' 
observes  a  French  writer,  "  that  the 
tragical  end  of  that  sovereign  would  be 
at  a  bain"  From  this  quay  the  tra- 
veller will,  early  in  the  morning,  step 
on  board  the  steamer  for  Abo  and  St. 
Petersburgh,  and  if  the  weather  is  at 
all  fine,  which  it  generally  is  during 
the  summer  months,  we  should  recom- 
mend him  not  to  leave  the  deck  till  he 


reaches  the  opposite  side  of  the  gulf- 
Leaving  Stockholm  at   daybreak,  the 
vessel  passes  up  the  fiord,  hemmed  in 
by  bold  granite  rocks,   sometimes  co- 
vered with  the  dark  green  foliage  of 
every  species   of  fir,    at  others  naked 
and  rugged,  fitting  altars  for  the  wor- 
ship  of  the  old  pagan  deities  of  the 
country.     Passing  the  heights  of  Mose- 
backen  on  the  right,  on  the  left  are 
seen  a  succession  of  gardens,  and  the 
villas  of  the  park.     Beyond  this  the 
expanse  of  water  opens  by  degrees,  and 
then  again  closes  in  running  sometimes 
into  inlets,  where  wood  and  water  meet, 
leaving  the  imagination  to  surmise  how 
far  the  latter  flows  beyond  the  pendant 
branches ;  and  amidst  such  scenery  the 
steamer  brings  to,  for  the  inspection  of 
her   papers,    at    Waxholm,    the    most 
easterly  and  outlying  fortress  on  which 
the   Swedish    flag   now    waves.      The 
works  are  well  disposed,  and  command 
the  passage ;  and  the  distancefrom  thence 
to  Stockholm  is  about  ten  miles.     From 
Waxholm  the  entire  distance  across  the 
Gulf  of  Bothnia,  with  the  exception  of 
one  short  interval  of  open  sea,  is  little 
more  than    a    succession    of    islands, 
thronging  one  on  the  other  so  closely 
as  to  give  the  sea  the  appearance  of  a 
succession  of  small  lakes,  from  which 
you  can  frequently  discover  no  issue 
until  within  a  few  yards  of  the  rocky 
boundary  before  you ;    when   another 
lake,  similar  to  that  you  have  already 
traversed,  opens  out,  hemmed  in  on  all 
sides  with  its  own  encircling  islands  : 
some  bare,  and  bleak,  and  desolate; 
and   others,    close   beside,   green   and 
smiling,  with  trees,  gardens,  and  cot- 
tages. The  steamer  stops  twice  or  thrice 
during  the  day,  to  perform  that  most 
tedious   operation  — taking   in   wood  ; 
and  thus  gives  the  traveller  an  opportu- 
nity of  exploring  the  scenery  of  some 
of  these  innumerable  islands.     In  the 
afternoon  the  precincts  of  the  Russian 

R  3 


358 


EOUTE    89. ABO. 


Sect.  IV. 


dominions  are  entered,  and  the  steamer 
brings  up  for  the  night  near  the  isle  of 
Sottunga,  one  of  the  most  eastward  of 
the  Aland  group.  The  larger  island, 
with  its  vast  citadel  of  Bomarsund,  lies 
to  the  north,  and  out  of  sight ;  it  is 
said  to  have  room  within  its  far  ex- 
tended ramparts  for  upwards  of  60,000 
men,  and  a  harbour  capable  of  contain- 
ing the  whole  Russian  fleet,  not,  in  the 
event  of  hostilities,  a  very  agreeable 
neighbour  for  Sweden,  as  the  nearest 
point  of  her  eastern  coast  is  not  above 
25  English  miles  distant  from  the 
extreme  west  of  the  Russian  territory. 

It  was  near  the  largest  island  of 
the  Aland  group  that  Peter  the  Grreat, 
in  1714,  gained  that  victory  over 
the  Swedes  which  first  made  Russia 
known  as  a  naval  power.  These 
avant  posies  of  that  country  are 
scantily  populated,  the  islands^  not 
containing  more  than  14,000  inhabit- 
ants. These  individuals  turn  their  hand 
to  almost  every  kind  of  occupation, 
many  of  them  are  at  one  and  the  same 
time,  fishermen,  agriculturists,  and  pi- 
lots ;  from  their  infancy  they  are  taught 
to  row  a  boat,  set  a  sail,  and  make 
themselves  acquainted  with  every  nook 
and  corner  in  the  islands,  as  well  as 
the  particular  form  of  each  headland 
and  rock  ;  in  winter  they  transport  fish, 
wood,  and  other  articles  from  one  end 
of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  to  the  other; 
also  the  mail.  On  the  following  morning, 
after  leaving  Stockholm,  the  steamer 
again  pursues  its  way,  and  soon  enters 
the  island  group  that  projects  from  the 
Finnish  coast,  forming  another  succes- 
sion of  lakes  similar  to  those  passed 
through  on  the  previous  day  :  some  of 
the  passages  are  extremely  narrow  and 
dangerous,  the  channel  being  marked 
by  poles,  as  in  the  Swedish  lakes. 

On  arriving  oif  the  Aurajoki,  the  Abo 
river,  large  vessels  remain  there  and 
discharge  their  cargoes.  The  steamer, 
drawing  but  little  water,  proceeds  at 
once  to  the  town.  On  the  hill  near 
the  entrance  of  the  river,  which  is  de- 
fended by  the  fort  of  Abohus,  is  the 


village  of  Boxholm,  with  its  red  painted 
houses,  principally  inhabited  by  trades- 
men and  fishermen. 

Abo. — Inn  :  The  Society's  House, 
on  the  Quay,  the  best.  The  first 
view  of  Aho  (pronounced  Obo)  is  fine, 
its  old  castle  stands  full  before  you, 
with  the  remnant  of  its  massive  tower, 
that  braved  for  centuries  the  assaults 
of  time  and  the  elements,  while  on  the 
height  beyond  is  seen  the  far-famed 
observatory,  now,  alas  !  untenanted. 
Entering  the  river  on  which  Abo  is 
built,  the  steamer  anchors  close  to  the 
Society's  house,  and  the  deck  is  soon 
crowded  with  Russian  officers,  in  uni- 
forms of  various  colours,  but  no  attempt 
is  made  to  search  either  your  person  or 
baggage.  The  passport  only  is  ex- 
amined. A  sentinel  stands  with  fixed 
bayonet  at  the  gangway  until  the  of- 
ficials retire,  and  the  traveller  is  then 
at  liberty  to  set  his  foot  on  Russian 
ground. 

The  streets  of  Abo  strike  one  at  first 
as  enormously  wide,  though  they  by 
no  means  exceed  the  usual  dimensions  of 
Russian  towns ;  but  the  low  style  of 
building,  almost  universal  in  this  town, 
and  the  number  of  sites  at  present  un- 
occupied by  houses,  joined  to  the  soli- 
tary appearance  of  its  almost  deserted 
thoroughfares,  give  an  air  of  desolation 
to  the  whole  place.  The  glory  of  Abo 
has  indeed  departed.  It  had  once  a 
flourishing  port  and  a  well  attended 
university — its  trade  is  now  inconsider- 
able, and  its  University  is  removed  to 
Helsingforss,  the  Russian  capital  of  Fin- 
land. A  destructive  fire,  the  ravages 
of  which  are  even  now  not  fully  re- 
paired, came  to  give  the  final  blow  to 
its  already  sinking  fortunes. 

This  fearful  conflagration,  which  took 
place  in  November,  1827,  consumed 
nearly  the  whole  city,  including  the 
university  and  its  valuable  library,  and 
other  public  buildings.  The  fire  raged 
for  two  whole  days,  and  was  not  ex- 
tinguished until  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-six  houses,  out  of  eleven  hun- 
dred, were  a  mass  of  blackened  ruins. 


Finland. 


EOUTE    89. ABO. 


359 


When  the  town  was  rebuilt,  the  public 
edifices,  as  well  as  the  houses,  were 
placed  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
each  other,  and  the  town  now  covers 
as  much  ground  as  Dresden,  though 
its  inhabitants  do  not  exceed  more  than 
12,000,  which,  from  being  spread  over 
so  large  a  surface,  do  not  give  one  the 
idea  of  amounting  even  to  that  number. 
Abo  is  the  most  ancient  city  in  Fin- 
land ;  its  history  being  co  existent  with 
the  reign  of  Eric  the  Saint,  that  is 
from  1150-1160,  the  period  at  which 
Christianity  was  first  introduced  into 
this  wild  and  cold  region.  The  castle 
is  as  ancient  as  the  town,  and  arrested 
more  than  once  the  onward  march  of 
the  Russian  armies.  It  was  in  the 
dungeons  of  this  building  that  Eric 
XIV.  was  imprisoned  previous  to  his 
death,  which  took  place  some  time 
afterwards  at  Orebyhus.  The  castle  is 
now  used  as  a  prison,  and  is  garrisoned 
by  half  a  battalion  of  infantry.  The 
Cathedral  of  Abo  is  also  highly  inte- 
resting, not  however  on  account  of  its 
external  appearance,  which  is  coarse  and 
heavy,  but  for  the  architectural  struc- 
ture of  its  interior,  which  is  of  three 
epochs ;  but  this  cathedral  is  more  par- 
ticulary  worthy  of  interest  from  its 
having  been  the  cradle  of  Christianity 
in  Finland — here  the  first  episcopal 
chair  was  instituted,  and  for  centuries 
the  first  families  were  buried.  The 
vaults  of  the  chapels  are  filled  with 
their  remains,  and  some  of  their  monu- 
ments are  not  unworthy  of  attention. 
On  one  of  them  is  an  epitaph  to  Caro- 
line Morsson,  a  girl  taken  from  the 
ranks  of  the  people  by  Eric  XIV.,  and 
who,  after  having  worn  the  Swedish 
diadem,  returned  to  Finland  and  died 
in  obscuritj^,  while  her  royal  husband, 
as  has  been  above  stated,  ended  his 
days  in  a  prison.  In  the  same  chapel, 
and  at  the  end  of  it,  are  two  statues  in 
white  marble,  the  size  of  life,  kneeling 
on  a  sarcophagus,  supported  by  columns 
of  black  marble ;  these  are  the  wealthy 
and  powerful  Clas  Tott,  grandson  of 
Eric  XIV.,  and  his  wife.      The  latter 


seems  to  have  had  a  wish  to  perpetuate 
her  admiration  for  a  handsome  toilette, 
for  she  is  tricked  out  with  necklace  and 
bracelets  as  if  for  a  wedding-day.  In 
another  chapel  is  the  monument  of 
Stalhandsk,  one  of  the  generals,  and, 
we  may  add,  heroes  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War.  The  fire  of  1827  com- 
pletely gutted  this  church,  and  not  only 
were  the  altar  and  organ  destroyed, 
but  even  the  bells  were  melted  by  the 
devouring  element.  Subscriptions  have 
restored  the  cathedral,  and  a  patriotic 
Fin,  a  baker  by  trade,  Avho  had  amass- 
ed about  2500^.  in  his  business,  and 
was  without  any  near  relative,  left  that 
sum  to  purchase  an  organ  at  his  death. 
Effect  was  given  to  his  wishes,  and  an 
organ  of  5000  pipes,  the  largest  in  the 
north,  now  raises  its  decorated  and 
painted  head  nearly  to  the  roof  of  the 
building. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  founded  an  aca- 
demy here  in  1630,  which  Christina 
subsequently  elevated  into  a  university. 
Abo,  like  Amiens,  Ryswick,  and,  alas  ! 
Cintra,  is  distinguished  by  a  treaty, 
being  the  spot  on  which  the  relations 
between  Russia  and  Sweden  were  set- 
tled by  a  peace  during  the  last  century. 
Here,  too,  Alexander  and  Bernadotte 
concluded  that  treaty  which  arrayed 
Sweden  against  France,  and  placed  the 
Swedish  monarch,  a  Frenchman,  in  the 
anomalous  position  of  fighting  against 
his  own  countrymen. 

Vexed  as  the  Swedes — a  proud  and 
martial  people — must  be  to  see  some 
of  their  finest  provinces  torn  from  them 
and  transferred  to  their  more  powerful 
neighbour;  the  separation  was  to  the 
full  as  keenly  felt  by  the  Fins.  .  Not 
only  from  forming  an  influential  and 
integral  part  of  a  kingdom,  were  they 
at  once  reduced  to  a  petty  province  of 
a  boundless  empire,  but  their  ancient 
ties  of  friendship  and  affection  were 
torn  asunder :  they  can  have  no  great 
sympathy  with  Russia — no  fellowship 
in  her  glory — no  anxiety  for  her  dis- 
tant conquests.  But  with  Sweden  it 
was  far  different;  the  steel-clad  Fins 


360 


ROUTE    89. HELSINGFORSS. 


Sect.  IV. 


formed,  under  the  mighty  Adolphus, 
a  part  of  that  unconquered  army  that 
humbled  to  the  dust  the  imperial  pride 
of  Austria;  and,  in  later  days,  they 
shared  under  Charles  XII.  the  glories 
of  Narva,  and  their  stubborn  valour 
retrieved  for  a  moment  the  waning 
fortunes  of  the  fatal  day  of  Pultava. 
The  very  people  are  the  same  :  the 
kindness,  the  open-hearted  frankness 
of  manner,  the  unwearied  civility,  and, 
the  scrupulous  honesty  of  the  Swede, 
are  alike  to  be  met  with  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  western  provinces  of 
Finland.  The  traveller,  during  his 
wanderings,  will  hardly  meet  with  a 
people  so  attaching,  or  with  whom  he 
will  so  soon  find  himself  on  terms  of 
intimacy,  as  the  Swedes  and  Fins. 
Even  the  valet  de  'place,  at  Stockholm, 
Andrew  Bergland,  whose  services  and 
fidelity  we  can,  safely  recommend  to 
all  future  travellers,  seemed  a  being 
of  a  different  species  to  the  cheating 
vagabonds  of  the  same  "profession," 
who  lay  the  traveller  under  contri- 
bution in  Italy,  or  even  the  German 
Fatherland  :  his  very  soul  seemed  hor- 
rified at  the  prospect  of  the  impositions 
we  were  about  to  encounter,  and  his 
parting  salutation  was  —  "  Good  bye, 
gentlemen  ;  God  bless  you  !  take  care 
of  yourselves." 

The  steamer  will  reach  Helsingforss 
the  day  oSuceeding  that  on  which  it 
leaves  Abo,  after  passing  through 
most  singular  and  interesting  coast 
scenery ;  it  may,  however,  be  summed 
up  in  three  words,  sea,  granite,  firs, — 
yet  these  are  so  constantly  varied  in 
their  position  and  circumstances  that  the 
effect  cannot  be  said  to  be  monoto- 
nous. The  sea,  in  some  instances,  is 
as  still  as  an  inland  lake,  at  others 
it  may  be  heard  beating  furiously 
against  the  natural  rock  of  granite  to 
seaward ;  few  vessels  are  seen,  and 
those  are  principally  very  small  craft, 
carrying  wood  or  fish  from  the  islands 
to  the  main  land. 

The  approach  to  Helsingforss  by 
water  is  exceedingly  striking — the  har- 


bour is  very  extensive  and  well  protected 
by  the  works  and  fortress  of  S  weaborg ; 
these  are  built  on  seven  islands,  and 
from  the  extent  of  the  fortifications,  and 
the  strength  of  their  position,  it  has 
been  termed  the  Gibraltar  of  the  North.. 
The  original  fortress  was  built  by  Count 
Ehrenswerd,  Field  Marshal  of  Sweden, 
whose  dying  request  was  that  he  should 
be  buried  here  ;  on  his  monument  is 
the  following  inscription  : — "  On  this 
spot,  and  surrounded  by  his  own 
work,  repose  the  remains  of  the 
Count  Auguste  Ehrenswerd."  —  The 
last  stone  of  the  citadel  was  laid 
in  1758,  and,  after  the  conquest  of 
Viborg  and  Ingermania  by  Peter  the 
Great,  this  fortress  was  the  last 
rampart  of  Sweden  against  the  Rus- 
sians, and  the  rallying  point  of  her 
troops  and  fleet.  In  March,  1808,  it 
was  besieged  \>^  the  Russians,  and,  two 
months  after.  Admiral  Cronstadt,  who 
defended  the  place  with  1500  men  and 
two  frigates,  capitulated,  though  well 
furnished  with  every  munition  of  war ; 
the  secret  of  this  capitulation,  without 
example  in  history,  for  there  were 
scarcely  enough  Russians  to  man  the 
walls  after  the  Swedes  left  it,  was 
never  known.  Cronstadt  had  been  tried 
on  various  occasions,  and  was  never 
found  wanting  in  energy  and  courage, 
and  no  suspicion  was  ever  entertained 
that  he  had  been  base  enough  to  be- 
tray his  country  and  his  honour  for  the 
sake  of  money.  After  the  fortress  had 
been  surrendered,  the  admiral,  who 
had  shown  a  desire  to  return  to  Sweden 
and  explain  to  his  sovereign  the  motives 
of  his  conduct,  retired  to  Helsingforss, 
and  some  years  afterwards,  when  com- 
pletely isolated  from  the  world,  died,  it 
is  said,  of  grief. 

Helsingforss. — hms :  The  Society- 
house  in  the  great  square.  Hotel  du 
Nord,  facing  the  harbour.  The  accom- 
modation is  pretty  good  at  both  these 
hotels,  and  they  are  generally  full  dur- 
ing the  summer  months,  being  at  that 
season  the  rendezvous  of  the  visitors 
from  Reval.    The  town  of  Helsingforss 


Finland. 


■ROUTE    89. HELSINGFORSS. 


361 


is,  historically  speaking,  comparatively 
of  modern  creation,  having  been  founded 
by  Gustavus  Wasa  in  the  16th  century  : 
its  name  came  from  a  colony  of  the 
province  of  Helsingland,  which  had 
been  established  in  the  neighbourhood 
for  several  centuries.  In  1639,  how- 
ever, the  town  changed  its  site,  and 
the  inhabitants  moved  their  wooden 
houses  nearer  the  sea-shore ;  and  on 
the  spot  where  Helsingforss  now  stands 
— war,  plague,  famine,  and  fire  ravaged 
it,  each  in  its  turn,  and  the  end  of  a 
century  found  it  with  only  a  population 
of  5000  souls ;  at  the  present  moment 
it  numbers  16,000,  exclusive  of  the 
garrison.  The  Russians  have  greatly 
augmented  and  improved  Helsingforss 
since  it  came  into  their  possession, 
more  particularly  since  the  year  1819, 
when  it  became  the  capital  of  Finland  ; 
the  removal  to  it  of  the  University  of 
Abo,  and  the  Senate,  after  the  confla- 
gration of  that  town  in  1827,  also  ma- 
terially increased  its  importance.  The 
streets  are  long,  large,  and  laid  out  at 
right  angles,  as  in  most  Russian  towns. 
The  windows  of  the  hotel  look  out  on 
the  principal  square,  two  sides  of  which 
are  occupied  by  the  Senate-house  and 
University  respectively ;  these  are  two 
very  handsome  buildings,  and  on  the 
eastern  side  is  a  fine  church,  which, 
from  its  position  and  size,  is  a  very 
splendid  object.  The  houses  are  large 
and  regular,  and  a  handsome  granite 
quay  extends  along  the  water  in  front 
of  the  town.  Many  of  the  roofs  of  the 
houses  are  green,  which  the  traveller  will 
find  common  enough  when  he  reaches 
Russia.  Amongst  the  objects  worthy 
his  attention  is  the  Senate-house.  The 
chambers  in  which  the  various  branches 
of  the  assembly  meet,  for  the  ordinary 
purposes  of  business,  are  simple,  and 
furnished  in  good  taste.  The  large 
hall,  intended  for  the  meeting  of  the 
senate  on  great  occasions,  contains  a 
splendid  throne  for  the  emperor,  who 
once  presided  in  person ;  it  is  hung 
with  portraits  of  former  governors  of 


Finland.  The  remains^of  the  Library, 
saved  from  the  fire  of  Abo,  is  at  present 
preserved  in  this  building.  It  consists 
of  about  80,000  volumes,  chiefly  editions 
of  the  classics  taken  by  Charles  XII. 
from  the  monasteries,  during  the  Seven 
Years'  War.  An  extensive  collection 
of  Sagas  and  historical  documents,  re- 
lating to  the  history  of  Finland,  unfor- 
tunately fell  a  prey  to  the  flames. 

In  the  University,  which  has  twenty- 
four  faculties  and  twenty -two  professors, 
may  be  seen  the  act  which  incorporated 
that  of  Abo  ;  it  is  signed  by  the  illus- 
trious Axel  Oxenstiern,  his  brother 
Gabriel,  and  Marshal  Jacques  de  la 
Gardie.  This  was  the  oldest  university 
in  Russia,  having  been  founded  by 
Christina  in  1630;  that  of  Dorpat, 
which  was  founded  eight  years  after, 
was  closed  between  1710  and  1799. 
Printing  was  not  introduced  into  Fin- 
land until  1641,  eleven  years  after  the 
university  was  established,  when  Wald, 
a  Swedish  printer,  made  a  contract 
with  the  rector,  and  established  himself 
at  Abo.  His  salary  was  ten  pounds 
a  year,  besides  which  he  received 
eighteen  pence  a  sheet ;  and  so  small 
was  his  set  of  types,  that  he  could  only 
set  up  half  a  sheet  at  a  time.  The 
library,  at  this  period,  contained  twenty- 
one  volumes  and  a  globe.  There  are 
several  agreeable  walks  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Helsingforss ;  amongst 
them  may  be  cited  that  to  the  forests 
of  Standsvik,  the  solitary  coast  near 
Mailand,  and  the  verdant  gardens  of 
Traeskenda. 

The  Museum  of  the  university 
contains  an  extensive  collection  of  mi- 
nerals, and  objects  of  natural  history: 
in  specimens  of  the  zoology  of  Finland 
it  is  particularly  rich. 

The  JYew  Church  is  in  the  form  of 
a  Greek  cross  :  each  side  is  terminated 
by  a  handsome  portico  of  Corinthian 
columns,  and  a  dome  rises  in  the 
centre.  It  stands  on  a  large  mass  of 
granite,  and  may  be  seen  some  miles 
from  the  town. 


362 


EOUTE    89. HELSINGFORSS — EEVAL. 


Sect.  IV. 


The  Assemhly- Rooms  on  the  Espla- 
nade, the  barracks,  and  hospitals  are 
fine  buildings.  It  will  be  remarked 
that  in  Helsingforss  the  native  granite 
rock  frequently  forms  the  foundation 
of  these  extensive  edifices. 

The  Botanical  Garden,  about  a 
mile  from  the  town,  is  used  as  a  public 
promenade,  and  commands  a  view  of 
the  surrounding  country. 

A  fine  view  of  the  town  may  also 
be  obtained  from  the  Observatory, 
which  stands  on  an  eminence.  It  is 
fitted  up  with  requisite  instruments, 
and  in  it  a  series  of  important  magnetic 
and  astronomical  experiments  are  being 
carried  out. 

A  bathing -house,  and  an  establish- 
ment for  the  manufacture  of  mineral 
waters,  have  been  built  near  the  town. 

When  we  reflect  that  Helsingforss 
was  merely  a  small  town  in  1822,  and 
that  the  university  was  only  transferred 
thither  in  1827,  the  rapidity  with 
which  it  has  increased,  and  become 
a  handsome  capital,  is  perfectly  asto- 
nishing. 

A  traveller  should  visit  the  fortifi- 
cations of  Sioeaborg.  A  diminutive 
steam-boat  leaves  the  harbour  fre- 
quently during  the  day  for  the  islands, 
the  largest  of  which  is  about  five  acres 
in  extent.  From  hence  the  little 
vessel  should  be  steered  for  the 
Scheerin,  literally,  the  scissors,  a  beau- 
tiful chasm  of  sea,  between  meeting 
and  retreating  islands,  where  trees  with 
leaves  grow  by  the  water's  edge,  and 
where  the  holiday  folks  of  Helsingforss 
land,  and  carry  oiF  a  leaf  with  as  keen 
a  zest  as  others  would  the  choicest 
bouquet.  But  pleasure  suits  itself  to 
all — the  rich  can  but  be  pleased,  and 
very  often  are  not. 

The  trajet  from  Helsingforss  to 
Reval  is  short.  Should  the  steamer 
leave  the  former  town  at  noon,  she  will 
reach  Reval  in  the  afternoon.  In  fine 
weather  both  the  Finnish  and  Estho- 
nian  coasts  may  be  seen  from  mid- 
channel. 


Reyal Inns  :    the  Hotel  Witte- 

strand ;  and  the  Lion  d'Or.  They  are 
small,  and  will  afibrd  a  traveller  an 
idea  of  a  Russian  hotel.  He  may  find 
beds  and  a  room,  but  he  will  look  in 
vain  for  comfort.  Finland  has  customs 
privileges  which  Esthonia  has  not ;  the 
search,  therefore,  on  landing  here  is 
generally  very  severe. 

Esthonia,  too  insignificant  a  country 
to  govern  itself,  but,  from  its  fertility 
and  position,  too  tempting  a  prize  to 
be  disregarded  by  neighbouring  states, 
has  been  bandied  about  by  every 
northern  power,  and  has  exhibited 
scenes  of  suff"ering  and  discord  of  which 
the  history  of  the  town  of  Reval,  its 
capital,  is  sufficient  to  give  an  epitome. 
The  first  buildings  recorded  as  occupy- 
ing its  present  site  were  erected  by 
Eric  XIV.,  King  of  Denmark. 

"  These  consisted  of  a  monastery 
dedicated  to  the  archangel  Michael, 
afterwards  transformed  into  a  convent 
of  Cistercian  nuns,  the  ruins  of  which 
are  still  standing,  and  whence  the  Cis- 
ternpforte,  one  of  the  gates  of  the  town, 
derives  its  name ;  and  a  fortress  called 
Lindanisse,  and  by  the  peasants  Dani- 
Linna,  or  Danish  town,  whence  the 
contraction  Tallina,  the  Esthonian  name 
for  Reval  at  the  present  day.  To  these 
were  added  other  buildings  :  but  it  Avas 
not  until  1219  that  Waldemar  II.  of 
Denmark  pulled  down  the  fortress, 
probably  on  the  Dome  Hill,  and  set 
about  erecting  a  regular  town.  From 
this  time  it  appears  to  have  been  called 
Reval,  about  the  derivation  of  which 
many  have  disagreed,  but  which  ap- 
pears with  the  most  probability  to  arise 
from  the  Danish  word  Refwell,  a  reef; 
and  well  might  this  singular  reef  of 
circular  rocks,  which  stands  an  insu- 
lated mass,  with  plains  of  deep  sand 
around,  suggest  the  appellation*.  Re- 
val now  became  of  sufficient  importance 
to  be  quarrelled  for  by  the  Danes,  the 

*  Another  hypothesis  might  be  advanced 
from  a  famous  Danish  standard,  called 
Reafan,  or  raven. 


Finland. 


EOUTE    89. — EEVAL. 


363 


Swedes,  the  Livonian  Knights,  then 
recently  united  with  the  Grand  Order 
of  the  Teutonic  Knights,  and  even  by 
the  Pope  himself,  who,  however,  seems 
to  have  thrown  his  interest  into  the 
scale  of  Denmark,  by  whom,  in  1240, 
it  was  elevated  to  the  seat  of  a  bishopric. 
To  this  was  shortly  after  added  the 
privileges  of  a  Hanseatic  town,  upon 
the  same  footing  as  Liibeck,  which  for 
that  purpose  sent  over  a  copy  of  her 
municipal  charter, — a  document  still 
preserved  in  the  archives.  Trade  now 
began  to  flourish,  and  was  further  en- 
couraged during  the  regency  of  the 
Queen  Mother  of  Denmark,  Margaretta 
Sambiria,  who  selected  Esthonia  as  her 
Wittwensitz,  confirmed  and  increased 
the  privileges  of  Reval,  endowed  it  with 
the  right  of  coinage,  &c.,  and  enfran- 
chised it  from  all  outer  interference. 
These  privileges,  however,  did  not  ex- 
tend to  the  Dome,  where  the  Stadt- 
halter,  or  governor,  resided,  and  which, 
as  it  still  continues,  was  independent  of 
the  town,  and  not  considered  Reval. 
But  even  this  short  age  of  gold  was 
disturbed  by  many  bitter  squabbles 
about  rights  of  boundary,  &c.,  which 
have  by  no  means  fallen  into  disuse. 
In  1284  Reval  was  included  in  the 
Hanseatic  bond,  and  meanwhile  this 
fertile  province  of  Esthonia,  with  its 
wealthy  little  capital,  from  being  a 
widow's  dowry,  beeame  a  bride's  por- 
tion, and  in  right  of  his  wife,  a  princess 
of  Sweden,  was  possessed  for  some  time 
by  a  markgraf  of  Brandenburg.  After 
which  it  was  again  bandied  about, 
being  even  known  for  a  few  j'^ears  to 
govern  itself !  and  was  at  length,  the 
Danish  coffers  being  low,  formally 
sold,  in  1347,  to  the  Grand  Master  of 
the  Teutonic  Order  at  Marienburg,  and 
given,  at  first  in  trust,  and  afterwards 
as  an  independent  possession,  to  his 
ally,  the  Master  of  the  Order  in  Livonia. 
"  The  knights  were  very  glad  of  so 
fair  a  province  as  an  arena  for  their 
deeds,  and,  as  far  as  incessantly  and 
alternately  defending  and  embroiling 
it,  did  their  duty  most  valiantly,  build- 


ing also  castles,  where  they  lived  in 
great  pomp,  and  introducing  the  chival- 
rous feeling  of  the  age,  and  the  luxury 
which  always  followed  in  the  steps  of 
these  gay  bachelors.  And  what  with 
the  increasing  commercial  wealth  of 
Eeval,  this  luxury  was  carried  to  such 
a  pitch,  that  the  gentlemen  wore  heavy 
chains  of  gold,  and  pranced  about  on 
saddle-cloths  embroidered  with  jewels, 
and  the  ladies  sported  diamonds  and 
other  precious  stones  in  such  profusion, 
that  an  old  chronicler  says,  '  dass  man 
mit  dem  Werth  derselben  einen  guten 
Handel  anfangen,  und  Weih  und  Kin- 
der tiahren  Jconnte;'  and  at  weddings 
and  other  such  festivities,  which  were 
held  in  gothic  guildhalls,  some  of  which 
still  exist,  the  beer  was  poured  out  so 
unsparingly,  that  the  ladies  with  their 
diamond  looped  dresses  found  the  floor 
too  slippery  to  keep  their  footing,  and 
hay  was  brought  in  to  mop  it  up. 
At  this  time  Plat  Deutsch  was  the 
prevailing  language,  and  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  these  libations  of  malt  and 
hops. 

"It  may  be  supposed  that  all  this 
luxury  fell  hard  upon  the  neglected  serf 
peasant,  and  an  old  saying  still  exists, 
that  '  Esthonia  was  an  Elysium  for  the 
nobility,  a  heaven  for  the  clergy,  a 
mine  of  gold  for  the  stranger,  but  a 
hell  for  the  peasant,'  who,  agreeably 
to  the  history  of  most  republics,  was 
ground  down  to  the  most  abject  poverty. 
Consequently,  in  1560,  they  rose  in  im- 
mense numbers,  attacked  castles  and 
monasteries,  killing  and  slaying  all  be- 
fore them,  and  menaced  Heval,  where 
many  of  their  lords  had  taken  refuge, 
so  seriously,  that  with  Russia,  always  a 
troublesome  neighbour,  invading  their 
frontier,  and  unaided  by  their  knights, 
who  were  fettered  with  debts,  and  had 
battles  enough  of  their  own  to  fight  at 
this  time,  the  Revalensers  and  the  rest 
of  the  province  formally  thr§w  ofl"  the 
dominion  of  the  Order,  and,  calling 
over  the  aid  of  Sweden,  took  the  oaths 
of  allegiance  to  King  Eric  XIV.,  in 
1561. 


364 


ROUTE    89. — REVAL. 


Sect.  IV. 


"  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the 
Order  acquiesced  passively  in  this  trans- 
fer ;  on  the  contrary,  it  made  several 
attempts  to  reassume  its  rights,  while 
Russia,  to  whom  Esthoniahad  ever  been 
an  apple  of  discord,  laid  repeated  siege 
to  many  of  the  minor  towns.  But, 
otherwise,  peace  prevailed  during  the 
Swedish  sway;  and  Gustavus  Adolphus 
has  left,  in  various  wise  institutions, 
many  traces  of  his  paternal  government, 
and  Christina,  his  daughter,  of  hers, 
principally  in  the  establishment  of  a 
so-called  Ritterhank,  or  regular  matri- 
culated nobility.  But  the  days  of  peace 
were  chequered  by  alternate  plague 
and  famine,  and  the  Hanseatic  influence 
declining,  Reval  declined  also. 

"  The  manner  in  which  the  provinces 
of  Esthonia  and  Livonia  were  wrested 
from  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  by  Peter 
the  Great,  is  too  well  known  to  need  re- 
petition. The  Esthonians  esteem  them- 
selves fortunate  in  being  united  to 
Russia  under  so  enlightened  a  Tzar,  who 
left  them  all  their  privileges,  and  took 
much  delight  in  his  new  acquisition, 
visiting  Reval  several  times,  and  insti- 
tuting public  improvements.  Reval 
indeed  has  received  visits  from  all  the 
sovereigns  in  turn,  who  have  paid  due 
homage  to  its  beauty  and  salubrity ; 
and  also,  among  similar  events,  remem- 
bers with  pride  the  visit  of  Nelson. 

"  The  province  has  been  allowed 
to  retain  its  own  jurisdiction,  which 
is  administered  by  twelve  Landrathe, 
a  strictly  honorary  office,  dating  from 
the  fourteenth  century.  The  most  dis- 
tinguished names  which  fill  the  pages 
of  Esthonian  history,  either  in  an  epi- 
scopal, military,  or  civil  capacity,  are 
those  of  the  Barons  Meyendorf,  Uxkiill, 
the  Esthonian  nan^  for  the  same,  but 
now  a  distinct  family,  Rosen,  and  Un- 
gern,  all  of  which  still  exist  in  very 
flourishing  condition,  with  many  others, 
of  more  recent  origin,  from  Sweden, 
Russia,  and  all  parts  of  Europe,  in- 
cluding even  the  names  of  Douglas*, 

*  Of  the  house  of  Angus  none  now  re- 


O'Rourke,  and  Lewis  of  Menar,  which 
stand  here  in  friendly  propinquity, 
their  British  origin  being  overlooked 
in  their  established  Esthonian  anti- 
quity. 

"  I  will  only  add  that  Reval  and  Estho- 
nia— for  their  histories  blend  too  much 
to  be  separated — were  more  or  less 
under  the  dominion  of  Denmark  until 
1347,  under  that  of  the  Order  or 
Schwerdt-briider  until  1561,  under 
Sweden  until  1700,  since  when  they 
have  proved  themselves  most  loyal  sub- 
jects to  Russia,  who  selects  her  best 
civil  and  military  oflicers  from  this 
Polyglot  colony,  and  are  caressed  as 
'  mes  hons  Estoniens^  by  Nicholas  I., 
whom  Boje  chrani!  or,  in  good  English, 
God  preserve  !  "  * 

Reval  is  divided  into  two  parts,  the 
upper  and  lower  town;  the  former, 
perched  on  the  top  of  a  rocky  eminence, 
about  a  mile  in  circumference,  encloses 
within  its  old  gothic  walls  the  Dom, 
the  castle,  with  the  residence  of  the 
governor,  the  commandant's  house,  the 
gymnasium,  and  the  houses  of  the"  no- 
bility. The  whole  of  this  quarter  is 
called  the  Dom,  and  no  plebeian  is 
permitted  to  possess  ground  on  this 
aristocratic  reef  of  rocks.  The  lower 
part,  the  descent  to  which  is  very 
steep,  at  one  spot  almost  dangerous  for 
carriages,  is  of  considerable  extent,  and 
in  the  broad  streets,  stretching  to  the 
flat  sandy  shore  of  the  harbour,  are  the 
dwellings  and  warehouses  of  the  mer- 
chants, the  rath-house,  the  guild-house^ 
the  bank,  the  barracks,  and  the  theatre. 
The  churches  of  Reval  are  nixmerous, 
including  five  Russian,  one  Swedish, 
one  Danish,  and  four  German.  The 
Lutheran  are  of  great  antiquity.  To 
speak  of  the  Olaikirche  as  such,  may 
seem  somewhat  paradoxical,  for  the 
church  of  that  name,  which  was  origin- 
ally built  in  1329,  was  struck,  and 
partially  consumed,  by  lightning  no 
less  than  eight  times;  and  it  is  only 

main,  the  last  Countess  Douglas,  a  beautiful 
heiress,  having  married  Count  Igelstrom. 
*  Letters  from  the  Baltic. 


Finland, 


EOUTE    89. REVAL. 


365 


eight  years  ago  since  it  rose  from  the 
ashes  in  which  it  was  laid  in  1820, 

"  Its  archives  and  library,  however, 
preserve  an  unbroken  history ;  and  many 
of  its  architectural  ornaments,  coeval 
■  with  its  earliest  erection,  have  been 
saved  from  the  flames.  Among  the 
former  is  a  piece  of  sculpture  of  great 
richness,  consisting  of  two  wide  niches, 
the  upper  one  empty,  the  lower  occu- 
pied by  a  skeleton,  with  a  toad  resting 
on  the  body  and  a  serpent  crawling  out 
of  the  ear — supposed  to  typify  the  de- 
struction of  an  idol  image  recorded  to 
have  been  filled  with  these  reptiles  : 
and  with  a  gorgeous  breadth  of  stone 
work  in  eight  partitions  around,  ex- 
hibiting the  triumph  of  Christianity  in 
the  Passion  of  our  Saviour,  and  other 
parts  of  the  New  Testament.  This 
bears  date  1513.  The  tower  of  St. 
Olai,  which  has  been  rebuilt  precisely 
on  the  former  scale  and  form,  is  about 
250  English  feet  high,  and  serves  as  a 
landmark  in  navigation.  This  edifice, 
the  cathedral  church  of  the  lower  town, 
is  in  pure  early  gothic,  with  lancet 
windows  of  great  beauty,  and  dedicated 
to  St.  Olai,  a  canonized  king  of  Nor- 
way, who  mounted  the  throne  at  the 
beginning  of  the  11th  century,  and  first 
introduced  Christianity  among  the  Nor- 
wegians. 

"  The  next  church  of  importance  is 
that  of  St,  Nicholas — a  large,  three- 
aisled  structure  with  a  massive  square 
tower — built  by  Bishop  Nicholas  in 
1317.  This  appears  to  have  eluded  the 
zeal  of  the  iconoclasts  of  reforming 
times,  who  throughout  Esthonia  seem  to 
have  been  as  hasty  in  stripping  the 
churches  as  her  doctors  were  in  de- 
nuding the  creed,  and  possesses  many 
relics  of  Roman  Catholic  times.  The 
most  interesting  are  the  pictures  of  the 
altar,  especially  two  wing  paintings 
containing  small  half-length  figures  of 
bishops,  cardinals,  priests,  and  nuns — 
three  on  each  side — in  Holbein's  time 
and  manner,  on  a  blue  ground,  and  of 
great  beauty.  Also  a  picture,  placed 
for  better  lighting  at  the  back  of  the 


altar — a  Crucifixion,  including  the  two 
thieves,  with  town  and  mountains  in 
the  background,  and  a  procession  of 
equestrian  figures  entering  the  gate. 
This  is  of  singular  beauty  of  expression 
and  form,  though  much  injured  by  re- 
cent renovations — of  the  school  of  Ra- 
phael, and  especially  in  the  manner  of 
Andrea  del  Salerno. 

"  Immediately  at.the  entrance  of  the 
church,  on  the  right  hand,  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  oft-repeated  Dance  of 
Death — coinciding  not  only  in  age  and 
arrangement,  but  also  word  for  word  in 
the  Plat  Deutsch  verses  beneath,  with 
the  same  subject  in  St.  Mary's  Church 
at  Liibeck — in  some  instances  each  mu- 
tually assisting  the  other's  deficiency. 
The  beginning,  including  the  Pope,  the 
Emperor,  the  Empress,  the  Cardinal, 
and  the  King,  which,  if  I  mistake  not, 
are  failing  in  Liibeck,  are  here  pre- 
served. The  rest  is  lost  or  defaced, 
though  the  inscriptions  are  in  a  few 
cases  still  legible — and  terminating 
with  '  Dat  WegenTcind  to  dem  Dode ' 
the  cradle-child  to  death — with  this 
naive  couplet : 

•  O  Dot !  wo  shal  ik  dat  vorstan ! 
Ik  shal  danssen,  un  kan  nicht  ghan  !' 

or,  in  good  German, 

'  O  Tod !  wie  soil  ich  dass  verstchen  ! 
Ich  soil  tanzen,  und  kann  nicht  gehen !' 

which  we  may  thus  render  in  English — 

Oh  Death  !  what's  the  use  of  all  this  talk ! 
Would  you  have  me  dance  before  I  can 
walk? 

But  the  peculiar  drollery  of  Plat 
Deutsch  is  unattainable  in  a  more  cul- 
tivated tongue. 

"  The  chapels  of  some  of  the  chief 
nobility,  with  massive  iron  gates  and 
richly  adorned  with  armorial  bearings, 
are  attached  to  this  church,  though  all 
in  a  very  neglected  state.  The  Rosen 
chapel  is  now  occupied  by  the  unburied 
body  of  a  prince,  who  expiates  in  this 
form  a  life  of  extravagance.  The  Duke 
de  Croy — a  Prince  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, Markgraf  of  Mount  Cornette,  and 
of  other  fiefs,  &c.,  and  descended  from 
the  kings  of  Hungary — after  serving 


366 


ROUTE    89, — REVAL. 


Sect.  IV. 


with  distinction  under  tlie  Emperor  of 
Austria   and   King  of  Poland,  passed 
over  to  the  service  of  Peter  the  Great, 
obtained  the  command  of  the  Russian 
army,  and  was  defeated  by  Charles  XII. 
at  the  battle  of  Narva,     Fearing  the 
Tzar's  resentment,  he  surrendered  to  the 
enemy,  and  was  sent  a  prisoner  at  large 
to  Reval,  which  has  been,  and  is  still, 
the  scene  of  honourable  banishment  for 
state  prisoners,  and  which  at  that  epoch 
was  yet  under  the  sway  of   Sweden. 
Here,  indulging  a  passion  for  ostenta- 
tion, he  managed  to  spend  so  much,  that 
though  only  a  few  years  elapsed  be- 
tween his  removal    to  Reval  and  his 
death,  the  residue  of  his  fortune  was 
unequal  to  meet  his  debts,  upon  which 
the  numerous  creditors,  availing  them- 
selves of  an  old  law,  which  refuses  the 
rites  of  sepulture  to  insolvent  debtors, 
combined  to  deny  him  a  Christian  bu- 
rial, and    the    body  was    placed  in  a 
cellar  in  the  precincts  of  this  church. 
It  might  be  imagined  that  when  these 
said  relentless  creditors  were  not  only 
dead,  but,  unlike  their   noble  debtor, 
buried  also,  the  Duke  de  Croy  would 
have  found  a  resting-place  ;  but  when 
that  time  came,  all  who  had  profited, 
as  well  as  all  those  who  had  lost  by  his 
extravagance,  were  gone  also,  and  their 
descendants  cared   little    how  he  had 
lived  or  how  he  had  died.   So  the  body 
remained    in  its  unconsecrated  abode, 
•Until,  accident  having  discovered  it,  in 
1819,  in  a  state  of  perfect  preservation 
owing  to  the  anti-putrescent  properties 
of  the  cold,  it   was  removed  into  the 
Rosen  chapel,   and  now  ranks  among 
the  lions  of  this  little   capital.       The 
corpse  is  attired  in  a  rich  suit  of  black 
velvet  and  white  satin,   equally  unin- 
jured by  the  tooth  of  time — with  silk 
stockings,  full  curled  wig,  and  a  ruff 
of  the  most  exquisite  point  lace,  which 
any  modern  grand  duchess  might  also 
approve.     The  remains  are  those  of  a 
small  man,  with  an  aristocratic  line  of 
countenance.      There  is  something  at 
all  times  imposing  in  viewing  the  cast- 
off  dwelling  of  an  immortal  spirit — 


that  clay  which  weighs  down  our  better 
portion,  and  which,  though  so  worth- 
less in  itself,  is  so  inexpressibly  dear  to 
those  who  love  us,  and  so  tenaciously 
clung  to  by  ourselves.  Life  had  quitted 
this  tenement  138  years.  The  old  Sa- 
cristan, a  little  shrivelled  mummy  of  a 
man',  scarcely  more  human-looking 
than  the  body  before  us,  profits  in  his 
creature-comforts  by  the  exhibition  of 
this  dust,  which  he  stroked  and  caressed 
with  something  of  gratitude  and  fellow- 
feeling,  and,  locking  the  ponderous 
door,  ejaculated,  '  Da  liegt  mein  tester 
Freund  /'  —  '  There  lies  my  best 
friend  ! '      Poor  Duke  de  Croy  ! 

"  In  respect  of  antiquity  the  Estho- 
nian  church  bears  off  the  palm  in  Reval, 
being  mentioned  by  Jean,  Bishop  of 
Reval,  when  he  granted  to  the  city  the 
'Jus  eccledasticum  et  episco'pale^  after 
the  form  of  the  Liibeck  statute,  in  1284, 
a  time  when  St.  Olai  and  St.  Nicholas 
did  not  exist. 

*'  The  Russian  church,  or  one  adapted 
to  the  Russian  service  in  later  times,  is 
also  of  great  antiquity,  but  has  been 
altered  to  the  external  type  of  all  Greek 
places  of  worship. 

"  The  Hotel  de  Ville  has  been  also  re- 
novated with  windows  of  modern  form, 
which  possess  no  recommendation  be- 
yond that  of  admitting  more  light. 
Within,  the  magisterial  chair  is  still 
held  in  the  empty  and  worn-out  forms 
of  days  of  more  importance,  and  the 
effigy  of  the  burgher  who  had  his  tongue 
cut  out  for  divulging  a  state  secret, 
warns  his  successors  of  less  responsible 
times  to  be  more  discreet. 

"  Several  Guildhalls,  with  groined 
roofs,  tell  of  those  corporations  of  mer- 
chants who  here  met  for  business  or 
feasting,  and  are  now  passed  away  with 
the  commerce  of  Reval :  with  the  ex- 
ception, however,  of  the  corps  of  the 
Schivarzen  H&upter,  les  Freres  tetes- 
noires — so  called  probably  from  their 
patron  saint,  St.  Mauritius — a  military 
club  of  young  merchants  formed  in 
1343,  for  the  defence  of  the  city. 
These  were   highly  considered — were 


Finland. 


EOUTE    89. REVAL. 


367 


endowed  by  the  Masters  of  the  Order 
with  the  rank  and  privileges  of  a  mili- 
tary body — wore  a  peculiar  uniform — 
had  particular  inauguration  ceremonies 
and  usages — and  bore  their  banner, 
'  a2tt  vincendum  aut  riioriendum ,'  on 
many  occasions  most  gallantly  against 
the  numberless  foes  Avho  coveted  the 
riches  of  Reval.  Every  young  appren- 
tice was  required,  on  pain  of  a  heavy 
^  fine,  to  enter  this  corps  upon  the  first 
year  of  his  domiciliation  in  Reval,  and 
each  new  brother  Avas  welcomed  with 
solemn  observances,  and  plentiful 
draughts  of  beer,  now  substituted  by 
wine. 

"On  some  occasions  this  corps  suf- 
fered severely,  and  a  defaced  monument 
on  the  Pernau  road,  a  few  versts  from 
the  Avails  of  Reval,  attests  the  slaughter 
of  many  of  their  numbers  by  the  Rus- 
sians in  1500.  Each  successive  sceptre 
has  acknowledged  their  rights — Peter 
the  Great  became  a  member,  and  him- 
self inscribed  his  name  in  their  regis- 
ters. Catherine  II.  granted  their  chief 
the  rank  of  a  captain  in  the  Rus- 
sian army.  Alexander  Avas  admitted 
to  the  brotherhood,  and  ordained  that 
the  banner  should  thenceforth  receive 
the  military  salute ;  and  Nicholas, 
equally  recognising  the  ancient  deeds 
or  present  harmlessness  of  the  Order, 
has  deviated  from  his  general  con- 
demnation of  all  associations,  and  is 
himself  an  Imperial  Schwarzhaupt. 
The  last  time  that  this  corps  was  sum- 
moned for  the  defence  of  the  city  was 
on  occasion  of  the  Swedish  invasion  in 
1790.  The  chief  edifice  where  they 
held  their  meetings  is  curiously  adorned 
in  front  with  a  Moor's  head  and  other 
armorial  pieces  of  sculpture ;  but  within 
it  has  been  stripped  of  all  antiquity, 
excepting  the  archives  of  the  Order,  and 
portraits  of  the  various  crowned  heads 
and  Masters  of  the  Livonian  Order  who 
have  held  Esthonia  in  their  sway.  The 
altar-piece  from  the  convent  of  St. 
Brigitta — a  magnificent  ruin  upon  the 
sea-coast  in  full  vieAv  of  Reval — is  also 
placed   here,    being   a   piece  in  three 


compartments,  in  the  Van  Eyck  man- 
ner, comprising  Grod  the  Father,  with 
the  Infant  Saviour  in  the  centre — the 
Virgin  on  the  one  hand,  the  Baptist  on 
the  other — and  greatly  recalling  por- 
tions of  the  famous  altar-piece  painted 
for  St.  Bavon's  Church  at  Ghent.  On 
the  back  of  the  two  wings,  and  closing 
over  the  centre-piece,  is  the  subject  of 
the  Annunciation — two  graceful  figures 
in  grey,  of  later  Italian  date. 

"  This  is  but  an  inadequate  sketch  of 
the  antiquities  of  this  city,  which  is 
further  strewn  with  the  ruined  remains 
of  convents  and  monasteries  of  consider- 
able interest,  though  too  much  choked 
with  parasitical  buildings  to  be  seen  to 
any  advantage.  The  outer  circumfer- 
ence is  bound  in  with  walls  and  toAvers 
of  every  irregular  form,  most  of  which 
have  significant  names,  as  for  instance, 
*  der  lange  Herrmann,'  a  singularly 
beautiful  and  lofty  circular  tower 
crowning  the  Dom  ;  and  '  die  dicke 
Marguerite^  a  corpulent  erection  lower 
in  the  town. 

"  The  Dom  is  equally  stored  with 
traces  of  olden  times,  consisting  of  the 
old  castle,  which  encloses  an  immense 
quadrangle,  and  is  in  part  appropriated 
to  the  governor's  residence ;  the  Dom 
Church,  a  building  of  incongruous  ar- 
chitecture, is  filled  with  tombs  of  great 
interest,  of  the  Counts  de  la  Gardie, 
Thurn,  Horn,  &c.,  beneath  which  lie 
the  vaults  of  several  corporations  of 
trade,  variously  indicated — the  shoe- 
makers' company  by  the  bas-relief  of  a 
colossal  boot  in  the  pavement — the 
butchers'  by  an  ox's  head,  &c.  Fur- 
ther on  is  the  Ritterschafts  Ilaus,  or 
Hotel  de  la  Noblesse,  where  the  Lan- 
drathe  assemble,  the  Landtag  is  held, 
and  all  the  business  connected  with 
the  aristocracy  of  the  province  con- 
ducted. Every  family  of  matriculated 
nobility  has  here  its  shield  of  arms  and 
date  of  patent ;  while  on  tablets  of 
white  marble  are  inscribed  the  names 
of  all  the  noble  Esthonians  who  served 
in  the  French  campaign,  and  on  tables 
of  black  marble  the  names  of  those  who 


368 


EOUTE    89. REVAL. 


Sect.  IV. 


fell ; — and  truly  Esttonia  has  not  been 
niggard  of  her  best  blood.  The  archives 
of  the  Ritterschaft  do  not  date  beyond 
1590,  all  preceding  documents  having 
perished  on  a  voyage  to  Sweden ;  but 
important  additions  have  been  made  by 
the  researches  of  the  well-known  Grer- 
man  writer  Kotzebue  among  the  secret 
state-papers  of  the  Teutonic  Order  at 
Konigsberg. 

Like  ancient  Thebes,  Reval  is  entered 
by  seven  gates ;  they  are  all  picturesque 
erections,  decorated  with  various  histo- 
rical mementos,  the  arms  of  the  Danish 
domination,  the  simple  cross  of  the 
order  on  the  municipal  shield  of  the 
city.  The  Schmieedetforte  is  celebrated 
for  a  daring  act  of  magisterial  justice, 
which  took  place  in  1535.  At  all 
times  a  petty  animosity  had  existed 
between  the  rich  burghers  and  lawless 
nobility  of  the  province,  who  troubled 
the  commerce  of  the  city  and  laughed 
at  the  laws  of  the  former ;  and,  on  one 
occasion,  the  atrocious  murder  of  one 
of  his  own  peasants  in  the  streets  of 
Reval  by  Baron  Uxklill  of  Reisenberg, 
one  of  the  most  powerful  nobles,  so 
exasperated  the  magistrates  that  they 
menaced  the  murderer  with  the  utmost 
severity  of  the  law  if  ever  he  came 
within  their  jurisdiction.  Nevertheless, 
and  despising  their  threat,  the  baron, 
attended  by  a  slender  retinue,  entered 
the  city  in  mere  bravado,  when  the 
magistrates,  true  to  their  word,  seized 
him,  and  after  due  trial  he  was  con- 
demned and  executed  in  full  view  of 
his  friends,  without  the  walls,  beneath 
the  Schmieedetforte.  Long  and  san- 
guinary were  the  disputes  which  fol- 
lowed this  act,  and,  as  some  pacification 
to  Uxklills  memory,the  burghers  walled 
up  the  gateway,  which  was  not  re- 
opened till  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury. In  the  summer  there  is  an 
annual  fair  called  the  Jahrmarkt, 
which  is  held  beneath  the  old  elm-trees 
before  the  church  of  St.  Nicholas — a 
most  interesting  scene  to  the  stranger 
— and  forms  the  morning  lounge  of  the 
inhabitants  during  that  season  of  the 


year.  In  the  evening  Catherinthal  is 
the  favourite  promenade.  This  is  an 
Imperial  Ltistschloss,  or  palace,  at  a 
little  distance  from  the  town,  surrounded 
with  fine  trees  and  well  kept  grounds, 
or  what  is  here  termed  "  ein  superber 
Park,"  which  during  six  weeks  of  the 
summer  months  is  thronged  with  fashion- 
able groups,  who  eat  ices,  drink  choco- 
late, talk  scandal,  and  make  love,  as 
people  do  elsewhere. 

"  This  residence,  which  is  literally  a 
bower  of  verdure  redeemed  from  a  waste 
of  sand,  is  the  pleasant  legacy  of  Peter 
the  Grreat  to  the  city  of  Reval.  Being 
a  frequent  visitor  to  Reval,  it  was  here 
that  he  first  erected  a  modest  little 
house  beneath  the  rocks  of  the  Laaks- 
berg,  from  the  windows  of  which  he 
could  overlook  his  infant  fleet  riding  at 
anchor  in  the  bay,  and  which  still  ex- 
ists. But  a  few  years  previous  to  his 
death,  the  present  palace,  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  his  Dutch  house, — for 
all  Peter  the  Great's  own  private  do- 
miciles testify  whence  he  drew  his  first 
ideas  of  comfort, — was  constructed, 
which  he  surrounded  with  pleasure 
grounds,  and  presented  to  his  consort 
by  the  name  of  Catherinthal.  This 
gift  he  increased  by  the  purchase  of 
surrounding  estates  to  the  value  of  se- 
veral millions  of  roubles  —  sufficient 
to  have  assured  to  the  empress,  in  case 
of  need,  a  fitting  retreat  from  the 
frowns  of  Russian  fortune.  These  es- 
tates have  been  gradually  alienated  and 
bestowed  on  private  individuals,  and 
Catherinthal  is  reduced  to  little  more 
than  its  gardens.  It  has  been  the 
temporary  sojourn  of  all  the  crowned 
heads  of  Russia  in  succession ;  and  the 
treaty  of  peace  concerning  Silesia,  be- 
tween the  two  most  powerful  women  of 
coeval  times  whom  the  world  has  ever 
known — Maria  Theresa  of  Austria  and 
Catherine  II.  of  Russia— was  here  rati- 
fied in  1746. 

"  Nevertheless,  whoever  prefers  the 
sweet  influences  of  nature,  uninter- 
rupted by  silks  and  satins,  and  uni- 
forms and  noisy  music,  must  visit  Cathe- 


Finland. 


EOUTE  89. REVAL. 


369 


rinthal  in  the  early  morning,  when  a 
sweeter  spot  for  the  enjoyment  of  soli- 
tude, or  of  that  better  happiness,  a  con- 
genial mind,  heart,  and  taste,  cannot 
be  desired.  It  seems  that  beneath  this 
dry  surface  of  sand  the  trees  have 
found  a  rich  soil,  for  vegetation  is  here 
of  the  utmost  southern  luxuriance,  and 
the  thick  mat  of  foliage  around  and 
above  only  reveals  occasional  glimpses 
of  the  grey  rocks  or  line  of  blue  sea 
beyond.  Or,  if  you  wish  to  break 
from  this  thicket,  you  have  only  to 
climb  a  rugged  path  up  the  rocks, 
whence  all  this  verdure  is  seen  wreathed 
in  rich  festoons  at  your  feet,  and  above 
this  luxuriant  green  carpet  lies  Reval, 
with  its  spires  and  towers  in  stripes  of 
varying  light  and  shade — the  proud 
Domberg  rising  like  a  gigantic  citadel, 
or  gothic  Acropolis,  in  the  midst: 
while  half  surrounding  the  city  spreads 
the  cool  placid  sea,  and  little  tongiies  of 
land  carry  the  abodes  of  man  far  into 
the  waters,  and  deep  bays  carry  the 
waters  high  into  the  shores :  and 
the  eye  quits  towers  and  domes  for 
masts  and  shrouds,  and  further  still 
rests  on  a  solitary  fortress  insulated  in 
the  sea — the  last  bond  between  the 
crowded  city  and  the  huge  men-of- 
war  lying  beyond.  And  beyond  all 
are  the  misty  islands  of  the  Baltic ; 
and  above  all  a  midsummer  mornmg 
sky,  hazy  with  growing  heat,  and 
speckled  with  a  few  lazy  clouds." 

The  population  of  Reval,  which  is 
15,000,  is  greatly  swelled  during  the 
summer  by  hundreds  of  Petersburgians 
that  come  here  to  bathe,  who,  enervated 
by  the  dissipation  of  the  winter  and 
heated  stoves,  imbibe  fresh  life  from  a 
daily  acquaintance  with  the  air  and  salt 
water  of  this  pretty  bay.  The  steamers 
from  the  capital  are  constantly  plying, 
so  overloaded  with  passengers  as  greatly 
to  neutralize  accommodations  otherwise 
good,  "  Bathing,"  says  an  Esthonian 
traveller  already  referred  to,  "  is  here 
conducted  very  differently  from  what 
it  is  with  us  :  no  chilly  early  rising, 
with  a  walk  to  the  beach  before  the 


air  is  aired — no  tormentor  in  the  shape 
of  a  rough  fat  fisherwoman  or  sailor  to 
plunge  you  remorselessly  beneath  a 
horrid  wave,  from  which  you  issue 
blinded,  deafened,  and  stLfled,  and  in- 
comparably colder  and  crosser  than  you 
went  in  :  but  here,  when  the  day  is 
hottest,  you  step  leisurely  in,  like  a 
water  nymph,  bathe  head  and  face, 
nestle  gradually  beneath  the  rippling 
waves,  and  listen  to  their  soft  whispers, 
and  dabble  with  their  smooth  resistance 
for  twenty  minutes  if  you  please : 
emerging  with  limbs  warm,  pliant,  and 
strengthened,  and  with  the  most  ardent 
desire  for  a  renewal  of  this  luxury, 
which  may  be  safely  indulged  in  again 
the  same  afternoon.  Then,  when  the 
heat  of  the  day  is  subsiding,  the  deep 
shades  of  Catherinthal  are  the  universal 
resort,  and  equipages  and  pedestrians 
line  the  road  from  Reval.  Here  a 
band  of  military  music  plays,  and 
you  parade  about,  and  your  friends 
join  you,  and  you  sit  down,  and  the 
gnats  sting  you ;  and  if  you  don't  like 
this  you  may  adjourn  to  the  Salle-de- 
danse  close  by,  where  the  limbs,  so  late 
floating  listlessly  on  the  waves,  now 
twirl  round  in  the  hurrying  waltz,  or, 
as  we  have  said  above,  you  may  talk 
scandal  and  make  love  as  people  do 
elsewhere."  * 

To  realize  so  luxurious  a  descrip- 
tion of  sea-bathing  as  that  given  by 
this  fair  mermaid  and  author,  will 
be,  we  think,  a  great  inducement  to  the 
traveller  to  visit  Reval.  A  day  may 
likewise  be  profitably  and  agreeably 
spent  in  hiring  a  droshky  and  driving  to 
Padis  Kloster,  distant  thirteen  miles 
from  the  town,  where,  beneath  the 
shade  of  as  fine  a  ruin  as  Esthonia 
can  offer,  with  all  the  adjuncts  of  an 
old  moat  and  contemporary  tree,  and 
that  air  of  grandeur  which  clings  to  a 
spot  after  its  worldly  importance  and 
less  picturesque  situation  have  declined, 
the  picnicker  may  enjoy  a  meal,  al 
fresco,  to  perfection. 

*  Letters  from  the  Baltic. 


370    ROUTES  90-91. STOCKHOLM  TO  ST.  PETERSBURGH.   Sect.  IV. 


"  This  monastery  is  mentioned  as 
such  in  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  when,  owing  to  starva- 
tion without  its  walls,  and  doubtless  a 
very  comfortable  life  within,  the  pea- 
sants rose  in  mimbers  around,  mur- 
dered the  abbot  and  twenty-eight  of 
the  monks,  and  otherwise  so  devastated 
the  place,  that  in  1448  it  received  a 
further  and  full  consecration  .at  the 
hands  of  Heinrich,  Baron  Uxklill, 
Bishop  of  Reval ;  at  which  time  it  was 
ordained,  that  whoever  should  in  any 
way  enrich  or  benefit  this  Kloster  of 
Padis,  should,  for  any  sins  he  might 
commit,  have  forty  days  of  penance 
struck  off.  Hence,  perhaps,  arose  the 
peculiar  repute  and  custom  in  the  sale 
of  indulgences  which  this  monastery 
enjoyed.  Now,  however,  it  stands  ut- 
terly forgotten,  and  the  stranger  within 
its  gates  is  infinitely  a  greater  object 
of  interest  to  the  passers  by  than  all 
the  mute  lessons,  moral,  historical,  or 
picturesque,  of  its  grey  stones. 

Reval  has  an  arsenal,  and  the  fleet 
from  Cronstadt  rendezvous  here  at  times. 
In  the  harbour  there  is  generally  some 
Russian  vessel  of  war — the  hymn  of 
the  Russian  sailors,  which  may  be 
heard  nightly  at  sunset,  is  not  remark- 
ably harmonious.  The  club  of  the 
nobility  and  savans  contain  some  hand- 
some apartments,  and  a  collection  of 
portraits  of  Swedish  sovereigns,  arms, 
and  relics  of  remarkable  persons.  The 
English,  French,  and  German  news- 
papers are  taken  in  here,  and  a  stranger 
may  readily  procure  admittance.  At 
Reval  is  the  mausoleum  of  Admiral 
Greig,  the  hero  of  Tschesme,  who  was 
buried  here  with  great  pomp  in  1788. 

In  twenty-four  hours  after  leaving 
Reval  the  steamer  will  land  the  travel- 
ler at  St.  Petersburgh. 

ROUTE  90. 

STOCKHOLM  TO  THE  COAST,  AND  THENCE 
BY  THE  ISLANDS  OP  ALAND  TO  ABO. 

This  route  is  but  seldom  taken  since 
the   introduction  of  steam   navigation 


between  Stockholm  and  Abo ;  the  dis- 
tance between  the  capital  of  Sweden 
and  the  old  one  of  Finland  is,  by  this 
Route,  about  250  miles.  The  road  to 
the  coast  winds  to  the  N.E.,  through  a 
pleasing  and  thickly  wooded  country, 
greatly  intersected  by  small  lakes.  The 
following  are  the  several  stages  : — 

Eusta,  17  5  versts. 

Brotthy,  17^. 

Hall,  121. 

Rilanda,  12|-. 

Kragsta,  IO5. 

Svanherga,  10^. 

Stahhy,  12i. 

Trdsta,  15|. 

Grisselhamn,  17  5. 
Making  115  versts,  or  76  j  English 
miles.  From  Grisselhamn  a  boat  must 
be  hired  to  take  the  traveller  to  Aland, 
about  28  English  miles  distant,  and 
thence  by  the  archipelago  of  islands  to 
Abo. 

ROUTE  91. 

stockholm  to   st.   peteusburgh   by 
Abo,  helsingforss,  and  viborg. 

It  has  already  been  observed  that 
the  most  convenient  mode  of  reaching 
St.  Petersburgh  is  by  the  steam-boat 
from  Stockholm.  In  winter  the  road 
must  be  taken ;  but  this,  though  well 
constructed  and  kept  in  good  repair, 
runs  through  a  most  uninteresting  and 
lifeless  country.  Between  Abo  and 
Helsingforss,  a  distance  of  150  miles, 
there  is  no  town,  and  scarcely  a  village, 
and  the  view  on  each  side  of  the  road 
is  not  more  cheerful  than  the  generality 
of  Swedish  scenery,  and  comprises  a 
forest  of  birch  and  fir  trees,  a  sandy 
plain,  or  some  rocky  elevation.  The 
first  stage  is 

Rungo,  13  versts. 

Wista,  14. 

Keala,  16.  There  is  a  tolerable 
inn  here. 

Sala,  12f. 

Lambala,  18|. 

Olsbole,  17.^. 

The  two  next  stages  are  very  sandy. 


Finland. 


KOUTE    91. — BOKGO LOVISA. 


371 


Bjorsbeg,  15.^.  A  few  versts  from 
hence  a  cascade  and  forge  are  to  be 
seen,  and  therefore  worthy  of  being 
mentioned,  on  a  road  where  there  is 
nothing  to  see  ;  there  is  also  a  lake  in 
the  neighbourhood.  The  finest  lakes 
in  Finland  are  those  in  the  provinces 
of  Savolax  and  Carelia,  and  these  may 
be  compared  for  beauty  to  those  of 
Dalecarlia.  In  Sweden  every  spot  of 
ground  that  can  be  cultivated  is  so, 
and  evidences  of  this  will  be  observed 
all  along  the  road;  no  labour  is  too 
fatiguing,  no  season  too  inclement,  and 
no  ground,  however  sterile,  discourages 
the  Finlander.  Wherever  there  is  a 
patch  of  earth,  there  some  cabin  is  seen 
to  rear  its  head,  sometimes  a  temporary 
structure,  inhabited  only  in  the  sum- 
mer season. 

Nyhy,  16.     Road  still  sandy. 

Kyrhstad,  16^. 

Bolstadt,  14.  A  dirty,  wretched 
post-house;  road  heavy  and  hilly  to 
the  next  post  station. 

Asverley,  15. 

Finns,  12 1. 

Grahn,  14.  A  wretched,  dirty  post- 
house. 

Helsingforss,  15.  For  a  description 
of  this  town  see  p.  360.  From  hence 
there  is  a  steamer  to  Viborg,  where  the 
traveller  must  take  post-horses  and 
journey  in  a  hondkara  to  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  If  he  continues  by  the  road  the 
next  station  is 

Henriksdal,  15. 

Sihho,  15,i. 

Norr  VrekosH,  12^. 

BoRGo,  12  2.  A  small  town,  the 
miserable  houses  and  crooked  streets  of 
which  are  in  high  contrast  with  the 
magnificent  ones  of  the  capital.  Borgo 
is,  however,  the  seat  of  a  bishop ;  and 
here  resides  Runeberg,  the  favourite 
poet  of  the  Fins  —  for  even  they 
who  are  without  a  sun  half  the  year 
are  blessed  with  one  poet,  whose  harp 
is  attuned  to  granite,  firs,  and  the 
rough  music  of  the  northern  blasts  ; 
and  these  are  grateful  themes  to  his 
countrymen,   more   particularly   when 


thus  placed  before  them  in  that  form 
which  nature  alone  can  pour  forth 
through  her  children.  Her  works, 
those  which  he  loves  to  praise  and  sing 
of,  and  with  no  mediocre  talent,  sur- 
round the  deserted  town  in  which  he 
resides,  and  though  it  is  no  doubt  a 
pleasure  to  him  to  read  of  the  graceful 
and  rich  foliage,  the  sunny  skies,  the 
perfumed  air  and  golden  sunsets  of  a 
southern  clime,  he  is  probably  content 
with  those  images  which  he  finds  in 
his  own  stern  climate  and  wild  coun- 
try. 

Illby,  16.  A  poor  house,  but  very 
civil  people,  as  indeed  almost  all  Fins 
are. 

Torsley,  1Z\.     Road  hilly. 

Pirno,  9j. 

LoviSA,  12.  ''This  town,"  says 
Monsieur  Marmier,  a  French  traveller, 
"bears,  with  great  reason,  a  woman's 
name,  for  it  is  a  graceful  and  charming 
spot."  One  of  its  streets  descends  to  the 
very  sea-shore,  while  others  are  ar- 
ranged in  a  kind  of  amphitheatre  on 
the  side  of  a  hill.  Lovisa  was  once  a 
frontier  post  of  the  Swedes,  but  its  im- 
portance ceased  when  these  provinces 
were  ceded  to  Russia.  Some  remains 
of  its  former  defences  are  yet  to  be 
seen.  Two  or  three  massive  walls  with 
their  embrasures,  even  now  almost  per- 
fect, seem  at  a  distance  to  command 
the  road  which  approaches  the  town. 
Here  the  passport  is  sometimes  in- 
spected. The  country  beyond  this  is 
wild  enough,  no  traces  of  cultivation 
can  be  discerned,  and  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  reach  it  is  one  barren  heath,  with 
here  and  there  a  few  boulder  stones, 
and  fir  trees  thinly  scattered  among 
the  heather.  The  road,  however,  is 
excellent,  hard  and  smooth,  and  full  of 
picturesque  windings  ;  and  the  traveller 
will  be  fairly  hurled  along  at  a  rapid 
pace.  Nervous  people  have  no  busi- 
ness to  travel  in  Finland ;  the  horses, 
though  small,  are  full  of  life,  and  know 
of  no  other  pace  than  the  gallop, 
whether  it  is  up  or  down  hill — once 
touched  by  the  carriage  pressing  against 


372 


ROUTE    91. — LOVISA. 


Sect.  IV. 


them,  off  they  go  down  the  pitch  of 
the  hill ;  to  endeavour  to  stop  them  is 
useless,  and  as  they  never  stumble,  the 
best  mode  of  proceeding  is  to  let  them 
go,  keeping  them  as  much  as  possible 
in  the  middle  of  the  road.  To  most 
men  there  is  great  excitement  and  plea- 
sure in  this  rapid  travelling,  equalled 
only  by  the  bounding  spring  of  a  gal- 
lant craft,  when,  with  a  fresh  breeze,  she 
walks  the  briny  element,every  sail  swell- 
ing out  with  the  increasing  wind,  and 
the  foam  dancing  round  her  and  dashed 
from  her  bows,  as  if  spurning  the  waves 
on  which  she  floats.  The  traveller 
will,  either  on  land  or  sea,  thus  speed 
on  his  way  through  Finland,  and  fre- 
quently without  meeting  one  human 
being  from  one  station  to  the  next; 
the  dark  pines  and  massive  boulder 
stones  (many  of  a  magnitude  which  will 
astonish  the  traveller  or  any  geologist 
who  has  not  traversed  this  country), 
the  red  verst  posts,  and  a  ragged  scanty 
flock,  are  the  only  objects  that  meet  the 
eye.  In  some  places  partial  clearings, 
principally  made  by  fire,  add  one 
new  feature  to  the  landscape,  and  the 
charred  and  blackened  trunks  of  the 
larger  trees,  which  have  resisted  the 
power  of  the  flames,  standing  like 
gaunt  sentinels  in  the  black  space 
around  them,  contrast  strongly  with 
the  dark  green  of  the  living  pines  and 
the  bright  lichens  of  the  boulder  stones 
scattered  around  them  ;  many  of  these 
huge  stones  arise  from  the  earth  'in 
single  masses,  and  it  was  from  one  of 
these  that  the  Alexander  pillar  in  St. 
Petersburgh,  a  single  shaft  of  upwards 
of  eighty  feet,  was  wrought.  Other 
boulders  may  be  seen  heaped  up  one 
on  the  other  in  strange  confusion 
and  fantastic  shapes,  exactly  as  they 
lay  when  washed  there  by  the  deluge, 
that  is,  by  the  will  of  that  omnipo- 
tent being  to  whom  "  one  day  is  as  a 
thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as 
one  day."  The  drive  between  Lovisa 
and  the  next  station  is  very  beautiful, 
and  hill  and  vale  are  passed,  with 
scarcely  time  to  look  down  on  the  tor- 


rent that  foams  and  boils  below  in  its 
narrow  and  rocky  bed,  as  the  traveller 
dashes  over  the  narrow  arch  that  spans 
each  yawning  chasm. 

Ahofors,  16.  The  position  of  this 
village  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
on  the  road.  Approaching  it  from 
Lovisa,  there  is  a  broad  stream  winding 
along  a  valley,  immediately  beyond 
which  rises  a  hill  of  considerable  eleva- 
tion ;  its  sides  and  summit  are  covered 
with  red  cottages,  and  around  them  is  a  ' 
forest  with  i;s  giant  boulders  looking 
like  specks  on  the  dark  green  mantle  ; 
a  long  wocden  bridge  traverses  the 
river,  and  over  it  the  chances  are  the 
traveller  will  be  whirled  with  the  ve- 
locity of  an  express  train. 

Brohy,  20.  Between  this  and  the 
next  station,  the  fortress  which  form- 
erly marked  the  frontier  of  Sweden, 
and  was  then  guarded  with  the  most 
jealous  care,  is  passed.  Its  scarped 
sides  and  deep  ditches  still  remain; 
but  the  place  is,  in  other  respects, 
totally  neglected,  and  even  nninhalDited. 
Shortly  after,  a  turn  in  the  road  will 
bring  the  voyageur  in  sight  of  a  beau- 
tiful waterfall  of  the  River  Kymen,  near 
Hogforss  ;  as  such,  it  would  be  consi- 
dered by  many,  but  to  travellers  who  are 
fresh  from  that  of  Trolhiittan,  or  those 
of  Italy,  its  beauties  will  appear  some- 
what questionable.  This  stage  is  hilly ; 
the  road,  however,  good. 

Hogforss,  14.  The  next  stage  is 
long,  and  almost  the  whole  way  through 
one  unbroken  pine  forest ;  the  trees  com- 
ing in  many  places  quite  down  to  the  edge 
of  the  road  ;  the  whole  country  being 
covered  with  stupendous  boulder  stones, 
many  of  them  far  larger  than  the  one 
which  forms  the  base  of  the  celebrated 
statue  of  Peter  the  Great,  at  St.  Peters- 
burgh. In  some  places  the  rock  pierces 
through  its  thin  covering  of  earth  and 
vegetable  matter,  and  spreads  its  hard 
surface,  uncovered  by  shrub  or  plant, 
over  a  space  of  many  square  yards. 
At  length  the  view  opens,  and  the  for- 
tress of  Fredericksham  is  seen  on  the 
opposite   side  of  an  arm  of  the  sea. 


Finland. 


EOUTE    91. FEEDERICKSHAM. — VIBOEG. 


373 


whicli  runs  some  miles  inland,  and 
round  the  shores  of  which  the  road 
winds  its  way. 

Fbedbkicksham,  20.  The  works 
here  were  constructed  on  Vauban's 
principle ;  but,  judging  by  the  neglected 
aspect  of  the  place,  Russia  has  very 
little  use  for  them.  Originally  it  was 
a  place  of  great  strength,  and  inac- 
cessible on  two  sides;  the  approaches 
are  covered  and  protected  by  field- 
works  to  a  considerable  distance,  and 
the  only  entrance  to  the  town,  which 
looks  as  deserted  as  the  fortifications,  is 
by  a  narrow  passage  winding  round  the 
angle  of  a  bastion,  enfiladed  in  every 
direction  by  the  works  from  the  body 
of  the  place.  The  post-house  seems  to 
have  escaped  the  general  ruin,  being 
one  of  the  best  on  the  road ;  and  an 
English  traveller  mentions  that  in  half 
an  hour  he  was  quite  at  home,  and  ex- 
plains the  assertion,  by  stating,  that  the 
landlord,  in  a  black  silk  nightcap,  put 
before  him  the  following  truly  national 
fare, — "  soup,  fish,  beefsteaks,  and  pan- 
cakes, not  to  mention  some  very  good 
port  wine — the  entire  charge  for  which 
came  to  less  than  55.  English."  Frede- 
ricksham  was,  in  former  days,  the  resi- 
dence of  the  governor  of  the  province :  a 
massive  tower,  constructed  in  the  middle 
of  a  square,  overlooked  the  Avhole  town, 
and  from  this  every  street  diverged  like 
the  spokes  of  a  wheel.  It  was  in  this 
tower,  and  on  the  5th  of  September, 
1809,  that  the  treaty  of  peace  was 
signed,  by  which  Sweden  surrendered 
Finland  to  Russia.  A  fire  consumed  this 
tower  and  several  of  the  streets  some 
few  years  since. 

GronwicJc,  16. 

Peterlah,  17^. 

Uri^ula,  155. 

Sachjarvi,  16|. 

Risalahs,  16\.  Not  far  from  hence 
are  the  granite  quarries  from  which 
were  quarried  the  monolith  columns  for 
the  Izak  Church  in  St.  Petersburgh. 

ViBOEG,  29,  does  not  contain  any 
regular  hotel.  The  post-house,  kept 
by  a  German,  has,  for  these  regions, 


pretty  good  accommodation ;  besides 
this  there  are  several  restaurants,  but 
their  appearance  is  far  from  inviting. 
The  port  of  Viborg  is  of  great  extent, 
and  inclosed  by  two  large  islands,  which 
form  as  it  were  two  natural  break- 
waters. The  houses  here  are  inhabited 
by  merchants,  workmen,  and  inn- 
keepers, and  surrounded  by  immense 
quantities  of  deals,  of  which  there  is  a 
considerable  export  trade.  The  town  is 
about  twelve  versts  from  the  harbour, 
and  at  the  end  of  a  large  bay.  As  a 
fortress  it  ranks  high,  both  for  position 
and  strength ;  the  sea  washes  nearly  the 
whole  length  of  the  outer  walls,  while 
battery  upon  battery  commands  every 
approach.  Between  the  lines  and  the  city 
there  flows  a  broad  arm  of  the  sea,  in 
the  midst  of  which  stands  a  solitary 
rock,  crowned  with  a  fine  old  tower  of 
other  days,  rearing  its  still  proud  head, 
high  and  imposing,  above  all  around  it. 
It  must  in  ages  past  have  been  a 
magnificent  donjon  keep,  and  the  shot 
marks  upon  its  walls  bear  witness 
that  the  tide  of  battle  has  often  raged 
around  it.  Its  upper  stories  are  now 
roofless ;  the  lower  ones  are  used  as 
a  prison  ;  and  what  a  trial  must  it 
be  to  tne  inmates  to  gaze  day  after 
day  upon  the  waters  rolling  up  to  the 
very  walls  of  their  dungeon  in  un- 
controlled liberty.  The  view  of  this 
frontier  fortress,  with  its  churches  and 
domes  flashing  in  the  sun,  and  its  long 
lines  of  batteries  and  bastions  rising  in 
massive  strength  from  the  water's  edge, 
is  very  striking;  but  the  approach  to 
it  by  land  is  detestable  ;  from  the  foot 
of  the  glacis  to  the  post-house  the  pave- 
ment is  of  the  most  execrable  kind,  and 
should  the  traveller  happen  to  be  in  a 
hondhara  we  would  advise  his  walk- 
ing this  last  half-mile.  The  castle  of 
Viborg,  destroyed  by  fire,  and  now  in 
ruins,  was  built  in  1293,  by  the  brave 
Torkel  Knudtzon,  one  of  the  most  il- 
lustrious Swedes  mentioned  in  history. 
The  fortifications  date  from  the  15th 
century.  Viborg  was  then  one  of  the 
chief  cities  in  Finland,  and  the  seat  of 

s 


374 


EOUTE    91. VIBOEG. 


Sect.  IV. 


a  bishop.     Attacked  on  several  occa- 
sions by  the  Russians,  it  defended  itself 
with  great  bravery.    In  1710  the  place 
was  besieged  by  Peter  the  Great,  and 
taken,  after  a  hard  struggle,  which  occu- 
pied several  weeks.   The  peace  of  1721 , 
known  as  the  treaty  of  Nystad,  put 
the  Tzar  in  definitive  possession  of  it 
and  the  neighbouring  country ;  and  in 
1745  the  treaty  of  Abo  enlarged  still 
further  this  conquest.      The   Swedes, 
since  the  days  of  Peter,  have  always 
played  a  losing  game  when  at  war  with 
the  Russians;  and  in  the  desparate  bat- 
tle fought  here  between  the  two  fleets 
in  1790,  they  lost  nine  ships  of  the  line, 
three  frigates,  and  upwards  of  twenty 
galleys.     For  nearly  a  century  the  con- 
quered   portions    of    Finland,    distin- 
guished as  Gamla  Finland,  or  Ancient 
Finland,  were  subject  to  the  same  re- 
gulations in  civil  matters  as  the  rest  of 
Russia.      After  the   conquest   of   the 
country  had  been  completed  they  were 
reunited  to  the  provinces  from  which 
they  had  been  separated,  and  the  same 
privileges  were  conceded  to  them  which 
Finland  had  originally  enjoyed  under 
the  Swedes.    Viborg  is  now  the  govern- 
ment town  of  the  province,  and  has  a 
supreme  court  of  justice;   it  contains 
3000  inhabitants  and  a  large  garrison; 
the    former    are    divided    into    Fins, 
Russians,  Swedes,  and  Q-ermans;  and 
as  each  of  them  tries  to  talk  his  neigh- 
bour's language,  as  well  as  his  own, 
the   result  is  the  most  strange  lingo 
possible.    The  Finnish  passport  is  given 
up   here,  and   exchanged  for  a  pada- 
roshna,  or  order  for  post-horses,  and 
this  must  be  shown  at  each  post  station 
before  the  postmaster  will  put  to  the 
quadrupeds.     There  is  a  celebrated  fall 
near  Viborg. 

On  leaving  this  town  the  traveller  will 
have  the  satisfaction  of  again  toiling 
over  half  a  mile  of  detestable  pavement, 
and  be3'^ond  it  the  road  is  no  longer 
the  hard,  compact,  granite-like  track, 
threading  its  way  amidst  the  heather 
and  boulder  stones.  The  open  country 
gained,  a  wild    barren  heath  is  seen 


extending  as  far  as  the  horizon,  with 
but  slight  indications  of  population, 
and  none  of  cultivation.  The  few 
human  beings  who  here  cross  the  tra- 
veller's path  give  evidence  that  he  is 
now  in  Russia,  for  the  peasantry  may 
be  observed  wearing  their  shirts  out- 
side, and  their  trousers  stuffed  into  their 
boots ;  beards  too  may  be  seen  on  al- 
most every  chin,  including  that  of  the 
postmaster  at  the  next  station. 
Lelpero,  17. 
Khotaka,  17. 

Kivriolia,  13.    The  road  good  from 
this  station  to 
Pamjpala,  19. 

Keveneb,  12.  A  view  of  the  gulf 
and  its  rocky  shores  is  here  and  there 
obtained  from  the  high  ground,  but  in- 
land the  same  wild  uncultivated  scenery 
prevails,  except  where  an  occasional 
village,  surrounded  by  inclosures,  or 
some  straggling  herds  of  cattle  present 
themselves.  These  villages  sometimes 
extend  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  on 
each  side  of  the  road  in  one  long  uni- 
form row  of  wooden  cottages,  their 
sharp  pointed  gable  ends  facing  the 
road,  and  little  windows  thronged  with 
pale,  dirty-looking  faces,  but  lit  up  by 
curiosity  and  the  desire  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  passing  traveller.  No 
houses  of  a  superior  description  are 
seen  ;  no  building  stands  forth  as  that 
of  the  squire  or  the  yeoman.  Excep- 
tions will  occasionally  occvir ;  but  the 
houses  of  a  better  kind  are  either  the 
property  of  a  nobleman's  steward  or  a 
government  official. 
Ravoike,  13. 

BelefstroosTcaia,  12.  Here  is  the 
frontier  custom-house,  at  which  there 
will  be  an  hour's  detention  ;  the  search, 
though  in  all  probability  courteous,  will 
be  a  rigorous  one,  for  the  custom  duties 
of  Finland  are  much  lower  than  those  of 
Russia;  these  privileges  were  guaranteed 
when  the  former  was  annexed  to  the 
latter  country.  A  few  versts  before 
reaching  this  station  the  road  becomes 
execrable,  increasing,  if  possible,  in 
badness  to  the  next  station,  and  we 


Finland. 


EOUTE    91. VIBOEG. 


375 


think  it  may  safely  be  pronounced  one 
of  the  worst  in  Europe — perhaps  the 
very  worst.  No  doubt  localities  might 
be  selected  in  Avhich  a  carriage  would 
sooner  be  broken  or  upset,  but  I  doubt 
if  even  the  ingenuity  of  a  Russian 
could  devise  any  mode  which  could 
shake  a  man  more  unmercifully  than 
this  atrocious  pavement.  The  stones, 
of  which  the  centre  of  the  road  is 
paved,  are  of  the  most  appalling  dimen- 
sions, and,  rising  in  different  degrees 
of  elevation,  form  a  succession  of  stony 
hillocks ;  in  fact,  the  road  can  only  be 
compared  to  one  made  of  milestones  of 
unequal  heights.  On  either  side  it  is 
unpaved,  but  the  mud  here  is  frequently 
so  deep  as  to  be  impassable.  A  French 
traveller  describing  this  road  remarks, 
*' that  before  he  reached  St.  Petersburgh 
one  of  his  boxes  was  broken,  the  pad- 
lock burst  from  the  hasp,  his  carpet  bag 
was  torn,  his  hat-box  reduced  to  shreds, 
and  himself  and  his  companion  a  mass 
of  bruises." 

Possibly  the  reason  for  this  road 
being  so  bad  is  that  the  Viborgian 
peasant  has  a  most  singular  and, 
for  an  elder  son,  awkward  belief, 
that  the  dead  can  at  certain  times  re- 
visit the  paternal  mansion ;  so  that  those 
who  do  not  desire  this  honour  are  in 
the  habit  of  placing  their  defunct  re- 
lative on  the  very  roughest  bondkara 
they  can  find,  and  carting  him  to  his 
place  of  sepulture  over  the  largest  ruts 
and  most  rocky  projections  that  lie  in 
the  way,  in  the  hope — fervent,  no 
doubt — that  he  will  be  so  strongly  im- 
pressed with  the  pain  and  fatigue  of  the 
journey,  that  he  will  not  feel  disposed 
to  travel  the  same  road  again.  We  think 
a  live  Englishman  will  do  the  same. 

The  next  and  last  station  is 

DranisJineTcova,  20,  and  650  versts 
from  Abo.  Desolate,  indeed,  is  this  post- 
house,  which  stands  in  a  large  yard ;  in 
the  front  is  a  pond,  and  around  it  a 
number  of  wretched  outbuildings. 

The  road,  however,  though  still  very 
bad,  is  decidedly  more  bearable,  and  the 
carriage  or  hondhm^a  can  occasionally 


quit  the  pavement  altogether  for  a 
considerable  distance.  Two  or  three 
rather  handsome  country  houses,  built 
in  a  style  much  better  adapted  for  a 
southern  climate  than  for  the  rigours  of 
a  northern  winter,  are  here  passed ;  but 
the  general  aspect  of  these  last  fifteen 
miles,  even  to  within  sight  of  the  city, 
is  as  dreary  and  uncultivated  as  any 
part  of  the  country  passed  through. 
Nothing  indicates  the  vicinity  of  the 
capital  of  a  vast  empire,  except  the 
numbers  of  soldiers  of  all  kinds  in  every 
village.  The  road  in  some  places  is 
covered  with  long  strings  of  carts 
{telegas)  going  to  market :  occasion- 
ally  a  glimpse  of  the  sea  may  be 
caught  on  the  right,  but  the  country 
generally  is  a  dead  level ;  and  though 
the  traveller  will  be  every  minute  on 
the  alert  for  some  indication  of  St. 
Petersburgh,  he  will  not  be  able  to  discern 
any  object  which  his  imagination  can 
convert  into  a  portion  of  the  city  of  the 
Tzar.  Long,  however,  before  he  comes 
in  sight  of  it,  his  progress  will  be 
arrested  by  a  wooden  barrier,  which 
hangs  across  the  road  like  a  giant's 
fishing-rod.  This  is  the  spot  at  which 
passports  and  padaroshnas  are  exa- 
mined, and  the  former  surrendered, 
before  travellers  are  permitted  to  pro- 
ceed. For  some  time  after  entering 
the  suburbs  the  tourist  will  pass  through 
dirty  and  wretched  streets,  until  a 
sudden  turn  brings  him  in  view  of  the 
massive  walls  and  batteries  of  the  cita- 
del ;  beyond  this  again  is  seen  the  gilt 
spire  of  the  Admiralty,  rising  in  its 
delicately  tapering  proportions;  then 
the  long  line  of  quays  with  granite 
parapets,  and  backed  by  palaces,  meet 
the  eye ;  and,  finally,  the  Troitskoi 
Bridge,  which  spans  the  full  current  of 
the  Neva  before  it  is  divided  by  the 
islands,  on  which  a  large  part  of  the 
city  is  built,  is  gained.  This  bridge  is 
of  wood,  supported  on  barges  moored 
in  the  stream ;  a  plan  which  has  been 
adopted  from  the  necessity  of  removing 
the  bridge  altogether  at  the  beginning 
of  the  winter,  until  the  frost  has  fairly 

s  2 


B76 


BOUTE    92. — ABO    TO    TORNEA. 


Sect.  IV. 


set  in,  and  again  in  the  spring,  when 
it  breaks  up,  as  the  huge  masses  of 
floating  ice  coming  down  from  the  La- 
doga Lake  would  infallibly  sweep  away 
everything  that  impeded  their  progress 
to  the  sea.  The  bridge  has  a  pathway 
for  foot  passengers  on  each  side  of  the 
oroad  carriage  way,  and  an  iron  railing, 
adorned  at  intervals  of  about  three 
yards  with  imperial  eagles  and  trophies 
of  ancient  arms  richly  gilt.  In  the 
centre  stand  two  guard-houses,  over 
which  the  Russian  flag  floats.  Imme- 
diately facing  the  bridge  is  a  large  open 
space,  called  the  Cliam]}  de  Mars.  A 
statue  of  Smvdroff,  in  armour,  rather 
larger  than  life,  standing  upon  a  granite 
pedestal,  is  placed  here,  with  his  face 
turned  towards  the  citadel.  Every 
building  which  surrounds  this  vast  area 
looks  like  a  palace — on  one  side  are 
the  immense  barracks  of  the  Imperial 
guard;  beyond,  the  palace  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Michael,  its  spacious  colonnade 
partially  enveloped  in  trees ;  while  fur- 
ther to  the  left  the  gilded  tower  of  the 
Engineers,  surmounting  a  vast  pile  of 
building,  and  the  far-famed  summer 
gardens,  with  their  splendid  iron  railing, 
complete  the  inclosure.  Should  the 
traveller  desire  to  make  for  Mrs.  Wil- 
son's, in  the  Galernoi  Oulitza,  he  will 
turn  sharp  to  the  right  after  passing 
the  bridge.  At  this  spot  is  the  Marble 
Palace,  looking  wretched  and  dilapi- 
dated, like  a  neglected  and  discarded 
favourite;  next  comes  the  Hermitage, 
with  its  theatre,  and  then  the  Winter 
Palace  itself — almost  a  town  in  ex- 
tent. It  is  from  this  point  that  the 
glories  of  this  astonishing  city  make  the 
greatest  impression  upon  the  stranger 
— the  square  of  the  Admiralty  opens 
before  him — the  Pillar  of  Alexander, 
with  its  gorgeously  sculptured  base 
and  its  solid  granite  shaft — the  in- 
terminable faqade  of  the  Admiralty, 
with  its  gilded  spire  and  boulevards ; 
the  long  line  of  palaces  forming  the 
southern  side  of  the  square  ;  and  lastly, 
the  Etat  Major  and  the  Izak  Church. 
In  front  of  this  church  a  new  square. 


but  little  inferior  in  size  to  the  one  al- 
ready  passed,  opens  down  to  the  river. 
The  buildings  of  the  Admiralty  inclose 
it  to  the  east,  while  in  the  centre 
stands  the  crowning  ornament  of  all — 
Peter  the  Great,  reining  in  that  mighty 
charger  as  it  rears,  Avith  expanded  nos- 
tril and  eye  of  fire,  over  the  precipice 
before  him.  There  he  sits,  every  inch 
a  monarch— the  marble  of  Canova  is 
not  more  instinct  with  life  than  the 
bronze  of  Falconet.  The  vast  build- 
ing in  which  the  senate  meets,  and 
where  the  courts  of  civil  and  criminal 
justice  are  held,  stretches  across  the 
entire  western  side  of  this  immense 
square,  and  gives  access  by  means  of 
an  archway  to  the  Galernoi. 

But,  splendid  as  these  buildings  are, 
the  traveller,  wearied  with  his  journey, 
will  be  glad  to  find  himself  at  the  end 
of  this  street,  and  comfortably  housed 
in  Mrs,  Wilson's  hotel.  The  landlady's 
name  is  transformed  into  Vealso7i  by 
the  Russians,  and  under  that  pronun- 
ciation we  recommend  the  traveller  to 
inquire  for  her  house. 

ROUTE  92. 

FROM  Abo  to  torneA,  alono  the 

EASTERN     COAST    OF    THE     GULF    OF 
BOTHNIA. 

There  are  but  two  routes  through 
Finland  which  are  likely  to  have  many 
charms  for  ordinary  travellers  :  one, 
along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Gulf  of 
Bothnia  to  the  Swedish  frontier  at 
Tomca,  a  distance  of  about  564  English 
miles  from  Abo ;  the  other,  along  tha 
northern  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland 
to  St.  Petersburgh,  a  distance  of  about 
650  Russian  versts,  or  470  English 
miles.  There  are  good  roads  in  abun- 
dance leading  through  the  various  in- 
land provinces  of  Finland  in  all  direc- 
tions, with  the  usual  facilities  for  tra- 
velling ;  but  it  is  hardly  to  be  imagined 
that  any  motive  sufficiently  strong  will 
tempt  a  traveller  to  visit  the  wilds  of  a 
country,  the  scenery  of  which  cannot 
bear  comparison  with  that  either  of 
Sweden  or  Norway;   and  where  the 


Finland. 


EOUTE    92. ABO    TO    TORNE°A. 


377 


only  language  generally  understood  (at 
all  events  in  the  interior)  is  one  which 
hardly  any  foreigner  can  hope  to  learn. 
The  lakes  of  Finland  are  by  far  its 
most  curious  natural  feature,  particu- 
larly that  extraordinary  chain  to  the 
north  of  Viborg,  which  communicates 
at  one  extremity  with  the  Ladoga,  and 
stretches  forth  its  winding  arms  in  all 
directions,  from  its  central  basin,  the 
Soura,  to  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  on  the 
west,  and  the  distant  regions  of  Ulea- 
borg  on  the  north.  A  cataract  near 
Viborg  is  celebrated  throughout  all 
Finland,  but  there  is  a  total  deficiency 
of  lofty  mountains;  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  that  single  fall,  and  a  smaller 
one  near  Hogfors,  on  the  route  to  St. 
Petersburgh,  Finland  has  neither  fjeld 
nor  waterfall  worth  mentioning. 

The  route  from  Abo  to  Torne§.  runs 
almost  entirely  within  view  of  the  wa- 
ters of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  which 
stretch  to  the  distant  horizon  until  you 
reach  Christinestad,  from  which  place 
both  shores  converge  ;  and,  after  pass- 
ing Wasa,  the  islands  projecting  both 
from  the  Finnish  and  Swedish  coasts 
leave  an  interval  of  only  about  thirty 
English  miles  ;  while  the  shallow  and 
sunken  rocks  in  this  strait  have  the  ap- 
pearance of  having,  in  former  ages, 
formed  a  barrier  between  the  northern 
portions  of  this  gulf  and  the  waters  of 
the  Baltic,  of  which  it  now  forms  a  por- 
tion. For  a  considerable  distance  along 
the  coast  the  country  is  low  and  flat, 
and  the  road  sandy,  but  on  approaching 
the  more  northern  provinces  a  greater 
resemblance  to  Sweden  and  Norway 
prevails.  The  rocks  that  line  the  in- 
dented coast  become  bolder  in  their 
outline,  and  the  Fiord  of  Uleaborg 
abounds  in  scenery  of  the  wildest  cha- 
racter. The  towns  along  the  coast  pos- 
sess but  little  to  interest  the  traveller ; 
their  trade  is  insignificant,  and  they  are 
almost  entirely  devoid  of  activity. 

Abo  to  Reso,  15  versts. 

Masho,  14. 

Wermo,  14. 

Lentala,  12|. 


Jhoda,  \5\. 

Unaja,  11. 

Eatjmo,  6.  Pay  double  for  horses 
on  leaving  Raumo. 

Tajala,  9. 

Tojanie,  11. 

Handby,  19. 

Bjorneborg,  2O5.  Pay  double  for 
horses  on  leaving  Bjorneborg.  There 
is  a  ferry  here. 

Norrmarlcs,  15. 

Pirtejervi,  16|-. 

Tuorila,  16. 

Honrigervi,  12^. 

Amossa,  9^. 

Trashvih,  1\\. 

Haxells,  8^. 

Christinestad,  7^.  Pay  double  for 
horses  on  leaving  Christinestad.  There 
is  a  ferry  here. 

Pyelax,  14 1. 

Romlands,  11 -|. 

Of er  marl;  14^. 

Porton,  12f . 

Joliannisdahl,  122. 

Pdmal,  14. 

Toby,  8^. 

Wasa,  14.  The  width  of  the  Gulf 
of  Bothnia  here  does  not  exceed  sixty 
Eng.  miles.  The  entire  channel  is 
thickly  set  with  islands,  and  is  very 
shallow  in  many  places.  You  pay  dou- 
ble for  horses  on  quitting  Wasa. 

Martvis,  85. 

Bjo7-no,  13. 

Dahlharl  KosJceley,  13|. 

Ikofjoki,  10. 

Ingo  Simons,  14^. 

Ny  Carleby,  3$.  Pay  double  for 
horses  on  leaving. 

Sundby,  121. 

Krahias,  12. 

Abbors,  9. 

Amine,  9. 

Hamviila,  11. 

Old  Carleby,  Z\.  Pay  double  for 
horses  on  leaving. 

WitticJc,  134. 

Peitzo,  16g. 

Kyrdla,  13|. 

Tuorila,  1'2\. 

RanJcala  Anthila,  15^. 


378 


KOUTE    92.— ABO    TO    TOENEA. 


Sect.  IV. 


Maninem,  lOj. 

Karfaludlo,  10|. 

Luoto,  10|:. 

Hannila,  16  J. 

Hirldla,  10. 

Brahestadt,  5. 

Lassila,  12. 

Potohoshi,  14  2. 

Karinharela,  lOf. 

Bisi,  llf. 

Korpela,  ^Z^. 

Uleaborg  (cross  the  tJlea  River), 
141.  Pay  double  for  horses  on  leav- 
ing. 


Siwiila,  14^. 
Hanhela,  10  g. 
Stivala,  17|-. 
Wuornor,  18. 
Gestila,  18^. 
RuiTcla,  145, 
Pa5<^,  14. 
Rautika,  18^. 
JLi'MUcK,  I84 

ToRNEA,  8^.     There  is  a  ferry  here- 
Total  829. 


SECTION  V. 

RUSSIA. 


PRELIMINARY    INFORMATION. 

1.  Money. — 2.  Steamboats. — 3.  Russian  Railways. — 4.  English  Passport. — 
5.  Russian  Custom  House. — 6.  Carte-de-Sejour  and  Russian  Passport. — 
7.  Travelling. — Padaroshna. — 8.  Posting. — 9.  Diligences  and  Voituriers. — 
10.  DroshMes  and  Job  Carriages. — 11.  Baths. — 12.  Stoves. — 13.  Hotels, 
Boarding-Houses ,  and  Lodgings.  —  14.  Restaurants,  Cafes,  and  Tea- 
Houses. — 15.  Medical  Men. — 16.  Roads  and  Roadside  Accommodation, 
—17.  Lacq%iey-de- Place  and  Servants. — 18.  Hints  on  Climate,  Clothing,  d:c, 
— 19.  A  Vocabulary  of  Words  of  most  frequent  occurrence. — 20.  Historical 
Notice. 


ROUTES. 


ROUTE  ] 

93.  London  to  St.  Petersburgh,  by 

Hamburgh,  Lubeck,  and 
Cronstadt. 

94.  St  Petersburgh  to  Moscow   . 

95.  St,  Petersburgh  to  Berlin,  by 

Dorpat,  Riga,  and  TaU' 
roggen,  on  the  Russian 
frontier. 

96.  St.  Petersburgh  to  Berlin,  by 

Vilkoriiir,  Kovno,  and 
Stolepaen,  or  Stallaponen, 
on  the  Prussian  frontier     . 

97.  St.  Petersburgh  to  Odessa,,  by 

Vitepsh,  Mohilefi  and 
Kief       .         .         . 

98.  St,  Petersburgh  to  Reval,  by 

Narva     .... 

99.  St,  Petersburgh  to  Warsaw, 

by  Kovno,  and  Pultusk, 
and  from  the  Polish  Capi- 


438 
529 


578 


584 


586 
591 


ROUTE  PAGE 

tal    to    Slupza,     on    the 
frontier  .         .         .         .591 

100.  St,  Petersburgh  to  "Warsaw, 

by  Vilkomir,  Wilna,  and 
Grodno  .         .         .         .595 

101.  Moscow   to  Tula,  by    Vla- 

dimir,  Nijni    Novgorod, 
and  Riazan    .         .         .595 

102.  Moscow  to  "Warsaw,  by  AS^mo- 

lensh  and  Minsk      .         .603 

103.  Moscow  to  Odessa,  by  Titla, 

KharTchoff,  Orel,  and  Nico- 
laieff      .         .         .         .605 

104.  Odessa  to  the  Crimea         .  612 

105.  Odessa  to  Gallatz^  by  Ovidio- 

pol  ....  619 

106.  Odessa  to  Tchernovetz,  on 

the  Austrian  frontier,  by 
Tixrespol        »        .         .619 


1.   MONEY. 


The  currency  of  Russia  is  gold,  platina,  silver,  copper,  and  paper,  (the  latter  pre- 
dominating,) and  it  may  with  truth  be  observed  that  the  coinage  of  this  coun. 


380 


MONEY. 


Sect.  V. 


try  is  the  handsomest  in  Europe,  and  the  best  adapted  for  use;  the  dies  are  simple 
and  elegant  in  their  design,  and  bold  in  their  execution;  each  coin,  too,  is  dis- 
tinctly marked  with  its  value,  and  the  exercise  of  the  smallest  vigilance  will 
secure  the  stranger  from  imposition.  Grold  is  scarce,  not  in  the  mines  of  Russia, 
but  as  a  current  coin,  and,  as  in  most  European  countries,  England  excepted,  it 
bears  an  agio  or  premium,  which  will  vary  according  to  locality  and  the  inge- 
nuity of  the  money-changer ;  3  per  cent,  is  about  the  current  rate  over  silver. 
The  gold,  silver,  and  copper  coins  struck  at  St.  Petersburgh  for  the  whole  em- 
pire are  as  follows  : — 


GOLD — 


Imperial    . 

Half,  or  Pol,  Imperial 

A  Piece  of 


Silver   Silver 
rubles,  kopeks. 

10       30 


or 


15 
9 


£    s.  d. 

1  14  4 

0  ir  2 

0  10  4 


SILVER — 


Silver  kopeks.      s.      d. 


1    Silver  ruble,      = 
s.  — 

4:                                       » 
1.  

2  }i  — 

A  Piece  of 

>y 

» 
» 


100 
75 
50 
30 
25 
20 
15 
5 


3  4 
2  6 
1  8, 
1  0- 
0  10 
0  8 
0  6 
0     2 


^^0 


8  o  ctT  1a  i^. 

/fc 

;z   — 


COPPER — 


Silver  kopeks. 
A  Piece  of  the  value  of      3         = 
2 
1 


Copper  kopeks, 
and  marked     10* 
5 
3 
}>  i  «  2 

Pajier. — The  paper  in  circulation  are  notes  or  deposit  bills,  for  which,  on  pre- 
senting them  at  the  bank,  gold  will  be  given,  and  these  notes  are  stamped  with 
the  value  that  each  bears.  The  silver  ruble  is  divided  into  100  silver  kopeks  ; 
its  value  in  English  money  is  about  35.  4(?.,  and  it  is  always  used  as  the  basis  of 
all  financial  transactions,  no  higher  denomination  being  used  in  accounts. 

The  exchange  on  England  is  published  in  the  Petersburgh  Gazette,  it 
frequently  varies,  and  is  different  in  different  parts  of  the  empire ;  the 
value  of  the  pound  sterling  may  be  averaged  at  from  6  silver  rubles  to 
6  rubles  and  30  silver  kopeks.  It  may  facilitate  a  stranger's  reckoning  if 
he  recollects  that  a  shilling  is  worth  about  30  silver  kopeks.     Spanish  dol- 

*  Of  which  there  are  331  in  a  silver  ruble. 


Bussia.  MONEY.  381 

Jars  are  sometimes  to  be  met  with  at  Moscow  and  Odessa,  but  they  had  better 
be  left  alone,  as  a  loss  will  be  experienced  both  in  receiving  and  paying  them 
away.  Circular  notes  are  more  profitably  changed  at  a  merchant's  than  a 
banker's,  for  he  will  not  make  any  charge  for  postage,  which  is  very  heavy  in  the 
South,  nor  will  there  be  any  commission.  Previously  to  the  Ukase  of  1839,  all 
taxes,  customs,  and  sums  due  to  the  State  were  received  in  Grovernraent  paper 
only,  and  this  caused  a  very  high  premium  on  notes,  as  much  as  8  per  cent,  in 
the  south  of  Russia;  but  now  that  the  Government  receives  paper  and  silver  in 
differently  the  premium  no  longer  exists ;  the  silver  ruble,  now  of  one  uni- 
form value,  then  varied  in  almost  every  province  in  the  kingdom.  The  value  of 
the  paper  ruble  represented  by  these  notes  was  about  lO^c/.,  the  new  notes  re- 
present the  silver  ruble  ;  the  common  people,  however,  in  remote  districts  have 
hardly  lost  the  habit  of  reckoning  by  the  old  paper  ruble.  In  the  capital  every 
one  is  well  aware  of  the  alteration,  and  the  isvostchik,  who  formerly  calculated  his 
fare  by  the  100  copper  kopeks  which  there  used  to  be  in  a  paper  ruble,  now  makes 
his  demand  in  silver  kopeks.  The  paper  ruble  was  originally  of  the  same  value 
as  the  silver,  but  it  became  depreciated  to  one-third  of  its  value  by  the  vast 
quantity  of  notes  issued.  It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  silver  rubles  and  silver 
kopeks  constitute  the  only  practical  elements  of  this  currency,  throughout  the 
whole  extent  of  the  Russian  empire,  with  the  exception  of  Poland,  where  zlots 
and  groschen  still  preserve  their  undivided  sway ;  and  as  no  Russian  coined 
money  is  allowed  to  be  taken  over  the  frontier,  on  leaving  Russia  by  way  of 
Warsaw,  the  traveller  will  have  to  undergo  the  agreeable  operation  of  changing 
at  a  loss,  all  the  coinage  of  the  country  he  may  have  been  imprudent  enough 
to  have  become  possessed  of.  The  zlot  in  Poland  is  worth  9d.  English,  each 
zlot  consists  of  30  copper  groschen. 

The  etymology  of  the  word  ruMe  is  from  the  word  ruMt,  to  hew  off,  because  I  "J^-viljl  ( 
in  former  times  silver  was  current  only  in  bars,  from  which  it  was  customary  for  a  ) 
debtor  to  strike  off  with  a  hammer  and  chisel  the  amount  which  he  had  to  ipaj. 
The  half-ruble  is  called  a  poltiniJc,  and  the  quarter  a  tschetvertaJc.  The  next 
silver  coin  to  this,  worth  8rf.  English,  is  termed  a  vosiongrivnik,  the  next  a  sJiesti- 
grivnik,  and  the  last,  that  is  the  smallest  silver  coin,  a  grivnik.  The  coppec 
coins,  in  like  manner,  have  their  denominations ;  the  largest,  worth  three  silver 
kopeks,  is  called  a  grivna,  after  this  comes  the  ^idiak,  the  grosh,  the  Tco]iaiJca,  the 
denushJca,  and  i}ie  j)ohisMca ;  the  last  two,  which  represent  the  half  and  quarter  of 
a  copper  kopek,  are  of  the  value  respectively  of  l-20th  and  l-40th  part  of  a  penny, 
and  they  are  now  rarely  to  be  met  with ;  their  value  is  so  small  that  they  may 
be  almost  denominated  the  European  howrie.  The  Dutch  ducat  is  called  a  tscher- 
vonet,  and  sometimes  gollandshi  ;  the  Napoleon  is  known  as  a  lobandsliik,  from 
lob,  the  forehead,  on  account  of  the  high  forehead  usually  given  to  Napoleon  on 
these  coins. 


s  3 


38S  STEAMBOATS.  Sect.  T. 

2.   STEAMBOATS. 

Steamers  leave  the  St.  Katlierine's  Docks  direct  for  Copenhagen  and  St. 
Petersburgh  during  the  season,  but  the  precise  day  of  sailing  is  not  always  fixed  *. 
The  Fares  are — 

First  Cabin.  Second  Cabin.       Steward's  Fee. 

£     s.  £     s,  s.      d. 

London  to  St.  Petersburgh       .     10  10  ...         7     7         ...       10     6 

„  Copenhagen     *        .       5     5  ...         3  13         ...         5     0 

Copenhagen  to  St.  Petersburgh       5     5  ...         3  13         ...         5     0 

There  is  also  direct  communication  by  sea,  early  in  each  month,  with  the  above 
ports  from  Hull.     The  fares  are — 

First  Cabin.  Second  Cabicu 

£    s.  £    s. 

From  Hull  to  St.  Petersburgh .        .10  10        ...        6     6 
„         „        Copenhagen       .         .       4     4         ...         2  10 
No  one  is  permitted  to  embark  without  a  passport,  and  passengers  must  apply 
to  the  Russian  Consul- General  in  London  to  authorize  the  vice-consul  at  Hull  to 
furnish  one.     The  following  form,  is  required  to  be  filled  up  by  the  applicant. 
Agents  iif  Hull,  Gee  and  Co. 

Memorandum^ 
Christian  and  surname    ..... 
Age    .,....,...     . 
Profession    .....-,... 
To  whom  and  where  going  in  Russia  . 

Purport  of  journey 

There  are  likewise  French  steamers,  which  ply  between  Havre  and  St.  Peters- 
burgh. 

The  steamers  "  Nicolas  the  First "  and  "  Alexander "  leave  Liibeck  and 
Travemiinde  alternately  every  Tuesday  during  the  season — that  is  to  say,  as 
long  as  the  Baltic  is  open — for  Cronstadt.     Fares — 

First  Cabin,  60  silver  rubles;  Second,  38  silver  rubles;  Third,  24  silver 
rubles. 

Private  Cabin,  with  four  berths,  216  silver  rubles. 
„  „  three     „      167  „ 

„  ■„         two      „      128  „ 

Children,  in  the  First  and  Second  Cabins,  under  ten  years  of  age,  pay  half 
price.     One  cwt.  of  baggage  allowed  free. 

The  freight  for  a  four-wheeled  carriage  is  40  silver  rubles. 
The  freight  for  a  two-wheeled  carriage      25  „ 

The  steamboat,  which  leaves  Travemiinde  on  the  31st  of  October,  is  indeed 
destined  for  Cronstadt,  but  when  the  weather  is  bad,  the  vessel  does  not  proceed 

*  For  information  respecting  the  steamers  for  Hamburgh  and  Russia  see  the  advertise- 
ments in  the  Times. 


Bussia.  STEAMBOATS.  383 

further  than  Eeval.  The  transport  of  passengers  between  Cronstadt  and  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  and  vice  versa,  is  effected  at  the  cost  of  the  Company ;  but  the  passengers 
between  Liibeck  and  Travemunde  must  find  their  way  to  the  latter  place  at 
their  own  cost. 

These  steamers  return  from  Cronstadt  to  Liibeck  every  Wednesday.  Agents 
in  London,  Messrs.  Suse  and  Sibeth,  35,  Lime  Street,  City. 

From  St.  Petersburgh  there  is  a  steamer  to  Reval,  Helsingforss,  Abo,  and 
Stockholm  every  Friday,  and  vice  versa.  Fare,  30  silver  rubles.  Average 
time,  four  or  five  days. 

Also  from  St,  Petersburgh  to  Reval,  Riga,  and  Momsund  every  Wednesday 
morning  at  10  o'clock,  between  May  the  6th  and  October  the  6th,  and  later  if 
the  sea  is  open.  Passengers  are  taken  up  and  landed  at  Reval.  These  boats 
are  of  220  and  160-horse  power;  and  at  Riga  they  meet  the  steamer  from 
Stettin,  from  whence  there  is  a  railroad  to  Berlin  in  four  hours.     Fares — 

FIRST   CABIN.         SECOND.  ,  DECK. 

Silver  rubles.     Silver  rubles.     Silver  rubles. 
Petersburgh  to  Riga       ....      15 

.       10 

.       12 

.       10 

7 

half  price. 

The  establishment  of  direct  steam  communication  between  St.  Petersburgh  and 
Stettin  is  in  contemplation. 

Steamboats  ply  between  St.  Petersburgh,  Peterhoff,  and  Cronstadt  four  times 
a  day ;  and  to  the  Ladoga  Lake  a  steamer  runs  daily  at  9  a.m.  in  the  summer. 

In  the  south  of  Russia  the  communication  by  steam  between  Odessa  and  the 
Danube,  as  well  as  to  Constantinople  and  the  ports  in  the  Black  Sea,  is  now 
very  complete.  Two  steamers  run  every  ten  days  between  Odessa  and  Con- 
stantinople, the  "  Odessa"  and  "  Bessarabia" — these  vessels,  which  might  almost 
be  termed  steam  frigates,  are  manned  by  Russians,  and  commanded  by  Russian 
naval  officers.  They  are  capable  of  accommodating  eighty  or  a  hundred  passen- 
gers ;  the  cooking  and  attendance  is  good,  and  the  fare  from  port  to  port  is,  First 
Cabin,  30  silver  rubles ;  Second  Cabin,  20  silver  rubles.  The  average  rate 
of  passage  is  54  hours.     Both  of  these  steamers  were  built  in  England. 

There  is  also  steam  communication  between  Odessa  and  Gallatz  every  eight 
days ;  the  boats  that  ply  on  this  station  are  "  Peter  the  Great,"  an  English 
boat,  and  the  "  Naslednik,"  built  in  Russia.  The  fare  from  Odessa  to  Grallatz 
is  20  silver  rubles;  these  steamers  are  much  smaller  than  those  which  make 
the  trajet  to  Constantinople ;  but  the  accommodation  is  pretty  good,  and  the  run 
is  made  from  Odessa  to  Gallatz,  including  the  stoppage  at  Ismail,  in  about  twenty- 
four  hours ;  these  are  also  Government  boats,  and,  like  the  "  Bessarabia "  and 
the  "  Odessa,''  under  the  superintendence  and  control  of  the  Admiral  of  the 


Reval     .     . 

„  Mornsund    , 

Riga  to  Reval      .... 

Riga  or  Reval  to  Momsund 

Children,  under  ten  years  of  age. 


12 

5 

7 

3 

8 

4 

7 

3 

5 

2 

384  KUSSIAN   EAILWAYS   AND   ENGLISH   PASSPORT.         Sect.  V. 

Black  Sea  fleet.  A  traveller  will  reach  Vienna  from  Gallatz  in  eight  or  nine 
days. 

A  steamer  likewise  plies  between  Odessa,  Kertch,  and  Taganrog,  on  the  east 
coast  of  the  sea  of  Azoff,  touching  at  Sevastopol  and  Yalta,  in  the  Crimea,  once 
a  week  during  the  summer  months;  this  is  a  Government  boat.  A  small 
steamer  ran  during  the  last  summer  between  Odessa  and  Cherson,  performing 
the  distance  in  twelve  hours ;  but  the  traffic  in  passengers  and  goods  was  so 
small  that  it  is  not  likely  to  be  continued.  The  steamers  to  Constantinople  and 
Gallatz  continue  to  run  as  long  as  the  sea  is  open. 

The  Volga  is  now  navigated  by  steamers  from  Tver,  and  a  trip  to  the  Caspian  by 
this  route  would,  we  think,  repay  any  young  Englishman.  His  note-book,  on  his 
return,  could  not  fail  to  be  highly  instructive  and  entertaining.  The  navigation 
of  this  noble  river  has  been  often  talked  of,  but  many  obstacles  have  intervened 
to  prevent  the  scheme  from  being  carried  out.  The  enterprising  projector,  who 
has  at  length  realized  it,  is  a  spirited  German  merchant  of  St.  Petersburgh. 

3.  RUSSIAN  RAILWAYS. 

The  Moscow  Railway  is  only  open  to  Colpenny,  a  distance  of  thirty  versts. 
The  train  starts  from  St.  Petersburgh  twice  a  day,  viz.,  at  9  a.m.  and  1  p.m.  A 
further  opening  of  the  line  is  not  expected  till  late  in  the  autumn  of  1848.  The 
station,  a  splendid  one,  is  in  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt,  not  far  from  the  Convent  of 
the  Nevskoi.  The  emjployes  live  at  the  station,  and  are  all  in  uniform,  the 
railway  being  the  property  of  the  State.     It  is  open  during  the  winter  months. 

The  railway  to  Tzarsko  Selo  and  Paulofsky  is  also  the  property  of  the  State. 
Distance,  25  versts  to  Tzarsko  Selo,  and  5  more  to  Paulofsky. 

Trains  leave  St.  Petersburgh  for  the  former  village  at  1\  and  10  a.m.  ;  1,  3}, 
6,  and  9  p.m.  From  Tzarsko  Selo  to  Paulofsky  at  8^-  and  11  a.m.;  2,  4|,7,  and 
10  p.m.  ■ 

From  Paulofsky  to  Tzarsko  Selo  8|,  10  a.m.;  1^,  4,  6J,  and  9^  p.m.  During 
the  races,  which  take  place  in  the  summer,  the  trains  run  more  frequently. 
During  the  winter  months  the  traffic  falls  off  greatly,  and  the  trains  are  fewer  in 
number.     The  hours  are,  of  course,  altered.     Fares 

"  St.  Petersburgh  to  Tzarsho  Selo. 

First  Class,  65  silver  kopeks;  Second  Class,  50;  Third  Class,  40;  Fourth 
Class,  25. 

•Si^  Petersburgh  to  Paulofsky. 

First  Class,  85  silver  kopeks ;  Second  Class,  65 ;  no  Third  or  Fourth  Class. 

4.  ENGLISH   passport. 

For  an  Englishman  bound  to  Russia  direct,  an  English  passport  obtained 
from  the  Foreign  Office,  or  from  some  British  Minister  abroad,  is  indispensable; 
and  no  traveller  can  enter  the  Russian  dominions  by  land  or  sea  unless  his 


Bussia,  EussiAN  custoai-house.  385 

passport  bears  the  signature  of  a  Russian  Minister  or  Consul;  indeed,  he  will  not 
be  permitted  to  secure  a  passage  on  board  any  vessel  bound  for  a  Russian  port, 
without  producing  this  all-important  document  similarly  authenticated,  whether 
at  Lubeck,  Stockholm,  or  Constantinople.  The  Office  of  the  Russian  Consul, 
in  London,  is  No,  2,  "Winchester  Buildings,  City.  The  Russian  Consul,  at 
Hull,  is  a  Mr.  Firbank.  Whatever  the  original  passport  may  be,  (we  had  a 
Dutch  one,  and  reached  Constantinople  and  Odessa  with  it,)  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  it  should  be  vise  by  both  the  English  and  Russian  diplomatic 
authorities  before  entering  the  Russian  dominions. 

5.   RUSSIAN  CUSTOM-HOUSE. 

Travellers  should  be  particularly  careful  not  to  change  foreign  coin  for  Russian 
paper  money  before  they  enter  Russia.  In  order  to  prevent  the  introduction  of 
forged  notes,  not  only  is  the  importation  of  paper  money  forbidden,  but  if  any 
is  found  on  the  person  or  baggage,  it  is  liable  to  confiscation,  and  the  owner  to 
fine  and  imprisonment.  This  does  not  apply  to  silver  money,  but  the  exportation 
of  it  is  equally  illegal.  Sealed  letters,  lottery  tickets,  playing  cards,  books  sub- 
ject to  the  censorship,  articles  of  dress  which  have  not  been  worn,  and  poisonous 
drugs,  come  within  the  category  of  prohibited  articles ;  so  that  a  medicine  chest 
is  liable  to  seizure;  but  it  will,  of  course,  be  returned,  on  assuring  the  authorities 
that  the  rhubarb  is  not  intended  for  his  Imperial  Majesty's  liege  subjects,  but  for 
your  own  sweet  self.  Books,  and  even  maps,  will  also  be  set  aside  to  be  examined 
by  the  censor ;  these  are  sometimes  made  up  into  a  parcel  and  sealed  with  lead, 
and  then  delivered  to  the  owner,  who  engages,  by  signing  a  paper,  to  send  them 
to  the  censor.  The  penalty  for  breaking  or  losing  the  lead  seal  is  twenty-eight 
silver  rubles,  about  il.  10s.  If  a  stranger  should  have  any  objectionable  work 
with  him,  for  instance,  Byron's  Don  Juan,  it  will  be  retained ;  but,  on  applica- 
tion, returned  to  the  owner  on  his  leaving  Russia.  The  search  is,  generally 
speaking,  strict;  each  article  of  dress  is  taken  from  the  portmanteau  or  im- 
perial, and  contemplated  with  a  degree  of  earnest  attention  that  awakens  the 
most  lively  anxiety  as  to  its  future  destination.  To  ladies  this  ordeal  is  pecu- 
liarly trying,  and  a  fair  author  thus  feelingly  and  indignantly  alludes  to  these 
annoyances.  "  A  black-looking  being,  with  face  like  a  bull-dog  and  paws  like  a 
bear,  fumbled  and  crumbled  a  delicate  (jarde-robe  without  mercy — stirring  up 
large  and  small,  tender  and  tough,  things  precious  and  things  vile,  ruthlessly 
together,  to  the  unutterable  indignation  and  anguish  of  the  proprietor.  To  wit- 
ness the  devastation  of  an  English  writing-desk  was  a  curious  sight  to  an  unin- 
terested spectator.  First,  the  lock  excited  great  anger,  and  was  a  convincing 
proof  that  little  was  to  be  done  with  Bramah  by  brute  force ;  and,  this  passed, 
there  ensued  as  striking  an  illustration  of  the  old  adage  of  a  bull  in  a  china-shop 
as  could  possibly  be  devised.  Every  touch  was  mischief.  They  soiled  the 
writing-paper  and  spilt  the  ink;  mixed  up  wax,  wafers,  and  water-colours. 
Then,  in  their  search  for  Russian  bank-notes,  the  introduction  of  which  is  strictly 


•386  CARTE-DE-SEJOUR  AND    RUSSIAN   PASSPORT.         Sect.  V. 

interdicted,  they  shook  out  the  blotting-book,  whence  a  shower  of  letters  ot 
introduction,  cards  of  address,  and  a  variety  of  miscellaneous  documents,  floated 
to  distant  comers  of  the  salle — ransacked  the  private  drawer,  of  which  they 
were  perfectly  aufait — displaced  all  the  steel  paraphernalia,  and  then  crammed 
them  into  their  wrong  places,  cutting  their  fingers  at  the  same  time — the  only 
action  which  afforded  the  spectator  any  unmixed  pleasure ;  and  now,  smarting 
with  the  pain,  flung  down  the  lid,  and  left  the  grumbling  owner  to  gather  his 
scriptural  fragments  together  as  he  best  could.  Beyond  the  writing-desk  they 
did  not  choose  to  proceed.  It  was  past  the  regulation  time,  and  instead  of 
allowing  the  weary  traveller,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  to  take  his  carpet-bag  of 
necessaries,  the  smallest  article  was  denied  with  a  stolid  pertinacity,  which  inti- 
mated no  great  sympathy  on  their  parts  for  the  comforts  of  clean  linen."  We 
think  this  description  is  not  greatly  overcharged,  and  that  even  a  protectionist 
would  advocate  free  trade  when  passing  the  Russian  douane :  indeed,  the 
custom-house  usages  of  most  countries  are  one  of  "  the  miseries  of  human  life." 

The  police  regulations  are  still  more  formal  and  tedious,  beyond  anything 
known  in  any  other  country ;  and  the  traveller,  if  he  prefers  doing  everything 
himself  to  having  it  done  for  him  by  his  valet-de-place,  will  find  them  most 
annoying,  and  will  lose  not  only  a  great  deal  of  time,  but,  what  is  worse,  both 
temper  and  patience.  It  is  true  he  will  probably  be  cheated  of  a  few  rubles ; 
but,  when  travelling,  is  not  this  the  lesser  evil'? 

6.  CARTE-DE-SEJOUR  AND  RUSSIAN  PASSPORT. 

Immediately,  that  is,  the  day  or  the  day  after  his  arrival,  the  traveller's  pass- 
port, with  a  certificate  from  the  British  Consul  that  he  is  a  British  subject,  but 
for  which  he  does  not  pay  if  he  has  a  Foreign  Office  passport,  should  be  taken 
to  the  Police  Office  of  the  "  Quartal  District"  and  registered,  when  the  official 
will  give  him  a  paper  which  he  must  sign.  This  done,  he  must  betake  himself 
with  all  three  documents  to  the  Alien  Office,  and  the  carte-de-sejour  will  then  be 
given  him,  containing  a  faithful  picture  of  his  size,  features,  &c. ;  the  cost  of 
this  ticket  of  residence  is  3  silver  rubles.  Each  day's  delay  in  obtaining 
the  carie-dc-sejour  subjects  the  party  to  a  fine  of  2  rubles,  but  with  explana- 
tion it  is  seldom  enforced ;  however,  as  a  general  rule,  it  is  much  better  to  conform 
to  every  regulation  as  soon  as  possible.  A  separate  carte-de-sejour  is  required 
for  each  person,  even  for  a  man  and  his  wife,  who  are  not  considered  by  the 
finance  minister  as  one  flesh.  The  Russian  nobility  receive  their  cartes-de-sejour 
gratis,  and  are  not  required  to  have  their  physiognomies  described ;  all  others 
are  considered  as  merchants,  tradesmen,  or  servants,  and  are  obliged  to  have 
one ;  these  are  available  for  a  year.  Having  obtained  this  billet,  a  person  may 
remain  unmolested  in  St.  Petersburgh  for  three  months,  and  even  extend  his 
rambles  to  Tzarsko  Selo,  Peterhoff,  and  other  places  in  the  environs.  At  the 
expiration  of  the  term  for  which  the  carte-de-sejour  is  made  out,  the  bearer. 


EuSSia.  CARTE-DE-SEJOUB  AND    RUSSIAN   PASSPORT.  387 

if  he  wishes  it  renewed,  must  appear  again  in  person  at  the  police  office  for  the 
purpose,  and  the  proprietor  of  the  house  at  which  the  traveller  is  residing  must 
immediately  deliver  the  document  to  the  officer  of  police  of  his  quarter,  who 
will  return  it  on  the  following  day,  at  ferthest,  registered  and  signed.  This 
formality  must  be  gone  through  every  time  the  applicant  changes  his  residence ; 
for  omitting  to  do  this,  and  keeping  a  carte-de-sejour  over  the  period  for  which 
it  was  given,  the  offender  will  incur  a  fine  varying  in  amount  according  to  the 
number  of  days  which  have  elapsed  since  it  was  first  delivered.  The  charges 
for  the  carte-de-sejour  amount  to  9  silver  rubles  and  15  kopeks;  naval  and 
military  men,  clergymen,  and  members  of  parliament  pay  only  2  silver  rubles. 
In  order  to  proceed  to  Moscow,  Archangel,  Kief,  or  any  other  Eussian  city, 
a  new  passport  is  necessary,  and  another  to  return ;  the  fee  for  each  of  these 
is  5  rubles.  On  presenting  the  Moscow  document  at  the  proper  police  office 
at  St.  Petersburgh,  the  traveller  will  receive  back  the  carte-de-sejour  which 
he  was  obliged  to  deposit  before  obtaining  his  passport  for  Moscow.  Before, 
however,  he  can  quit  Russia,  his  name  must  be  duly  advertised  in  three 
successive  gazettes,  which  process  cannot  be  accomplished  in  less  than  nine 
days  ;  but  if  he  can  find  a  respectable  surety  for  the  payment  of  any  debts  he 
may  owe  to  a  Russian  subject,  he  will  be  allowed  to  depart,  and-  the  advertise- 
ment will  subsequently  appear.  The  names  of  parties  thus  leaving  the  country 
are  generally  inserted  in  the  German  as  well  as  Russian  newspapers,  and  the 
traveller  will  do  well  to  make  his  lacquey-de-place  produce  the  former  for  his 
particular  inspection,  for  it  will  be  a  check  upon  the  man,  and  keep  his  own 
mind  easy,  most  desirable  at  all  times,  especially  when  travelling  in  foreign 
countries.  In  addition  to  this,  he  must  obtain  a  certificate  from  the  police 
master  of  the  quarter  in  which  he  has  been  residing,  and  carry  it  in  person  to 
the  head  office;  from  thence  the  papers  are  taken  by  the  lacquey-de-place  to 
the  military  governor's  office,  who  is  to  be  petitioned,  and  his  sanction  being 
secured,  the  weary  applicant  must  in  person  visit  the  Alien  Office,  the  lacquey 
will  then  finish  the  aifair,  and  put  his  employer  in  possession  of  the  all- 
important  paper  which  is  to  give  him  the  power  of  continuing  his  wanderings. 
The  charge  for  this  is  8  silver  rubles,  including  the  English  Consul's  fee  of 
1|  silver  ruble  for  a  certificate  of  nationality.  If  the  stranger's  intended  stay  in 
Russia  is  very  limited^  the  advertisement  in  question  should  be  inserted  imme- 
diately, or  very  shortly  after  his  arrival ;  and  by  the  time  he  has  seen  Moscow, 
St.  Petersburgh,  and  everything  worthy  of  notice  in  its  vicinity,  there  will  be 
no  impediment  to  his  departure.  The  precaution  of  advertising,  adopted  to 
prevent  fraud,  is  in  reality  of  little  use,  as  travellers  are  allowed  to  remain  three 
weeks  after  their  names  have  appeared,  in  an  etymological  disguise  that  no 
man  living  could  recognise.  The  fees  for  official  papers  and  signatures,  from  the 
first  landing  to  leaving  the  country,  amount  to  nearly  20  silver  rubles,  about 
Zl.  Qs.  M.  The  revenue  arising  from  this  system  is  very  great.  A  correspondent 
has  informed  us  that  a  certain  valet-de-place,  a  sharper,  according  to  his 


388  TRAVELLING THE    PADAROSHNA — POSTING.         Sect.  V. 

account,  is  in  the  habit  of  making  gross  overcharges  when  employed  in  these 
matters,  and  that  this  is  tolerated  by  the  principal  English  hotel  keepers ; 
if  this  be  so,  we  recommend  them  to  adopt  a  different  line  of  conduct  if  they 
do  not  wish  to  injure  their  own  interests. 

7.   TRAVELLING — THE  PADAROSHNA. 

In  Russia  distances  are  measured  by  versts. 

1  Verst  is  equal  to  3500  English  feet,  or  two-thirds  of  an  English  mile. 
1  Sajene       „         7  English  feet. 
1  Archine      „         28  inches. 

The  archine  is  the  yard  of  Russia — the  Russian  foot  and  inch  are  the  same  as 
the  English. 

In  order  to  travel  post  in  Russia  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  padaroshna  or  order 
for  horses,  in  which  is  inserted  the  name  of  the  place  to  which  you  are  going,, 
the  distance  in  versts,  and  the  number  of  horses  required.  The  cost  of  the  pa- 
daroshna depends  on  the  number  of  versts  and  horses,  at  the  rate  of  2  kopeks 
copper  for  each  horse.  This  document  is  obtained  from  the  governor  of  the  town 
the  traveller  is  leaving,  or  at  an  office  specially  appointed  for  this  purpose.  On 
making  the  application  it  is  necessary  to  produce  the  Russian  passport,  and  a  certi- 
ficate from  the  police,  stating  that  the  applicant  is  not  going  to  steal  a  march  upon 
his  creditors,  or,  in  other  words,  that  he  has  satisfied  their  claims.  The  greatest 
care  must  be  taken  of  the  padaroshna,  and  it  should  be  kept  at  hand,  for  it  will 
be  required  at  each  post  station  as  an  authority  for  the  post-masters  to  furnish 
you  with  horses ;  and  if  mislaid  or  lost,  the  unfortunate  owner  will  be  obliged 
to  continue  his  journey  with  a  peasant's  horses,  subject  to  all  his  caprices  as  to 
charge,  hour  of  starting,  and  distance  of  each  day's  journey.  If  the  traveller  has 
sufficient  influence  to  get  a  special  note  added  to  the  padaroshna  by  the 
postmaster  general,  or  his  deputy,  it  will  facilitate  his  journey. 

8.    POSTING. 

As  a  general  rule,  posting  is  the  best  mode  of  travelling  in  Russia,  and  when  the 
party  consists  of  three  or  four  persons  is  the  most  economical,  also  the  most  inde- 
pendent, and  by  far  the  most  speedy  until  railways  supersede  it — a  circumstance 
most  devoutly  to  be  wished  for,  as  nine-tenths  of  Russian  travelling  is  through 
a  most  uninteresting  country,  and  the  chaussees,  from  St.  Petersburgh  to  Moscow, 
Warsaw  and  Riga  excepted,  on  the  most  execrable  roads  in  Europe.  The  charge 
for  a  post  royal  in  and  out  of  St.  Petersburgh  and  Moscow  is  3  silver  kopeks 
per  horse  per  verst,  but  that  for  the  ordinary  posting  is  only  2  silver  kopeks 
per  verst,  in  some  provinces  a  trifle  less ;  between  the  two  capitals  it  is  higher 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  empire,  being  2^.  The  cost  per  mile  for  4 
horses  posting,  not  including  the  padaroshna,  on  the  barriers,  is  7c?.  Eng- 
lish.    Between  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburgh  the  tolls  for  a  private  carriage 


Russia.  POSTING.  389 

are  about  16s.  In  leaving  the  capital,  it  is  as  well  to  hire  job  horses 
for  a  stage  or  two,  as  there  is  sometimes  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in  pro- 
curing post  horses.  In  Russia  the  horses,  four  in  number,  are  always  driven 
abreast,  and  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  lash  a  false  splinter  bar  of  the 
requisite  length  on  to  the  carriage,  to  which  rope  traces  should  be  permanently 
attached,  for  the  postmasters  never  provide  any,  and  they  are  adjusted  to  suit 
each  horse  at  every  station.  The  yamstchik  (the  postboy),  instead  of  riding, 
drives  from  the  box  or  the  foot  board ;  his  beard  and  habiliments  are  not  the 
most  cleanly,  and  his  love  for  vodka  and  gossip  is  intense ;  he  knows  only  two 
paces,  a  walk  and  a  gallop,  and  his  course  across  the  steppe  is  straight  over 
every  hillock  and  into  every  hole  that  lies  in  his  way;  the  whip,  a  short  but 
heavy  punisher,  and  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  oaths  are  not  unfrequently  in 
request.  The  more  humane  have  recourse  to  kind  words,  and  address  their 
horses  in  endearing  terms,  which  are  sometimes  given  in  rhj^me.  A  mare  the 
boy  calls  "  sudaruina,"  or  good  woman  ;  a  tired  horse  he  addresses  as  "  starite," 
or  old  fellow.  Collectively  they  are  called  "golubki,"  or  little  doves.  In 
the  winter  a  bell  is  attached  to  the  pole  of  the  carriage,  to  give  notice  of  its 
approach,  for  the  sledge  glides  noiselessly  over  the  snow.  A  table  showing  the 
distance  from  one  post  station  to  another  is  hung  up  in  every  post-house, 
frequently  a  mere  hut,  also  the  charge  for  each  horse  is  stated ;  a  book  is  likewise 
kept  in  which  travellers  may  enter  their  complaints ;  should  any  difficulties  arise, 
a  request  to  see  this  book  may  have  some  effect  upon  the  dilatory  and  extortionate 
post-master.  This  official  is  bound  to  furnish  at  least  the  number  of  horses 
ordered  in  the  padaroshna;  but  he  may  oblige  the  traveller  to  take  more  if  the 
roads  require  it,  and  this  he  does  sometimes  to  the  extent  of  making  him  journey 
with  6,  and  in  very  bad  roads,  9  horses ;  he  may  also,  and  often  does,  on 
the  cross  roads,  tell  you  there  are  no  horses  left  but  those  which  he  is  boimd  to 
keep  for  the  mail  or  a  court  courier;  a  douceur,  however,  properly  admi- 
nistered to  him  or  the  yamstchik,  will  have  a  wonderful  effect  in  pro- 
ducing the  requisite  number  of  quadrupeds,  the  latter  is  occasionally  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  horses  he  drives.  These  bearded  Jehus  generally  receive 
from  35  to  50  copper  kopeks  for  the  stage,  according  to  its  length.  This 
varies  greatly,  viz.  from  12  to  28  versts.  Russians  give  less,  and  when 
travelling  on  the  public  service  seldom  give  any  thing.  Many  of  the  post- 
masters in  the  South  of  Russia  are  Polish  Jews,  and,  though  not  more  rapacious 
than  their  Christian  brethren  of  the  same  trade,  are  quite  as  bad.  In  addition 
to  these  worthies,  there  is  at  each  post-house  a  government  officer  called  an  is- 
pravnik,  who  is  supposed  to  be  a  check  on  the  post-master ;  he  is,  however, 
generally  his  bosom  friend,  but  the  palm  of  his  hand  is  seldom  shut. 

In  Russia  a  douceur  is  almost  universally  expected  by  officials,  more  par- 
ticularly in  those  parts  of  the  country  which  are  at  a  great  distance  from  the  seat 
of  government.  There  is  a  story  current  of  a  Frenchman  who  held  a  govern- 
ment situation,  which  illustrates  the  system;   he,  like  many  others,  had  an 


390  posTiNa.  Sect.  V. 

office  of  which  the  salary  was  so  small  that  he  could  not  live  upon  it ;  for  a  time 
he  was  proof  against  douceurs,  but  the  first  law  of  nature  afterwards  drove  him 
to  accept  them,  and,  the  rubicon  passed,  he  did  the  thing  handsomely.  Having, 
however,  at  length  overreached  the  mark,  he  was  brought  before  the  proper  tri- 
bunal, and  being  asked  "  Why  he  took  a  bribe  V  he  replied,  in  terms  both  conclu- 
sive and  original,  "I  take,  thou  take&t,  he  takes;  we  take,  you  take,  they 
take."  As  it  will  not  be  the  traveller's  province  to  reform  abuses,  we  recom- 
mend him,  if  he  values  his  comfort  and  quiet,  to  conform  to  the  customs  of  the 
country.  A  military  or  naval  uniform,  or,  if  the  traveller  be  a  civilian,  an  order 
worn  ostentatiously,  will  have  some  weight  with  these  subordinates,  who  will 
most  probably  imagine  he  is  in  the  Russian  service,  and  act  promptly  on  this 
assumption. 

Take  especial  care  never  to  travel  post  just  before  or  immediately  after  a 
great  man;  should  even  a  corporal  with  despatches  come  up  while  you  are  chang- 
ing horses,  he  will  assuredly  take  yours  if  there  are  no  others ;  under  such  cir- 
cumstances it  will  be  prudent  to  submit,  and  that  quietly.  There  are  plenty  of 
horses  between  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburgh ;  but  in  the  interior,  south  of 
Moscow,  travellers  are  sometimes  detained  a  whole  day  at  a  wretched  post-house 
before  they  can  obtain  any.  The  saving  in  time  and  temper  will  be  consider- 
able if  an  avant  courier  is  employed  when  travelling  in  the  steppe.  The  speed, 
when  posting,  is  sometimes  great,  the  horses  going  ventre  a  terre ;  but  so 
much  time  is  lost  at  the  post-houses  in  changing,  that,  including  stop- 
pages, the  traveller  will  not  clear  much  beyond  8  or  9  miles  an  hour. 
It  is  said  the  emperor  performs  the  journey  between  St.  Petersburgh  and 
Moscow,  a  distance  of  448  miles,  in  thirty-one  hours,  being  14  miles 
an  hour,  including  stoppages ;  the  diligence  is  73 ;  we  were  60,  posting. 
In  coming  from  Odessa  via  Moscow  to  St.  Petersburgh,  we  journeyed  in  a  low 
britska,  purchased  in  Long  Acre;  but  we  strongly  recommend  the  travel- 
lers going  south  of  Moscow  to  buy  a  strong  calash  or  a  hihitha  at  St.  Peters- 
burgh, for  he  will  procure  one  cheaper  there  than  at  Moscow ;  failing  in 
this,  he  must  content  himself  with  the  accommodation  afforded  by  a  telega,  a 
small  open  waggon  without  springs,  but  strongly  constructed,  so  as  to  withstand 
the  roads  and  no  roads  of  the  country ;  to  journey  in  this  vehicle  one  must  be  a 
native,  for  the  jolting  is  annihilating,  and  to  prove  what  the  concussions  must 
he,  the  Russian  officers  put  straw  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  not  unfrequently  a 
bed  upon  that ;  in  these  machines  they  get  over  the  ground  at  an  amazing  pace. 
Gathering  up  his  six  or  eight  reins,  for  there  are  two  to  each  horse,  and  grasping 
his  short  severe  whip,  the  yamstcMk  leaves  the  post-house  at  a  furious  gallop, 
and  keeping  the  horses  at  this  pace  nearly  the  whole  stage,  not  unfrequently 
returns  to  his  station  with  one  less  than  he  set  out  with.  When  the  emperor's 
carriage  breaks  down,  which  is  not  an  unusual  occurrence  in  his  rapid  journeys, 
he  is  sometimes  obliged  to  proceed  in  one  of  these  rude  conveyances.  The 
kihitka  is  an  improvement  on  the  telega,  having  a  hood  and  apron,  so  that 


Russia.  DILIGENCES — vorruRTEiis.  391 

there  is  more  protection  from  the  weather.  In  summer,  the  journey  from  Moscow 
to  Odessa  may  be  performed  in  ten  days  and  nights,  and  in  less  time  if  the 
traveller  has  a  courier  from  the  post-office  with  him,  whom,  with  good  introduce 
tions,  he  will  find  no  difficulty  in  obtaining ;  the  remuneration  to  this  functionary 
at  the  end  of  the  journey  will  be  about  thirty  silver  rubles. 

In  the  winter  sledging  is  universal,  even  as  far  south  as  Odessa,  and  in  this 
season  from  ten  to  twelve  miles  an  hour  may  be  accomplished.  The  price  of 
posting  in  the  Finnish  provinces  is,  perhaps,  rather  less  than  in  Russia ;  in  the 
provinces  of  Esthonia,  Livonia,  and  Courland  a  considerable  difference  exists, 
the  charges  in  the  latter  district  being  much  higher  than  in  any  other  part  of 
Russia.  In  Poland  the  charge  is  1  zlot  {9d.  English)  per  Polish  mile  of  seven 
versts  for  each  horse,  and  about  half  a  zlot  for  the  driver :  but  it  is  customary 
to  give  them  1  zlot  per  mile.  The  whole  system  is  much  inferior  to  that  esta- 
blished in  Russia,  or  in  the  provinces  of  Livonia  and  Courland ;  even  where  the 
roads  are  as  good  as  any  in  Europe,  as  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Warsaw,  the  tra- 
veller is  unable  to  make  much  speed,  and  the  constant  delays  from  the  horses  not 
being  ready  are  vexatious  in  the  extreme.  The  proceedings  of  the  police  are  far 
stricter  in  Poland  than  elsewhere  in  the  Russian  dominions,  and  their  searchings 
are  tedious,  both  at  the  frontier  and  the  entrance  to  Warsaw.  The  officers  are,  how- 
ever, civil  and  courteous  as  long  as  the  traveller  is  so,  and  a  custom-house  of- 
ficer cannot  have  much  to  say  to  a  person  whose  baggage  is  confined  to  his 
own  personal  requisites.  As  alterations  are  frequently  made  in  the  post-stations, 
and  sometimes  in  the  roads,  it  will  be  desirable  for  the  traveller,  should  he  pur- 
pose visiting  the  distant  provinces  of  the  empire,  to  purchase  the  printed  routes 
published  on  authority  for  the  year,  and  have  the  names  of  the  stations  read  over 
to  him,  so  that  he  can  write  them  down  in  English — this  will  preserve  him  firom 
the  idea  that  he  is  imposed  upon,  sometimes  as  great  a  vexation  as  the  reality. 
The  post  maps  are  very  accurate.  The  price  of  the  posting  is  always  paid  be- 
fore starting. 

9.   DILIGENCES — VOITURIERS. 

Those  who  may  not  have  their  own  carriages  will  find  that  the  best  and 
fastest  conveyance  between  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburgh  is  the  Malle  Foste, 
which  accommodates  four  inside  passengers  very  comfortably,  and  three  outside.  It 
ia  very  capacious,  and  in  winter  warmly  fitted  up  with  a  huge  wolf-skin 
wrapper  for  the  feet  and  legs.  To  secure  a  place,  one  must  apply  ten  days  or  a 
fortnight  before  starting,  and  if  the  traveller  is  fond  of  a  gossip  he  may  as  well  in- 
quire whether  his  companions  are  able  to  converse  in  any  language  that  he  is  ac- 
quainted with.  When  the  roads  are  good  the  journey  is  generally  performed 
in  48  hours ;  in  a  thaw,  70  or  more.  The  fare  by  this  mail  is  25  silver  rubles 
inside  and  15  outside;  it  starts  daily  at  1  p.  m.  There  is  also  a  government 
diligence  which  leaves  daily  at  7  p.  3i.,  but  it  will  be  a  matter  for  consideration 


392  DILIGENCES VOITUEIEES.  Scct.  V. 

whetlier  the  traveller  would  like  to  subject  himself  to  the  fatigue  and  discomfort 
of  three  days  and  nights'  continuous  travelling ;  to  persons  who  cannot  rough  it 
the  task  is  a  serious  one;  the  fare  inside  is  20  silver  rubles;  there  are  four 
places.  There  are  also  public  diligences  to  Moscow  daily  at  4  p.m.,  but 
the  fares  are  higher  than  the  post  diligences,  and  the  pace  is  slow  in 
summer.  In  the  winter,  when  the  journey  is  accomplished  in  a  shorter  time, 
the  fares  are  lower,  the  distance  is  then  performed  in  65  instead  of  73  hours. 
Parties,  or  families  of  from  eight  to  twelve  persons,  may  be  accommodated  with  a  pri- 
vate diligence  for  the  journey  between  the  two  capitals;  the  charge  is  85  silver 
rubles,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  summer ;  in  the  winter  something  less,  exclusive 
of  a  bonne-main  of  6  rubles  to  the  conductor ;  for  strangers  who  have  a  car- 
riage of  their  own  this  plan  has  its  advantages,  and  is  a  more  independent  mode 
of  travelling  than  by  the  public  diligence  ;  the  average  speed  is  about  nine  miles 
an  hour;  the  charge  will  be  a  matter  of  arrangement,  and  depend  on  the 
number  of  persons. 

Some  of  the  best  Moscow  diligences  are  equal  if  not  superior  to  any  other 
public  conveyance  out  of  England ;  some  are  built  Avith  a  succession  of  coupes, 
each  capable  of  containing  two  or  three  passengers,  with  abundant  leg  room,  well 
stuffed  cushions,  and  capacious  pockets;  others  have  two  of  these  coiij)es,  and 
then  a  rotonde,  made  to  contain  four  persons.  The  conchccteur^s  seat  is  in  front,  he 
is  screened  by  a  hood  and  apron  from  the  pelting  storm,  and  beside  him,  totally 
unprotected  except  by  his  sheepskin  schooba,  sits  the  yamstchik,  with  his  low- 
crowned  hat  and  broad  band  adorned  with  many  buckles,  and  his  thick  yellow 
hair,  cut,  like  that  of  all  the  lower  orders,  in  a  line  from  ear  to  ear ;  the  number 
of  horses  is  generally  four,  harnessed  abreast,  but  to  these  two  leaders  are  fre- 
quently added,  and  on  the  off  horse  is  perched  an  urchin,  the  very  fac-simile  in 
miniature  of  the  bearded  driver  who  sits  with  imperturbable  gravity  on  the  box. 
The  account  given  of  the  diligences  of  the  "  second  etablissement,"  by  a  traveller 
who  recently  visited  Russia,  is  not  so  encouraging ;  he  describes  the  vehicle  as 
having  imaginary  springs,  stony  cushions,  green  baize  linings,  and  inhabited 
by  a  thriving  colony  of  bugs,  and  himself  as  having  arrived  at  Novgorod  with 
his  teeth  loose,  and  his  limbs  half  dislocated.  Some  diligences  are  conducted  by 
private  proprietors,  totally  unconnected  with  the  government.  The  old  com- 
pany's office  is  situated  almost  directlj^  in  rear  of  the  Izak  Church,  Avhere  the 
traveller  will  readily  obtain  every  information.  Beside  the  Malle  Poste  and  dili- 
gences to  Moscow,  there  is  a  Malle  Poste  from  St.  Petersburgh  to  Kovno,  on 
the  Prussian  frontier,  on  Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Saturday — four  insides  and 

two    outsides. — Fare,  inside,    30  silver   rubles Cabriolet,  20  silver    rubles. 

There  is  an  extra  post  on  "Wednesdays,  with  accommodation  for  six  inside  and 
two  outside  passengers,  at  33  silver  rubles  and  22  silver  rubles  respectively. 
There  is  also  a  diligence  from  Kovno  to  WarsaAv,  fare,  inside,  15,  and  outside 
12  silver  rubles.  Also  a  diligence  from  Kovno  to  Marienpol  daily — fare  for 
each  passenger,  1  silver  ruble  and  55  silver  kopeks.     From  thence  the  distance 


Russia.  DROSHKIES    AND    JOB    CAERIAGES.  393 

to  the  Prussian  frontier  town  of  Stolepaen  is  performed  by  three  post  stages,  and 
from  thence  to  Koningsherg  there  is  a  diligence  daily  at  5  p.m.,  and  one  from 
Koningsberg  to  Berlin  daily  at  9  3  p.m. 

From  St.  Petersburgh  to  Riga  and  Tauroggen,  on  the  Russian  frontier,  there 
is  a  Malle  Poste  on  Tuesdays  and  Fridays,  at  7  p.m.,  for  four  persons.  Fare  to 
Riga,  13  silver  rubles ;  to  Tauroggeu,  30  silver  rubles.  Heavy  post,  Mondays 
and  Thursdays,  at  6  p.m.,  for  two  persons.  Fare,  17  silver  rubles.  There  is 
an  extra  Malle  Poste  on  this  road  during  the  summer  months ;  it  leaves  St.  Peters- 
burgh on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  at  8  p.m.  Fare  for  each  passenger, 
35  silver  rubles;  two  places.  The  diligences  Avhich  traverse  the  interior  of 
Russia  are  very  few  in  number,  and  not  well  managed.  There  is  a  Malle  Poste 
from  Moscow  to  Nijni  Novgorod  four  times  a  week — fare,  18  silver  rubles. 
There  is  also  a  public  conveyance  between  Moscow  and  Kharkhoflf.  In  the  in- 
terior the  proprietors  of  the  diligences  will  undertake  to  furnish  a  traveller  with 
relays  of  horses  all  along  the  road,  and  we  have  heard  Russians  say  it  is  by  no 
means  a  bad  mode  of  proceeding,  and,  for  a  foreigner,  preferable  to  travelling 
with  a  padaroshna ;  it  is  more  expensive  than  posting,  but  saves  the  stranger  all 
discussions  and  squabbles  with  post-masters,  and  ispravniks,  and  the  time  and 
temper  wasted  in  them,  but  in  this  case  the  traveller  must  have  his  own 
carriage. 

An  opportunity  not  unfrequently  occurs  of  getting  from  St.  Petersburgh  to 
Berlin  through  the  intervention  of  couriers  and  Queen's  messengers ;  their  charge 
for  a  seat  in  their  sledge  is  from  251.  to  30^.  In  the  south,  and  towards  Kief,  there 
are  Jews  who  follow  the  occupation  of  voituriers,  but  they  are  great  knaves;  and 
it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  the  pace  must  be  intolerably  slow.  Should 
the  tourist  travel  in  the  Crimea,  it  must  be  on  a  pony  hired  from  stage  to  stage 
of  the  Tartars.  At  Odessa  there  is  an  omnibus  proprietor  Avith  whom  an 
arrangement  can  be  made  to  go  to  Kicolaieff,  or  any  other  place  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. 

10.    DROSHKIES   AND   JOB   CARRIAGES. 

The  hack  carriage  or  cab  of  St.  Petersburgh  and  other  large  cities  in  Russia  is 
the  Droshhy,  but  it  is  a  most  comfortless  conveyance,  consisting  merely  of  a 
bench  upon  four  wheels,  on  which  the  fare  sits  astride,  as  on  a  velo- 
cipede, and  immediately  behind  the  driver,  who  is  not  an  agreeable  person  to 
be  in  very  close  contact  with ;  at  any  rate  to  those  who  are  not  fond  of  the 
odours  of  garlick — their  favourite  seasoning.  Moreover,  the  wooden  pavement 
is  at  the  best  indifferent,  and  when  out  of  repair,  which  is  frequently  the  case, 
most  abominable,  and  even  worse  than  the  stone  pavement. 

DroshJcies  for  hire  stand  in  most  of  the  principal  streets.  There  is  no  fixed 
price  whatever,  as  to  distance  or  time ;  a  most  extraordinary  thing  in  a  country 
where  the  police  seem  to  busy  themselves  about  every  thing.  To  do  their  drivers 
justice,  they  do  not  impose  very  exorbitantly, — seldom  asking  more  than  twice 


394  DEOSHKIES  AND   JOB    CAEKIAGES.  Sect.  V. 

as  much  as  they  will  willingly  take  if  you  make  a  bargain  before  starting ;  and 
never  attempting  to  demand  more  when  your  ride  is  finished  than  they  have 
previously  agreed  for.  The  usual  fare  in  St.  Petersburgh  from  one  quarter  to 
another  is  about  one  shilling.  As  the  distances  are  great,  the  most  inveterate  pedes- 
trian will  soon  find  these  bearded  Jehus  his  best  friends^  and  he  will  seldom 
have  occasion  to  sing  out  davai  (here)  a  second  time ;  indeed,  he  need  scarcely 
look  at  them,  and  if  he  only  pause  for  a  moment,  seeming  to  muse  upon  the  ex- 
pediency of  hiring  one,  half  a  dozen  will  instantly  dart  to  the  spot  where  he  stands, 
and  commence  forthwith  a  Dutch  auction.  "  Where  to,  sir  ? "  "  The  Admiralty." 
"  Two  rubles,"  says  one ;  "  one  and  a  half,"  cries  another ;  and  so  they  bid  down- 
wards until  perhaps  one  of  them  comes  as  low  as  half  a  ruble.  This  is  the  man  the 
traveller  will  probably  take,  but  he  should  take  care  the  cheapest  droshky  is  not 
the  worst,  for  if  it  is  he  must  be  prepared  for  a  volley  of  jokes  and  bantering 
from  the  disappointed  applicants.  "  Ah  !  do  but  look,  little  father,  how  stingy 
you  are.  To  save  a  few  kopeks  you  put  up  with  that  little  ragged  rascal  for 
your  coachman.  He  and  his  three-legged  animal  will  stick  fast  before  you  get 
half  way."  "  The  grey-bearded  vagabond  will  be  sure  to  upset  you,  he  is  so 
drunk  he  can't  stand."  "  He  '11  take  you  to  the  shambles,  and  swear  it  is  the  Ad- 
miralty." No  one  enjoys  all  this  abuse,  in  the  meanwhile,  more  than  the  ob- 
ject of  it,  who  laughs  in  his  sleeve,  and  grumbles  out ''  Niet  shevoss,"  "  Never  fear, 
sir,  we  shall  get  on  well  enough,"  and  tightening  his  reins,  applies  his  short  whip, 
and  you  are  in  a  second  rattling  along  to  your  destination.  In  the  south  the 
droshky  has  a  back  to  it,  and  the  driver  sits  on  a  seat  in  front,  and  at  a  more 
agreeable  distance  from  his  fare — on  a  good  road  and  with  three  horses  attached 
to  it,  which  they  always  are  abreast,  the  pace  is  grand  and  the  motion  very  easy ; 
the  wheels  are  small,  and  the  body,  Avhich  is  hung  on  C-spriiigs,  is  very  low. 
This  vehicle  is  driven  with  one,  two,  or  three  horses,  in  either  case  one  is  in  the 
shafts,  to  which  a  light  piece  of  wood  is  attached,  forming  an  arch  over  his  head; 
the  traces  draw  from  the  nave  of  the  wheel ;  the  bridle  and  other  parts  of  the 
harness  are  ornamented  with  small  pieces  of  brass  or  silver.  If  two  horses  are 
driven,  the  second  is  always  placed  on  the  near  side,  his  head  drawn  a  little 
down  and  outwards  by  a  rein  attached  to  it  for  the  purpose ;  he  is  trained  to 
canter  and  show  himself  off  while  the  other  does  nearly  all  the  work  at  a  rapid 
trot ;  when  there  are  three  horses,  the  one  on  the  off  side  is  also  harnessed  with 
his  head  downwards,  and  capers  in  the  same  way.  A  droshky  well  turned  out  in 
this  manner  is  by  far  the  prettiest  equipage  of  the  three,  and  when  going  at 
speed,  which  is  the  usual  pace,  the  horses  have  the  effect  of  those  in  an  ancient 
car.  Droshkies  ply  in  all  the  large  towns.  At  Odessa  the  usual  charge  by  the 
hour  is  from  30  to  40  silver  kopeks,  according  to  the  number  of  droshkies  there 
may  be  on  the  stand.  A  caleche,  however,  is  by  far  the  most  agreeable  vehicle  to 
use  in  St.  Petersburgh,  and  travellers  intending  to  remain  a  week  or  a  fortnight 
there  should  hire  one  by  the  job ;  the  horses  and  carriage  are  much  better  than 
ihe  fiacres,  the  coachman  less  likely  to  be  drimk,  and  the  cost  is  more  reasonable. 


Russia.  BATHS.  395 

The  expense  of  a  carriage  and  horses  by  the  weelc  should  not  be  more  than  thirty- 
silver  rubles,  and  something  to  the  driver ;  the  charge  will  vary  a  little  with 
the  price  of  forage-  Two  horses  will  suffice  for  the  town,  but  for  distant  ex- 
cursions to  the  palaces  in  the  environs,  three  or  four  will,  be  required, 
according  to  the  number  of  the  party ;  the  charge,  if  taken  by  the  day,  will  be 
about  1^.  Droshkies  are  seldom  taken  beyond  the  city  barriers.  A  carriage 
hired  for  the  day  or  week  can  be  retained  for  the  theatre  or  evening  party,  with- 
out any  additional  expense — "  a  day  "  meaning  till  the  party  hiring  it  returns  home 
at  night.  In  winter  the  body  of  the  carriage  is  placed  on  a  sledge,  which  is  then 
universal.  A  handsome  turn  out  in  the  sledge  line  wiU  be  about  21.  10s.  per 
week,  an  ordinary  one,  1^.  12s.  There  are  hack  sledges  in  the  streets,  but  hack 
or  private  one  must  sledge,  on  account,  as  has  been  before  observed,  of  the  great 
distances.     At  Moscow  sledges  are  a  trifle  cheaper. 


11.    BATHS. 

Many  persons  who  visit  Russia  conceive  it  to  T)e  a  kind  of  duty  to  take  a  Rus- 
sian laath;  this  determination  in  some  cases  will  arise  from  mere  curiosity 
or  in  order  that  the  bather  may  be  able  to  amuse  or  astonish  inquisitive 
friends  on  his  return  home — the  traveller's  two  great  pleasures.  But  we 
think  that  to  many  it  may  prove  only  a  qualified  enjoyment,  for  those 
who  have  tried  these  baths  differ  widely  in  opinion  as  to  their  being  so  very 
agreeable ;  and  the  traveller  who  has  been  in  Turkey  will  find  that  they  bear  no 
comparison  with  those  of  Stamboul,  either  in  the  size  and  elegance  of  the  build- 
ings, the  decent  and  civilized  character  of  the  attendance,  or  the  ample  supply  of 
hot  linen,  and,  finally,  the  soothing  and  luxurious  chihouJc.  The  vapour  baths 
in  St.  Petersburgh,  to  which  the  upper  classes  resort,  have,  it  is  true,  dressino'- 
rooms  comfortably  arranged,  but  the  bath-room  itself  is  rarely  more  than  from 
ten  to  twelve  feet  square.  Such  travellers,  however,  who  may  be  disposed 
to  .satisfy  themselves  by  a  personal  experience  of  this  kind  of  bathincr  and 
surrendering  their  bodies  to  be  shampooed,  soaped,  and  whipped  with  leafy- 
birch  twigs  by  a  bearded  and  naked  attendant,  need  only  mention  their 
wish  at  the  hotel  a  few  hours  previously,  in  order  that  due  notice  may  be 
given  at  the  baths — the  charge  is  one  silver  ruble.  The  baths  for  the 
lower  orders,  which  are  in  the  suburbs,  are  very  numerous,  and  the  hap- 
piest account  of  them  is  that  given  by  Kohl,  the  most  accurate  and  the  best 
descriptive  writer  upon  Russian  life.  He  writes  :  "  On  Saturday  evening  an 
unusual  movement  may  be  seen  among  the  lower  classes  in  St.  Petersburgh ; 
companies  of  poor  soldiers  who  have  got  a  temporary  furlough,  troops  of  mecha- 
nics and  labourers,  whole  families  of  men,  women,  and  children  are  seen  eagerly 
traversing  the  streets  -with  towels  under  their  arms,  and  birch  twigs  in  their 
hands  *  *  *  *  they  are  going  to  the  public  baths,  to  forget,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  its  vapours,  the  sufferings  of  the  past  week,  to  make  supple  the  limbs 


396  BATHS.  Sect.  V. 

stiffened  with  past  toil,  and  invigorate  tliem  for  that  which  is  to  come.  Before 
the  door,  the  words  '  entrance  to  the  baths/  in  large  letters,  attract  the  eye,  and 
invite  the  body  to  enter.  Within  the  doorway,  so  narrow  that  only  one  at  a 
time  can  work  his  way  in,  sits  the  money-taker,  who  exchanges  the  ticket  for 
the  bath  for  a  few  kopeks,  (twopence,)  and  has  generally  a  whole  sackfull  of  large 
copper  coins  by  his  side.  Near  him  are  a  couple  of  women  selling  '  schnaps  and 
kalatshi,'  while  the  people  are  thronging  in  and  out  as  at  a  theatre.  "We  first 
entered  an  open  space,  in  which  a  number  of  men  were  sitting  in  a  state  of  nudity 
on  benches,  all  dripping  with  water  and  perspiration,  and  as  red  as  lobsters, 
breathing  deep,  sighing,  puffing,  and  gossiping,  and  busily  employed  in  drying 
themselves  and  dressing.  These  had  already  bathed,  and  now,  in  a  glow  of 
pleasurable  excitement,  were  puffing  and  blowing  like  Tritons  in  the  sea.  Even 
in  the  winter  I  have  seen  these  people  drying  and  dressing  in  the  open  air,  or, 
at  most,  in  a  sort  of  booth  forming  an  outhouse  to  the  baths.  Round  it  are  the 
doors  leading  to  the  bathing  rooms,  large  wooden  apartments,  in  which  a  heat  of 
40°  to  50°  of  Reaumur  is  maintained.  A  thick  cloud  of  vapour  conceals  at  first 
what  is  going  on  within ;  for  nothing  is  at  first  visible  but  the  feeble  glimmer  of 
the  lamps  breaking  through  a  thick  atmosphere,  and  the  flame  of  the  heated 
ovens.  To  remain  here  clothed  is  evidently  impossible,  neither  would  it  be 
advisable  for  a  well  dressed  person  to  risk  an  appearance  here  as  a  mere  spectator. 
I  entered,  therefore,  in  the  costume  of  nature,  in  which  we  are  as  much  alike  as 
one  egg  is  like  another.  In  any  other  costume  the  naked  people  would  infallibly 
have  ejected  me  speedily.  Under  this  disguise  I  pursued  my  observations  un- 
molested, the  bath  being  by  no  means  my  object." 

There  are  three  platforms,  one  above  another,  in  these  baths,  and  in  the  form 
of  an  amphitheatre,  similar  to  those  in  the  concamerata  sudaiio  of  the  Roman 
baths,  as  shown  in  the  paintings  found  in  the  baths  of  Titus.  These  steps  are 
of  different  degrees  of  heat,  and  on  them  the  bathers  lie  generally  on  their  backs 
or  stomachs,  while  the  attendants  are  employed  in  scourging  them  with  birchen 
rods  steeped  in  cold  water ;  and  here  and  there  may  be  seen  a  papa  holding  his 
little  boy  between  his  knees,  diligently  occupied  in  improving  the  circulation  of 
his  rear ;  others  stand  near  the  glowing  stoves,  as  if  to  increase  the  perspiration, 
which  already  runs  at  every  pore;  and  others,  again,  descending  from  the  upper 
platforms,  have  iced  water  poured  over  them  by  pailfuls.  The  stranger  will  find 
the  lower  step  of  his  bath-room  quite  enough,  and  we  advise  him  not  to  proceed 
to  the  second  until  he  has  been  some  time  on  the  first. 

In  the  provinces  the  baths  are  very  indifferently,  not  to  say  badly,  conducted 
— there  is  no  hot  linen,  and  the  temperature  of  them  is  very  irregularly  kept  up 
by  throwing  cold  water  on  large  stones  heated  in  an  oven ;  at  St.  Petersburgh  they 
make  use  of  cannon  shot.  Excessive  use  of  the  Russian  bath  injures  the  complexions 
of  the  Russian  women,  and  it  is  said  some  ladies  become  so  habituated  to  the 
leafy  branches  of  the  birch  that,  by  way  of  exciting  a  skin  thickened  by  years  of 
flagellation,  they  make  their  attendants  flog  them  with  bunches  of  nettles.     It  is 


Bussia.  STOVES.  397 

highly  necessary  to  take  some  warm  clothing  to  wrap  yourself  up  in  after  taking 
a  real  Russian  bath. 

12.   STOVES. 

The  Russian  stove  is  the  most  complete  device  for  heating  a  house  that  was 
ever  imagined.  It  is  built  in  a  partition  wall,  either  of  brick  or  stone,  and, 
therefore,  heats  two  rooms.  These  stoves  are  frequently  faced  with  the  glazed  Dutch 
tile,  which  increases  their  power,  as  to  heat,  as  well  as  improves  their  appearance. 
On  one  side  there  is  an  iron  door,  inside  which  is  placed  a  large  quantity  of  hewn 
wood,  and  after  this  has  been  thoroughly  burnt  through,  the  man,  whose  business 
it  is  to  look  after  all  the  stoves  in  the  house,  rakes  the  ashes  well  over  to  ascer- 
tain that  every  particle  of  wood  is  literally  calcined,  and  then  shuts  the  yushka, 
a  plate  of  iron  which  closes  the  chimney,  and  thereby  prevents  the  heat  of  the 
embers  from  escaping; — thus  the  mass  of  brickwork  is  kept  hot  for  many 
hours.  The  utmost  care  is  required  to  ascertain  with  accuracy  that  not  the 
smallest  piece  of  wood  is  left  hurning  when  the  yushka  is  put  on ;  for  should 
that  be  the  case  a  poisonous  gas  is  emitted  by  the  wood,  and  fatal  consequences 
may  ensue  to  those  who  are  exposed  to  its  influence.  It  is  by  no  means  an 
uncommon  circumstance  to  hear  of  people  being  suffocated  by  the  fumes  of  their 
stoves. 

The  temperature  maintained  by  these  stoves  over  the  whole  of  a  Russian  house 
is  remarkably  constant  and  even,  so  much  so  that,  in  spite  of  the  great  external 
cold,  there  is  a  perpetual  summer  in-doors.  No  additional  blankets  are  necessary, 
and  no  shivering  and  shaking  is  to  be  dreaded  on  turning  out  in  the  morning, 
as  in  dear  old  England,  when  the  north  wind  drives  through  every  sash  in  the 
house.  "We  are  acquainted  with  a  lady  whose  feet  and  fingers  never  escaped 
chilblains  until  she  passed  a  winter  in  Russia. 

The  double  windows,  which  are  universal  in  this  season  in  the  houses  of  the 
rich,  and  common  in  those  of  the  poor  also,  contribute,  in  a  great  degree,  to 
keep  them  warm.  Early  in  the  autumn  every  crack  and  cranny  is  closed, 
either  with  putty  or  paper,  save  and  except  a  single  pane  in  each  room,  con- 
structed so  as  to  open  like  a  door ;  this  is  called  a  JorteshJca.  The  interstice 
between  the  inner  and  outer  windows  is  covered  to  the  depth  of  a  few  inches 
with  sand  or  salt,  to  imbibe  the  moisture.  In  the  Imperial  palaces  there  are 
English  grates,  but  these  would  be  poor  substitutes  indeed  for  the  peetch  in  such 
a  climate ;  still  they  are  very  agreeable  accessories  to  comfort.  In  the  large 
riding  schools  and  public  buildings  the  stoves  are  of  gigantic  proportions,  and 
highly  ornamented  with  trophies  and  warlike  decorations.  The  heat  emitted 
by  these  peetches  is  tremendous,  and  the  sudden  change  from  the  intense 
frost  without  to  the  close  atmosphere  of  a  room  thus  incessantly  heated,  and 
never  ventilated  for  months,  must  be  enough  to  try  the  hardiest  frame.  In 
the  cottages  the  whole  family  sleep  on  or  round  the  stove,  in  their  clothes, 

T 


398  HOTELS   AND    BOAEDING-HOUSES.  Sect.  V. 

and  without  any  bedding ;  this  is  also  the  case  with   the    servants  in  some 
gentlemen's  houses. 

13.    HOTELS,    BOARDING-HOUSES,   AND   LODGINGS. 

"  Tired  and  worn  out  with  the  detentions  and  vexations  of  the  custom-house, 
we  took,"  says  the  charming  writer  of  the  Letters  from  the  Baltic,  "  the  route 
to  the  English  boarding  house  of  Mrs.  Wilson,  in  the  Rue  des  Galeres  (Gralernoi 
Oulitza),  on  the  English  quay,  where  rest  and  refreshment  were  promptly  given, 
and  never  more  gratefully  received. 

"  It  must  not  be  imagined  that  because  established  in  an  English  boarding 
house,  I  am  met  by  familiar  habits,  or  surrounded  with  familiar  objects.  We  are 
apt  to  forget  how  far  we  are  dependent  on  English-bred  servants  and  English- 
built  houses,  for  the  quiet  course  of  comfort  which,  in  our  native  land,  seems  as 
natural  as  the  air  we  breathe.  Otherwise  I  can  join  in  the  highest  possible 
commendation  of  this  well-conducted  and  respectable  establishment,  which  I 
should  doubtless  praise  more  unqualifiedly  had  I  tried  any  other  here.  By 
foreigners  who  have  tasted  the  sweets  of  English  comfort  at  the  fountain  head, 
it  is  preferred  to  every  other  house  of  accommodation  in  St.  Petersburgh ;  and 
Count  Matuschewitz  has  no  other  abode  when  here."  This  eulogium,  coming 
from  one  who  so  well  understood  the  comforts  and  refinements  of  life,  is  a  suffi- 
cient recommendation ;  indeed,  this  opinion  of  our  countrywoman's  hostel  is 
cordially  subscribed  to  by  every  Englishman  visiting  St.  Petersburgh  :  her  terms 
are  moderate,  being  2  j  silver  rubles  a  day  for  bed  and  board,  wine  not  included, 
and  everything  is  conducted  in  the  most  liberal  manner.  Breakfast  is  going  on 
from  about  eight  o'clock  till  ten,  and  the  dinner  hour  is  half-past  five,  a  very 
convenient  time,  as  it  gives  a  long  morning  for  sight-seeing,  and  also  the  oppor- 
tunity of  attending  the  theatres  in  the  evening. 

There  is  another  English  boarding-house  in  the  Galernoi  Oulitza,  that  of  Mrs. 
Hall;  and  in  the  same  locality  is  one  kept  by  Mrs.  Bowyer  (late  Mrs.  Diamond), 
which  is  frequented  by  masters  of  vessels  and  English  mechanics.  There  is  also 
an  excellent  one  on  the  English  quay,  at  No.  6,  conducted  by  the  Misses  Benson  ; 
the  situation,  apartments,  comfort,  and  cleanliness  are  first-rate ;  the  charge  for 
board  and  lodging  is  3  silver  rubles  per  day — a  private  room  is  charged 
extra.  This  house  is  rather  more  expensive  than  Mrs.  Wilson's.  The  best 
hotels,  but  bad  is  the  best  of  those  in  St.  Petersburgh,  are  the  Napoleon,  Coulon's, 
Demuth's,  and  the  Hotel  de  Paris. 

The  so-called  Russian  hotels  are  numerous  enough ;  and  their  names,  written 
in  large  letters  in  German,  French,  and  Russian,  are  conspicuous  in  all  parts  of 
the  city;  and  if  the  stranger  desires  to  obtain  a  lasting  impression  of  how  dirty 
and  disagreeable  an  inn  can  be,  and  with  what  a  combination  of  villanous 
smells  it  can  regale  his  nostrils,  enter  almost  which  you  will,  and  fear  not  to 
meet  with  any  disappointment,  for  they  are  nearly  all  alike.  ^The  staircase, 
which  is  used   indiscriminately  by  all   the   inmates,   is   rarely   cleaned,   and 


Bussla.  HOTELS    AND    BOARDING-HOUSES.  399 

presents  a  spectacle  to  which  words  can  hardly  do  justice.  When  we  arrived 
at  St.  Petersburgh,  Mrs.  Wilson's  hotel  being  unfortunately  full,  it  Avas  our  fate 
to  be  jolted  into  that  of  Coulon,  in  the  Michaelofsky  Square,  where  we  soon 
found  that  bad  was  the  best  of  St.  Petersburgh  caravanseries — worse  than  those 
of  Asia,  for  there  the  traveller  expects  no  accommodation  but  the  water  from  the 
fountain  in  the  court,  and  the  shelter  of  its  four  walls;  in  this  capital  he 
naturally  assumes  that  he  will  meet  with  every  convenience  and  comfort,  but 
finds  none.  The  exterior  of  Coulon's  hotel  is  magnificent,  but,  like  most  of  the 
post-houses  in  the  interior  of  Russia,  it  swarmed  with  bugs.  Amongst  the  few 
memoranda  sent  to  the  Editor  of  this  Hand  Book,  by  Russian  travellers,  was  the 
following  laconic  and  pithy  remark : — "  A  beautiful  hotel  is  Coulon's,  well 
furnished,  but  dear ;  killed  seventeen  bugs  the  first  night  !  "  A  writer  in 
Russia  says,  in  1838,  that  Coulon's  hotel  was  entirely  refitted  in  the  preceding 
year,  and  adds,  prophetically,  that  its  cleanliness  was  evidently  destined  to 
be  of  short  duration.  There  was  in  this,  as  in  the  generality  of  Russian  hotels, 
a  restaurant,  or  traTctir,  who  served  the  inmates  by  the  carte,  or  par  ttte  ;  there 
was  also  a  table  d'hote,  and  a  waiter  who  spoke  French ;  but  the  charges  were 
high,  and  the  cidsine  bad.  It  will  be  necessary  to  have  a  clear  understanding 
as  to  the  price  of  the  rooms,  always  the  surest  way  to  avoid  disputes  when 
travelling.  The  charge  for  two  bed  rooms  and  a  sitting  room  at  Coulon's  is 
Al.  per  week ;  the  position  is  central  and  good.  The  Hotel  de  la  Bourse,  in 
the  Little  Million,  was  at  one  time  clean  and  comfortable,  and  the  situation  is 
also  good.  There  is  an  English  club  in  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt,  to  which  the 
traveller  may  generally  procure  admission  through  his  banker.  The  Commercial 
Club  is  on  the  English  quay.  Good  lodgings  are  dear ;  the  best  are  at  the 
north  end  of  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt  and  in  that  neighbourhood. 

At  Moscow  there  are  the  English  boarding-houses  of  Mrs.  Howard,  Mrs. 
Pigeon,  and  Mr.  Metcalf ;  the  former,  called  by  the  Russians,  Go  ward,  which  is 
in  the  Bolshoi  Dmietriefka,  is  well  conducted.  Some  travellers,  however, 
state  that  the  charges  are  very  high,  and  more  especially  for  apartments,  if  the 
lodger  does  not  dine  at  the  table  d'hote.  The  charge  for  two  bed-rooms  and 
a  sitting  room  demanded  of  an  English  family  in  1840  was  6L  per  week;  the 
quantity,  if  not  the  quality,  of  the  fare  has  also  been  described  as  meagre.  The 
charge  for  board  and  lodging  for  one  person  is  S.j  silver  rubles  per  diem. 
Of  the  hotels  in  Moscow  the  most  fashionable  is  the  Hotel  de  Dresde,  in 
which  the  best  rooms  are  free  from  vermin;  and  here  a  bachelor  may  find 
•a  couple  of  small  apartments  on  the  best  floor,  and  looking  to  the  square,  for 
2  silver  rubles  a  day;  breakfast  half  a  silver  ruble,  and  dinner,  without 
wine,  1  silver  ruble.  The  landlord,  Mr.  Schor,  speaks  French;  and  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  day  there  is  a  German  waiter  who  will  answer  the 
summons  of  a  hand  bell;  the  other  servants,  as  usual,  wear  pink  shirts  outside 
their  trowsers,  and  speak  Russian.  There  is  another  hotel,  kept  by  a  French- 
man, on  the  Smith  Bridge,  which  is  not  so  clean  as  the  Dresden ;  the  rooms 

T  2 


400  HOTELS    AND    BOARDING-HOUSES.  Sect.  V. 

are  about  the  same  price,  and  dinner  is  served  in  the  salle  a  manger  from  two 
o'clock  till  five,  by  the  carte,  or  per  head,  for  1  or  1^  silver  ruble;  neithe? 
charge  includes  wine.  The  head  waiter  and  an  occasional  assistant  speak 
French,  and  would  answer  to  a  hand  bell ;  there  is  no  table  d'hote  at  either 
of  these  hotels.  Allusion  is  here  made  to  a  "  hand  bell,"  because  every  one 
must  use  it,  as  it  is  the  only  resource  for  those  who  have  not  their  own  servant. 
There  is  likewise  in  Moscow  an  hotel  thoroughly  Russian,  kept  by  Shuval- 
dischoff.  No.  442,  in  the  Tverskaia,  where  there  are  good  dining,  billiard,  and 
smoking  rooms,  and  nothing  but  Russian  spoken;  a  dinner  of  five  dishes  may 
be  had  for  three-quarters  of  a  silver  ruble.  The  situation  is  good,  the  apart- 
ments handsome,  and  possibly  clean,  but  this  is  problematical.  There  are  no 
good  tables  d'hote  in  Moscow.  The  best  confiseur  here  is  Luquet.  There 
are  also  very  good  confectionary  and  ices  at  Pedotti's,  near  the  Hotel  de 
r  Europe. 

In  concluding  our  remarks  upon  Russian  hotels,  we  cannot  do  better  than 
give  the  following  sketch  of  those  at  Odessa,  which  will  apply,  with  occasional 
modification,  to  those  of  all  the  large  towns  in  Russia.  The  writer  was 
travelling  with  his  family.  *'  Rooms  had  been  taken  for  us,"  he  remarks,  "  at 
the  Hotel  de  la  Nouvelle  Russie ;  the  drawing  room  was  pretty  good,  and 
fairly  furnished  in  the  French  style,  but  when  shown  to  our  beds  we  found 
they  had  no  sheets  on  them,  and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  we 
obtained  one  for  each  bed ;  the  fille-de-chamhre,  a  man,  insisting  that  one  was 
a  pair;  but  this  discomfort  was  of  little  consequence  compared  with  the  greater 
one ;  on  retiring  to  repose  we  found  that  the  enemy  had  already  taken  posses- 
sion. Sheets  and  blankets  we  rarely  met  with  in  Russian  inns;  and,  when 
furnished,  are  charged  separate  from  the  rooms.  The  bed  rooms  of  this  suite 
were  about  seven  feet  across,  and  devoid  of  all  appliances  to  cleanliness  and 
comfort,  and  the  attendance,  as  well  as  the  cooking,  was  infamous.  I  sallied 
forth,  therefore,  the  next  morning  to  forage  for  myself,  and  found  better 
accommodation,  more  cleanly  and  reasonable,  at  the  Hotel  de  St.  Petersbourg, 
on  the  Boulevard  facing  the  sea.  Our  great  difficulty  here  was  to  make  the 
landlord,  a  Greek,  clear  our  beds  from  intruders  on  our  rest,  and  this  he  angrily 
and  contemptuously  termed  'capricci  Inglesi.'  Here,  too,  as  at  the  Nouvelle 
Russie,  we  found  there  was  no  regular  attendance,  every  one  being  expected  to 
bring  his  own  servants  and  linen.  Though  imposing  on  the  outside,  many  of 
these  hotels  are  wretched  and  dirty  within ;  they  are,  in  fact,  merely  large 
lodging  houses,  divided  into  sets  of  apartments,  to  many  of  which  a  small 
kitchen  is  attached ;  not  an  atom  of  carpet  or  matting  is  to  be  seen,  and  the 
scanty  furniture  is  of  a  very  inferior  description.  We  did  not  become  in  any 
degree  comfortable  until  we  had  purchased  linen,  and  hired  a  German  servant 
who  spoke  Russian.  The  corridor,  which  ran  at  the  back  of  the  apartments  on 
each  floor,  and  from  which  they  were  entered,  was  generally  crowded  with 
dirty  unshaved  domestics,  in  their  shirts  or  sheepskins  according  to  the  season, 


Russia.  HOTELS   AND    BOARDING-HOUSES.  401 

occasionally  employed  in  lighting  that  useful  article,  a  somovar,  but  more  often 
seated  on  the  ground  playing  with  cards  as  dirty  as  themselves  :  as  they  usually 
slept  on  the  floor  of  the  ante-room,  with  the  door  closed,  the  odours  iu  the 
morning  were  not  very  agreeable."  It  will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing  that 
Russian  hotels,  even  in  the  two  capitals,  are  on  a  very  different  system  from 
those  of  other  countries,  and  are  suited  rather  to  the  requirements  and  habits 
of  the  inhabitants  than  to  those  of  foreigners.  The  hotels,  or,  more  properly 
speaking,  the  taverns  and  inns,  in  the  small  towns,  are  very  inferior  to  those  in 
the  large ;  in  some  of  the  former  there  is  indeed  no  inn,  and  then  the  post- 
house  is  the  only  refuge.  Odessa  has,  since  the  preceding  sketch  was  written, 
improved  on  the  score  of  its  hotels;  the  best  is  the  Hotel  de  Londres,  on  the 
Boulevard,  kept  by  an  Italian  of  the  name  of  Carruta ;  the  accommodation  is  ex- 
cellent. The  next  to  this  is  the  Hotel  de  Paris,  in  the  Italian  Street,  but  the  posi- 
tion cannot  be  compared  with  that  of  the  Boulevard.  The  Hotel  de  Richelieu, 
in  the  street  of  the  same  name,  is  indifferently  good.  There  are  no  tables  d'hote 
at  any  of  these  hotels ;  the  inmates  dine  by  the  carte,  or  per  agreement  par  tete. 
Signor  Carruta  has  also  a  very  good  restaurant  in  the  Palais  Royal,  on  the 
Place  du  Theatre,  which  will  prove  an  agreeable  change  from  the  hotel.  In  this 
locality  will  be  found  two  confectioners  and  cafes,  in  fact,  almost  everything, 
whether  for  use  or  for  eating.  The  establishment  of  the  Messrs.  Stiffel, 
brothers,  is  well  worthy  of  being  visited ;  the  traveller  will  there  have  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  his  own  language  spoken,  and  of  being  surrounded  by  the 
evidences  of  English  industry  and  skill,  so  that  he  may  almost  fancy  himself  in 
a  show  shop  of  London  or  Birmingham ;  Odessa  being  a  free  port  our  goods 
meet  with  a  ready  sale  there.  There  is  a  club  called  the  "  English,"  in  this 
town,  situated  on  the  right  of  the  Theatre,  which  is  in  every  respect  well 
appointed.  The  Commercial  Casino,  near  the  Bourse,  will  also  be  found  very 
useful  to  a  stranger ;  introduced  by  a  member,  he  can  frequent  it  during  the 
whole  period  of  his  stay.  At  the  English  Club  his  name  must  be  written  down 
in  a  book  every  day  by  the  person  who  introduces  him.  The  principal  mer- 
chants and  banlters  belong  to  both  these  clubs.  The  newspapers  will  be  found 
here;  to  an  Englishman  a  necessity  at  all  times,  but  more  especially  when 
expatriated  to  continental  countries  where  the  public  journals  are  on  a  sheet 
not  much  larger  than  a  child's  pocket  handkerchief.  The  only  English  newspaper 
permitted  to  circulate  in  Russia  is  the  Morning  Post,  all  others  are  prohibited ; 
or,  if  admitted  under  exceptional  circumstances,  are  subjected  to  be  curtailed 
of  their  fair  proportions.  The  Journal  des  Debats  used  to  be  admitted  with 
this  occasional  topping  and  tailing.  The  Journal  de  Petersbourg ,  the  official 
paper,  is  printed  in  French ;  there  are  also  two  or  three  Grennan  newspapers.  The 
nobility,  at  any  rate  some  of  the  great  Russian  families,  are  permitted  to  introduce 
any  English  book  or  paper  they  please.  We  remember,  and  with  gratitude, 
having  the  pleasure  to  read  the  Times,  Eerald,  and  all  the  English  periodicals, 
when  residing  at  Odessa,  kindly  lent  to  us  by  a  Russian  nobleman.  At  Odessa 
the  traveller  will  find  newspapers  printed  both  in  French  and  Italian. 


402  EESTAUEANTS    AND    CAFES.  Sect.  Y- 

14.    KESTAURANTS^    CAFES,   AND   TEA-HOUSES. 

There  are  a  few  good  restaurants  at  St.  Petersburgh,  but  tbe  gourmet  must 
not  expect  to  find  an  establishment  like  the  Trois  Freres,  or  the  Rocher 
da  Cancale.  The  best  is  that  of  Le  Grrand.  The  table  d'hote  of  Dumee  is 
also  well  organized ;  and  in  order  that  the  stranger  may  not  imagine  he  is 
imposed  upon,  it  is  well  to  add  that  both  of  these  houses  are  very 
expensive.  The  Grerman  tables  d'hote,  of  which  there  are  several,  are  less 
costly,  and  the  company,  generally  speaking,  is  more  agreeable.  The  fare  at 
the  second-rate  restaurants,  particularly  the  native  ones,  is  very  indifferent, 
and  Russian  cookery  may  generally  speaking  be  described  as  execrable.  This 
remark  does  not,  however,  apply  to  the  houses  of  the  wealthy,  for  there  the 
stranger  will  find  as  redierche  a  repast  as  at  the  table  of  any  English  nobleman. 
One  of  the  best  dinners  we  ever  had  the  good  fortune  to  sit  down  to  in  any 
part  of  the  world  was  at  Moscow ;  the  dessert  was  magnificent,  and  included 
every  kind  of  fruit  from  the  hothouse. 

To  the  Russian  nobility  of  the  higher  class,  whose  large  fortunes  enable  them 
to  gratify  every  wish,  no  price  is  too  great  to  be  paid  for  some  of  the  more  rare 
and  highly  valued  luxuries  of  the  table.  The  sterlet  of  the  Volga  is  not  unfre- 
quently  purchased  at  nearly  its  actual  weight  in  gold,  and  the  mutton  of  Astra- 
kan,  particularly  during  the  summer  months,  is  sold  at  a  most  exorbitant  price. 
When  winter  has  once  set  in,  and  the  cold  prevents  provisions  from  spoiling, 
while  the  snow  facilitates  their  transport,  prices  become  more  reasonable. 
The  meat,  veal  excepted,  is  not  generally  good,  nor  is  butter,  unless  in  the 
capitals  ;  in  the  steppes  and  small  towns  it  is  not  to  be  procured.  The  supply 
of  fish  is  ample.  At  St.  Petersburgh  large  barges,  divided  into  numerous  com- 
partments, through  the  grated  sides  of  which  the  Neva  flows,  are  filled  with  the 
scaly  denizens  of  the  Ladoga,  while  heaps  of  dried  fish  are  displayed  on  deck  to 
tempt  the  passing  Mujik.  The  proprietor  of  this  preserve  walks  to  and  fro  with 
a  huge  ladle  in  his  hand,  ready  to  pounce  on  any  victim  whose  more  bulky 
appearance  may  attract  a  customer.  The  completion  of  the  canal  to  unite  the 
Moskva  with  the  Volga,  which  latter  stream  contains  a  greater  number  of  fish 
than  any  other  in  Ru-ssia,  will  materially  increase  the  attractions  of  the  Moscow 
fish  market.  A  bird  called  the  double  snipe,  about  the  size  of  a  woodcock, 
from  which  it  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  distinguish  it,  were  it  not  from  its 
long  bill,  is  considered  a  great  delicacy.  Capercailzie,  bustard,  and  every  kind 
of  game  is  plentiful ;  and  the  former,  when  eaten  before  they  have  acquired  the 
strong  taste  of  the  spruce  fir,  are  delicious.  The  national  drink,  called  quass,  as 
well  as  the  national  soups,  hatvinia  and  shtshie  (cabbage  soup),  we  earnestly 
recommend  the  traveller  to  avoid  :  the  former  is  made  of  a  pound  of  salt,  two 
pounds  of  barley  meal,  and  a  pound  and  a  half  of  honey,  mixed  together,  and 
after  having  been  heated  in  an  oven  is  strained  and  left  to  cool ;  though  not  often 
met  with  at  the  tables  of  the  rich  in  St.  Petersburgh  it  is  highly  esteemed  by  all 
classes,  and  a  Russian  of  the  lower  class  can  no  more  live,  without  his  quass  than 


Russia.  RESTAUEANTS    AND    CAFES.  403 

fish  without  water;  moreover,  it  forms  the  foundation  of  his  soups  and  sauces, 
for  these  are  rarely  made  with  unadulterated  water.  The  stranger  will  under- 
stand, therefore,  how  necessary  the  foregoing  caution  is  when  he  learns  that 
batvinia,  the  summer  soup,  is  not  only  composed  of  raw  herbs,  berries, 
chopped  cucumbers,  black  bread,  lumps  of  ice,  and  cold  fish,  but  that  the  whole 
of  these  ingredients  swim  in  cold  quass.  We  remember  when  that  Mega- 
therium of  critics,  the  Quarterly  Review,  did  us  the  honour  to  notice  our  puny 
literary  efforts,  we  were  taunted  for  expressing  our  disapprobation  of  this  com- 
pound, on  the  ground  that  some  persons  do  not  like  olives,  and  others  prefer 
stale  and  tainted  oysters;  but  even  at  this  distance  of  time  we  cannot  see  in  this 
dish  any  evidence  of  a  correct  taste — if  taste,  like  beauty,  be  an  abstract  thing. 
Women  in  Lapland  console  themselves  after  their  accouchement  with  a  glass  of 
train  oil — a  glass  of  sherry  is,  we  think,  in  better  taste.  Go  where  you  will, 
particularly  in  Moscow,  the  quass  sellers,  with  large  Dutch-looking  bottles,  are 
sure  to  be  met  with.  Mead  is  also  a  favourite  beverage,  and  one  kind,  which 
sparkles  and  creams,  is  an  agreeable  drink  to  those  who  are  fond  of  sweets.  The 
shiteen  also,  a  kind  of  mead,  which  is  sold  about  the  streets,  is  by  no  means  un. 
pleasant.  Vodka,  or  corn  brandy,  is  drunk  in  very  large  quantities  by  the 
lower  orders.  In  the  houses  of  the  nobility  small  glasses  of  the  national  brandy 
are  handed  round,  with  caviare,  smoked  salmon  and  herring,  before  dinner,  with 
the  view  of  provoking  an  appetite.  Jn  fact,  to  drink  seems  a  greater  necessity 
to  a  Russian  than  to  eat,  and  though  he  is  passionately  fond  of  vodka,  he  appears 
to  be  well  pleased  with  very  weak  fluids ;  thus  his  love  for  quass  and  tea  seems 
to  be  as  great  as  for  brandy :  it  is  perfectly  wonderful  the  quantity  a  Russian 
will  drink  of  the  Chinese  herb.  Tea-houses  are  common  in  all  Russian  cities  : 
in  Moscow  there  are  several  very  large  ones  :  the  one  most  frequented  is  near 
the  Kremlin  Gardens;  and  to  these  houses  merchants  and  tradesmen  adjourn  to 
adjust  their  affairs,  cementing  their  bargains  with  draughts  innumerable  of  tchai. 
Tea  is  drunk  out  of  tumblers,  and  six  or  eight  of  these  is  a  usual  allowance  for 
one  person ;  it  is  highly  scented,  and  more  like  Howqua's  mixture  than  any 
tea  sold  in  England :  a  slice  of  lemon  is  usually  put  in  the  glass.  No  traveller 
should  ever  think  of  calling  for  coffee  in  Russia,  particularly  in  the  interior,  for 
it  is  both  bad  and  dear. 

The  favourite  wine  is  Champagne,  of  which  there  is  a  very  large  quantity  im. 
ported,  but  the  price,  eight  to  nine  shillings  a  bottle,  is  rather  high  for  persons  of 
moderate  income;  nevertheless,  no  Russian,  whether  noble  or  merchant,  ever 
gives  a  fete  without  putting  this  wine  before  his  guests.  The  very  high  price 
has,  however,  induced  the  Russians  to  seek  a  substitute  in  the  grape  growing  on 
the  banks  of  the  Don.  Great  quantities  of  this  wine  are  manufactured  at 
Moscow,  and,  being  properly  leaded  and  corked  in  the  French  style,  it  passes 
muster,  but  the  wine  itself  is  very  inferior.  The  Russians  have  also  cultivated 
the  grape  in  other  parts  of  the  empire,  and  some  of  the  wine  grown  on  the  coast 
of  the  Crimea,  where  the  vines  are  under  the  superintendence  of  Germans  and 


404  MEDICAL   MEN.  Sect.  V. 

Frenchmen,  is  very  fair.     The  eating  grapes  there  are  the  finest  imaginable,  and 
those  grown  in  the  Botanical  Garden  at  Nikita  are  sent  post  to  St.  Petersburgh 
for  the  Emperor's  table,  a  distance  of  upwards  of  a  thousand  miles.    Malt  liquors 
are  also  made  in  St.  Petersburgh,  but  they  are  not  to  be  compared  with  those 
of  England,  and  the  porter  is  abominable.     As  to  the  water,  it  has  been  the 
fashion  with  travellers  in  Kussia  to  rave  about  the  superior  excellence  of  that  of 
the  Neva ;  some  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  declare  that  a  single  draught  of  this 
"limpid  nectar"  was  worth  a  journey  to  St.  Petersburgh ;  like  most  high-flown 
praises  this  has  but  little  foundation  in  the  reality.     We  tasted  the  Neva  water 
frequently,  both  at  our  boarding-house  and  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  and 
were  certainly  unable  to  discern  any  peculiar  flavour,  except  a  somewhat  disagree- 
able softness  of  taste,  like  rain- water.     Its  medicinal  properties  render  its  use  in 
any  large  quantity  by  no  means  advisable ;  and  travellers  are  especially  cau- 
tioned to  beware  of  it  as  it  produces  a  kind  of  dysentery — not  a  pleasant  malady 
at  any  time,  especially  on  a  journey ;  even  the  malt  liquors  have  the  same  effect 
upon  some  persons  as  the  water.     English  bottled  porter  is  very  dear,  the  duty 
alone  being  about  12s,  a  dozen — more  than  cent,  per  cent.     Sherry,  or  good 
French  brandy  mixed  with  water,  is  the  best  corrective.      Some  persons  affirm 
that  the  unpleasant  effect  of  the  Neva  water  is  only  of  temporary  duration,  and 
that  when  once  habituated  to  it  most  people  grow  fond  of  it.     The  Russians 
dote  on  it ;  and  Kohl  states  that  hg  once  saw  a  young  man  welcomed  home  by 
his  femily  presenting  him  with  a  goblet  of  Neva  water.     The  Emperor  Alex- 
ander always  had  a  supply  bottled  for  his  own  drinking  during  his  absence  from 
the  capital.     As,  however,  the  traveller's  stay  will  in  all  probability  be  short, 
we  again  strongly  advise  him  either  to  drink  vulgar  "  heavy  wet,"  or  brandy  and 
water,  which  may,  perhaps,  save  him  from  a  doctor's  bill;  and  it  will  evidently  be 
preferable  to  drink  the  best  Champagne  than  pay  for  physic,  and,  what  is  worse, 
take  it.     The  gayest  cafe  is  the  one  in  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt,  called  the  Chi- 
nois,  kept  by  a  Frenchman  of  the  name  of  Beranger ;  it  stands  on  the  east  side 
of  the   street,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  Admiralty  Square,   and   is   much 
frequented  by  the  upper  class  of  Russians  ;  the  coffee  may  vie  with  that  of  Paris, 
and  the  confitures,  ices,  and  confectionary  are  excellent.     The  English  bazaar 
in  the  same  street  is  a  good  lounge,  as  are  also  the  fruit  shops. 

15.    MEDICAL   MEN. 

Should  the  traveller  not  feel  disposed  to  take  our  advice  with  regard  to  the 
water  of  the  Neva,  or  be  a  disciple  of  the  Rev.  Father  Mathew,  he  will  not  fail  to 
require  medical  assistance  while  in  the  capital,  and  will  then  be  glad  to  find  that 
*  good  English  physicians  are  to  be  met  with.  Sir  James  Wylie,  a  great  friend 
of  the  late  Emperor  Alexander,  and  chief  of  the  Army  Medical  Staff,  used  to 
practise  here,  but  he  has  retired  in  favour  of  a  nephew,  having  gained  both 
wealth  and  laurels  in  the  course  of  a  long,  bright,  and  arduous  career ;  this 
worthy  knight  amputated  Moreau's  legs  at  Dresden,  and  has  superintended  the 


Russia.  EOADs  and  roadside  accommodation.  405 

amputations  of  perhaps  as  many  arms  and  legs  as  any  member  of  his  profession 
in  Europe. 

At  Moscow  the  traveller  will  find  a  very  clever  and  gentlemanly  man  in  Dr. 
Lahne,  who  speaks  English  fluently. 

At  Odessa  the  professors  of  the  healing  art  are  of  all  nations  and  languages, 
including  Pereotes  and  Jews ;  and  the  traveller  had  better  use  a  little  circum- 
spection in  the  choice  he  makes.  Dr.  Hennau,  a  Belgian,  has  the  best  prac- 
tice. The  most  frequented  apothecary's  shop  in  St.  Petersburgh  is  that  called 
the  English,  opposite  the  Cafe  Chinois ;  but  no  medicines  are  sold  without  a 
written  order  from  a  physician. 

16.    EOADS   AND   KOADSIDE   ACCOMMODATION. 

A  few  words  on  Russian  roads  and  roadside  accommodation  will  not  be  out  of 
place.  We  have  had  occasion  to  remark  upon  the  excellent  roads  there  are  between 
the  two  capitals  and  the  cities  of  Riga,  Warsaw,  and  St.  Petersburgh,  but  these  are 
exceptions  to  the  rule.  The  whole  distance  from  Odessa  to  Moscow  is  a  mere 
track,  marked  by  verst-posts,  about  ten  feet  high,  and  by  them  the  traveller  as 
guided  across  the  open  steppe  ;  but  these  posts  do  not  determine  the  width  oi 
the  track,  each  carriage  picks  its  own  way,  either  a  hundred  yards  or  half  a  mile 
to  the  right  or  left,  as  the  horses  or  driver  may  think  fit.  This  track  cannot  be 
called  a  road  in  the  same  sense  that  it  would  be  in  England,  or  on  the  Continent 
generally ;  it  is  merely  traced  over  the  natural  soil,  and  there  is  not  a  shovelful 
of  material  laid  down,  nor  is  there  any  fencing  or  draining.  In  the  winter  the 
verst-posts  are  the  compass  of  the  steppe,  and  without  them  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  travel  after  heavy  falls  of  snow;  late  in  the  season  the  track  is  so  uneven 
that  persons  are  often  thrown  out  of  their  sledges  by  the  violent  jolts.  In  wet 
weather  it  is  almost  impassable,  and,  after  the  thaw  has  set  in,  quite  so  for  a  few 
weeks.  Traffic  is  then  almost  suspended,  and  the  transport  of  the  mails  becomes 
at  this  period  a  service  of  some  danger,  as  the  wooden  bridges  which  have  been 
taken  up  during  the  winter  are  not  replaced  till  the  weather  is  settled,  and  the 
Yagers  are  sometimes  obliged  to  pass  the  rivers  on  rafts.  In  the  latter  part  of 
the  spring  the  ground  is  suddenly  hardened  in  all  its  inequalities  of  ruts,  holes, 
and  hillocks,  by  the  slight  frosts  which  follow  the  thaw,  and  in  the  summer  re- 
tains much  of  the  inequality  it  then  assumed,  particularly  through  forests,  where 
the  track  is  narrow,  and  consequently  more  cuf  up.  In  the  continuous  heat 
of  summer,  which  withers  all  the  grass  on  the  steppe,  some  inches  deep  of 
the  surface  is  beaten  into  dust,  and  in  windy  weather  a  veil  over  the  face 
is  almost  indispensable — the  dust  on  a  hot  Derby  day  will  give  but  a  faint 
idea  of  it.  In  some  districts  trees  are  planted  by  the  side  of  the  track,  but 
they  are  not  much  more  picturesque,  and  certainly  in  this  season  not  more 
verdant,  than  the  verst-posts. 

The  road  to  Archangel  is,  in  many  parts,  boarded  with  planks,  laid  flat  across 
it ;  when  quite  new  it  is  well  enough,  but  wood,  as  a  material  for  road  making, 

T  3 


406  KOADS    AND    ROADSIDE    ACCOMMODATION.  Sect.  V. 

is  not  exactly  suitable  ;  there  are  still  some  corduroy  roads  in  tlie  environs  of 
St.  Petersburgli,  and  we  strongly  advise  every  English  visitor  to  take  a  drive  on 
one  of  them  in  a  droshky — we  will  engage  to  say  that  he  will  not  take  a  second 
unless  there  should  be  a  first  love,  or  a  hospitable  British  merchant's  datsha,  at 
the  end  of  it.  These  roads  are  constructed  of  small  trees  and  logs  laid  trans- 
versely, and  bad  as  they  are  they  have  their  value,  for  without  them  it  would  be 
impossible  to  get  across  some  parts  of  the  country. 

On  the  road  between  the  two  capitals  there  are  no  regularly  appointed 
places  for  breakfasting,  dining,  &c.,  and  the  consequence  of  this  is,  that  pas- 
sengers travelling  in  the  diligence  exercise  their  own  discretion  by  taking  their 
meals  at  the  station  which  best  suits  thtir  fancy,  and  thus  the  operation  of  chang- 
ing horses  frequently  consumes  half  an  hour,  and  sometimes  more.  To  these  nu- 
merous stoppages  for  refreshment  the  conductor  makes  little  objection,  as  he  is 
alive  to  the  probabilities  of  a  handsome  tip  at  the  end  of  the  journey,  and  he 
looks  to  the  yamstchik  to  make  up  the  lost  time. 

The  price  of  everything  on  this  road  is  fixed  by  a  tariff,  a  dinner  is  charged 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  dishes  of  which  it  consists ;  if  you  simply  order 
"  Obett,"  dinner,  your  usual  fare  is  soup,  then  beefsteaks  with  potatoes,  cotelettes 
as  they  call  them,  which,  though  by  no  means  bad,  have  a  most  questionable 
shape.  To  these  succeed  some  birds  (pteetsue) ;  and  fifthly  and  lastly,  comes 
something  sweet,  usually  good,  though  by  no  means  prepossessing  in  its  outward 
features.  In  places  situated  near  any  large  river  or  lake,  as  at  Novgorod  or 
Tver,  fish  is  always  substituted  for  one  or  other  of  the  dishes  composing  the  above 
bill  of  fare.     The  usual  charge  for  this  meal  of  5  dishes  is  about  1  ruble. 

There  is  not,  as  we  have  before  remarked,  any  fixed  time  or  place  for  the 
traveller  to  take  his  meals,  and  no  specified  hour  for  arriving  at  or  quitting  any 
particular  town.  Some  travellers,  and  we  may  add  most  Russians  and  all  sen- 
sible persons,  take  care  to  order  what  is  either  ready  or  quickly  procured,  and 
seldom  keep  the  courier  waiting — others,  not  sufficiently  versed  in  the  cuisine, 
order  dinners  of  so  many  dishes,  and  the  consequence  almost  invariably  is  that 
the  stranger  subjects  himself  to  imposition  by  naming  some  dish  not  mentioned 
in  the  carte.  In  addition  to  this,  the  chances  are  that  the  horses  are  put  to 
about  the  time  your  eatables  make  their  appearance ;  the  courier  inserts  his 
swarthy  visage  at  the  door,  and  after  saying  Gotovo  {ready),  vanishes,  only  to 
reappear  again  with  his  watch'in  his  hand,  repeating  the  magic  word  Gotovo; 
a  glass  of  wine,  or  something  stronger,  offered  to  the  conductor  may  have  its 
effect,  and  if,  as  these  men  generally  are,  he  is  a  good-natured  fellow,  the 
hungry  traveller  will  be  allowed  to  finish  his  dinner. 

The  post  stations  on  this  road  are  rather  handsome  buildings,  and  contain 
some  smart  French  polished  furniture,  looking  glasses,  and,  in  the  passage,  a 
marble  wash-hand  stand  for  all  comers,  but  no  mattress,  sheets,  or  towel,  not 
even  a  common  quilt  of  the  country.  Portraits  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress 
grace  the  walls ;  also  in  the  comer  of  the  principal  room  is  a  picture  of  the  Virgin, 


Russia.  EOADs  and  eoadside  accommodation.  407 

and  this  is  to  be  seen  in  every  private  house.     The  post-houses  in  other  parts  of 
the  empire  are,  many  of  them,  mere  huts,  commonly  constructed  of  mud  or 
pine  logs  ;  in  the  latter  case  they  swarm  with  cockroaches ;  there  is  no  accom- 
modation beyond  a  table,  chairs,  and  a  rough  cane-bottomed  or  wooden  sofa,  and 
the  traveller  has  no  right  to  expect  more  than  to  walk  into  the  room  next  to 
that  in  which  the  padaroshnas  are  entered,  throw  himself  upon  it  in  his  cloak, 
and  there  take  his  rest,  "  if  rest  it  be  which  thus  convulses  slumber,"  for  upon  it 
he  is  not  likely  to  sleep  alone.     The  fair  pilgrim  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  de- 
scribes these  post  stations  on  the  Riga  road  as  "  fine  buildings  outwardly,  but 
otherwise  whitened  sepulchres ;"  this  charge  will  not  hold  good  against  those  in 
the  steppe,  for  there  is  no  whitewash,  and,  therefore,  no  deception;  they  are  what 
they  appear  to  be,  mud  or  wooden  structures  of  the  humblest  kind.     The  following 
extract  from  the  same  author  gives  one  a  very  cheerless  idea  of  what  may  be  ex- 
pected even  on  the  more  frequented  and  macadamized  road  to  the  above  men- 
tioned city.  "About  three  o'clock  I  alighted  at  a  station-house  of  no  very  promising 
exterior.  .  Anton  (the  servant)   peeped  into  a  room  on  the  right  and  shook  his 
head ;  into  one  on  the  left  and  repeated  the  gesture ;  each  was  filled  with  smoke 
from  a  party  of  noisy  carousers.      The  host  coming  forward,  I  asked  (for  here 
German  was  a  passport)  for  an  '  ordentliches  zimmer,'  a  decent  room,  in  which  T 
could  dine.    When  looking  round  at  his  filthy  floors,  rickety  chairs,  and  smoking 
guests,  he  answered,  with  a  shrug,  '  Was  kiinnen  sie  mehr  verlangen  ?      '  What 
can  you  wish  for  more.'    I  very  nearly  laughed  in  his  face."     On  the  cross-roads 
and  in  the  steppe,  eggs  and  milk  are  generally  to  be  obtained,  but  no  butter,  nor 
anything  else  but  the  black  rye  bread  ;  the  latter  very  good  fare  for  a  Russian  or 
a  Spartan,  but  if  the  traveller  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  he  will  find  his  gas- 
tronomic tastes  severely  tried.    An  Englishman  leaving  Odessa  thus  describes  the 
mode  he  pursued  to  obviate  these  difficulties  :  "  The  rumble,"  he  says,  "  instead  of 
being  packed  with  books,  maps,  &c.,  was  cleared  to  make  room  for  the  batterie- 
de-cuisine,  in  the  shape  of  a  brass  casserole,  the  lid  doing  duty  for  a  frying-pan ; 
tin  teacups  fitted  into  the   tea-pot,  and  the  plates,  also  of  the  same  metal, 
into  one  another ;  there  were  also  knives,  forks,  spoons,  a  spirit-lamp,  candle- 
sticks and  snuffers,   and  two   or  three  pair  of   wax  candles.       The    eatables 
came  next,  consisting  of  hunting  beef,  white  bread,  and  biscuits,  tea,  sugar,  and 
portable  soup  ;  the  cellar,  a  narrow  box  containing  six  bottles  of  sherry  and  one 
of  brandy,  was  duly  under  lock  and  key,  and  placed  in  front  of  the  carriage  seat, 
and  as  there  was  no  chance  of  meeting  with  a  bed,  and  there  was  no  room  to 
stow  one  away  in  a  britzka,  we  took  a  canvas  bag,  to  be  filled  with  hay  or  straw 
when  we  came  to  a  halt.     Sheets  and  towels  packed  under  the  cushions  com- 
pleted what  might  fairly  be  termed  heavy  marching  order."     Russian  families 
almost  invariably  sleep  in  their  travelling  carriages,  which  are  very  ponderous 
and  roomy  vehicles.     Those  who  can  afford  it  are  accompanied  by  a  kibitka,  or 
telega,  in  which  is  placed  their  bedding  and  other  comforts.     A  somovar — the 
Russian  tea-urn,  in  which  water  is  boiled  in  five  or  ten  minutes  with  a  few  bits  of 


408  LACQUEY-DE-PLACE    AND    SERVANTS.  Sect.  V. 

charcoal — is  found  at  every  post  station;  the  charge  for  lighting  it  is  ahout  2rf.  to 
a  Russian,  but  the  postmaster  will  ask  a  foreigner  1  or  2  rubles,  and  take  what 
he  can  get. 

17.    LAOQUEY-DE-PLACE   AND   SERVANTS. 

Having  bid  adieu  to  the  steam-boat  at  St.  Petersburgh,  and  reached  the  hotel, 
the  traveller's  first  thought  should  be  to  secure  a  lacquey-de-place  ;  for  the  chances 
are  that  each  of  his  fellow  passengers  will  be  equally  on  the  alert,  and  as  there 
are  very  few  good  ciceroni  it  will  be  desirable  to  have  the  first  choice  *.  The 
valet-de-place  in  this  capital,  as  well  as  in  those  of  Europe  generally,  is  of  dubious 
moral  character,  and  has  a  very  happy  knack  of  taking  the  change  out  of  his 
employer  j^ro  tern. ;  he  seems  to  know  nothing  of  the  currency  below  half  a 
ruble.  He  is,  however,  indispensable,  for  no  language  but  the  Russian  is  of 
much  use  even  in  St.  Petersburgh,  excepting  in  society.  The  best  lacquey  is  to 
be  heard  of  at  Mrs.  "Wilson's  boarding-house.  Their  usual  charge  per  diem 
is  1|  silver  ruble,  they  finding  themselves  in  everything.  It  will  be  his 
business  to  obtain  tickets  of  admission  to  the  Palaces  and  all  other  sights,  where 
this  formality  is  required — the  landlord  of  the  inn  has  generally  a  permanent 
ticket. 

At  Moscow  it  will  be  still  more  difficult  to  meet  with  a  good  lacquey-de-place. 
The  best  is  to  be  heard  of  at  Mrs.  Howard's.  This  man  must  obtain  tickets  to 
see  the  Treasury  of  the  Kremlin,  the  Foundling  Hospital,  and  the  old  Palace  of 
the  Tzars.  It  has  sometimes  been  remarked  by  travellers  that  a  valet-de- place 
may  be  dispensed  with,  except  when  visiting  one  or  two  special  sights,  but, 
judging  by  our  own  experience  in  every  part  of  Eu'.ope,  nothing  can  be  more 
erroneous,  even  when  the  traveller  is  master  of  several  European  languages; 
in  Russia,  where  the  difficulties  are  still  greater,  this  advice  is  not  only  bad  in 
regard  to  comfort,  but  also  in  reference  to  expense,  for  if  you  are  a  diligent  and 
active  sight-seer  you  will  get  over  more  work  in  one  day  with  the  assistance  of 
one  of  these  fellows  than  you  will  in  three  without  him.  Moreover,  unless  the 
traveller  is  such  a  fortunate  individual  as  to  speak  Russ,  an  interpreter  is  required 
almost  every  minute  to  give  him  information  relating  to  the  objects  which  make 
such  frequent  calls  upon  his  curiosity.  Failing  to  obtain  one  of  the  regular  craft 
at  Moscow,  some  respectable  Englishman  may  be  found  to  lionize  his  curious 
countryman  ;  we  had,  some  years  since,  the  pleasure  of  being  attended  by  Mr. 
Shuttleworth,  the  clerk  of  the  English  church  there.  At  Odessa,  there  being 
little  to  see,  there  are  no  professed  lacqueys-de-place,  but  a  nondescript  will  be 
found  at  the  hotels,  who  will  be  able  to  interpret  for  the  traveller,  and  show  him 
the  town. 

Should  he  propose  to  visit  the  Crimea,  which  is  well  worthy  of  being  seen, 

*  If  the  traveller  be  one  of  those  rare  persons  who  take  time  and  circumstances  by 
the  forelock,  he  will  haVe  written  to  St.  Petersburgh  previously  to  his  leaving  England, 
and  secured  both  his  rooms  at  Mrs.  Wilson's  and  his  lacquey-de-place. 


BllSsia.  LACQUET-DE-PLACE    AND    SERVANTS.  409 

the  trip  cannot  be  accomplished  with  any  degree  of  comfort  or  advantage  with- 
out a  guide  who  can  interpret,  and  look  after  the  horses,  &c. ;  such  a  man  will 
not  be  difficult  to  find  ;  a  Greek,  who  can  speak  French,  or  Italian  and  Russian, 
will  be  the  most  likely  person  to  be  met  with  duly  qualified  :  not  succeeding  in 
this,  a  Russo-Italian  or  German  is  the  next  best  chance. 

The  great  majority  of  servants  in  Russia  are  serfs,  who,  at  the  will  of  the 
noble,  are  transmogrified  from  ploughmen  into  domestics  of  every  description, 
according  to  the  intelligence  and  activity  they  may  possess.  The  number  em- 
ployed in  a  family  of  high  rank  is  astonishing,  and  Kohl  gives  the  following 
list  as  forming  the  establishment  of  a  fully  appointed  house  of  the  first  class  in 
this  country  : — "  There  are  the  superintendent  of  accounts,  the  secretary,  the 
dvoretski,  or  m.aitre  d'hotel,  the  valets  of  the  lord,  the  valets  of  the  lady,  the 
dydtha  or  overseer  of  the  children,  the  footmen,  the  huffetscheh  or  butler,  and 
his  adjuncts,  the  table-decker,  the  head  groom,  the  coachman  and  postillions  of 
the  lord,  and  the  coachman  and  postillions  of  the  lady,  the  attendants  on  the  sons 
of  the  house  and  their  tutors,  the  porter,  the  head  cook  and  his  assistant,  the 
baker,  and  the  confectioner ;  the  whole  body  of  mujiks  or  servants,  minimariwn 
gentium,  the  stove  heater,  the  quass  brewer,  the  waiting  maids  and  wardrobe 
keeper  of  the  lady,  the  waiting  maids  of  the  grown-up  daughters  and  of  the 
governesses,  the  nurses  in  and  past  service,  and  the  under  nurses ;  and,  where  a 
private  band  is  maintained,  the  Russian  hapelhneister  and  the  musicians.  Many 
of  the  upper  servants  are  foreigners,  such  as  the  maitre  d'hotel,  the  valet  de 
chambre^  and  furniture  keeper,  who  generally  have  as  much  as  50^.  a  year,  the 
head  cook,  if  a  Frenchman,  100^.,  and  sometimes  more;  the  coachmen  and  foot- 
men from  18^.  to  30^.  a  year  ;  the  foreign  waiting  women  and  nurses  48^.,  and 
even  the  lowest  house  servants  from  20/,  to  30/.  Amongst  the  foreign  servants 
the  Germans  are  the  most  nixmerous;  then  the  Finlanders,  Esthonians  and 
Lithuanians ;  the  Frenchmen  are  for  the  most  part  cooks.  There  are  few  Eng- 
lish servants,  and  these  are  chiefly  nurses  and  stud  grooms,  but  there  are  many 
English  tutors  and  governesses."  The  foreign  servants  at  Odessa  are  the  out- 
casts of  their  respective  countries,  whether  Greeks,  Italians,  or  Germans,  and, 
with  few  exceptions,  are  dirtj^,  dishonest,  and  given  to  drinking.  No  characters 
are  asked  for  or  expected,  and  the  only  security  their  employer  has  is  their  carte- 
de-sejour,  which  it  is  as  well  to  show  to  some  friend  who  can  read  Russ,  for  it  may 
be  a  certificate  of  marriage,  or  some  other  document  as  little  to  the  purpose. 
We  had  some  experience  of  Odessa  servants,  and,  through  a  large  acquaintance,  a 
good  opportunity  of  acquiring  more.  One  of  them,  a  keen  and  competent  judge, 
said,  "  Rogues  go  to  Pera  to  learn  their  trade,  and,  when  perfect,  to  Odessa  to 
practise  it,"  and  concluded  his  remark  with  the  following  anecdote  :  "  One  day 
I  found  my  cook  cheating  me  far  more  than  was  customary  and  expected,  and 
accordingly  bought  a  pair  of  scales  to  check  her  rapacity.  In  these,  on  the  next 
market-day,  I  desired  the  frau  to  weigh  her  purchases,  when  down  went  her 
basket,  and  eyeing  first  the  scales,  and  then  me  from  head  to  foot,  she  put  her 


410  HINTS    ON    CLIMATE,    CLOTHING,    ETC.  Scct.  V. 

arms  a-kimbo  and  said,  '  What,  Mein  Herr !  do  you  think  I  '11  live  in  a  house 
where  scales  are  kept?  Nein,  nein,  you  must  get  some  one  else  to  do  your 
marketings,'  adding,  in  her  elegant  patois,  '  Mein  Gott,  ich  nich  wol.' "  All 
servants,  -whether  foreigners  or  not,  pay  6  silver  rubles  for  their  carte-de- 
sejour  per  annum;  this  is  independent  of  the  tax  called  the  'abrok,'  which  they 
pay,  if  serfs,  to  their  master  for  permission  to  leave  the  estate  and  seek  their 
fortune  on  their  own  account.  A  Russian,  if  he  can  speak  any  European 
language  besides  his  own,  will  be  found,  whether  male  or  female,  a  better 
servant  than  the  foreign  ones. 

18.    HINTS   ON   CLIMATE,    CLOTHING,    ETC. 

Some  remarks  respecting  the  climate  will  be  useful  to  the  traveller  if  he 
intends  passing  a  winter  in  Russia,  for  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary  that  he 
should  pi'epare  for  it,  and  the  cold  is  more  intense  at  St.  Petersburgh  than  at 
Archangel,  in  consequence  of  the  piercing  east  winds  which  sometimes  prevail. 
"This  season  is  considered  to  have  set  in  in  October,  and  as  long  as  the  thermo- 
meter shows  only  a  cold  of  12°  or  15°  of  Reaumur,  people  think  themselves  en- 
joying a  mild  winter.  It  is  only  when  the  cold  falls  to  an  unusual  degree  of 
severity  that  any  change  takes  place ;  when  the  thermometer  stands  at  20° 
every  man  pricks  up  his  ears,  and  becomes  a  careful  observer  of  its  risings  and 
fallings.  At  23°  or  21°  the  police  are  put  on  the  alert,  and  the  officers  go 
round  day  and  night  to  see  that  the  sentries  and  hutotshniks  keep  awake.  Should 
any  one  be  found  nodding  at  his  post,  he  is  summarily  and  severely  punished, 
for  sleep  at  such  a  time  is  a  sure  state  of  transition  from  life  to  death.  At  25° 
all  the  theatres  are  closed,  as  it  is  then  thought  impossible  to  adopt  the  necessary 
precautions  for  the  safety  of  the  actors  on  the  stage,  and  of  the  coachmen  and  ser- 
vants waiting  in  the  street.  The  pedestrians,  who  at  other  times  are  rather 
leisurely  in  their  movements,  now  run  along  the  streets  as  though  they  were 
hastening  on  some  mission  of  time  and  death,  and  the  sledges  dash  in  tempo 
celeratissimo  over  the  creaking  snow.  As  to  faces,  they  are  not  to  be  seen  in 
the  street,  every  one  has  drawn  his  furs  over  his  head,  and  is  anxious  about 
his  nose  and  ears;  for  as  the  freezing  of  these  appendages  is  not  preceded  by  any 
uncomfortable  sensations  to  warn  the  sufferer  of  his  danger,  he  has  enough  to 
think  of  if  he  intends  to  keep  his  extremities  in  order.  '  Father,  father,  thy 
nose,*  one  man  will  cry  to  another  as  he  passes  him,  or  even  stop  and  apply 
a  handful  of  snow  to  the  stranger's  proboscis,  and  endeavour  by  rubbing  it  to 
restore  the  suspended  circulation.  A  man's  e3^es  also  cost  him  some  trouble, 
for  they  freeze  up  every  now  and  then ;  on  such  occasions  it  is  customary  to 
knock  at  the  first  house  one  comes  to  and  ask  permission  to  occupy  a  place  for  a 
few  minutes  by  the  stove,  a  favour  never  denied,  and  the  stranger  seldom  fails 
to  acknowledge  it  on  his  departure  by  dropping  a  grateful  tear  on  the  hospitable 
floor.  There  are  families  at  this  season  who  spend  weeks  without  once  tasting 
a  mouthful  of  fresh  air,  and  at  last,  when  the  cold  has  reached  its  extreme  point. 


Russia.  HINTS    ON    CLIMATE,    CLOTHING,    ETC.  411 

none  are  to  be  seen  in  the  street  but  the  poorer  classes,  unless  it  be  foreigners, 
people  on  business,  or  officers;  as  to  these  last,  the  parades  and  guard-mountings 
are  never  interrupted  by  any  degree  of  cold,  and  while  the  frost  is  hard  enough 
to  cripple  a  polar  bear,  generals  and  colonels  may  be  seen  in  their  glittering 
uniforms  moving  as  nimbly  about  the  windy  Admiralty  Square,  as  though  they 
were  promenading  a  ball  room.  Not  a  particle  of  cloak  is  to  be  seen  about 
them,  not  a  whisper  of  complaint  is  heard.  The  Emperor's  presence  forbids  both, 
for  he  exposes  himself  unhesitatingly  to  wind,  snow,  hail,  and  rain,  and  expects 
from  his  officers  the  same  disregard  of  the  inclemencies  of  the  season." 

Should,  therefore,  a  traveller  visit  Russia  in  the  winter,  it  is  evident 
that  he  must  have  a  schooha  (a  fur  pelisse)  ;  and  if  his  route  lies  through 
Germany  he  will  make  a  good  speculation  by  purchasing  one  at  Leipsic,  or  some 
other  great  town  on  his  road — a  schojppen  in  Germany  will  cost  only  half  as 
much  as  it  will  in  Russia.  A  handsome  fur  pelisse  of  the  yenott  or  racoon 
may  be  purchased  at  Leipsic  for  121.  The  price  of  one,  even  in  England, 
would  be  much  less  than  in  Russia,  though  perhaps  somewhat  dearer  than  in 
Germany.  A  seal-skin  travelling  cap  is  also  essential,  the  ears  not  being  pro- 
tected by  a  hat ;  and  this  should  be  procured  at  the  same  time  as  the  schooba. 
Carpet  bags  are  the  most  convenient  things  in  which  baggage  can  be  conveyed 
when  it  is  necessary  to  travel  on  horseback,  the  only  mode  of  locomotion  in  the 
Crimea :  two  strapped  together  by  the  handles  can  be  thrown  across  the  back 
of  the  animal  on  which  the  guide  will  be  mounted.  An  English  saddle  is  also 
highly  desirable,  and  will  save  a  large  portion  of  cuticle  which  must  inevitably  be 
lost  by  the  use  of  a  Tartar  one ;  the  fatigue,  too,  will  be  immeasurably  less.  A 
schooba  will  also  be  indispensable  even  in  the  south  in  winter,  and  a  brown 
Holland  blouse  and  a  straw  hat  in  the  summer,  for  the  dust  and  heat 
are  excessive ;  there  is  no  climate  so  parched  and  dry  in  Europe  as  Odessa. 
A  bottle  of  pure  cognac  will  be  found  useful  everywhere.  To  those  who  in- 
tend to  remain  any  time  in  Russia,  and  mix  in  Russian  society,  it  will  be  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  they  should  bring  letters  of  introduction,  speak  French 
fluently,  and  be  able  to  foot  it  on  the  light  fantastic ;  accomplishments  highly 
prized,  and  likely  to  be  constantly  in  requisition. 

Letters  of  introduction  to  persons  high  in  office  or  rank  will  indeed  be  found 
not  only  useful  but  almost  absolutely  indispensable;  many  difficulties,  otherwise 
insuperable,  will  be  smoothed  away  by  them,  and  we  strongly  recommend  the 
traveller  who  intends  to  visit  Russia  to  turn  his  attention  to  this  point  before 
he  leaves  England.  A  long  purse,  well  lined,  is  also  desirable,  for  considerable 
expense,  not  to  say  extravagance,  is  unavoidable  at  St,  Petersburgh,  particularly 
if  the  visitor  should  desire  to  take  any  part  in  the  gaieties  and  amusements  which 
are  unceasing  during  the  winter  months ;  the  cost  will  be  half  as  much  again 
what  it  would  be  in  Vienna  or  Rome,  and,  with  good  management,  the  expense 
per  diem,  with  a  sledge,  will  be  about  twenty-two  shillings,  not  including  wine, 
theatres,  and  a  private  servant.    Then  as  to  the  day  of  the  month,  it  will  be  well 


412  A    VOCABULARY    OF    RUSSIAN   WORDS.  Sect.  V. 

to  remember  that  the  Russians  have  not  yet  altered  their  style,  and  that  they 
are  twelve  days  behind  the  rest  of  Europe,  so  that  if  the  traveller  arrives  in 
Russia  on  the  1st  of  June,  he  vv^ill  there  find  it  only  the  20th  of  May;  it  may  also 
be  useful  to  him  to  recollect  that  Reaumur  is  the  favourite  thermometer  on  the 
Continent,  and  Fahrenheit  in  his  own  country,  and  that  each  degree  of  the 
former  is  equivalent  to  2 j  degrees  of  the.  latter.  Also  that  a  Russian  invariably 
takes  off  his  hat  whenever  he  enters  beneath  a  roof,  be  it  palace,  cottage,  or 
hovel ;  the  reason  for  which  is  that  in  every  apartment  of  every  Russian  house 
there  hangs  in  one  corner  of  it,  just  below  the  ceiling,  a  picture  of  the  Virgin. 
To  omit  conforming  to  this  usage,  and  paying  respect  to  the  penates  of  the  dwell- 
ing, will  not  be  either  wise  or  well-bred,  for  it  may  give  offence ;  a  man  has 
no  business  to  travel  in  foreign  countries  who  cannot  make  up  his  mind  to  con- 
form to  their  customs. 

Besides  a  well  furnished  purse,  a  large  stock  of  patience  and  temper  is  need- 
ful, more  especially  if  the  empire  of  the  Tzar  be  entered  by  the  Black  Sea.     In 
this  case  the  traveller  should,  when  at  Constantinople,  write  to  his  banker  in 
Odessa,  and  request  him  to  send  some  one  to  meet  him  on  his  arrival  at  the 
Lazaret  with  a  pair  of  shoes,  (his  measure  can  be  sent  in  the  letter,)  socks  or 
stockings,  trowsers,  shirt,  waistcoat  and  coat  or  dressing-goAvn ;  this  is  supposing 
the  infected  man  arrives  in  the  summer ;  if  he  is  unfortunate  enough  to  land 
in  the  winter,  a  schooha  will  be  highly  necessary.    Unless  this  precaution  is 
taken  the   traveller  will  be   confined  one  day  more  in   quarantine   by  being 
obliged  to  remain   on  board  the  steamer  until   a   suit  of  his   own  wardrobe 
has  been  fumigated,  for  the  clothes  that  he  arrives  in  must  be  thrown  off, 
and  in  a  state  of  nature  must  he  show  himself  to  the  medical  officers  of  the 
establishment  before  he  is  allowed  to  go  into  another  room  to  clothe  himself 
in  fresh  garments — ladies  and  children,  not  even  excepting  the  most  minute 
baby,  are  not  exempt  from  this  shedding  of  plumage.     If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  new  arrival  is  content  to  wear  the  habiliments  let  out  for  the  occasion 
by  the  restaurateur  of  the  Lazaret,  he  need  not  write  to  his  banker,  but  he 
must  be  prepared  to  look  very  grotesque,  and  probably  to  find  his  stockings 
too  small,  his  shoes  too  large,  or  the  tail  of  his  coat,  if  a  small  man,  touch- 
ing the  ground.     There  is,  also,  another  advantage  in  apprizing  the  banker, 
or  any  other  person  to  whom  the  stranger  may  have  a  letter,  of  his  intended 
journey  to  Odessa,  not  only  will  he  obtain  a  comfortable  suit,  but  it  will  give 
him  the  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with  him,  and  succeeding  visits 
will  break  the  dreadful  tedium  of  quarantine. 

19.    A   VOCABULARY   OP   WORDS   AND   PHRASES   OF   MOST   FREQUENT   OCCURRENCE. 

The  vowels  should  be  pronounced  as  in  the  Italian  language,  the  French 
pronunciation  not  being  so  suitable,  on  account  of  the  difference  in  the  zt,  as  the 
following  example,  the  name  of  the  town  Tula,  will  show ;  this  is  pronounced 


Russia. 


A   VOCABULAKY    OF   EUSSIAN   WOKDS. 


413 


as  if  written  in  English  Toola.  In  all  cases  the  j  is  used  as  an  English 
consonant,  and  pronounced  rather  soft.  It  must  be  observed  that  this  col- 
lection of  words  and  phrases  is  not  given  with  any  pretension  to  that  ac- 
curacy which  is  so  difficult  of  attainment  in  expressing  the  pronunciation  of 
one  language  by  the  alphabet  of  another,  but  it  is  hoped  that  they  are 
sufficiently  correct  to  be  in  some  degree  useful  to  a  stranger  who  visits 
Russia  for  the  first  time.  The  unceremonious  amalgamation  of  several  words 
into  one  may  possibly  offend  the  Englishman  conversant  with  the  Russian 
language,  who  will,  no  doubt,  smile  at  some  of  our  phrases,  as  we  have  at  a 
similar  liberty  taken  in  a  Russian-Anglo  dialogue  book,  where  what  are 
supposed  to  be  our  national  terms  of  greeting  are  thus  compactly  rendered : 
"  Howdodo,  makeshakehans,  toyorhellt^  gubbye." 


The  Emperor 

Tzar. 

A  street 

Prospekt. 

The  Empress 

Tzarina. 

A  cross-street 

Pereulok. 

The  Crown  Prince    Tzezarevitch. 

A  square 

Ploschad. 

A  hetman 

Ataman. 

A  market 

Rinok. 

A  prince 

Kniass. 

A  row  of  shops 

Pi.ad. 

A  count 

Graf. 

A  quay 

Bereg. 

A  noble 

Dvoryanin, 

A  gateway 

Podyasde. 

The  lord 

Gossudar. 

A  suburb 

Slahoda. 

Sir 

Gospodin. 

An  island 

Ostrof. 

The  head  of  ^  village  Starosta. 

A  garden 

Ssatt. 

Crimean)  ^  ,     ,. 

A  field 

Lug. 

village 

/ "     ; 

A  cathedral 

Sabor. 

An  emjiloye 

Chinovnik. 

A  church 

Serkov, 

A  freeman 

Volni. 

A  cemetery 

Kladhiahcha. 

A  peasant 

Christianin. 

The  screen 

Ikonostast. 

Ditto 

Miijik. 

A  monastery 

Monastir. 

A  maitre  d'hotel 

DvoretsJcoi. 

A  palace 

Dvoretz. 

The  police 

Polizia. 

A  house 

Dom. 

A  policeman 

Butotshnik. 

A  court-yard 

Dvor. 

A  blacksmith 

Ktisnitza. 

A  villa 

Datsha. 

A  drosky  driver 

Istvostchik. 

A  room 

Komnafa. 

A  postillion 

Yamstchik. 

A  shop 

Lafka. 

A  waiter 

Tchelovek. 

An  apothecary's 

I  Apteka. 

A  restaurateur 

Traktir. 

shop 

A  porter 

Dvornik. 

The  parade  ground  Platz-parad. 

A  water  carrier 

Vodovos. 

A  barrack 

Kazarma.  ' 

A  foreigner 

Inostranez. 

A  fort 

Krepust. 

Chief  city 

Stanitza. 

A  bell  tower 

Kolokolnik. 

A  town 

Gorod. 

A  bridge 

Most. 

A  street 

Oulitza. 

A  river 

Reka. 

414 


A   VOCABULAKY    OF    KUSSIAN    WOEDS. 


Sect.  V. 


A  floating  fisli  pre-] 

•Sddoht 

Cucumbers 

Ogurtzi. 

serve                  J 

Pears 

Grushi. 

A  village 

Derevniani. 

Apples 

Yahlok. 

A  road 

Daroga. 

Nuts 

Reki. 

A  hill 

Gora. 

Bread 

Klieh. 

The  bath  house 

Baina. 

Black    bread 

of) 

^  Tchomi  klieh. 

A  post  station 

Stanitzia. 

the  Steppe 

The  Alien  Office 

Adres-hontora. 

Easter  pancakes      Blinni. 

The  Great  Bazaar 

Gostinnoi-Dvor. . 

Cheese 

Sir. 

The  Exchange 
To  write 

Birsha. 
Pissatt. 

Cheese     of 
Steppe 

>  Brinsa. 

To  eat 

Kusshatt. 

Butter 

Maslo. 

To  drink 

Pitt. 

Eggs 

Taitzi. 

To  breakfast 

Savtricatt. 

Cream 

Slifki. 

Breakfast 

Savtrik. 

Milk 

Maloko. 

To  dine 

Oheadatt. 

Wine 

Vino, 

Dinner 

Ohett. 

Corn        brandy/ 

To  sup 

Oujinatt. 

called  by 

Rus- 

Supper 

Ujin. 

sians  the 

little 

>-  Vodka. 

A  portion 

Portsuia. 

water 

Soup 

Sup]). 

Beer 

Piva. 

An  ice 

Moroshennoye. 

Coffee 

KoffL 

A  national  soup 

Batvinia. 

Tea 

Tchai. 

Cabbage  soup 

Shtshie. 

Sugar 

Sacharo. 

Millet  porridge  of 

] 

Water 

Voda. 

the     Malo    or 

\-  Borshtch. 

A  glass  of  water      Stakkan  vodi. 

Little  Russian 

] 

Hot  water 

Goriatche  vodi 

Meat  pies 

PiroTc 

Cold  water 

Holodne  vodi. 

A  roast  joint 

Jarlcoi. 

Salt 

Sol. 

Beef 

Goviadina. 

Pepper 

Perza. 

Veal 

Tiliatina. 

Vinegar 

Uksussa. 

Fish 

Riha. 

Mustard 

Gortschitza. 

Ham 

Vitchina. 

A  table 

Stol. 

A  fowl 

Kuritza. 

A  picture 

Kartina. 

A  chicken 

Tzeplenok. 

A  trunk 

Sunduk. 

A  hare 

Zaietz. 

A  tea-urn 

Samovar. 

A  partridge 

Ro2)chik. 

A  tea-pot 

Tchainik. 

A  heathcock 

ReptshiH. 

A  pail 

Vedro. 

Earth  hare  of  the 

\ 

A  bottle 

Botilka. 

steppe    {Cytil- 

-  Suslik. 

A  glass 

Stakkan. 

lus  vulgaris) 

A  cup 

Tchaschka. 

Potatoes 

Eartoffell. 

A  tea  cup 

Tchainia. 

Peas 

Gorokh. 

A  wine-glass 

Riumka. 

Hussia. 


A   VOCABULARY    OF    RUSSIAN   WORDS. 


415 


A  plate 

Tarelka. 

Straw 

Saloma. 

A  knife 

Nojik,  or  nosh. 

A  book 

Knig. 

A  fork 

Vilka. 

A  Cossack  whip 

Nagaika. 

A  spoon 

Loshka. 

A  ravine 

Propust, 

Abed 

Postel. 

A  snow-storm 

Viuga,  or  Mettil. 

A  stove 

Pitch. 

Ice 

Liott. 

The    iron 

plate' 

Half 

Polovina. 

which 

closes 

-  Yiishka. 

A  quarter 

Tchetvert. 

the  chimney  of  ( 

Great 

Bolshoi. 

the  stove 

J 

Little 

Maloi. 

Fire 

Agon. 

Beautiful 

Prekrassnaya. 

A  light 

Sviett. 

Old 

Staraia. 

A  napkin 

Solfetka. 

New 

Novaia. 

A  duster 

Trepka. 

Yes 

Da,  dass. 

A  hat 

Schliapa. 

No 

Niett. 

A  dress  of  skins 

Schooha. 

Good,  very  well 

Harosho. 

A  pair  of  boots 

Sapogi. 

Notgood,  not  well 

Ni  harosho. 

Paper 

Bumdga. 

Bring 

Prenici. 

Ink 

Tscliernila. 

For 

Dla. 

Pens 

Pero. 

More 

Estcho. 

Pencil 

Krandash. 

That 

Etto. 

A  bath 

Vanna. 

Enough 

Davolno. 

A  dressing- 

gown 

Halati. 

Not  enough 

Ne  davolno. 

A  boat 

Lotka. 

Too  long 

Otchen  Dolgo. 

A  swing 

• 

Katsheli. 

Give 

Dai. 

A  carriage 

Kareta. 

Give  me 

Dai  mne. 

A  peasant's 

cart 

Telega. 

Give  us 

Daite  nam. 

A  wheel 

Kolesso. 

Now 

Tipper. 

The  pole 

Dishlo. 

It  cannot  be  done  Nelza. 

The  wooden  arch' 

Do  better 

Zdelailutche. 

over  the  horse's 

-  Duga. 

Ovitch,  or    evitch, 

son    of — as  Paul, 

head      in      a  ( 

Paulovitch 

droshky 

J 

Ovna,  or  evna,  daughter  of — as  Feodor, 

A  cord 

Verovka. 

Feodorevna 

A  horse 

Loshad. 

Brother 

Brat. 

Horses 
Hav 

Loshadi. 
Senna. 

My  little  friend 

Drushka. 

416 


A   VOCABULAKY   OF   RUSSIAN    WORDS. 


Sect.  y. 


DIALOGUES. 


I  am  a  foreigner. 

He  is  a  foreigner. 

I  am  a  noble. 

Good  day. 

Good  morning,  brother. 

Good  night. 

Good  bye. 

If  you  please. 

Thank  you. 

Here. 

Who  is  there  1 

Here,  here  sir. 

Come  here. 

Hollo!  here. 

I  come. 

I  hear  and  obey. 

Directly. 

Let  us  go  (on  foot). 

Let  us  go  (in  a  carriage). 

Go  on. 

Drive  gently. 

Never  fear. 

Hurry  quick. 

Drive  faster. 

Have  a  care. 

Give  room,  give  place. 

To  the  right. 

To  the  left. 

Go  further  on. 

Stop. 

Tell  me. 

What  is  it  1 

How  do  they  call  it  1 

What  does  it  cost  ] 

It  is  dear. 

It  is  cheap. 

It  is  much. 

I  don't  know. 

It  does  not  want. 

I  won't  have. 

Go  to  the  bath. 


Ya  Jnostranez. 

On  Jnostranez. 

Ya  dvoryanin. 

Sdrastui  souda. 

Sdrastui  hrat. 

Dolroi  notsclie. 

Prostchai. 

Pojalusta. 

Blardastnyte — Sjxissibo. 

Davai! 

Hto  tarn  ? 

Sdess. 

Padi  sudi. 

Posluchi. 

Sitcliass  pridov. 

Slushai. 

Si  tchas. 

Poidem,  padyom. 

Poedem. 

Pashol. 

Ttske,  or  pomalo. 

Niet  shevoss. 

Scorrei. 

Pashol  scorri. 

Beregrissa. 

Padi,  padi. 

Na  pravo. 

Na  levo. 

Pashol  tam  dalshe. 

Stoi. 

Skajlte-mne. 

Tschto  talcoi  t 

Kahzavut  ? 

Tschto  stoit  ?  SkoUco  stoit. 

Eto  Dorogo. 

Dechevo. 

Eto  mnogo. 

Nisnaiii. 

Nenado. 

Nhatchu. 

Paidite  hannu. 


Russia. 


A   VOCABULARY    OF  RUSSIAN    WORDS. 


417 


Is  it  ready  1 

Set  the  tea-urn. 

On  with  the  tea-urn. 

Give  us  a  spoon. 

What 's  to  be  done  1 

What 's  o'clock  1 

In  how  many  hours  ! 

Is  it  possible  ? 

Where  is  the  inn? 

How  many  versts  1 

Where  is  the  landlord  1 

I  will  pass  the  night  here. 

When  do  3^ou  start? 

To-morrow. 

In  an  hour. 

It  is  time  to  be  off. 

Which  is  the  way  to 1 

Pray  show  me  the  way. 
What  kind  of  a  road  is  it  ? 
Are  the  horses  to  1 
What  is  to  pay  for  them  1 
Drink  money. 
Tea  money. 

I  will  give  you  drink  money. 
I  will  not  give  you  drink  money. 


Gotovoli  ? 

Postav  somovar. 

Somovar  postavit. 

Dai  loshha. 

Tchto  dellut  ? 

Katori  chass  ? 

Tcheres  sTcolko  tchasoffl 

Mojnoli  ? 

Gde  Tra/dir? 

Sholko  verst  ?  $ 

Gde  chorjain  ? 

Zdess  natch  uju. 

Kogda  wu  ujedete? 

Savtra. 

Tscheres  tchass. 

Pora  jechat. 

Katoroi  darogo  mne  iiti ? 

Proschu  polcasMte  mne  darogo. 
Kakova  darogo  ? 
Sapriajini  loshadei?  ' 

SJcolho  progon  ? 
Na  vodJca. 
Na  Tchai. 
Dam  na  vodJca. 
Nidam  na  vodka. 


Names  of  the  Months,  Days  of  the  Week,  dec. 


January 

Janver. 

Tuesday 

Vtornik. 

February 

Fevrail. 

Wednesday 

Sereda. 

March 

Mart. 

Thursday 

Tchitvierg. 

April 

Aprel. 

Friday 

Piatnitza. 

May 

Mai. 

Saturday 

Suhota. 

June 

June. 

Sunday 

Voskrisinie. 

July 

Yule. 

Winter 

Zinna. 

August 

Avgust. 

Summer 

Leto. 

September 

Sentiaher. 

A  year 

God. 

October 

Octaher. 

A  month 

Mesetz. 

November 

Noyaber. 

A  week 

Nedelia. 

December 

Dicaher. 

A  day 

Den. 

Monday 

Ponidilnik. 

An  hour 

Tchass. 

418 


HISTOKICAL   NOTICE. 


Sect.  V. 


The  Numerals. 


and 


one,  adin. 

two,  dvd. 

three,  tri. 

four,  tchetiri. 

five,  piatt 

six,  shiest. 

seven,  sem. 

eight,  vosem. 

nine,  deviett. 

ten,  deceit. 

eleven,  adin-natzatt. 

twelve,  dva-natzatt ; 

so  on,  always  adding  natzatt  to 


each  number  up  to 


twenty,  dvatzatt. 

twenty-one,  dvatzatt- adin. 

twenty-two,  dvatzatt-dvd  ; 
and  so  on,  always  adding  the  unit  up  to 
one  hundred,  as 

thirty,  tritzatt. 

forty,  sorok. 

fifty,  piatdisiatt. 

sixty,  shiesdiziatt. 

seventy,  semdiziatt. 

eighty,  vosemdiziatt. 

ninety,  devenosto. 

one  hundred,  sto. 

one  thousand,  tissiatcha. 


Weight& 


68  grains 
96  zolotniks 

40    Russian    pounds    (being   36 
English  avoirdupois) 


1  zolotnik. 
1  pound. 
1  pood. 


20.    HISTORICAL   NOTICE. 

The  space  allotted  to  this  sketch  being  sufficient  only  to  furnish  the  traveller 
with  a  few  historical  memoranda  of  the  remarkable  events  in  Russian  history, 
and  the  most  celebrated  sovereigns  who  have  swayed  the  destinies  of  that  empire, 
renders  it  impossible  to  give  any  descriptive  details,  more  particularly  of  those 
monarch s  who  lived  nearer  to  our  own  times,  and  who  have  figured  conspi- 
cuously in  European  politics.  The  more  salient  and  important  points  will,  there- 
fore, alone  be  mentioned. 

History  and  tradition  concur  in  showing  that  Europe  was  peopled  by  three 
great  families  of  the  human  race,  who  emigrated  westward,  at  distinct  periods  ; 
the  last  of  these  migrations  was  that  of  the  Sclavonians,  who  established  them- 
selves on  the  Don,  about  400  years  before  Christ.  Herodotus  calls  them  the 
Sauromatse,  and  they  were,  until  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  known 
in  Europe  by  the  appellation  of  Sclaves,  or  Sclavonians.  In  the  days  of  the 
Greek  historian  their  mode  of  life  was  exceedingly  rude  and  barbarous ;  they 
had  no  houses,  and  lived,  very  much  like  the  Malo  or  Little  Russian  of  the 
present  day,  a  nomade  and  pastoral  life,  journeying  from  one  verdant  spot  to 
another  in  a  long  waggon,  which  contained  all  their  worldly  belongings,  and 


Russia.  HISTORICAL   NOTICE.  419 

stopping  at  each  only  so  long  as  they  found  there  was  sufficient  pasture  for  their 
flocks  and  herds.  In  time  of  peace  their  principal  occupations  were  the  rearing  of 
cattle^  the  chase  and  the  management  of  bees,  while  their  chief  characteristics 
seem  to  have  been  in  a  degree  analogous  to  those  of  their  descendants,  the 
modern  Eussians ;  they  were  hospitable,  courageous,  good  humoured,  contented, 
and  immoderately  fond  of  spirituous  liquors ;  like  most  barbarous  nations, 
however,  the  courage  of  the  Sclaves  frequently  degenerated  into  cruelty,  and 
murder  was  no  uncommon  crime  amongst  them.  Their  religion  was  idolatrous, 
and  their  mode  of  worship  resembled  the  gross  and  degraded  forms  of  the 
ancient  Druids;  they  not  only  offered  up  their  prisoners  as  a  holocaust  to 
their  chief  deity,  Perune,  the  Zeus  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Jupiter  of  the  Romans, 
but  would  sometimes  even  immolate  their  own  children  to  his  honour. 

It  was  not  till  the  fifth  century,  that  the  wild  Sclavonians,  who  had 
overrun  a  large  portion  of  European  Russia,  founded  any  remarkable  settle- 
ments; these  were  Novgorod,  on  the  Ilmen;  and  Kief,  or  Kiow,  on  the 
Dnieper ;  where  they  afterwards  became  distinguished  for  their  commerce,  their 
riches,  and  incipient  civilization.  Singularly  enough,  democracy  was  at  this 
period  their  established  form  of  government;  but  in  the  ninth  century,  the 
inhabitants  of  Novgorod  became  divided  into  several  political  factions,  which 
weakened  their  power,  and  exposed  them  to  the  incursions  of  the  surrounding 
states.  In  this  conditioij  they  were  induced  by  Grostomisle,  the  first  magistrate 
whose  name  is  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  republic,  to  invite  Rurik,  a 
Varago-Russian  Prince,  to  come  to  their  assistance;  and,  accordingly,  in  the 
year  864,  that  prince  acceded  to  their  request,  took  up  his  residence  at 
Novgorod,  and  there  founded  the  Russian  monarchy,  the  sceptre  of  which  con- 
tinued to  be  held  by  his  descendants  for  upwards  of  700  years.  Two  of  Rurik's 
followers  subsequently  left  him  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  the  south,  and  on 
their  journey  to  Constantinople  they  attacked  the  town  of  Kief,  gained  pos- 
session of  it,  and  it  thus  became  the  capital  of  a  second  Sclavonian  kingdom. 

Six  sovereigns  succeeded  Rurik,  and  their  congenial  occupation  seems  to  have 
been  to  make  war  upon  the  Grreeks  and  the  countries  bordering  their  own.  These 
princes  all  followed  the  pagan  worship  of  their  fathers,  but  Vladimir,  the  seventh 
in  descent,  who  possessed  himself  of  the  throne  in  981,  was  converted  to 
Christianity;  a  conversion,  however,  which  was  accompanied  by  several  acts  of 
capricious  cruelty.  Christianity  was  indeed  fearfully  sullied  at  its  introduction 
by  the  conduct  of  this  monarch,  and  its  profession  softened  but  little  the  coarse 
pagan  temperament  of  the  Russian  people,  though  Vladimir's  own  conduct  was 
afterwards  in  a  great  degree  affected  by  its  precepts.  His  nature  became 
changed,  the  cruelty  of  his  disposition  gave  way  to  clemency  and  humility,  and 
when  awarding  punishments  for  crime,  he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "  What 
am  I,  that  I  should  condemn  a  fellow  creature  to  death?"  He  also  endea- 
voured to  overcome  the  violent  prejudices  and  superstitions  of  his  subjects,  by 
founding   seminaries   for   the    education    of  the   nobles;    in    these   he   placed 


420  HISTOKICAL    NOTICE.  Sect.  V. 

professors  obtained  from  Grreece,  and  from  tliat  classic  land  he  likewise  pro- 
cured architects,  and  other  ingenious  persons,  to  instruct  his  people  in  their 
several  crafts.  Such  was  the  conduct  of  Vladimir,  who  lived  700  years  before 
Peter  the  Great.  But,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  his  example  does  not 
seem  to  have  produced  any  great  amelioration  in  the  condition  of  his  subjects, 
or  to  have  raised  their  tone  of  moral  feeling ;  in  common  with  almost  all  early 
and  barbarous  histories,  superstition,  breach  of  faith,  and  cruelty  in  all  their 
worst  forms,  continued  to  be  but  too  prominently  displayed.  Vladimir, 
however,  deserved  well  of  his  country,  and  the  Russian  church  has  enrolled 
him  among  the  number  of  her  saints.  History,  also,  to  distinguish  him  from 
other  princes  of  the  same  name,  has  considered  him  worthy  of  the  surname 
of  Great,  His  son  Yaroslaf,  who  reigned  thirty-five  years,  and  died  in  1054, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years,  was  a  prince  of  considerable  attainments,  and 
a  great  patron  of  the  arts ;  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  at  Novgorod,  was  by  his 
order  decorated  with  pictures  and  mosaics,  portions  of  which  are  said  to  remain 
to  the  present  time.  His  expedition  against  Constantino  XI.,  who  then  held 
the  sceptre  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  though  unsuccessful,  as  well  as  his  ac- 
quirements, and  the  splendour  in  which  he  lived,  made  his  name  known  and 
respected  throughout  Europe.  Three  of  his  daughters  were  married  to  the 
kings  of  France,  Norway,  and  Hungary ;  and  his  eldest  son,  Vladimir,  who 
died  before  him,  had  for  wife  a  daughter  of  the  unfortunate  Harold,  the  last 
of  our  Saxon  kings.  Yaroslaf  died  in  1054,  and  divided  the  empire,  as  was 
usually  the  case,  among  his  sons.  Vladimir  Monomachus,  his  grandson,  who 
died  in  the  early  part  of  the  next  century,  did  the  same ;  and  as  the  Russian 
monarchs  were  blessed,  generally  speaking,  with  a  numerous  offspring,  (the 
last  mentioned  sovereign  had  eight  children,)  the  country  was  continually  a  prey 
to  internal  dissensions  and  strife,  and  these  family  feuds  were  not  settled  until 
an  appeal  had  been  made  to  the  sword,  which,  being  congenial  to  the  disposition 
of  the  people  and  the  temper  of  the  times,  was  frequently  prolonged  for  years. 
In  the  year  preceding  the  death  of  Monomachus,  Kief  was  nearly  destroyed  by 
fire,  and  from  the  great  number  of  churches  and  houses  that  fell  a  prey  to  the 
flames,  that  city  must  then  have  been  of  great  opulence  and  extent.  This 
calamity  was  followed  in  the  succeeding  reigh  by  a  still  greater  one, 
when  the  sister  capital,  Novgorod,  was  desolated  by  a  famine  so  awful  that 
the  survivors  were  not  sufficiently  numerous  to  bury  the  dead,  and  the  streets 
were  blocked  up  by  the  putrid  corpses  of  the  inhabitants. 

The  reigns  which  followed  this  period  of  Russian  history,  are  distinguished  by 
little  else  than  continual  wars  with  the  Poles,  Lithuanians,  Polovetzes,  and 
Tchudes,  with  this  exception,  that  the  town  of  Vladimir,  built  by  Yury  I.,  in 
1158,  became  in  that  year  the  capital  instead  of  Kief.  But  a  more  formidable 
enemy  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  countries  and  tribes  already  mentzDned  drew 
near  the  Muscovite  territory,  in  the  person  of  Tuschki,  the  son  of  Zenghis  Khan, 
who,  emigrating  with  his  Tartars  westward,  led  them,  about  the  year  1223,  from 


Russia.  HISTORICAL  NOTICE.  421 

the   shores  of  the  Sea  of   Aral  and  the  Caspian,   to  those   of  the    Dnieper. 
The  Circassians  and  Polovetzes  having  endeavoured  in  vain  to  arrest  the  progress 
of  the  horde  were  at  length  constrained  to  apply  to  their  hitherto  inveterate 
foes  for  assistance,  and,  the  cause  being  now  equally  dear  to  all  parties,  the 
Eussians  made  an  intrepid  stand  on  the  banks  of  the  Kalka.     The  impetuous 
attack,  however,  of  the  invaders  was  not  to  be  withstood,  and,  the  Prince  of 
Kief  treacherously  abstaining  from   taking   part   in   the   battle,   tl;e   Russians 
were  completely  routed,  and  scarcely  a  tenth  part  of  an  army,  composed  of 
100,000  men,  escaped.     The  enemy  then  pursued  his  way  unmolested  to  the 
capital,  which  he  took,  and  put  50,000  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  principality  of 
Kief  to  the  sword.     The  further  progress  of  the  Tartars  northward  was  marked 
hx  fire  and  sword,  but,  having  reached  Novogorod  Severski,  they  faced  about 
and  retreated  to  the  camp  of  Zenghis  Khan,  who  was  at  this  time  in  Buk- 
haria.    Thirteen  years  after,  Boatz  Khan,  his  grandson,  desolated  Eussia  afresh, 
committing  every  species  of  cruelty,  and  aggravated  breaches  of  faith  with  the 
towns  who  submitted  to  his  arms.     In  this  manner,  the  provinces  of  Eiazan 
Periaslavl,  Eostof,  and  several  others  fell  into  his  hands,  for  with  incredible 
apathy,  and  contrary  to  their  usually  warlike  inclinations,  the  Eussian  princes 
neglected  to  raise  any  troops  to  dispute  their  progress;  and  Yury  II,,  prince 
of  Vladimir,  was  at  this  critical  juncture  occupied  in  celebrating  the  marriage 
of  one  of  his  boyards.     At  length,  suddenly  roused  to  a  sense  of  his  desperate 
position,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  some  troops  hastily  called  too-ether 
and  left  his  family  under  the  protection  of  one  of  his  nobles,  trusting  that  his 
capital  would  be  able  to  sustain  a  long  siege.     He  was  mistaken:  the  Tartars 
soon  made  themselves  masters  of  Vladimir,  and  the  grand  princesses,  as  well  as 
other  persons  of  distinction,  were  burnt  alive  in  the  church  in  which  they  had 
taken    shelter.       On  hearing  of  this  tragical  event,   Yury  marched  with  his 
adherents  to  meet  the  foe;  the  conquest  was  sanguinary  and  short,  but  after 
performing  prodigies  of  valour  they  were  borne  down  by  overpowering  num- 
bers, and  the  prince  was  left  amongst  the  slain.     There  was  now  nothing  to 
dispute  the  march  of  the  ruthless  Tartars,  and  they  pushed  forward  to  within 
sixty  miles  of  Nov,ogorod,  when  they  again  turned  round  without  any  ostensible 
motive,  and  evacuated  the  Russian  territorj'.      The  wretched  condition  into 
which  the  southern  and  central  parts  of  the  empire  was  thrown  by  these  in- 
vasions afforded  a  most  advantageous  opportunity  for  other  enemies  to  attack  it; 
and,  accordingly,  in  1242,  and  during  the  reign  of  Yaroslaf  II.,   the  Swedes, 
Danes,  and  Livonians,  sent  a  numerous  and  well- disciplined  army  to  demand  the 
submission  of  Novogorod;  this  Alexander,  the  son  of  the  reigning  sovereign, 
refused,  and,  leaving  his  capital,  he  advanced,  unaided  by  any  allies,  to  meet  his 
opponents,  and  fought  the  celebrated  battle  of  the  Neva,  which  gained  him  the 
surname  of  Nefski,  and  a  place  in  the  Russian  Calendar.     The  personal  courage 
of  Alexander  in  this  battle  was  of  the  highest  order,  and  mainly  contributed  to 

u 


422  HISTORICAL   NOTICE.  Scct.  V. 

secure  the  victory.     His  memory  is  still  clierished  by  the  Russians,  and  the 
order  instituted  in  honour  of  him  is  much  valued. 

A  cruel  and  constantly  fluctuating  war  with  the  Tartars,  various  incursions  by 
the  Livonians,  Lithuanians,  Swedes,  and  Poles ;  and  the  most  frightful  civil  discord 
amongst  the  the  several,  almost  regal,  provinces  of  Russia  consumed  fourteen 
successive  reigns,  between  Yury  II.,  who  died  in  1237,  and  Ivan  I.,  who  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  the  Principality  of  Vladimir  in  1328.  At  times,  during  this 
period,  the  Tartars,  adding  insult  to  injury,  arrogated  to  themselves  the  power 
of  protectors  of  this  or  that  interest ;  and,  in  the  case  of  Ivan  I.,  Uzbek  Khan 
secured  to  him  the  possession  of  Novogorod,  as  well  as  of  Vladimir  and  Moscow. 
Ivan's  father  had  greatly  beautified  and  improved  the  latter  town,  and  Ivan 
followed  his  example  and  made  it  his  residence.  Here  also  resided  the  Metro- 
politan, and  it  therefore  rapidly  advanced  in  importance.  Ivan's  reign  of  thir- 
teen years  was  remarkable  as  improving  and  peaceful,  and  he  exercised  a  sound 
discretion  by  building  a  wall  of  wood  round  the  city,  which  supported  a  rampart 
of  earth  and  stone.  At  the  close  of  his  life  he  took  monastic  vows,  and  died  in 
1341.  In  the  reign  of  Ivan  11. ,  second  son  of  the  previous  Tzar  of  that  name, 
Moscow  established  its  preeminence  as  a  city,  and  became  the  capital  of  the 
empire  ;  Ivan  died  in  1358. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  century  the  Russians,  under  Dmitri  IV.,  raised 
an  army  of  400,000  men,  and  met  the  Tartars  near  the  Don,  who  were 
defeated  with  great  loss ;  the  victors,  however,  suffered  greatly,  and  when  Dmitri 
reviewed  his  army  after  the  battle  he  found  it  reduced  to  40,000  men;  this 
success  obtained  for  him  the  surname  of  Donski.  Subsequent,  however,  to 
this  victor}',  the  Tartars  again  advanced,  and  Dmitri,  betrayed  by  his  allies,  the 
princes  of  the  neighbouring  states,  deserted  Moscow,  which  fell  by  capitulation  into 
the  hands  of  the  Tartars,  who  devastated  it  with  fire  and  sword  until  it  was  utterly 
destroyed,  no  building  being  permitted  to  remain  except  those  which  happened 
to  have  been  constructed  of  stone  by  the  Grand  Prince.  The  character  ot 
Dmitri  is  thus  given  by  the  Metropolitan  Cyprian  : — "  He  knew,"  says  that 
ecclesiastic,  "  how  to  soften  the  kingly  office  by  condescension,  he  was  impartial 
in  the  administration  of  justice,  and  delighted  to  promote  the  peace  and  happi- 
ness of  his  subjects;  his  learning  was  small,  but  the  rectitude  of  his  disposition, 
and  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  supplied  the  defects  of  education,  and  entitle  him 
to  a  distinguished  place  amongst  Russian  sovereigns."  It  was  this  prince  who 
caused  the  Kremlin  to  be  erected  of  stone,  and  closed  by  a  wall  flanked 
with  towers,  which  were  defended  by  ditches  surmounted  with  stone.  His  son, 
Basil  II.,  Avho  succeeded  him  in  1389,  was  also  destined  to  see  his  country  in- 
vaded by  the  Tartars  under  Tamerlane,  but  they  never  reached  the  capital,  for 
he  prepared  to  give  them  battle  on  the  river  Okha,  when  they  suddenly  turned 
round  and  retired,  as  their  countrymen  had  previously  done  on  two  other  occa- 
sions.    The  Russians  attributed  this  to  a  miracle  performed  by  a  picture  of  the 


BuSSia.  HISTORICAL   NOTICE.  423 

Virgin  Mary,  painted  by  St.  Luke.  The  horde,  however,  joined  by  the  Lithu- 
anians, afterwards  laid  siege  to  Moscow,  but  were  repulsed  by  the  inhabitants, 
the  Grand  Prince  having  retired  with  his  family  to  Kostroma ;  exasperated  at 
this  defeat,  the  Tartars  in  their  retreat  harassed  the  surrounding  country,  and 
slaughtered  the  defenceless  peasantry.  Money  was  first  coined  in  Novogorod 
during  this  reign,  hitherto  its  place  had  been  supplied  with  skins  and  pieces  of 
leather ;  twenty  skins  of  the  marten  were  considered  as  equivalent  to  a  grivna, 
the  value  of  which  was  a  real  pound  of  gold  or  silver,  of  nine  and  a  quarter 
ounces  in  Kief,  and  thirteen  in  Novogorod. 

During  the  reign  of  Basil,  Kazan  was  taken  from  the  Tartars,  and  Russia  was 
thrice  visited  with  the  plague  and  famine,  while  the  ancient  city  of  Novogorod 
was  shaken  by  an  earthquake  after  the  greater  part  of  its  buildings  had  been 
consumed  by  fire.  Internal  dissensions  broke  out  on  the  death  of  Basil,  a  dis- 
pute having  arisen  respecting  the  succession  to  the  throne  between  the  son  of  that 
monarch  and  his  xmcle  Greorge  ;  this  was  by  the  consent  of  both  parties  left 
to  the  decision  of  the  Khan  of  Tartary,  who  determined  in  favour  of  the  former  ; 
nevertheless  a  civil  war  followed,  and  George  was  for  a  short  time  in  possession 
of  the  throne,  when,  finding  himself  abandoned  by  his  party  and  his  family,  he 
restored  it  to  his  nephew,  and  returned  to  his  principality  of  Galitch.  Compli- 
cated wars,  Russian  and  Tartar,  followed ;  the  principal  incident  of  which  was 
that  Ivan,  the  Prince  of  Mojask,  in  the  interest  of  the  traitor  Chemiaka,  in- 
duced Basil  to  stop  at  the  monastery  of  the  Troitzkoi  to  return  thanks  on  his 
arrival  from  the  horde,  and,  having  seized  him  there,  he  took  him  to  Moscow  and 
put  out  his  eyes.  A  few  years  after  the  Prince  of  Mojask  had  committed  this 
savage  act,  Basil  was  restored  to  the  throne,  and  died  in  1462.  The  Tartars 
under  Mahmet  again  possessed  themselves  of  Kazan  in  this  reign. 

The  first  exploit  which  Basil's  successor,  Ivan  III.,  attempted  was  the  reduc- 
tion of  that  province,  in  which  he  succeeded  after  two  severe  campaigns ;  the 
next  was  the  subjection  of  Novogorod,  in  which  he  also  succeeded,  incorporating 
that  city  and  province  with  his  own  dominions,  and,  having  received  the  oaths  of 
the  inhabitants,  he  carried  off  with  him  to  Moscow  their  celebrated  town  clock, 
which  he  suspended  in  a  tower  before  the  Kremlin,  to  be  used  only  to  call  the 
people  to  their  devotions.  The  next  and  most  arduous  undertaking  was  the 
destruction  of  the  Golden  Horde,  under  Achraet,  which  he  effected  in  revenge  for 
the  insult  offered  him  by  that  Khan  in  demanding  the  homage  which  he  had  re- 
ceived from  his  predecessors.  Ivan  spat  on  the  edict  and  Achmet's  seal,  and  put 
his  ambassadors  to  death,  sparing  one  only  to  convey  the  intelligence  to  his 
master,  who  prepared  in  the  following  year  to  take  his  revenge ;  but,  awed  by 
the  preparations  made  to  receive  him  on  the  Okha,  he  retired  fop  a  time,  and 
subsequently  took  the  more  circuitous  route  through  Lithuania,  from  which 
country  he  expected  support ;  the  Russians,  however,  met  and  defeated  a  part 
of  his  horde,  and  were  returning  home,  when  the  Khan  was  met  on  a  different 
route  by  the  Nogay  Tartars,  who  routed  his  army  and  slew  him  in  the  battle. 

u  2 


424  HiSTOEiCAL  NOTICE.  Sect.  V. 

His  ally,  Casimir  IV.,  also  brought  himself  under  Ivan's  indignation,  not  only 
for  this  war,  but  because  he  attempted  to  poison  him,  and  a  raid  that  he  made  into 
the  territories  of  the  Polish  king  was  eminently  successful.  This  powerful  and 
ambitious  prince  also  made  treaties  of  alliance  with,  and  received  ambassadors 
from,  the  Pope,  the  Sultan,  the  King  of  Denmark  and  Poland,  and  the  Republic 
of  Venice;  it  was  he  who  assumed  the  title  of  Grand  Prince  of  Novogorod, 
Vladimir,  Moscow,  and  all  Russia,  and  changed  the  arms  of  St.  George  on  horse- 
back for  the  Black  Eagle  with  two  heads,  after  his  marriage  with  Sophia,  a 
princess  of  the  imperial  blood  of  Constantinople.  In  fact,  Ivan  III.  maybe  called 
the  true  founder  of  the  modern  Russian  empire.  The  Russian  historian,  Ka- 
ramsin,  thus  describes  him : — "  Without  being  a  tyrant  like  his  grandson,  he  had 
received  from  nature  a  certain  harshness  of  character  which  he  knew  how  to 
moderate  by  the  strength  of  his  reason.  It  is,  however,  said  that  a  single  glance 
of  Ivan,  when  he  was  excited  with  anger,  would  make  a  timid  woman  swoon — 
that  petitioners  dreaded  to  approach  his  throne,  and  that  even  at  his  table,  the 
boyards,  his  grandees,  trembled  before  him  ;"  which  portrait  does  not  belie  his 
own  declaration,  when  the  same  boyards  demanded  that  he  should  give  the 
crown  to  his  grandson  Ivan,  whom  he  had  dispossessed  in  favour  of  a  son  by  his 
second  wife,  "  I  will  give  to  Russia  whomsoever  I  please."  He  died,  very  in- 
firm, in  1505,  having  reigned  forty -three  years.  Wars  between  the  Russians, 
the  Poles,  the  Tartars,  and  the  Novogorodians  again  arose  on  the  death  of  Ivan, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  death  of  Basil  IV.,  his  successor,  and  a  minority  of  twelve 
years  had  elapsed  in  the  reign  of  Ivan  IV.,  that  internal  cabals  and  in- 
trigues were  for  a  time  suppressed.  This  monarch,  the  first  to  take  the  title  of 
Tzar,  married  Anastasia,  the  daughter  of  Roman  Yuryvitch,  who  in  the  early 
part  of  his  reign  had  the  happiest  ascendancy  over  a  character  naturally  violent 
and  cruel.  Ivan  was  at  this  period  affable  and  condescending,  accessible  to  both 
rich  and  poor,  and  his  mental  powers  under  her  guidance  were  employed  in 
advancing  the  interests  and  happiness  of  his  subjects.  Ivan  soon  per- 
ceived that  to  preserve  his  own  power  he  must  annihilate  the  Tartar  domi- 
nion; to  this  he  felt  his  uninstructed  army  was  unequal:  he  therefore  established, 
in  1545,  the  militia  of  the  Strelitzes,  and  armed  them  with  muskets  instead  of 
bows,  hitherto  their  arms,  as  their  name  imports,  from  Strelai,  an  arrow.  He 
then  laid  siege  to  and  captured  Kazan,  taking  the  Khan  prisoner.  He  likewise 
defeated  Gustavus  Wasa  in  a  pitched  battle  near  Viborg,  ravaged  Livonia,  taking 
Dorpat,  Narva,  and  thirty  fortified  towns,  and  made  war  on  the  King  of  Poland 
because  he  had  refused  him  his  daughter  in  marriage.  An  unsuccessful  campaign 
against  this  potentate,  attributed  by  the  boyards  to  the  unskilful  arrangements 
of  the  foreign  generals,  as  well  as  the  death  of  his  wife  Anastasia,  whose  con- 
trolling influence  was  no  longer  felt,  led  to  the  unlimited  indulgence  of  his 
naturally  ferocious  disposition,  and  the  remaining  acts  of  his  life,  which  this  short 
sketch  will  not  permit  us  to  dilate  upon,  gained  for  him,  in  the  history  of  his 
country,  the  surname  of  "  The  Terrible."      Independently  of  the  many  and 


Russia,  HISTOBICAL   NOTICE.  425 

dreadful  acts  of  barbarity  of  which  he  was  guilty,  he  killed  his  own  son  in  a 
paroxysm  of  rage,  but  died  a  prey  to  the  grief  and  remorse  which  this  fearful 
crime  occasioned  him,  after  having  endeavoured  to  atone  for  it  by  giving  large 
sums  of  money  to  diiferent  monasteries ;  he  received  the  tonsure  in  his  last 
moments.  As  a  legislator  he  was  superior  to  his  predecessors,  having,  with  the 
assistance  of  his  nobles,  compiled  a  code  of  laws  called  Soudehnik.  In  his  reign 
an  English  ship,  commanded  by  Richard  Chancellor,  on  a  voyage  of  discovery 
in  the  Arctic  Sea,  anchored  in  the  mouth  of  the  Dwina,  and,  when  the  informa- 
tion of  this  circumstance  was  forwarded  to  Ivan,  he  invited  Chancellor  to  Moscow, 
where,  on  his  arrival,  he  was  received  with  marked  attention,  and  presented 
with  a  letter  to  carry  back  to  his  sovereign,  expressing  a  desire  to  enter  into 
commercial  relations  with  England,  and  to  have  English  artificers  and  workmen 
sent  to  him ;  it  is  curious  that  even  at  this  early  period  the  fair  which  he 
established  at  Narva  was  so  glutted  with  English,  Dutch,  and  French  goods, 
that  some  of  them  were  sold  for  less  than  the  prime  cost  in  their  respective 
countries.  Ivan  controlled  his  religious  prejudices,  and  tolerated  the  Lutheran 
churches  of  the  German  merchants  at  Moscow ;  but  he  never  shook  hands  with 
a  foreign  ambassador  without  washing  his  own  immediately  after  his  visitor  had 
taken  his  leave.  With  a  character  so  strongly  marked  by  cruelty,  superstition, 
and  caprice,  it  is  remarkable  to  find  not  only  that  he  v/as  enterprising  and  intel- 
ligent, but  that  he  should  ever  have  entertained  the  idea  of  placing  the  Scriptures 
in  the  hands  of  his  subjects  in  the  mother  tongue ;  he  did,  however,  order  a 
translation  to  be  made  of  the  Acts  and  Epistles,  and  had  it  disseminated  over 
his  dominions.  "  In  the  memory  of  the  people,"  observes  Karamsin,  *'  the  bril- 
liant renown  of  Ivan  survived  the  recollection  of  his  bad  qualities.  The  groans 
had  ceased,  the  victims  were  reduced  to  dust ;  new  events  caused  ancient  tradi- 
tions to  be  forgotten,  and  the  memory  of  this  prince  reminded  people  only  of  the 
conquest  of  three  Mogul  kingdoms.  The  proofs  of  his  atrocious  actions  were 
buried  in  the  public  archives,  whilst  Kazan,  Astrakan,  and  Siberia  remained  in 
the  eyes  of  the  nation  as  imperishable  monuments  of  his  glory.  The  Russians, 
who  saw  in  him  the  illustrious  author  of  their  power  and  civilization,  rejected  or 
forgot  the  surname  of  tyrant  given  him  by  his  contemporaries.  Under  the 
influence  of  some  confused  recollections  of  his  cruelty,  they  still  call  him  Ivan 
"  The  Terrible,"  without  distinguishing  him  from  his  grandfather  Ivan  III.,  to 
whom  Russia  had  given  the  same  epithet  rather  in  praise  than  in  reproach. 
History  does  not  pardon  wicked  princes  so  easily  as  do  people."  Ivan  IV.  died 
in  1684,  having  governed  the  Russian  nation  for  a  longer  period  than  any  other 
sovereign,  namely,  fifty-one  years. 

Fedor  I.,  who  ascended  the  throne  after  his  death,  and  was  a  feeble  and  va- 
cillating prince,  died  in  1598.  His  successor  was  Boris  Grodunof,  the  brother  of 
Anastasia,  the  Tzar  Ivan's  first  wife,  who,  like  our  own  Richard,  compassed  the 
death  of  his  nephew,  Dmitri,  Fedor's  younger  brother,  during  that  Tzar's  life- 
time )  and  therefore  in  Fedor  ended  the  dynasty  of  Rurik,  which  during  eight 


426  HISTORICAL  NOTICE.  Sect.  V. 

centuries  had  wielded  tlie  Russian  sceptre.  Consequent  upon  this  deed  came 
all  kinds  of  civil  calamities^  and  in  1604  there  arose  a  pretender  to  the  throne 
in  the  person  of  a  Russian  monk.  This  man  assumed  the  character  of  the 
murdered  Dmitri,  and,  after  having  draw^n  to  his  standard  the  Poles  and  the 
Cossacks  of  the  Don,  met  Boris  in  the  field,  remained  master  of  it,  and  in 
the  space  of  one  year  seated  himself  on  the  throne.  Nor  was  this  civil 
war  the  only  calamity  which  befell  the  Russians  during  the  reign  of  Boris; 
Moscow  was,  in  1600,  decimated  by  the  most  appalling  famine  that  ever 
devastated  the  capital  of  a  country ;  it  is  related  that,  driven  by  the  pangs 
of  hunger,  instances  occurred  of  mothers  having  first  slain  and  then  eaten  their 
own  children ;  and  it  is  recorded  that  a  woman,  in  her  extremity,  seized  with 
her  teeth  the  flesh  of  her  son,  whom  she  carried  in  her  arms.  Others  confessed 
that  they  had  entrapped  into  their  dwellings,  and  subsequently  killed  and 
eaten,  three  men  successively.  One  hundred  and  twenty-seven  thousand  corpses 
.remained  for  some  days  in  the  streets  unburied,  and  were  afterwards  interred 
in  the  fields,  exclusive  of  those  which  had  been  previously  buried  in  the  four 
hundred  churches  of  the  city.  An  eyewitness  relates  that  this  awful  visitation 
carried  off  500,000  persons  from  this  densely  peopled  capital,  the  population  of 
which  was,  at  the  time,  augmented  by  the  influx  of  strangers.  During  this 
dreadful  calamity,  Boris,  with  justifiable  violence,  broke  open  the  granaries 
which  avarice  had  closed,  and  had  the  corn  sold  at  half  its  value. 

Interminable  and  inexplicable  troubles,  a  second  false  Dmitri,  and  other  im- 
postors, led  to  the  occupation  of  Moscow  by  the  Poles  in  1610,  who  entered  the 
city  with  Vladislaus,  son  of  Sigismund,  King  of  Poland,  elected  to  the  throne 
by  the  boyards,  on  condition  that  he  should  embrace  the  Greek  religion.  This 
gave  great  offence  to  the  national  feeling,  and  Minim,  a  citizen  of  Nishni  Novogo- 
rod,  called  his  countrymen  to  arms,  and  entreated  the  General  Pojarski  to  take 
the  command ;  this  he  did  without  reluctance,  and  his  army  was  quickly  in- 
creased by  the  arrival  of  troops  and  money  from  various  towns,  and  by  the 
Cossacks  and  Strelitzes  who  flocked  to  his  banner.  Thus  strengthened,  they 
marched  to  Yaroslaf,  and  afterwards  to  Moscow,  to  which  they  laid  siege,  car- 
ried the  Kitai  Gorod  by  assault,  and  made  a  fearful  slaughter  of  the  Poles — 
when  the  inhabitants,  driven  to  the  last  extremity  by  famine,  surrendered,  and 
Vladislaus  abandoned  the  country.  A  fine  monument  was  erected  in  the  open 
space,  under  the  Kremlin  walls,  in  1818,  to  the  memory  of  Minim  and  Pojarski ; 
it  represents  the  high-spirited  citizen  of  Nishni  calling  on  his  countrymen  to  rid 
Russia  of  the  foreign  enemy,  while  Pojarski  listens  attentively''  to  the  stirring 
exhortation. 

With  a  vacant  throne,  and  unembarrassed  by  republican  feelings,  the  boyards, 
after  the  flight  of  Vladislaus,  proceeded  to  elect  as  their  Tzar  Michael  Romanoff, 
the  son  of  the  Metropolitan  of  Rostof,  who  was,  at  the  time,  only  sixteen  years 
of  age ;  and  from  him  is  descended  the  present  imperial  family.  The  usual 
routine  of  civil  strife  and  foreign  wars  continued  after  the  accession  of  Romanoff; 


Russia.  HISTORICAL   NOTICE.  427 

and  that  in  which  the  Tzar  was  involved  with  Gustavus  Adolphus  was  terminated, 
not  much  to  the  advantage  of  Russia,  through  the  mediation  of  England,  France, 
and  Holland.  A  treaty  was  signed  by  the  belligerent  parties  on  the  26th  of 
January,  1616,  which  gave  to  Sweden  Ingria,  Carelia,  Livonia,  and  Esthonia, 
the  Russians  retaining  Novogorod ;  and  these  terms  seem  to  have  been  dictated  by 
the  Tzar's  love  of  peace.  The  Poles  were,  at  this  time,  masters  of  Smolensk,  and 
ravaged  the  country  up  to  the  walls  of  Moscow,  against  which  they  made  a  night 
attack,  but  were  repulsed  ;  they  remained,  however,  in  possession  of  Smolensk, 
after  sustaining  a  siege  of  two  years.  Dragoons  are  mentioned,  for  the  first  time  in 
this  reign,  as  forming  part  of  a  Russian  army,  and  the  Tzar  was  assisted  in  his 
wars  by  both  German  and  French  troops  ;  these  regiments  served  him  as  models 
for  the  organization  of  the  Russian  army,  which  was  further  improved  by  the 
discipline  introduced  by  the  foreign  officers  in  Romanoff's  pay.  After  a  reign 
distinguished  by  an  enlightened  policy  and  virtuous  habits,  the  Tzar  died  in  July 
1645,  at  the  age  of  only  forty-nine  years.  His  son  Alexis,  who  Avas  a  prince  of 
a  mild  and  benevolent  disposition,  succeeded  him ;  the  chief  events  of  his  reign 
were  the  marauding  expeditions  of  the  Cossacks  of  the  Don  led  by  Rizan,  a 
rebellion  in  the  city  of  Astrakan,  and  the  appearance  of  another  false  Dmitri, 
who  was  brought  captive  to  Moscow  and  put  to  a  violent  and  cruel  death.  In 
this  reign  shipwrights  came  over  from  Holland  and  England,  and  a  Dutchman 
named  Butler  built  a  vessel  called  the  Eagle,  at  Didiloff,  the  first  ship  that 
the  Russians  had  seen  built  on  scientific  principles.  Alexis  died  in  1676,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Fedor  III.,  who  died  young,  in  1682.  During  the 
short  period  allotted  him  for  the  exercise  of  power  he  evinced  every  disposition 
to  carry  out  his  father's  plans ;  he  directed  his  attention  to  the  improvement  of 
the  laws,  and  rendered  justice  accessible  to  all,  and,  in  the  words  of  a  Russian 
historian,  "  lived  the  joy  and  delight  of  his  people,  and  died  amidst  their  sighs 
and  tears.  On  the  day  of  his  death  Moscow  was  in  the  same  distress  that  Rome 
was  on  the  death  of  Titus."  The  sovereignty  of  the  Cossacks  was  secured  to 
Russia  in  this  reign.  Fedor  left  no  children,  and  named  no  successor,  expecting, 
no  doubt,  that  his  own  brother  Ivan  would  succeed  him ;  that  prince,  however, 
was  both  mentally  and  physically  incapable  of  holding  the  reins  of  government, 
and,  in  consequence,  his  sister  Sophia  was  intrusted  with  the  affairs  of  state  by 
the  Strelitzes,  who  had  arrogated  to  themselves  the  power  of  the  Praetorian 
bands,  and  decided  that  the  Tzar's  half-bi'other  Peter,  afterwards  the  Great,  the 
son  of  Natalia,  Alexis's  second  wife,  should  share  the  throne  with  him  :  in  con- 
sequence, the  two  boys  were  crowned  together  by  the  Patriarch  on  the  15th  of 
June,  1682,  but  Sophia  actually  reigned.  Subsequently  to  this  the  Prince 
Khovanski,  leader  of  the  Strelitzes,  not  only  neglecting  to  cultivate  the  princess's 
friendship,  but  allowing  her  to  perceive  that  he  and  his  men  watched  her  pro- 
ceedings, she  determined  upon  his  ruin,  which  was  further  hastened  by  the 
intrigue  of  his  known  enemy,  Miloslavski.  This  boyard  accused  him,  in  a 
public  placard,  of  having,  with  his  son  and  his  Strelitzes,  conspired  to  effect  the 


428  HISTORICAL  NOTICE.  Sect.  V. 

death  of  the  two  Tzars  and  the  family  of  Romanoff;  and,  under  this  accusation, 
Khovanski  and  his  son  were  seized  and  beheaded.  Their  followers,  at  first 
furious  at  his  death,  afterwards  becoming  disheartened  at  the  preparations  made  to 
resist  and  punish  them,  proceeded  to  the  monastery  of  the  Troitzkoi,  and  made  their 
submission  to  Natalia  and  the  Tzars,  who  had  fled  there  for  refuge.  Subsequently 
Sophia  still  contrived,  with  the  assistance  of  her  minister,  Galitzin,  to  govern 
Russia,  until  she  affronted  Peter,  who  retired  to  the  town  of  Kolomna,  to  which 
place  he  was  followed  by  a  large  party,  and  soon  after  this,  being  informed  that 
the  Strelitzes  were  again  in  revolt,  under  Sophia's  influence,  Natalia  once 
more  removed  him  to  the  fortified  walls  of  the  Troitzkoi.  It  was  in  vain  that 
Sophia  disclaimed  this  accusation.  Peter  neither  believed  her  nor  forgave  her ; 
and,  failing  in  her  attempt  to  reach  Poland,  she  was  incarcerated  in  a  monastery 
for  the  rest  of  her  life.  This  princess  was,  considering  the  times  in  which  she 
lived,  a  woman  of  extraordinary  taste  and  literary  acquirements.  A  tragedy, 
written  by  her  when  she  was  involved  in  state  intrigues,  and  apparently  ab- 
sorbed in  political  turmoil,  is  still  preserved.  On  Peter's  return  from  the  Troitzkoi 
to  Moscow,  his  brother  resigned  to  him  his  share  in  the  government,  and  in  1689 
he  became  sole  Tzar,  being,  at  this  time,  only  seventeen  years  of  age.  Ivan 
survived  till  1696. 

The  ruling  passion  of  Peter  the  Great  was  a  desire  to  extend  his  empire  and 
consolidate  his  power ;  and  accordingly  his  first  act  was  to  make  war  on  the 
Turks,  an  undertaking  which  was  at  the  outset  imprudently  conducted  and,  con- 
sequently, unsuccessful;  he  lost  30,000  men  before  Azoff,  and  did  not  obtain 
permanent  possession  of  the  town  till  the  year  1699,  and  then  by  an  armistice. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  defeated  at  Narva  by  an  inferior  force  under 
Charles  XII.,  then  only  a  boy  of  seventeen  ;  and  on  many  other  occasions  the 
Russians  suffered  severe  checks  and  reverses.  But  at  length  the  indomitable 
perseverance  of  Peter  prevailed.  In  1705  he  carried  Narva,  the  scene  of  hia 
former  defeat,  by  assault ;  and  two  years  after,  by  the  crowning  victory  of  Pul- 
tava,  where  he  showed  the  qualities  of  an  able  general,  he  sealed  the  fate  of 
his  gallant  and  eccentric  adversary  and  the  nation  over  which  he  ruled.  In  1711 
Peter  once  more  took  the  field  against  the  Turks;  but  his  troops  were  badly  pro- 
visioned, and,  having  led  them  into  a  very  disadvantageous  position  near  the 
Pruth,  he  was  reduced  to  propose  a  peace,  one  of  the  conditions  of  which  was 
that  the  King  of  Sweden  should  be  permitted  to  return  to  his  own  country. 
From  this  period  to  1718  he  was  constantly  occupied  in  pursuing  with  vigour  the 
plans  which  he  had  originated  for  extending  the  frontiers  of  his  kingdom  towards 
the  west;  and  in  1718  he  drove  the  Swedes  out  of  Finland,  made  several  de- 
scents upon  the  coast  near  Stockholm,  destroyed  whole  towns,  obliged  her  navy 
to  fly,  and,  finally,  in  1721,  by  the  peace  of  Nystadt,  retained  Esthonia,  Livo- 
nia, Ingria,  a  part  of  Carelia  and  Finland,  as  well  as  the  islands  of  Dago,  Moen, 
Oesel,  &c.  Having  now  no  enemy  on  this  side,  he  turned  his  arms  eastward, 
and  took  Derbend,  on  the  Caspian,  in  1724 — an  inglorious  conquest,  for  only 


Russia.  HISTORICAL   NOTICE.  430 

6000  men  were  opposed  to  his  veteran  army  of  11,000,  besides  Cossacks  and 
Kalmucks.  This  was  his  last  military  achievement,  for  he  died  in  1725  in  the 
fifty-second  year  of  his  age. 

We  have  said  that  the  Tzar's  ruling  passion  was  to  extend  his  empire  and  con- 
solidate his  power,  but  he  likewise  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  the  national 
characteristics — a  persevering  mind  and  a  resolute  will, which  bid  defiance  to  all 
difficulties.  By  the  assistance  of  his  foreign  officers  he  succeeded  in  forming  and 
bringing  into  a  high  state  of  discipline  a  large  army;  he  found  Russia  without  a 
fishing  smack,  and  bequeathed  to  her  a  navy  to  which  that  of  Sweden,  long  esta- 
blished and  highly  efficient,  lowered  her  flag ;  he  built  Petersburgh,  which  may 
be  said  to  float  upon  the  waters  of  the  Neva ;  he  caused  canals  and  other  works-- 
of  public  utility  to  be  constructed  in  various  parts  of  his  empire,  endowed  col- 
leges and  universities,  and  established  commercial  relations  with  China  and' 
almost  every  other  nation  on  the  globe.  The  Tzar  likewise  possessed  the  capa- 
bility of  enduring  privation  and  bodily  fatigue  to  an  almost  incredible  extent, 
and  seemed  to  act  upon  the  idea  that  by  his  own  personal  exertions  and  the  ver- 
satility of  his  genius  he  could  accomplish  for  Russia  that  which  it  had  taken  centuries 
to  effect  in  other  countries,  and  fancied  he  could  infuse  into  her  citizens  an  imme- 
diate appreciation  of  the  mechanical  and  polite  arts,  as  well  as  a  taste  for  those 
things  which  are  seen  only  in  an  advanced  stage  of  civilization.  Peter  devoted  his 
whole  attention  and  energies  to  this  theory,  and,  though  he  could  not  compass 
impossibilities,  he  was  enabled,  by  the  uncontrolled  exercise  of  the  imperial  will 
and  inexhaustible  resources,  to  effect  a  most  extraordinary  and  rapid  change  in 
the  political  and  physical  condition  of  his  country. 

His  manual  dexterity  and  mechanical  knowledge  were  great.  Against  the  ex- 
pressed wish  of  his  boyards  and  the  clergy,  who  thought  it  an  irreligious  act,  he 
left  Russia  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  arts  and  inventions  of  other 
European  nations,  and  worked  with  an  adze  in  their  principal  dockyards — he 
not  only  built,  but  sailed  his  own  boat,  which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  St.  Peters- 
burgh, as  are  specimens  of  his  engraving,  tm-ning,  and  carpenter's  work.  He 
rose  at  four,  at  six  he  was  either  in  the  senate  or  the  admiralty,  and  his  subjects 
must  have  believed  that  he  had  the  gift  of  ubiquity,  so  many  and  various  were 
his  occupations.  He  had  also  the  virtue  of  economy,  a  quality  rarely  seen  in  a 
sovereign.  He  even  found  time  to  dabble  in  literature,  and  translated  several 
vv'orks  into  Russian  ;  amongst  these  was  the  "  Architecture"  of  Leclerc,  and  the 
^'Art  of  Constructing  Dams  and  Mills"  by  Sturm;  these  MSS.  are  preserved. 
During  the  Tzar's  visit  to  London  he  was  much  gazed  at  by  the  populace,  and 
on  one  occasion  was  upset  by  a  porter  who  pushed  against  him  with  his  load, 
when  Lord  Carmarthen,  fearing  there  would  be  a  pugilistic  encounter,  turned 
angrily  to  the  man,  and  said,  "  Don't  you  know  that  this  is  the  Tzar  ]"  ''  Tzar  !'" 
replied  the  man,  with  his  tongue  in  his  cheek,  "  we  are  all  Tzars  here."  Saunter- 
ing one  day  into  Westminster  Hall  with  the  same  nobleman,  when  it  waaas  usual 
alive  v/ith  wigs  and  gowns,  Peter  asked  who  these  people  might  be,  and,  when 

V  -3 


430  HISTOKICAL   NOTICE.  SeCt.  V 

informed  that  they  were  lawyers,  nothing  could  exceed  his  astonishment.  "  Law- 
yers ! "  he  said,  "  why  I  have  but  two  in  all  my  dominions,  and  I  believe  I  shall 
hang  one  of  them  the  moment  I  get  home."    His  vices  were  such  as  to  have  been 
expected  in  a  man  of  his  violent  temperament,  despotic  in  a  barbarous  country, 
and  who  in  early  life  had  been  surrounded  by  flatterers  and  dissolute  associates. 
But  it  would  be  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of 
this  nature.     The  Russians  date  their  civilization  from  his  reign ;  but  a  slight 
glance  at  the  history  of  some  of  the  early  Tzars  will  show  that,  in  many  of  the 
points  on  which  the  greatness  of  his  reputation  rests,  he  was  anticipated  by  his 
predecessors.   Darlf  and  savage  as  the  history  of  the  country  is,  an  attempt  at  public 
education  had  been  made,  religious  toleration  and  an  anxiety  to  promote  commerce 
existed,  and  the  institution  of  a  code  of  laws  had  already  occupied  their  attention. 
The  untimely  deaths  of  some  of  these  princes  deprived  Russia  of  monarchs  far  more 
benevolent  than  Peter,  men  of  finer  and  more  generous  minds,  and,  though  not  so 
ambitious,  quite  as  anxious  for  her  welfare.     Under  their  sway  no  such  rush  at 
improvement  would  have  been  made ;  no  such  influx  of  foreigners  would  have 
taken  place ;  but,  if  not  so  rapidly,  at  least  as  surely  these  sovereigns  would  have 
effected  quite  as  much  real  good.      Peter  left  no  code  of  laws  established  on  the 
broad  principles  of  justice  ;  he  travelled  in  England  and  Holland,  but  thought 
only  of  their  navies,  and  wholly  overlooked  the  great  principles  of  their  govern- 
ments, by  which  he  might  have  ameliorated  the  condition  of  his  own.     Trial  by 
jury  never  appears  to  have  attracted  his  attention.     The  Tzar,  it  is  true,  reigned 
over  a  nation  of  serfs — so  did  Alfred,  and  in  the  9th  instead  of  the  18th  century. 
The  Empress  Catherine  survived  him  only  two  years,  dying  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
nine.     The  reduction  of  the  capitation  tax  was  the  most  popular  act  of  her  short 
reign,  and  Delille,  Baer,  and  the  Bemouillis  were  the  most  distinguished  members  of 
the  Academy  of  Sciences  she  established.     Peter,  the  son  of  Alexis,  and  grand- 
son of  Peter  the  Great  (by  his  first  wife  Eudoxia,  who  survived  Catherine),  died 
of  the  small-pox  at  the  age  of  fifteen ;  in  him  the  male  line  of  the  Romanoffs 
became  extinct.     His  intellect  was  good,  and,  though  so  young,  he  gave  great 
promise  of  being  an  honour  and  a  blessing  to  his  country.      Anne,   Duchess  of 
Courland,  who  followed  this  youthful  sovereign,  was  daughter  of  Ivan,  half- 
brother  of  Peter  the  Great ;  she  died  in  1740,  after  reigning  ten  years.     Her 
chief  merit  was  in  advancing  the  commerce  of  the  country  and  establishing  silk 
and  woollen  manufactories — her  chief  folly,  the  building  a  palace  of  ice,  to  which 
she  sent  a  Prince  Galitzin,  one  of  her  buffoons,  and  his  Avife,  to  pass  the 
night  of  their  wedding-day,  the    nuptial   couch  was   also  constructed  of  this 
cold  material,  as  well  as  all  the  furniture,  and  four  cannons  which  fired  several 
rounds.     A  war  which  was  prosecuted  against  the  Turks  in  this  reign  ended  to 
the  disadvantage  of  Russia,  and,  as  the  price  of  peace,  Azoff^,  Otchakof,  and  Mol- 
davia were  given  up  to  the  Porte.     Intrigues  drove  Ivan  VI.,  the  infant  son  of 
the  Prinjcess  of  Brunswick,  niece  of  the  Empress  Anne,  from  the  throne,  and  in 
1741,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Peter  the  Great,  took  possession  of  it. 


Russia.  HISTOKICAL   NOTICE.  431 

Her  reign  was  one  series  of  wars  and  intrigues,  and  wholly  unfavourable  to  the 
intellectual  improvement  and  progress  of  the  people.  The  Swedes  thought  this 
a  favourable  moment  to  recover  their  ancient  possessions,  but  were  obliged  to 
agree  to  a  peace  on  the  basis  of  that  of  Nystad.  Detesting  Frederic  for  some 
coarse  remark  levelled  at  her  mother,  Elizabeth  made  war  with  Prussia,  which 
lasted  from  1753  to  1762,  the  year  of  her  death.  The  taste  of  this  empress  for 
architecture  greatly  contributed  to  embellish  St.  Petersburgh,  and  the  Academy 
of  Painting  and  Sculpture  in  that  capital  was  instituted  by  her ;  but  she 
was  a  model  of  hypocrisy,  and,  while  from  feelings  of  pretended  humanity 
she  abolished  capital  punishments  and  deplored  the  miseries  her  troops  suf- 
fered in  the  war  with  Prussia,  she  established  a  kind  of  star  chamber  in 
which  justice  and  mercy  were  unknown.  Peter  III,,  son  of  the  Princess  Anne, 
eldest  daughter  of  Peter  the  Great,  succeeded  Elizabeth,  and,  being  a  great  friend 
of  Frederic,  he  immediately  made  peace  with  Prussia;  he  also  suppressed  the 
secret  council  established  for  the  examination  of  political  offenders,  softened  the 
rigour  of  military  discipline,  permitted  his  nobles  to  travel,  lowered  the  duties  in  the 
Livonian  ports,  reduced  the  price  of  salt,  and  abated  the  pressure  of  usury  by 
the  establishment  of  a  loan  bank,  and  instituted  other  salutary  and  wise  measures. 
He  was,  however,  of  a  weak  and  vacillating  disposition,  and  his  tastes  were  en- 
tirely Grerman,  which  amounted  to  a  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  nobility ;  this  and 
the  intrigues  of  his  wife,  afterwards  the  Empress  Catherine  II.,  whom  he 
grossly  neglected,  led  to  his  downfal,  and  he  terminated  his  days  in  the  prison 
of  Ropscha  in  1762. 

The  reign  of  this  extraordinary  woman  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
in  the  Russian  history.  In  the  early  part  of  it  she  interfered  in  the  affairs 
of  Poland,  which  produced  a  civil  war,  and  ended  in  the  conquest  of  that 
country.  In  1769  the  Turks  declared  war,  which  was  at  first  favourable  to 
their  arms ;  they  were  afterwards  defeated  with  great  slaughter  on  the  Dniester, 
and  abandoned  Choczim.  At  this  period  was  fought  the  celebrated  action  before 
Tchesme,  in  which  the  Turkish  fleet  was  completely  destroyed,  an  achievement 
that  was  mainly  owing  to  the  gallant  conduct  of  Admirals  Elphinstone  and  Greig, 
and  Lieutenant  Dugdale,  Englishmen  in  the  Russian  service.  In  another 
campaign  the  Russians  carried  the  lines  of  Perecop,  defended  by  57,000 
Turks  and  Tartars,  and  thus  obtained  possession  of  the  Crimea,  and  Ro- 
manzoff  gained  several  victories  in  the  Danubian  provinces.  These  conquests 
were,  however,  dearly  purchased;  the  plague  passed  from  the  Turks  into 
the  Russian  armies,  and  the  frightful  malady  was  carried  by  the  troops  into 
the  very  heart  of  the  country;  800  persons  died  daily  at  Moscow,  and  the 
disease  subsided  only  with  the  severity  of  the  winter.  It  was  in  this  year 
that  the  Kalmuck  Tartars,  who  had  been  upwards  of  half  a  century  settled 
near  the  steppes  of  the  Volga,  north  of  Astrakafi,  suddenly,  and  to  the  number 
of  350,000  souls,  left  the  Russian  territory  for  their  old  haunts  on  the  Chinese 
border — an  affront  offered  to  them  by  the  empress  is  said  to  have  been  the  cause 


432  HISTORICAL   NOTICE  Scct.  V. 

of  this  extraordinary  flight.  Every  attempt  at  negotiation  having  failed,  the 
contest  with  the  Tui'ks  was  renewed  in  1773,  and  though  the  Russians  again 
suffered  severe  losses,  Romanzoff  brought  the  Avar  to  a  successful  termination, 
and,  hy  tlie  treaty  of  peace  concluded  in  1774,  his  country  obtained  the  free 
navigation  of  the  Euxine,  the  cession  of  Kilburn,  Yenikale,  with  a  tract  between 
the  Bug,  the  Dnieper,  and  Taganrog.  Russia  restored  her  other  conquests,  and 
the  Turks  paid  into  the  Russian  Treasury  4,000,000  of  rubles  towards  the  ex- 
penses of  the  war;  also  they  acknowledged  the  independence  of  the  Crimea, 
which  in  the  year  1784  fell  altogether  into  the  hands  of  Russia,  as  well  as  the 
Island  of  Taman  and  part  of  the  Kuban.  Shortly  after  this,  Catherine  and  the 
northern  courts,  with  France,  jealous  of  the  British  maritime  power,  brought 
about  a  combination  against  England,  which  was  hastened  by  the  following  sin- 
gular incident.  The  British  minister,  fearing  that  this  intrigue  was  going  on,  de- 
sired Potemkin  to  lay  before  the  empress  a  memorial  that  he  had  drawn  up, 
which  the  prince  promised  to  do.  Of  this  memorial  the  French  governess  of  his 
nieces  contrived  to  possess  herself,  and,  after  allowing  the  French  minister  to 
make  his  notes  in  refutation  of  it  in  the  margin,  replaced  it  in  Potemkin's 
pocket,  who,  ignorant  of  the  circumstance,  laid  it  before  Catherine ;  when  the  em- 
press, conceiving  the  notes  to  have  been  madefy  her  favourite,  formed  a  league 
with  Sweden  and  Denmark,  and  announced  her  intention  of  supporting  it  with 
her  navy.  In  1787  she  made,  in  company  with  Potemkin  and  an  immense  suite, 
her  famous  progress  to  the  Crimea,  and  the  following  year  found  her  once  more 
at  war  with  the  Turks  ;  soon  after  Finland  was  invaded  by  Gustavus  III. 
This  contest  was  settled  by  a  pacification  in  1790.  In  the  close  of  that  year 
Constantinople  trembled  at  the  forward  movement  of  the  Russians,  and  the  fall 
of  Ismail  under  Suwaroff,  after  the  ninth  assault,  closed  the  war  on  the  22nd 
of  December.  In  this  extremity  Europe  combined  to  save  the  Porte  from  destruc- 
tion, and  in  1791  Russia  relinquished  all  the  territory  she  had  acquired,  except- 
ing that  guaranteed  by  the  treaty  of  1784.  In  these  wars  with  the  Ottoman 
Empire  there  were  destroyed  130,000  Austrians,  200,000  Russians,  and  370,000 
Turks,  in  all  660,000  men.  About  this  time  the  intrigues  of  Russia,  Austria, 
and  Prussia,  for  the  partition  of  Poland,  commenced,  and,  carried  on  for  several 
years,  were  brought  to  a  conclusion  by  two  sieges  of  Warsaw  :  in  the  first  Kos- 
ciusko Avas  made  prisoner,  and  in  the  second  the  Poles,  unassisted  by  his  genius, 
gave  way  in  that  fearful  assault  which,  on  the  9th  November,  1794,  consummated 
the  ruin  of  Poland  as  a  nation.  Catherine's  subsequent  plans  of  aggrandisement  in 
Daghestan  and  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  were  cut  short  by  her  death,  on  the  9th 
November,  1796.  The  great  talents  for  governing  which  the  empress  possessed 
are  universally  admitted ;  and,  though  her  energies  were  principally  displayed  in 
carrying  out  her  schemes  of  foreign  conquest,  she  by  no  means  neglected  the  in- 
terior economy  of  her  empire.  Her  views  on  all  subjects  were  far  more  enlarged 
than  those  of  her  predecessors,  and  upwards  of  6800  children  were  educated  at 
St.  Petersburgh  at  the  public  expense.      Catherine  invited  Pallas,  Eiiler,  and 


Russia,  HISTORICAL   NOTICE.  433 

Gmelin  to  survey  her  territories  and  describe  their  characteristics,  and  requested 
D' Alembert  to  undertake  the  education  of  her  grandson,  the  Grand  Duke  Alexander, 
which  he  declined.  The  empress  also  confirmed  the  abolition  of  the  secret  state 
inquisition,  and,  by  dividing  the  college  of  the  empire  into  separate  departments, 
facilitated  the  despatch  of  business,  and  rendered  the  administration  in  each  more 
efficient.  With  a  view  to  check  corruption,  she  raised  the  salaries  of  the  govern- 
ment officers,  put  down  many  monopolies  of  the  crown,  and  issued  an  ukase, 
which  prevented  any  proprietor  from  sending  his  serfs  to  the  mines,  or  an}'  dis- 
tant part  of  the  empire,  except  for  agricultural  purposes.  Catherine  purchased 
the  praises  of  the  French  philosophers,  corresponded  with  Voltaire  and  D' Alembert, 
and  complimented  Fox  by  asking  him  for  his  bust,  which  she  placed  betvveen 
those  of  Cicero  and  Demosthenes. 

Catherine,  possessed  of  great  beauty  in  her  youth,  preserved  the  traces  of  it  to 
the  end  of  her  life ;  in  matters  of  religion  she  was  tolerant  from  political  motives, 
extravagant  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  and,  with  a  woman's  liberality,  paid  well 
those  who  served  her ;  and,  though  there  are  many  acts  in  her  reign  which  cannot 
be  defended,  she  did  more  for  the  civilization  of  Russia  than  any  of  her  predecessors. 
She  was  succeeded  by  her  son  Paul,  whose  short  reign,  to  1801,  was  not  of 
any  great  historical  importance.  At  his  coronation  he  decreed  a  law  of  heredi- 
tary succession  to  the  crown  in  the  male  line,  and  afterwards  in  the  female,  in- 
stead of  leaving  it  to  the  caprice  of  the  reigning  Tzar.  The  emperor  declared 
war  against  the  French  in  1799,  sent  an  army  into  Italy  to  oppose  the  repub- 
lican generals,  and  through  the  intervention  of  England,  Suwarolf,  who  had 
been  banished  from  the  capital  by  Paul,  was  recalled,  and  placed  at  the  head  of 
it.  But  the  campaign  in  Italy,  successful  at  first,  ended  unfavourably  to  the 
Russian  arras — when  the  emperor  suddenly  became  a  great  admirer  of  Bona- 
parte, and,  with  the  same  inconsistency  that  he  exiled  SuwarofF,  he  liberated 
Kosciusko;  subsequently  the  eccentricity  of  his  actions  led  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  was  of  unsound  mind.  Amongst  his  ukases  was  one  against  the  use 
of  shoe-strings  and  round  hats ;  and  in  the  number  of  queer  whims  which 
infected  his  brain  was  a  rage  for  painting  with  the  most  glaring  colours  the 
watch-boxes,  bridges,  and  gates  throughout  the  empire.  The  career  of  Paul 
was  closed  in  March  1801,  at  the  castle  in  St.  Petersburgh,  where  he  then 
resided — it  is  now  used  as  a  School  for  Engineers.  (See  Description  of  St. 
Petersburgh.) 

Alexander,  the  eldest  son  of  the  late  emperor,  succeeded  to  the  throne,  being 
then  twenty-four  years  of  age.  In  the  same  year  he  recalled  the  Siberian  exiles, 
suppressed  the  secret  inquisition,  re-established  the  power  of  the  senate,  founded 
in  1804  the  University  of  Kharkoft^  and  emancipated  the  Jews.  In  1805  the 
emperor  joined  the  Northern  Powers  against  France,  and  on  the  2nd  December 
the  Austro-Kussian  army  was  defeated  at  Austerlitz.  In  1806,  Mr.  Fox  having 
failed  in  negotiating  a  peace  between  France  and  Russia,  Napoleon  overran 
Prussia,  and,  Benningsen  having  evacuated  WarsaAv,  Murat  entered  that  city  on 


434  HISTOKICAL   NOTICE.  Scct.  V. 

the  28th  November.  On  the  26th  December  the  French  were  beaten  at  Pul- 
towsk,  and  in  February  1807  the  severely  contested  battle  of  Eylau  was  fought, 
each  side  having  three  times  lost  and  won,  the  deciding  move  being  made 
by  Benningsen,  who  took  Konigsberg  by  assault.  On  the  28th  May,  Dantzig 
capitulated  to  the  French,  and  on  the  14th  of  June  they  won  the  battle  of  Fried- 
land  ;  ten  days  after  Napoleon  and  Alexander  met  on  a  raft  moored  in  the  middle 
of  the  Niemen,  and  concluded  an  armistice,  which  was  a  prelude  to  the  treaty  of 
Tilsit,  concluded  on  the  27th  July  of  the  same  year.  Alexander  by  this  act  be- 
came the  ally  of  France,  which  enabled  the  French  to  carry  on  their  aggressive 
policy  in  Spain.  But  the  injury  inflicted  on  Russian  commerce  by  Napoleon's 
continental  system  against  England,  and  his  interference  with  Alexander's  conquest 
in  Finland  in  1809,  roused  that  sovereign  to  a  sense  of  his  true  interests.  He 
broke  with  France,  and  the  invasion  of  Russia  by  the  French  was  the  conse- 
quence. To  prepare  for  and  carry  on  his  defence  against  this,  the  emperor  made 
peace  with  the  Porte,  and  re-established  his  alliance  with  Great  Britain.  The 
operations  which  took  place  during  this  memorable  struggle  are  so  well  known, 
that  they  will  only  be  briefly  adverted  to  here. 

On  the  23rd  of  June,  1812,  the  French  crossed  the  Niemen  and  pushed  on  to 
Wilna,  the  Russians  carefully  retreating,  and  leaving  Napoleon  to  pass  that  river 
on  the  28th,  and  enter  the  town  unopposed.  Here  the  French  emperor  remained 
eighteen  days,  and  then,  after  considerable  manoeuvring,  marched  on  Vitepsk, 
where  he  fully  expected  to  bring  the  Russians,  under  Barclay  de  Tolly,  to  action. 
The  Russian  general,  however,  declined;  and  Napoleon,  instead  of  following  the 
advice  of  his  marshals,  and  wintering  on  the  Dwina,  crossed  the  Dnieper  and 
marched  on  Smolensk.  On  the  16th  of  August  he  was  once  more  in  front  of  the 
Russian  grand  army  near  that  town ;  but  the  wary  and  intelligent  De  Tolly 
had  occupied  it  only  to  cover  the  flight  of  its  inhabitants,  and  cany  off  or 
destroy  its  magazines ;  and  on  the  following  morning  Napoleon,  to  his  great 
mortification,  learnt  that  the  enemy,  in  pursuance  of  his  Fabian  tactics,  was 
again  ofi".  Smolensk  was  now  taken  by  assault,  the  last  inhabitants  that  re- 
mained having  set  fire  to  it  before  they  left.  Up  to  this  time  the  Russian 
Commander-in-Chief  had  been  able  to  adhere  to  his  plan  of  drawing  the  French 
into  the  country  Avithout  risking  a  general  engagement  until  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity should  occur — tactics  which  were  not  liked  by  his  army  ;  and  Alexander, 
yielding  to  the  clamour,  appointed  KutusofF  to  the  command.  The  battle  oi 
Borodino,  sometimes  called  that  of  Moskowa,  fought  on  the  borders  of  the  govern- 
ment of  that  name,  on  the  1st  of  September,  Avas  the  result  of  this  change 
of  leaders.  The  combatants  amounted  on  either  side  to  about  120,000, 
and  the  killed  and  wounded  in  both  to  about  80,000.  On  the  12th  Bona- 
parte again  moved  forward,  his  troops  by  this  time  nearly  famished,  and  heartily 
tired  of  the  war,  for  the  day  of  Borodino  had  given  them  a  clear  idea  that  the 
enemy  would  yield  only  after  a  desperate  struggle.  On  Sunday  the  13th,  the 
Russian  army  marched  out  of  the  old  capital  with  silent  drums  and  colours  furled. 


EuSSia.  HISTOKICAL   NOTICE.  435 

by  the  Kolomna  Gate,  and  left  the  city  to  its  fate.  In  the  afternoon  of  Monday  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  French  army  caught  the  first  view  of  her  golden  minarets  and 
starry  domes,  and  the  Kremlin  burst  upon  their  sight.  "  All  this  is  yours,"  cried 
Napoleon,  when  he  first  gazed  upon  the  goal  of  his  ambition,  and  a  shout  of 
"  Moscow  !  Moscow  ! "  was  taken  up  by  the  foremost  ranks,  and  carried  to  the  rear 
of  his  array.  In  Moscow  they  bivouacked  the  same  evening.  Ere  the  night  had 
closed  in,  their  selfish  marauding  leader  arrived  at  theSmolensko  Gate,  and  then 
learnt  to  his  astonishment  that  300,000  inhabitants  had  fled,  and  that  the  only 
Russians  who  remained  in  the  city  were  the  convicts  who  had  been  liberated 
from  the  gaols,  a  few  of  the  rabble,  and  those  who  were  unable  to  leave  it.  On 
Tuesday  the  15th  September  the  mortified  victor  entered  Moscow,  and  took  up 
his  residence  in  the  Kremlin ;  but  here  his  stay  was  destined  to  be  short  indeed, 
for  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  it  was  discovered  that  a  fire,  which  had  at  first 
given  but  little  cause  for  alarm,  could  not  be  restrained — fanned  by  the  wind,  it 
spread  rapidly,  and  consumed  the  best  portion  of  the  city.  "  The  churches," 
says  Labaume,  "  though  covered  with  iron  and  lead  were  destroyed,  and  with 
them  those  graceful  steeples  which  we  had  seen  the  night  before  resplendent  in 
the  setting  sun  ;  the  hospitals,  too,  which  contained  more  than  20,000  wounded, 
soon  began  to  burn — a  harrowing  and  dreadful  spectacle — and  almost  all  these 
poor  wretches  perished  !  A  few  who  still  survived  were  seen  crawling,  half- 
burnt,  amongst  the  smoking  ruins,  while  others  were  groaning  under  heaps  of  dead 
bodies,  endeavouring  in  vain  to  extricate  themselves.  The  confusion  and  tumult 
which  ensued  when  the  work  of  pillage  commenced  cannot  be  conceived.  Sol- 
diers, sutlers,  galley-slaves,  and  prostitutes,  were  seen  running  through  the  streets, 
penetrating  into  the  deserted  palaces,  and  carrying  away  everything  that  could 
gratify  their  avarice.  Some  clothed  themselves  in  rich  stuffs,  silks,  and  costly 
furs ;  others  dressed  themselves  in  women's  pelisses ;  and  even  the  galley-slaves 
concealed  their  rags  under  the  most  splendid  court  dresses ;  the  rest  crowded  to 
the  cellars,  and,  forcing  open  the  doors,  drank  the  wine  and  carried  off  an  im- 
mense booty.  This  horrible  pillage  was  not  confined  to  the  deserted  houses 
alone,  but  extended  to  the  few  which  were  inhabited,  and  soon  the  eagerness  and 
wantonness  of  the  plunderers  caused  devastations  which  almost  equalled  those 
occasioned  by  the  conflagration.  ''  Palaces  and  temples,"  writes  Karamsin, 
"  monuments  of  art  and  miracles  of  luxury,  the  remains  of  past  ages  and  those 
which  had  been  the  creation  of  yesterday;  the  tombs  of  ancestors  and  the 
nursery  cradles  of  the  present  generation  were  indiscriminately  destroyed, 
nothing  was  left  of  Moscow  save  the  remembrance  of  the  city,  and  the  deep 
resolution  to  avenge  its  fate."  And  how  the  cause  ol  all  these  horrors  conducted 
himself  let  his  own  countryman  tell. 

"  Towards  evening,"  writes  Labaume,  "  when  Napoleon  no  longer  thought 
himself  safe  in  a  city  the  ruin  of  which  seemed  inevitable,  he  left  the  Kremlin, 
and  established  himself,  with  his  suite,  in  the  Castle  of  Peterskoi.  When  I  saw 
him  pass  by,  I  could  not,  without  abhorrence,  behold  the  chief  of  this  barbarous 


436  HISTORICAL   NOTICE.  Scct.  V. 

expedition,  who  evidently  endeavoured  to  escape  the  decided  testimony  of  public 
indignation  by  seeking  the  darkest  road ;  he  sought  it,  however,  in  vain ;  on 
every  side  the  flames  seemed  to  pursue  him,  and  their  horrible  glare,  flashing  on 
his  guilty  head,  reminded  me  of  the  torches  of  the  Eumenides  pursuing  their 
victims."     On  the  20th  Napoleon  returned  to  the  Kremlin,  and  soon  tried  to 
negotiate  with  KutusofF,  who  replied  that  no  treaty  could  be  entered  into  so  long 
as  A  foreigner  remained  within  the  frontier.     The  emperor  then  requested  that 
he  would  forward  a  letter  to  Alexander.     "  I  will  do  that,"  said  the  Russian 
general,  "  provided  the  Avord  peace  is  not  in  the  letter."     To  a  third  proposition 
KutusofF  replied  that  it  was  not  the  time  to  treat  or  enter  into  an  armistice,  as 
the  Russians  were  just  about  to  open  the  campaign.     At  length,  on  the  19th  of 
October,  after  a  stay  of   thirty-four    days.  Napoleon  left  Moscow  v/ith   his 
army,  consisting  of  120,000  men,  and  550  pieces  of  cannon,  a  vast  amount  of 
plunder,  and  a  countless  host  of  camp  followers.     And  now  the  picture  of  the 
advance  was  to  be  reversed.     Murat  was  defeated  at  Malo-Yarowslavitz  on  the 
24th,  and  an  unsuccessful  stand  Avas  made  at  Viasma  on  the  3rd  of  November. 
On  the  6th  a  winter  peculiarly  early  and  severe,  even  for  Russia,  set  in — the 
thermometer  sank  18° — the  wind  blew  furiously — and  the  soldiers,  vainly  strug- 
gling with  the  eddying  snow,  which  drove  against  them  with  the  violence  of  a 
whu'lwind,  could  no  longer  distinguish  their  road,  and,  falling  into  the  ditches  • 
by  the  side,  there  found  a  grave.     Others  crawled  on,  badly  clothed,  with  no- 
thing to  eat  or  drink,  frost-bitten,  and  groaning  with  pain.    What  scenes  did  not 
the  retreat  then  present ! — discipline  was  gone — the  soldier  no  longer  obeyed  his 
ofl[icer ;  disbanded,  they  spread  themselves  right  and  left  in  search  of  food,  and, 
as  the  horses  fell,  fought  for  their  mangled  carcasses,  and  devoured  them  raw^ike 
dogs — many  remained  by  the  dying  embers  of  the  bivouac  fire,  and  as  these 
expired,  an  insensibility  crept  over  them  which  soon  became  the  sleep  of  death — 
thus  thousands  perished.     On  the  9th  of  November  Napoleon  reached  Smo- 
lensk, and  remained  till  the  15th,  when  he  set  out  for  Krasnoe.     From  this 
time  to  the  26th  and  27th,  when  the  French  crossed  the  Beresina,  all  was  utter 
and  hopeless  confusion  ;  and  in  the  pJtssage  of  that  river  the  wretched  remnant 
of  their  once-powerful  army  was  nearly  annihilated — the  exact  extent  of  their 
loss  was  never  known,  but  a  Russian  account  states  that  36,000  bodies  were 
found  in  the  river  alone,  and  burnt  after  the  thaw.     On  the  5th  of  December 
Napoleon  deserted  the  survivors.     On  the  10th  he  reached  Warsaw,  and,  on  the 
night  of  the  18th,  his  capital  and  the  Tuileries,  by  the  back-door.     The  army 
that  had  too  well  and  enthusiastically  served  him  was  disposed  of  as  follows  : — 

Slain  in  fight 125,000 

Died  from  fatigue,  hunger,  and  the  severity  of  the  climate  .     132,000 
Prisoners 193,000 


450,000 
The  remains  of  the  grand  army  which  escaped  the  general  wreck  (independent 


BuSSia.  HISTOEICAL   NOTICE.  '137 

of  the  two  auxiliary  armies  of  Austria  and  Prussia,  which  knew  little  of  the 

horrors  of  the  retreat)  was  about  40,000  men,  of  whom  it  is  said  scarcely  10,000 

were  Frenchmen.     Thus  ended  the  greatest  military  catastrophe  that  ever  befell 

an  army  in  either  ancient  or  modern  times,  and  which,  though  on  a  much  smaller 

scale,  was,  alas  !  realized  to  Englishmen  in  the  gorges  and  ravines  of  the  Khoord 

Cabul.     To  return  to  Napoleon.     Europe  was  now  exasperated,  and  combined 

against  him  ;  and  though  in  the  following  spring  he  gained  the  battles  of  Lutzen 

and  Bautzen,  and  on  the  27th  of  August  that  of  Dresden,  the  wings  of  his  eagles 

were  pinioned  on  the  18th  of  October  of  the  same  year  on  the  field  of  Leipsic. 

On  the  Rhine  the  Allies  offered  him  peace  and  the  empire  of  France,  which  he 

was  fool  enough  to  refuse,  and  on  the  31st  of  March,  1814,  Alexander  had  the 

satisfaction  of  marching  into  Paris  at  the  head  of  his  troops.     After  the  general 

peace  in  1815  the  emperor  devoted  himself  to  the  internal  improvement  of  his 

country,  making  many  judicious  alterations  in  the  government,  in  which  he 

evinced  much  liberality  of  feeling.     He  had  good  abilities,  but  not  brilliant 

talent,  and  his  greatness  of  mind  was  not  fully  developed  till  the  invasion  of  his 

country  by  the  French ;  this  aroused  all  his  energies,  and  exhibited  him  to  the 

world  conducting  himself  with  consummate  discretion  and  unflinching  steadiness 

of  purpose  in  that  alarming  crisis.     His  disposition  was  kind  and  generous,  his 

manners  mild  and  amiable,  and  his  moderation  prevented  him  fi'om  ever  abusing 

his  unlimited  power.      Under  the  influence  of  his  mother,  and  the  empress, 

the     levity    and     extravagance    of    the    court    were    materially    repressed. 

Alexander,  attended  to  the  last  by  his  wife,  died  of  erysipelas,  in  a  small  and 

humble  dwelling  near  Taganrog,  when  on  a  tour  of  inspection  through  the 

southern  provinces   of  his    empire.      He   left   a   noble  example,  not   only  to 

his  country,  but  to  his  class ;  when  the  news  of  his  death  spread  over  his  vast 

dominions,  he  was  universally  deplored,  and  the  murmur  of  regret  in  other 

countries  responded  to  the  grief  of  Russia.     He  was  succeeded  by  Nicholas  I., 

the  present  emperor,  on  the  25th  of  December,  1825,  Constantino,  his  elder 

brother,  having  resigned  the  crown  in  his  favour. 


438 


ROUTE  93. LONDON  TO  ST.  PETERSBURGH.   Sect  V 


ROUTES  TO  AND  THROUGH  RUSSIA. 


ROUTE  93. 

LONDON      TO      ST.      PETEKSBUKGH,      Br 
HAMBURGH,  LUBECK,  AND  CRONSTADT. 

From  May  to  October  the  most  expe- 
ditious mode  of  proceeding  from  Lon- 
don to  St.  Petersburg}!  is  by  Ham- 
burgh and  Lubeck,  and  thence  by  the 
Baltic  steamer  to  Cronstadt  and  the 
Russian  capital.  To  the  tourist,  how- 
ever, who  has  his  time  at  his  own  dis- 
posal, we  do  not  recommend  this  most 
uninteresting  route,  but  that  by  Kiel, 
Copenhagen,  Gottenburg,  Stockholm, 
and  Finland ;  he  will  thus  traverse 
Sweden,  one  of  the  most  interesting 
countries  in  Europe,  and  have  the 
choice  of  returning  either  by  Berlin, 
Warsaw,  or  Odessa  ;  or,  if  absolutely 
pressed  for  time,  by  the  I3altic.  Assum- 
ing, however,  that  time  is  an  object, 
and  that  the  traveller  adopts  the  route 
by  Lubeck  and  the  Baltic,  it  will  be 
desirable,  as  the  Lubeck  boats  sail  from 
Travemiinde  every  Tuesday  morning, 
that  he  should  leave  London  by  the 
Hamburgh  steamer  of  Friday,  having 
first  procured  either  a  Russian  passport, 
or  one  from  the  Foreign  Office  with  a 
Russian  vise. 

At  Hamburgh  it  will  be  well  to  take 
a  look  at  the  vehicle  and  cattle  which 
are  to  convey  him  to  Lubeck ;  also  to 
have  a  clear  understanding  with  the 
driver  that  he  takes  the  best  road ;  if 
not,  the  chances  are  that  he  will  select 
the  old,  that  is  the  bad  one,  with  a 
view  of  making  a  call  on  some  friend, 
in  which  case  it  is  certain  he  will,  on 
the  plea  of  feeding  his  beasts,  dawdle 
away  a  couple  of  hours.  The  distance 
between  Hamburgh  and  Lubeck  is  40 
miles.  On  arriving  there  no  time 
should  be  lost  in  getting  the  passport 
vise  by  the  Russian  consul,  and  pro- 
ceeding to  the  steamer  at  Travemiinde, 
10  miles   off,   to  secure  a   berth,   for 


these  vessels  are  generally  inconve- 
niently crowded.  The  two  boats  now 
plying  on  this  station  are  the  Nicholas 
the  First  and  the  Alexander;  the 
former,  of  800  tons  burden,  was 
launched  in  1839.  The  average  pas- 
sage from  London  to  Hamburgh  is 
about  54  hours,  from  Travemiinde 
to  Cronstadt  about  84  hours ;  but 
these  boats,  particularly  the  Alexan- 
der, is  sometimes  100  hours  in  accom- 
plishing it,  and  has  been  as  long  as  four 
or  five  days.  The  distance  from  Lubeck 
to  St.  Petersburgh  is  rather  over  700 
miles.  (For  further  information  on 
steamboats  see  preliminary  remarks.) 

The  company  on  board  the  Baltic 
steamers  is  of  all  nations  and  languages, 
and  if  the  weather  be  fine  much  amuse- 
ment and  possibly  information  may  be 
extracted  from  a  society  in  which  is 
comprised  specimens  of  every  Eu- 
ropean nation,  and  when  these  are 
brought  together  at  the  dinner  hour 
the  traveller  may  also  improve  his 
knowledge  of  foreign  languages,  for  the 
great  cabin  is  a  miniature  Babel — Eng- 
lish, French,  and  German  are,  how- 
ever, the  prevailing  tongues ;  and  the 
soft-flowing  Russ  will  probably,  for  the 
first  time,  break  upon  the  ear  in  de- 
lightful cox^trast  to  the  guttural  Ger- 
man, the  tapid  accented  French,  and 
the  hissing  English.  The  Island  of 
Riigen,  celebrated  as  that  on  which  the 
great  Gustavus  landed  those  glorious 
cohorts  which  were  never  surpassed  in 
valour,  or  equalled  in  piety  and  disci- 
pline, is  usually  passed  in  the  night — 
one  that  the  tourist  may  as  well  look 
out  upon,  for  it  is  soon  to  be  exchanged 
for  that  perpetual  twilight  which  is  so 
striking  in  these  northern  latitudes. 
Having  passed  Riigen,  the  islands  of 
Oland  and  Gothland  on  the  Swedish 
coast  are  seen  in  clear  weather ;  and, 
supposing  the  traveller  to  have  left 
Travemiinde    on   the    Tuesday  after- 


1  Admiralty 

2  Winter  FaJaeC' 

3  Hermitiufe' 
+  Thea.tre 

5  Garble  Pala^^ 

6  Statute  of  Peter  &T 
1    ifcncUe  JfoiutC' 

8  -^-o^  Oiurctv 

9  CohumTvofAleJcT 

10  .S^c?Z  flfHtatMiyor 
H  KazoTV  Church' 


13  JPaLice  of  Gr^^uke  Michael 

13  -En^ineerj 

14  &cu!tinoi  Dvor 

15  Theatre 

le    ly^aryif  Jlo^pital 

17  S^Ccuharin^Ino't.^ 

18  CoTTLntercuil  £anic 
IS  BoUhoi  Theatre 

20  auLi-ch  ofS*Xidwhuf 

31  Church  of  the  Jntcrceso^ion. 

22  ^^<i  6"^^ 


'•iumpTial  ^rch. 
Xotci  des' Mines 
'inland.  £arrachf 
';^ Corps  of  Cadets 
\cadeniy  of  Arts 
Zotnanzow^  ObeUsJc 

Corps  of  Cadets 
tcad.^of  Sciences. Museu^m/. 
b  Obsen-atary 


81  EaxhoJiffc 

32  OjuTtonv Souse 

34-  Teter  the  &rca£s 
Wooden.  JTouse/ 
36  IRussianAcad£.ni^ 

36  Botanical-  &ard.en/ 

37  NavaZ  Hospital/ 


yi 


Map       to       tlie       Handbook       for        l^oithem         Euiope . 


J.iC.  n'alktrSaJp 


f^UsluJ.  bvJohjiXvjTuy.ALbemiirU  Scre,uJ849. 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. CEONSTADT. 


439 


noon,  he  will,  in  a  favourable  run,  be 
in  the  Gulf  of  Finland  on  Thursday 
night,  and  the  following  morning  off 
Reval.  Laud  will  scarcely  be  lost  sight 
of  during  this  day,  and  both  shores  of 
the  gulf  are  frequently  visible  at  the 
same  time,  though  too  distant  to  enable 
one  to  perceive  any  great  difference  in 
the  characteristics  of  either  coast.  The 
Baltic,  m  the  summer,  is  a  lively  sea  to 
traverse,  in  a  steamboat  more  especially ; 
the  traveller  is  never  many  hours  with- 
out seeing  land;  and  some  island  which 
marks  the  progress  of  the  vessel,  to 
look  at  or  to  look  for,  is  a  never  failing 
subject  of  interest ;  the  number  of  ships, 
too,  with  their  white  sails,  are  gene- 
rally numerous,  and  help  to  break  the 
monotony  of  a  sea  view  and  the  voyage. 
At  midnight  onFriday,  or,  if  the  elements 
have  not  been  courteous,  at  sunrise  on 
Saturday,  the  rocks  and  fortifications  of 
Cronstadt  meet  the  anxious  eye,  and, 
the  paddles  being  stopped,  a  boat  from 
the  guard-ship  boards  the  packet ;  in 
this  are  two  or  three  official  gentlemen, 
who  having  examined  the  captain's 
papers,  the  vessel  is  allowed  to  proceed, 
and  in  half  an  hour  she  comes  to 
anchor  off  Cronstadt. 

Here  the  vessel  is  again  boarded, 
not  however  by  two  or  three  naval 
officers,  but  two  or  three  boat-loads 
of  police  and  custom-house  officers, 
and  soldiers,  who  take  possession  of 
the  ship  and  the  luggage,  which 
is  brought  upon  deck  and  ticketed 
with  the  word  unexamined,  a  number 
being  added  to  each  article ;  and  in  this 
manner  two  or  three,  and  sometimes 
four,  hours  are  consumed  in  the  most 
tantalizing  and  disagreeable  way,  for 
the  deck  is  encumbered  with  the  lug- 
gage and  a  small  army,  and  the  cabin 
by  officers  examining  the  passports,  so 
that  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  seat  or  a 
corner  of  a  table  at  liberty.  At  length 
the  luggage  is  j^lombe,  the  passports  are 
examined,  and  the  packet  is  again 
steaming  up  the  gulf  and  the  Neva, 
and  in  two  hours  she  is  at  her  moor- 
ings at  the  English  quay  in  the  very 


heart  of  the  Venice  of  the  North,  St. 
Petersburgh.  It  is  fortunate  for  tra- 
vellers when  they  reach  the  capital 
without  the  preliminary  annoyance  of 
changing  vessels  at  Cronstadt,  for  it 
sometimes  happens  that  the  steamer 
discharges  them  into  a  smaller  one,  the 
IIoscow,  which  plies  between  that  town 
and  St.  Petersburgh,  and  the  formali- 
ties  of  the  police  are  not  calculated  to 
prepare  the  mind  for  other  disagree- 
ables. On  arriving  at  Cronstadt,  the 
officers  of  this  department  not  only  eX' 
amine  the  passports,  but  sometimes  put 
a  series  of  questions  to  the  new  arrival 
which  are  as  inquisitive  as  those  of  a 
commissioner  of  income  tax  ;  but  it  will 
be  as  well  for  the  person  questioned  to 
remember  that  he  is  in  Russia,  not  at 
the  Tower  stairs,  and  conform  with  a 
good  grace  to  what  he  cannot  avert. 
Thus,  if  the  querist  should  ask  him 
where  he  was  born  1  he  had  better  not 
reply  "  Under  a  gooseberry  bush,"  or 
remain  indignantly  mute,  but  state  the 
place.  Again,  if  he  is  asked  why  he 
has  come  to  Russia,  he  had  better  not 
say,  "to  initiate  you  into  the  advan- 
tages of  a  house  of  commons,"  but  to 
see  the  emperor,  or  the  Kremlin,  or 
anj'  other  sensible  reason.  Even  a  cus- 
tom-house officer  is  sometimes  softened 
with  a  civil  speech. 

Should  the  traveller  be  an  ardent  ad- 
mirer of  dockyards  and  fortifications, 
and  land  at  Cronstadt  instead  of  pro- 
ceeding direct  to  St.  Petersburgh,  he 
will  find  the  business  of  the  custom- 
house is  conducted  with  a  degree  of 
formality  and  slowness  which  no  one 
who  has  not  experienced  it  can  duly 
understand. 

Cronstadt,  which  has  with  its  garri- 
son about  10,000  inhabitants,  may  be 
considered  as  the  water-gate  of  St. 
Petersburgh,  for  here  most  ships  coming 
from  seaward  anchor  ;  the  smaller  ves- 
sels run  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Neva, 
but  the  larger  stop  here  to  discharge  a 
part  of  their  cargo  before  going  further, 
or  they  discharge  it  altogether  into  the 
warehouses  that  belong  to  the  merchants 


440 


EOUTE    93. CRONSTADT. 


Sect.  V. 


of  St.  Petersburgh.  Here  is  also  the 
chief  station  of  the  Russian  fleet,  the 
chief  custom-house,  and  the  harbour  for 
vessels  of  war,  which  will  contain  about 
thirty  ships,  and  is  protected  by  a  mole, 
450  fathoms  in  length,  from  the  violence 
of  the  waves.  Near  this  lies  the  middle 
haven,  destined  for  the  fitting  out  of 
ships  of  war,  for  at  St.  Petersburgh 
only  the  hulls  of  vessels  are  built,  and 
they  are  then  with  infinite  labour  trans- 
ported on  camels  over  the  shallow  bay 
of  Cronstadt  to  this  haven,  to  be  finished 
and  fully  equipped.  Further  to  the  W. 
lies  the  merchants'  harbour,  capable  of 
containing  a  thousand  vessels,  and  there- 
fore the  most  interesting  and  animated 
of  the  three.  This  harbour  is  protected 
on  the  N.W.  by  a  bastion  constructed 
of  granite  blocks,  and  on  this  is  the 
most  agreeable  promenade  of  Cronstadt. 
From  the  Middle  and  the  Merchants' 
Harbour  two  great  canals  run  into  the 
interior  of  the  city.  The  quays  on 
these  canals,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
harbour,  are  also  of  granite,  and  in  a 
style  of  magnificence  such  as  scarcely 
any  other  commercial  city  can  boast  of; 
they  were  erected  by  the  present  em- 
peror, who  has  done  more  for  Cron- 
stadt than  any  other  Russian  sovereign 
since  the  days  of  Peter  the  Great.  The 
canal  running  from  the  Middle  Harbour, 
begun  bj^  that  extraordinary  man  and  fin- 
ished by  the  Empress  Elizabeth,  brings 
up  the  men-of-war  to  the  dock  for  repair. 
It  will  admit  ten  large  ships  at  once. 
The  whole  basin,  which  is  built  with 
granite,  can,  by  means  of  a  steam  en- 
gine, be  laid  dry  in  two  days,  and  filled 
again  within  six  hours. 

The  fortifications  of  Cronstadt  are 
very  extensive ;  they  were  partly 
erected  by  Peter  the  Great,  who  soon 
became  aware  that  this  spot  must  be 
the  key  and  outwork  for  the  defence  of 
his  capital.  He  built  the  fort  of 
Kronslott,  and  commenced  one  on  the 
island  itself.  Succeeding  governments 
completed  these,  and  Paul  I.,  in  pro- 
viding the  rock  of  Riesbank  with  forti- 
fications, under  whose  cannon  any  ves- 


sel must  pass  to  enter  the  bay,  seemed 
to  have  perfected  the  defences  of  the 
place ;  some  batteries  have,  however, 
since  then  been  erected  by  a  French- 
man in  the  Russian  service. 

There  are  two  navigable  approaches 
to  the  Neva;  the  northern  is  by  nature 
difficult  on  account  of  the  sand-banks, 
and  might  be  made  inaccessible  by  the 
sinking  of  vessels  filled  with  stones. 
The  southern  arm,  though  nearly  seven 
versts  broad,  has  an  exceedingly  nar- 
row channel  close  to  the  island  of  Cron- 
stadt, and  this  is  enfiladed  by  the  guns 
on  the  works. 

When  the  armed  delegates  of  Peter 
the  Great  drove  off  the  Swedes  in  1703, 
the  island  on  which  Cronstadt  is  situ- 
ated changed  its  name  from  Retusari, 
or  Rat  Island,  to  that  of  Kotlinoi 
OstroiF,  or  Kettle  Island,  and  for  the 
following  reason:— the  Swedes  in  re- 
treating, like  good  soldiers,  left  nothing 
behind  them  but  a  great  camp  kettle, 
which  the  victorious  Russians  reared  in 
triumph  on  a  pole  as  a  trophy  of  vic- 
tory and  immediately  baptized  the 
island  after  it.  The  Bay  of  Cronstadt 
is  shallow,  its  average  depth  scarcely 
reaching  twelve  feet ;  the  Neva  is  still 
more  so  in  many  parts  of  its  course, 
and  at  the  bar  the  average  depth  does 
not  exceed  nine  feet.  A  severe  penalty 
is  enacted  against  any  one  attempting 
to  take  soundings  in  the  Neva.  The 
channel  is  carefully  marked  out  by 
poles  projecting  above  the  water.  A 
multitude  of  small  vessels  and  steam- 
boats, several  of  them  the  property  of 
Mr.  Baird,  the  great  iron  founder  at 
St.  Petersburgh,  which  start  at  stated 
hours,  maintain  a  communication  with 
the  capital.  When  a  favourable  wind 
brings  up  a  whole  fleet  of  100  or  more 
large  vessels  from  the  sea,  or  when  the 
Russian  fleet  is  preparing  for  a  cruise, 
the  bay  and  river  is  very  animated,  and 
alive  with  steamers  and  sailing  vessels 
of  every  description.  In  winter,  that 
is,  nearly  six  entire  months,  the  Bay  of 
Cronstadt  is  as  lifeless  as  a  desert ;  the 
whole  surface  is  then  frozen    to  one 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. CRONSTADT. 


441 


solid  level  broken  only  by  three  roads 
— one  to  St.  Petersburgli,  one  to  Ora- 
nienbaum,  and  a  third  to  Sestrabek. 
These  roads  are  indicated  by  signal- 
posts,  and  on  that  to  St.  Petersburgh, 
which  is  about  30  versts  long,  is  a  sta- 
tion built  for  rest  and  refreshment.  In 
former  times  this  crystal  field  was  often 
the  scene  of  bloody  strife,  and  Russian 
history  enumerates  many  a  battle 
fought  on  the  icy  floor,  over  the  heads 
of  the  fishes  and  seals. 

During  the  summer  there  is  life  at 
Cronstadt,  for  trade  is  then  active,  and 
"the  population  is  augmented  by  very 
nearly  30,000  workmen,  sailors,  sol- 
diers, and  merchants — Prussian,  Grer- 
man,  and  English  ;  but  the  only  ob- 
jects which  can  intefest  a  stranger  are 
the  fortifications,  harbours,  canals,  and 
dock's^' everything  else  wears  an  ordi- 
nary appearance ;  neither  the  churches 
nor  the  houses  have  anything  remark- 
able in  them,  and  the  latter  are  onl}^  of 
one  story,  at  least  for  the  most  part. 
Besides  the  Russian,  there  is  an  Eng- 
lish, German,  Lutheran,  and  Roman 
Catholic  church,  a  club  for  the  nobility, 
a  bazaar,  barrncks,  hospitals,  cadet 
schools,  and  other  buildings  for  the  pub- 
lic service.  In  the  summer  garden  of 
the  Admiralty  are  some  shrubs,  said 
to  have  been  planted  by  Peter  the 
Great,  bat  eight  towns  in  Russia  show 
similar  proofs  of  his  horticultural  in- 
dustry. 

It  is  usual  in  Russia,  as  well  as  in 
England  and  other  countries,  that  a 
foreigner  should  have  special  permission 
to  see  the  dockyards,  the  mint,  and 
other  public  establishments  ;  an  order 
will  be  required  to  see  Cronstadt,  or 
rather  the  dockyards,  &c.,  and  an  Eng- 
lishman will  have  less  diificulty  in  ob- 
taining access  to  things  under  taboo  in 
this  country  than  a  traveller  of  any 
other  nation.  But,  as  it  has  been  be- 
fore remarked,  unless  the  new  comer 
has  a  mania  for  inspecting  and  verifying 
these  matters,  he  will  do  well  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  steamer,  and  get  quietly 
established  at  his  hostel  in  the  capital  ; 


from  thence  he  can  with  great  ease 
proceed  to  Cronstadt  by  steamer,  re- 
turning at  night,  and  in  this  way  a 
visit  to  this  seaport  will  form  an  agree- 
able excursion.  We  will,  therefore, 
suppose  that  he  takes  our  advice,  and, 
having  answered  civilly  all  the  ques- 
tions put  to  him  by  the  police  authori- 
ties who  come  on  board  at  Cronstadt, 
is  steaming  up  the  Neva  to  the  great 
object  of  his  voyage ;  this  will  occupy 
from  two  to  three  hours,  and  the 
scenery  during  the  trajet  is  not  distin- 
guished in  any  way  for  beauty.  On 
the  right  bank  from  Cronstadt  is  se;>n 
the  town  of  Oranienbaum^  and  a  little 
further  on  the  giTHed  towers  and  parl^ 
of  ^eterhpff ;  these  are  situated  on 
a  small  acclivity ;  but  after  they  are 
passed  the  banks  again  become  low,  and 
present,  from  a  distance,  the  only  fea- 
ture of  the  Finnish  shores,  interminably 
flat.  At  length  a  golden  spot,  sparkling 
in  sunshine,  and  a  tall  and  taper 
spire,  shooting  like  a  needle  to  the  sky, 
and  rising  apparently  from  the  water, 
are  seen,  and  these  are  the  first  indica- 
tions which  prove  that  the  great  city  is 
indeed  before  the  traveller.  This  golden 
spot  is  the  gilded  dome  of  the  Isaac 
Church,  which  may,  it  is  said,  be^en 
in  fine  weather  from  Cronstadt,  a  dis- 
tance of  sixteen  n\ile§ — the  spire  that 
of  the  Admiralty,  and  both  of  them  are 
to  be  descried  from  every  approach  to 
the  capital ;  for  whether  St.  Peters- 
burgh  has  been  sought,  as  it  was  by  us, 
by  long  journeying  through  boundless 
forests,  or  flat  and  uninteresting  plains, 
or  by  the  waters  of  the  Baltic,  these 
architectural  elevations  first  appear  on 
the  horizon  to  greet  the  traveller  on  his 
arrival  in  the  city  of  the  Tzar.  This 
seems,  however,  scarcely  to  emerge 
from  the  water,  so  low  is  the  shallow 
tablet  of  land  on  which  it  rests,  and  it 
is  only  when  the  Podzonoi  Ostrof  and 
the  tallow  and  other  warehouses  are 
left  behind  that  the  great  beauty  and 
features  of  the  city  present  themselves. 
The  Greek  churches  of  mosquelike 
form,  the  profusion  of  cupola  and  mina- 


442 


ROUTE    93. ST.  PETERSBUEGH. 


Sect.  V. 


ret,  with  their  treble  domes  painted 
"blue  with  silver  stars,  or  green  with 
gold  stars,  and  the  various  gilt  spires 
starting  at  intervals  from  the  low  city, 
give  it  "an  air  perfectly  distinct  from  any 
other  European  capital.  On  arriving 
at  the  English  quay,  the  view  is  highly 
imposing ;  beyond  it  on  the  right  is  the 
long  facade  of  the  Admiralty,  the 
column  of  Alexander,  and  a  portion  of 
the  Winter  Palace,  in  front  the  great 
bridge,  and  on  the  left  the  citadel,  pre- 
senting a  cotij)  cVoeil  of  unexampled  ar- 
chitectural magnificence,  the  river  being 
closed  in  by  long  quays  constructed  of 
blocks  of  red  granite  of  massiA^e  pro- 
portions. Such  is  the  approach  to  St. 
Petersburgh,  the  real  and  peculiar 
beauty  of  wliich  consists  in  thus  sail- 
ing apparently  on  the  bosom  of  the 
Baltic  into  a  city  of  palaces.  Before 
passengers  are  permitted  to  land  there 
is  a  fresh  inspection  of  passports,  the 
luggage  is  brought  on  shore  in  the 
course  of  an  hour  and  deposited  at  the 
searching-house  on  the  English  quay. 
Having  gone  through  this  at  all  times 
disagreeable  ordeal,  and  repacked,  with 
.  more  or  less  equanimity,  his  trunk  and 
carpet-bag,  the  traveller  had  better  retire 
without  any  further  delay  to  Mrs.  Wil- 
son's or  the  MissBensons' boarding-house 
hard  by,  or,  if  they  are  full,  to  any  other 
hotel  they  may  recommend,  and  per- 
form the  most  grateful  of  all  offices  after 
a  journey  or  a  voyage — his  ablutions ; 
this  done,  he  cannot  do  better  than  seat 
himself  in  a  chair  facing  the  Neva — if  he 
has  the  luck  to  get  such  a  look  out — and 
consult  the  preliminary  information 
given  at  the  commencement  of  this  sec- 
tion of  the  Hand-book,  which  will  put 
him  av  fait  as  to  the  proper  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding, before  he  undertakes  to  lionize 
the  place;  moreover,  animmediate  plunge 
into  sight-seeing  is  not  the  best  method 
of  renovating  the  exhausted  wayfarer. 
The  first  move  he  should  make  after 
this  will  be  to  look  up  his  billet- de-re- 
sidence and  a  job  carriage  or  droshky. 
These  having  been  duly  cared  for,  the 
impatient  visitor  should  proceed  with 


his  lacquey-de-place  to  the  Admiralty, 
and  ascend  the  tower  of  that  immense 
building. 

When  travelling,  it  was  always  our 
habit  to  climb  the  church  tower,  or 
some  other,  in  every  great  town  we 
came  to,  with  a  view,  not  only  of  ob- 
taining a  splendid  panoramic  coup 
cVceii,  but  of  acquiring  a  to[)Ographical 
knowledge  of  the  place,  which  greatly 
assisted  our  perambulations,  and  en- 
abled us  to  comprehend  much  more 
easily  the  plan  of  the  city  itself  when 
laid  before  us  in  the  shape  of  a  map. 
For  this  purpose  there  is  no  place  so 
well  suited  at  St.  Petersburgh  as 
the  tower  in  question,  for  from  it  the 
principal  streets  diverge.  The  edifice 
is  also  provided  with  galleries,  and  the 
views  from  them  are  very  different 
from  those  in  any  other  city.  We 
will  therefore  assume  that  the  spectator 
has  reached  one  of  these  galleries,  and 
looking  N.  across  the  Strelka  Point,  at 
which  the  little  Neva  diverges  from 
the  main  stream,  the  island  to  the  W.^ 
formed  by  these  two  and  the  Gulf  of 
Finland,  is  called  the  Vassiliefskoi 
Ostrof,  or  Basilius  Island,  and  ofi  it  is 
seen  the  Exchange,  the  Academy  of 
Sciences,  Arts,  and  Corps  of  Cadets. 
On  the  N.,  and  nearly  facing  the  tower, 
is  the  Citadel,  and  behind  it  to  the  N. 
and  W.  are  the  islands  of  Aptc  k  rskoi, 
Kamennoi,  Petrofskoi,  Krestofskoi, 
and  Elaghinskoi,  forming  the  Peter- 
burghskaia  Storona,  or  Peter  burgh 
side^  To  the  E.  of  the  Great  Nef  ka 
and  the  northern  bank  of  the  Neva  are 
barracks,  and  factories,  and  various 
military  hospitals,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  district  are  chiefly  soldiers,  gar- 
deners, and  manufacturers  ;  it  is,  how- 
ever, rapidly  extending,  for  nowhere 
else  in  St.  Petersburgh  have  building 
speculations  gone  on  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent. The  communication  between  the 
mainland  and  these  islands  is  limited 
to  three  bridges,  the  Isaiic,  just  below 
the  Admiralty,  the  Troitzkoi,  or  Tri- 
nity, from  the  Champ-de-Mars,  and  the 
Voskresenskoi,  or  Sunday,  from  a  point 


Skvv^  4i*ti- ^'tdu**^  jn  9^if  lijuUt^  j>v  4^'%^^ 


Bussia. 


EOUTE    93. — ST.  PETEESBDRGH. 


443 


considerably  to  the  E.  of  the  Summer 
Gardens ;  the  islands  themselves  com- 
municate with  one  another  hy  eight 
bridges.  Ferry  boats  also  are  con- 
stantly plying,  especially  on  the  Great 
Neva,  These  are  to  be  found  grouped 
round  almost  all  the  flights  of  steps 
which  lead  from  the  splendid  quays  to 
the  water's  edge — strangely  built  and 
fantastically  painted,  with  uncouth 
shapes,  and  figures  in  red  and  yellow, 
they  are  unlike  the  boats  of  any  other 
country,  save  that  their  unusual  length 
reminds  one  somewhat  of  the  gon- 
dolas of  Venice,  though  they  want  the 
delicately  tapering  extremities  and 
bright  steel  beaks  of  those  barques  of 
the  Italian  lagunes,  as  well  as  the 
wondrous  skill  of  the  gondoliers. 

On  the  islands,  as  well  as  in  every 
otlier  quarter  of  the  city,  may  be  des- 
cried the  watch-towerSj  from  which 
strict  look-out  is  kept  day  and  night 
for  fires.  They  are  lofty  circular  build- 
ings, with  a  curious  iron  apparatus 
projecting  many  feet  above  them,  de- 
signed for  making  signals  to  show  in 
what  part  of  the  town  the  fire  has  bro- 
ken out.  This  is  done  by  hanging  out 
balls  by  day,  and  lanterns  by  night, 
varying  their  number  and  arrangement 
according  to  the  situation  of  the  con- 
flagration. These  towers  are  the  best 
places  for  obtaining  views  of  many  parts 
of  the  capital,  and  no  difficulty  is  made 
(at  least  none  which  a  ruble  will  not 
overcome)  if  you  wish  to  ascend  any  of 
them.  We  never  passed  one  of  these 
buildings  without  seeing  the  watchman 
walking  his  slow  and  constant  round.  In 
a  city  built  so  much  of  timber  as  St. 
Petersburgh,  and  where  whole  rooms  are 
filled  with  wood  for  the  winter's  fuel,  a 
fire  spreads  with  the  speed  of  lightning, 
and  the  destruction  caused  both  to 
life  and  property  is  fearful.  The  build- 
ing of  wooden  houses  in  St.  Petersburgh 
has  been  forbidden  for  some  time  past, 
in  consequence  of  the  risk  of  fire. 

The  stranger  will  remark  in  many  of 
the  Petersburgh  squares  curious-Tooking 
Circular  buildings  with  a  low  parapet 


wall  of  stone,  and  a  roof  supported  on  iron 
piTlari  resting  on  this  wall.  These  are 
public  fire-places  for  the  accommodation 
of  coachmen  and  servants,  who  are 
obliged  to  wait  during  the  intense  cold 
of  the  winter  nights,  many  of  Avhom 
had  been  frozen  to  death  previous  to  the 
erection  of  these  places  of  refuge.  A 
movable  iron  shutter,  sliding  m  a  groove 
cut  in  the  parapet  wall,  protects  those 
withm  from  the  cutting  wind ;  and 
though  these  dwarfish  buildings  are  by 
no  means  ornamental  when  situated,  as 
they  freqiiently  are,  immediately  in 
front  of  some  superb  palace  or  theatre, 
their  utility  amply  compensates  for 
their  unprepossessing  appearance. 

But  to  return  to  the  topography  of  the 
city.  South  of  the  Admiralty  the  most 
important  part  of  the  city,  the  Bolshaia 
Storona,  or  Great  Side,  presents  itself, 
stretching  along  that  bank  of  the  Neva 
which  for  nearly  four  miles  pursues  a 
south-westerly  course.  The  Great  Side 
comprises  by  far  the  most  important 
portion  of  the  capital,  for  here  reside 
the  court,  the  nobility,  and  more  than 
half  the  population.  The  closely  built 
masses  of  this,  the  Bolshaia  Storona — 
closely  built  in  comparison  with  the 
other  quarters  of  the  city — are  divided 
into  three  semicircular  divisions  by  the 
Moika,  the  St.  Catharina,  and  the  Fon- 
tanka  canals,  Avhich  divisions  are  called 
the  First,  Second,  and  Third  Admiralty 
Sections,  and  these  are  intersected  by 
three  principal  streets  radiating  from 
the  Admiralty,  the  Neva  Perspective 
(Nevskoi-Prospekt),  the  Peas  Street 
(Gorokhovaia  Oulitza),  and  the  Resur- 
rection Perspective  (Vosnosenskoi  Pro- 
spekt).  As  these  streets  thus  di- 
verge from  the  Admiralty,  a  person 
may,  with  the  aid  of  a  telescope,  see 
what  is  going  on  at  their  remote  ex- 
tremities. The  direction  of  these  three 
great  thoroughfares  and  the  canals  de- 
termine that  of  most  of  the  other  streets, 
of  which  the  most  remarkable  are  the 
Great  and  Little  Morskaia,  the  Great 
and  Little  Millionava,  the  Meshtshan- 
skaia,  and  the  Ssattovaia  or  Garden 


444 


ROUTE    93.  — ST.  PETERSBURGH. 


Sect.  V. 


Street ;  all  the  streets  are,  without  ex- 
ception, broad  and  convenient,  blind 
alleys  and  nai'row  lanes  being  wholly- 
unknown  ;  they  are  classed  indeed  in 
prospeJcts,  oulitzi,  and  ^;ere«^o^5  or 
cross  streets,  but  even  these  pereuloks 
would  be  thought  in  most  continental 
towns  quite  spacious  enough  for  main 
streets  ;  every  street  has  two  names,  a 
German  and  a  Russian.  Beyond  the 
Fontanka,  along  the  banks  of  which  is 
ranged  a  succession  of  palaces,  lie  the 
more  remote  portions  of  the  city,  which 
merge  by  degrees  in  the  swamps  of 
Ingermanland.  To  the  E.  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Neva  are  the  villages  of 
the  Great  and  Little  Okhta,  and  these, 
with  the  suburbs  on  the  Ligof  ka  and 
Zaganodnoi  canals,  though  peopled  by 
Yamstchiks,  Plotniks,  and  Mujiks, 
bear  no  resemblance  to  the  wretched 
abodes  of  poverty  in  most  European 
cities,  for  the  poor  are  nearly  all  in  a 
conditionof  dependence,  and,  while  they 
are,  as  serfs,  unable  to  improve  their 
condition,  are  preserved  from  the  ex- 
tremes of  destitution,  which  is  too  fre- 
quently the  lot  of  the  free  labourer  on 
the  continent.  The  front  of  the  Admi- 
ralty, towards  the  vast  open  space  of 
the  same  name,  is  nearly  half  an  Eng. 
m.  in  length,  and  its  two  sides,  at  right 
angles  to  it  and  running  down  to  the 
river,  are  650  Eng.  feet ;  one  of  these 
sides  faces  the  Winter  Palace,  the  other 
the  Isak  Platz  and  the  Senate  House. 
The  tower  on  which  the  visitor  is 
perched  stands  immediately  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  Admiralty  fa9ade,  towards 
the  S.,  and  from  its  great  height  and 
the  peculiar  arrangement  of  the  streets, 
to  which  we  have  just  adverted,  the 
tapering  gilded  spire  of  the  building 
and  its  glittering  vane,  a  ship  in  full 
sail,  are  visible  from  the  most  distant 
parts  of  the  city ;  the  effect  of  this 
light  and  graceful  spire  is  very  pleasing, 
but  the  gallery  at  its  base  is  greatly 
disfigured  by  some  emblematical  figures 
in  plaster,  which  are  clustered  thick 
about  it.  Near  the  principal  entrance 
are  some  gigantic  figures,  also  in  brick 


and  plaster,  the  bricks  being  discernible 
which  are  the  reverse  of  ornamental. 
These  figures  are  emblem.atical  of 
Russia's  power  and  strength  ;  one  of  the 
groups  is  intended  to  represent  Peter 
the  Great  receiving  a  trident  from  the 
hands  of  Neptune.  A  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  Admiralty  is  devoted  to 
school-rooms  for  naval  cadets,  many  of 
whom  may  be  observed  promenading 
in  all  the  youthful  pride  of  cocked  hats, 
swords,  spurs,  and  tight  waists  ! !  The 
model  room  is  well  worthy  of  inspec- 
tion. But  we  have  descended  from  our 
look-out  too  soon,  and  mustreascend  to 
complete  our  survey  of  that  portion  of 
the  city  lying  contiguous  to  the  Admi- 
ralty itself.  Close  to  it  the  eye  looks 
down  on  the  dockyard  below,  in  which 
lie  prostrate  the  pride  of  theVologda  and 
Kostroma  forests,  and  mighty  ships  are 
growing  into  life  under  the  busy  hands 
of  SAvarms  of  workmen — when  one  of 
these  is  launched,  the  pageant  seen  from 
hence  must  be  highly  interesting.  On 
the  S.  front  of  the  building  is  the  noble 
Ploschad,  or  square,  called  after  it,  and 
at  either  end  that  of  Peter  and  of  the 
Court,  round  which  are  grouped  the 
chief  buildings  of  the  capital;  amongst 
these  are  the  Hotel  de  I'Etat  Major, 
whence  Russia's  million  of  soldiers  re- 
ceive their  orders,  the  Senate  House, 
and  the  Holy  Synod,  in  which  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  concerns  of  a 
hundred  nations  are  discussed  and  de- 
termined. To  the  right  and  at  a  short 
distance  are  the  "War  Office  and  the 
Isak  Church ;  in  the  former  a  thousand 
pens  ply  their  nibs  in  the  service  of 
Mars  and  the  emperor,  and  in  the  latter 
is  a  profusion  of  columns,  each  of  colossal 
magnitude.  On  the  left,  and  skirting 
the  river,  is  the  mighty  Winter  Palace ; 
in  the  corner  of  which  dwells  the  great 
man  to  whom  so  vast  a  portion  of  the 
human  race  look  up  with  hope  and 
anxiety,  and  whose  name  is  prized  and 
dreaded  beyond  any  other  over  a 
territory  larger  than  that  of  any  sove- 
reign on  the  surface  of  the  globe.  The 
length  of  the  open  spaces,  bordered  by 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. — ST.    PETERSBUEGH. 


445 


the  public  buildings  just  mentioned,  is 
not  '  much  less  than  an  Eng.  mile  ; 
at  one  extremity,  near  the  Senate  and 
the  Synod,  stands  the  colossal  eques- 
trian statue  of  Peter  the  Great,  while 
the  other  is  gracefully  ornamented  by 
the  smooth  and  polished  monolith 
raised  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Em- 
peror Alexander,  one  of  the  most  ami- 
able of  mankind.  Hurrying  to  and 
fro,  but  never  crowding  these  immense 
expanses  of  pavement,  may  be  seen  at 
every  hour  of  the  day  the  equipages  of 
field-marshals,  generals,  governors,  and 
courtiers,  the  heads  of  the  Church  and 
State,  metropolitan  senators,  bishops, 
and  judges ;  priestly  processions,  mili- 
tary parades,  and  funeral  trains;  and 
should  the  spectator  tire  of  the  moving 
panorama  on  this  side,  Ke  has  but  to 
turn  his  telescope  towards  the  N.,  and. 
bring  within  its  field  one  of  a  totally 
different  character  :  the  quays  and  the 
Neva  are  as  much  animated  by  shipping 
as  the  ploschads  are  by  carriages  and 
four,  and  the  river  and  canals  by  pass- 
ing gondolas  and  boats.  But,  beautiful, 
regular,  and  vast  as  this  view  of  St, 
Petersburgh  really  is,  the  traveller  will 
look  in  vain  for  anything  approaching 
the  picturesque.  No  buildings  are  raised 
above  the  rest;  masses  of  architecture, 
worthy  of  mountains  for  their  pedestals, 
are  ranged  side  by  side  in  endless  lines, 
and  the  eye,  nowhere  gratified  either 
by  elevation  or  grouping,  wanders  un- 
satisfied over  a  monotonous  sea  of  un- 
dulating palaces,  vainly  seeking  a  point 
of  antiquity  or  shade  on  which  to  re- 
pose. This  is  particularly  obvious  in 
winter,  when  streets,  river,  and  houses 
are  all  covered  with  one  universal 
snow.  In  spring,  when  the  sun  re- 
moves the  pale  shroud  from  the  earth 
and  the  waters,  the  lively  green  of  the 
painted  roofs  and  the  azure  star-span- 
gled cupolas  of  the  churches  enable  the 
eye  again  to  revel  in  the  long  untasted 
enjoyment  of  colour,  and  the  river  gaily 
mirrors  the  palaces  that  grace  its  banks. 
No  one  can  be  said  to  have  seen  Con- 
stantinople in  all  her  beauty  who  has 


not  gazed  on  that  city  from  the  Seras- 
kier's  Tower ;  and  no  one  can  have  a 
just  opinion  of  the  daring  position  of 
St.  Petersburgh  who  has  not  mounted 
one  of  these,  her  artificial  heights,  and 
viewed  the  immense  body  of  waters  in 
which  she  floats  like  a  bark  overladen 
with  precious  goods,  while  the  waves, 
as  if  maddened  by  the  long  imprison- 
ment of  winter,  seem  as  if,  deriding  her 
false  foundations,  they  would  overturn 
in  a  few  hours  that  which  the  will  of 
man  had  with  such  untiring  labour  and 
energy  raised,  seemingly  in  defiance 
of  the  Avill  of  Heaven.  When  a 
S.W.  wind  is  lifting  the  Gulf  furiously 
towards  the  city,  and  the  Neva,  re- 
joicing in  its  strength,  is  dashing  along 
the  quays  and  tossing  to  and  fro  the 
vessels  moored  close  to  them,  it  requires 
no  further  evidence  to  show  the  stranger 
what  might  be  the  fate  of  the  thou- 
sands who  inhabit  it.  The  traveller's  at- 
tention is  called  to  a  mark  on  some  of  the 
houses  in  the  principal  streets — to  this 
point  the  water  rose  in  the  calamitous  in- 
undation of  1824.  Itis  remarkable  that 
Peter  should  have  selected  this  site  for 
his  capital.  Placed  almost  on  the 
verge  of  the  arctic  regions,  and  at 
the  very  extremity  of  the  Russian 
dominions  ;  its  soil  a  morass;  its 
river  too  shallow  to  be  ever  made 
navigable  for  vessels  of  any  con- 
siderable burthen  ;  the  country  round 
a  marshy  plain,  which,  even  now  that 
industry  and  skill  have  succeeded  in 
reclaiming  it  to  cultivation,  hardly  re- 
pays the  labour  expended  upon  it ;  and 
a  winter  that  locks  up  all  enterprise  by 
sea  and  land  for  well  nigh  half  the 
year,  it  really  does  appear  almost  in- 
explicable what  could  have  induced 
that  extraordinary  being,  whose  name 
the  city  bears,  to  have  pitched  upon 
this  spot.  But  from  his  stern  resolve  he 
did  not  flinch  until  the  deep  stillness  of 
the  forest,  trodden  only  by  the  Finnish 
hunter,  was  changed  to  the  crowded  and 
populous  city,  and  the  waters  of  the 
Neva,  spread  far  and  wide  over  their 
shallow  and  marshy  bed,  reflected  the 


446 


EOUTE    93, ST.    PETEESBUEGH. 


Sect.  V. 


long  line  of  rising  buildings   that  en- 
circled his  log-built  palaces. 

It  was  remarked  to  us  by  an  English 
resident  that  larger  sums  had  been  ex- 
pended underground  than  above  in  St. 
Petersburgh,  alluding  to  the  necessity 
of  constructing  every  building  on  piles, 
without  which  it  would  sink  to  the  an- 
tipodes. This  is,  in  fact,  the  chief  rea- 
son why  buildings  are  so  costly  to 
erect,  for  before  one  can  hope  to  rear 
any  edifice  the  architect  must  construct 
a  strong  scaffolding  under  the  earth  to 
sustain  it.  Such  is  the  pedestal  on 
which  stands  the  citadel  with  all  its 
walls,  and  even  the  quays  along  the 
river  side,  the  foot  pavements,  and  the 
canal  wharfs.  The  foundations  of  the 
Izak  Church  cost  a  million  of  rubles. 
But  even  these  precautions  fail  some- 
times to  ensure  safety  ;  after  the  inun- 
dation in  1824  the  walls  in  many 
houses  burst  asunder  ;  the  steps  leading 
up  to  the  English  palace  on  the  Peter- 
hof  road  were  separated  from  the 
main  building;  the  blocks  of  granite 
on  the  quays  have  settled  more 
or  less,  and  the  streets  in  spring  may 
be  almost  said  to  approach  a  state  of 
solution — five  and  even  six  successive 
tiers  of  piles  are  driven,  to  give  the 
requisite  degree  of  firmness. 

With  such  a  boggy  and  treacherous 
soil  as  this,  the  necessity  for  the  con- 
struction of  plenty  of  canals  was  self- 
evident  ;  not  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
conveying  merchandise,  but  also  to 
effect  a  proper  drainage.  Exclusive  of 
the  canal  or  ditch  which  encircles  the 
entire  city,  or  rather  that  portion  of  it 
which  is  built  on  the  mainland,  there 
are  the  three  canals  already  mentioned  ; 
namely,  the  Moika,  Catherina,  and 
Fontanka.  The  Fontanka  communi- 
cates at  either  extremity  with  the  Neva 
on  the  E.,  near  the  Troitska  bridge, 
and  on  the  W.  opposite  the  southern 
point  of  the  Vassili  Ostroff.  These 
are  there  again  connected  by  numerous 
smaller  branch  canals,  as  the  Nicolai, 
the  Kruscova,  and  others,  while  the 
Zagarodnoi  canal  forms  the  southern 


boundary  of  the  city,  joining  the  river 
on  the  one  side  near  the  Nevskoi  mo- 
nastery, and  on  the  other  near  the  di- 
lapidated palace  of  Catherinenhof. 
Some  of  the  bridges  thrown  over  these 
canals  are  beautifully  executed ;  they 
are  principally  of  red  granite,  with  iron 
railings  ;  but  the  canals  themselves  are 
the  greatest  curiosity.  Originally  marshy 
and  often  pestilential,  these  dykes  were 
converted  into  navigable  streams,  and 
thus  became  a  principal  means  of  pre- 
serving the  very  existence  of  the  city, 
as  well  as  the  health  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  length  of  the  Fontanka  is  esti- 
mated at  6  versts,  or  nearly  4  Eng- 
lish miles  ;  its  breadth  is  upwards  of 
30  feet,  and  its  depth  6  feet,  and 
the  whole  extent  of  this  is  cased  with 
blocks  of  granite ;  the  original  cost  of 
which  alone,  exclusive  of  the  labour  of 
driving  piles  and  excavating  the  chan- 
nel, may  be  taken  at  an  average  of 
12^.  for  each  square  fathom.  They 
have  all  railings  and  footpaths,  with 
numerous  stairs  descending  to  the 
water's  edge.  Many  of  the  draw- 
bridges are  particularly  striking  from 
the  cluster  of  granite  columns,  within 
which  is  arranged  the  machinery  for 
raising  and  lowering  the  platform  of 
the  bridge.  There  are  one  or  two  sus- 
pension bridges  over  the  Fontanka,  but 
the  width  is  not  sufficient  to  show  off 
to  advantage  the  graceful  catenary 
curve  ;  the  one  leading  from  the  Champ 
de  Mars  has  a  very  pleasing  effect, 
from  the  multitude  of  gilded  stars  with 
which  the  iron  supporting  rods,  as  well 
as  the  railing  of  the  bridge,  are  covered. 
For  these  canals  the  capital  is  indebted 
to  Catherine  II.,  who,  while  she  lavish- 
ed rubles  by  millions  in  gilding  the 
exterior  of  palaces,  which  the  coming 
winter  was  sure  to  strip  of  their  gaudy 
covering,  must  nevertheless  be  allowed 
to  have  been  always  ready  to  promote 
any  undertaking  likely  to  conduce  to 
the  real  grandeur  of  her  empire  and  the 
good  of  her  subjects ;  and  although  not  a 
hundredth  part  of  the  town  s  she  founded, 
or  the  public  works  she  projected,  were 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. — ST.    PETERSBURGH. 


447 


ever  carried  substantially  into  effect, 
these  canals  alone  are  sufficient  to  entitle 
her  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  all  whose 
destiny  compels  them  to  reside  perma- 
nently in  St.  Petersburgh. 

Presuming,  therefore,  that  the  tra- 
veller has  followed  our  directions,  and 
thus  taken  a  bird's-eye  view  of  this 
city  of  palaces  and  its  suburbs,  and 
made  himself  generally  acquainted  with 
their  topographical  position,  the  next 
best  move  he  can  make  will  be  to 
strike  into  the  streets  in  his  job  car- 
riage, or  droshky,  and  traverse  the 
bridges,  islands,  great  thoroughfares, 
quays,  and  squares,  with  a  view  of  ac- 
quiring more  in  detail  a  knowledge  of 
their  chief  characteristics — the  external 
appearance  of  the  great  public  build- 
ings, shops,  and  population ;  and  then 
take  the  sights  at  leisure  as  they  present 
themselves  most  conveniently,  or  as  his 
individual  taste  may  suggest.  This 
plan  of  a  general  survey  will  in  some 
degree  satisfy  the  feeling  of  restless 
curiosity  consequent  upon  a  recent  ar- 
rival in  scenes  utterly  strange,  and 
better  prepare  the  mind  for  the  quiet 
contemplation  of  the  great  sights  which 
have  subsequently  to  be  examined — no 
small  undertaking  in  a  city  where  there 
is  so  much  to  see.  We  will,  therefore, 
assume  that  the  traveller,  accompanied 
by  his  lacquey-de-place,  is  seated  in  a 
job  droshky,  driven  by  one  of  the  best 
isvostchiks  of  the  capital,  who  pursues 
his  way  with  shouts  of  Padi,  padi, 
"  Make  way,  make  way,"  along  the  Eng- 
lish quay  to  the  Petrovskaia  Ploshad, 
on  which  is  the  spirited  equestrian 
statue  of  the  founder  of  the  city. 
Pausing  to  take  a  glance  at  this,  the 
traveller  will  observe,  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  open  space,  the  noble 
portico  and  columns  of  the  Izak  Church, 
on  the  left  the  Admiralty,  and  in  the 
distance  the  Winter  Palace  and  the 
Etat  Major,  masses  of  architecture  the 
like  of  which  he  has  never  seen  before, 
nor  will  see  again ;  and,  leaving  these  on 
the  left,  he  is  whirled  into  the  Nevskoi 
Prospekt,  at  the  fashionable  hour  of  the 


day.  To  a  person  accustomed  to  the 
moving  crowds  of  London  or  Paris,  the 
frequently  quiet  and  deserted  appear- 
ance of  the  vast  squares  and  spacious 
streets  of  St.  Petersburgh  is  peculiarly 
striking ;  and  this  is  owing  to  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  population  to  fill  the 
frame  allotted  to  it.  Such,  however, 
is  not  the  case  in  the  Nevskoi,  the 
Regent  Street  of  St.  Petersburgh;  4 
versts  (3  miles)  in  extent,  and  nearly 
in  a  right  line.  Here  all  is  life  and 
movement,  and  no  ten  yards  of  ground 
are  passed  that  do  not  present  a  scene 
or  a  subject  that  will  arrest  the  atten- 
tion of  the  stranger.  The  space  be- 
tween the  Admiralty  Square  and  the 
Annitshkoff  Bridge  on  the  Fontanka 
Canal,  though  fully  an  English  mile  in 
length,  does  not  contain  more  than 
fifty  houses,  each  of  which,  as  may 
easily  be  inferred,  is  of  colossal  magni- 
tude ;  most  of  these  are  the  pro- 
perty of  the  several  churches  that  skirt 
the  street,  the  Dutch,  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic, the  Armenian,  and  others,  that 
received  from  Peter  the  Great  large 
grants  of  land,  of  little  value  in  all 
probability  when  first  bestowed,  but 
from  which,  as  they  are  now  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  splendid  revenues  are 
derived.  Here  is  also  theKazan  Church, 
the  Gostinnoi  Dvor  (the  Great  Bazaar), 
and  one  of  the  two  great  national  thea- 
tres. This  portion  of  the  street  is  the  fa- 
vourite promenade  of  the  beatt  monde  of 
St.  Petersburgh;  the  houses  are  magnifi- 
cent, rising  to  three  and  four  stories; 
the  equipages  are  in  keeping,  and  roll 
noiselessly  over  the  wood  pavement; 
the  footways  on  each  side  are  broad  and 
commodious.  The  bustle  and  the 
throng  are  great,  carriages  and  four, 
with  servants  in  splendid  liveries, 
are  met  at  every  step,  or,  in  the 
winter,  most  picturesque  and  well  ap- 
pointed sledges;  generals  and  princes, 
plumed,  and  with  military  step,  are 
seen  elbowing  the  crowd,  staff-officers 
and  aides-de-camp  dash  by ;  the 
bearded  merchant,  and  the  mujik  in 
his  pink  shirt,  move  slowly  on;  and 

X  2 


448 


EOUTE    93. ST.    PETEESBURGH. 


Sect.  V. 


soldiers  in  number  and  variety  of  uni- 
form out  of  all  power  to  describe.  To 
these  costumes  may  be  added  tliose  of  the 
Circassian,  Greek,  and  other  Eastern 
nations ;  indeed,  all  sects,  races,  and 
colours  contribute  to  make  up  the  popula- 
tion of  the  Russian  capital ;  to  say  no- 
thing of  the  shaven  Europeans  and  their 
swallow-tailed  coats.  Here,  too,  may 
frequently  be  seen  in  a  one-horse 
droshky,  or  walking,  unaccompanied  by 
even  a  single  attendant,  "a  figure  of 
the  grandest  beauty,  expression,  dimen- 
sion, and  carriage,  uniting  all  the  ma- 
jesties and  graces  of  all  the  heathen 
gods — the  little  god  of  love  perhaps  alone 
excepted " — tlie  Autocrat  of  all  the 
Russias.  Gaze  on  him,  traveller,  for 
thou  wilt  never  see  his  counterpart. 
The  most  agreeable  hour  to  promenade 
the  Nevskoi  Prospekt  is  from  twelve  to 
two  o'clock,  when  the  ladies  of  the 
haut-ton  do  their  shopping,  and  the 
men  go  to  look  at  the  fair  purchasers ; 
nor  is  it  extraordinary  that  they  should 
thus  look,  for,  though  the  sex  amongst 
the  lower  classes  is  in  general  anything 
but  beautiful,  the  women  in  the  upper  are 
the  reverse  of  this;  and  we  have  seen 
formsand  faces  inSt.Petersburgh,  which 
may  vie  for  elegance  and  loveliness  with 
those  of  any  country  in  Europe.  Toi- 
lettes, too,  that  defy  criticism  render 
them  still  more  the  objects  of  admira- 
tion, and,  either  attracted  by  them  or 
the  sun,  the  pedestri-ms  always  prefer 
the  northern  side,  and  on  this  side  are 
the  most  magnificent  shops. 

The  pleasure  of  the  promenade  in  the 
Nevskoi  is  however  qualified  in  summer 
by  the  dust,  for  there  are  no  water  carts ; 
in  winter  this  inconvenience  is  not 
felt,  and  during  that  season  we  think 
no  capital  in  Europe  can  present  a  more 
singular,  and  in  its  way  a  more  mag- 
nificent spectacle  than  the  display  of 
sledges  and  costumes  which  crowd  this 
street.  "It  is  then  covered  by  a 
S7nooth  hard  surface  of  snow,  over 
which  the  equipages  rush  silently  along; 
the  snorting  of  the  steeds  and  the 
admonishing  ejaculations  of  the  drivers 


being  the  only  sounds  that  are  heard. 
There  is  something  quite  intoxicating 
in  driving  up  and  down  through  this 
wild  bounding  sea  of  carriages.  The 
palnces  on  both  sides  are  gaily  arrayed 
by  the  beams  of  the  sun;  the  street, 
though  broad,  is  filled  to  overflowing; 
the  equipages  are  of  all  kinds  and  di- 
mensions: here  a  modest  istvostchik 
dashes  along  with  a  spruce  clerk  or  a 
smart  chambermaid  behind  him;  there 
a  splendid  coach  and  four,  filled  with 
ladies,  moves  more  leisurely  along,  and 
seems,  compared  to  the  humble  sledges, 
a  man-of-war  sailing  proudly  amongst 
a  fleet  of  cock  boats.  Coaches  with  a  pair 
of  horses  announce  the  less  ostentatious 
merchant.  Handsome  single-horse  vehi- 
cles meanwhile  are  flying  like  lightning 
through  the  crowd,  and  Shivai,  ski- 
vdi  (Faster,  faster),  is  the  constant 
cry  of  the  well  starred  magnificoes 
within.  These  are  the  generals  and 
ministers  hurrying  to  their  offices  and 
various  appointments,  who  parade 
their  d'amonds  in  so  modest  a  convey- 
ance in  imitation  of  the  Emperor,  while 
their  wives  are  using  up  the  breath  of 
four  steeds  at  least.  Nay,  the  Em- 
peror himself,  enveloped  in  his  cloak, 
but  unobserved,  may  pierce  the 
throng,  for  his  affairs  are  numberless  in 
all  quarters  of  the  town.  '  Gossudarf 
gossudarf  (the  lord !  the  lord !)  flies  from 
every  mouth.  '  Padi  !  padi  ! '  cry  the 
little  postilions,  in  a  sharp  and  sus- 
tained note,  and  almost  at  the  same 
moment  the  apparition  has  passed  away. 
A  stranger,  though  he  forget  all  else  of 
Russia  that  he  learned  at  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  will  not  forget  the  padi,  Idvi., 
prdvi,  and  heregia,  with  which  the 
charioteers  steer  their  course  through 
so  arduous  a  navigation;  and,  if  there 
be  nothing  else  which  he  has  learned 
to  love  in  Russia,  he  will  at  least 
love  the  recollection  of  his  sledge  pro- 
menades, and  will  remember,  with  some 
kindness,  his  dexterous  and  willing 
istvostchik." 

The  seasons   and  the  variations  in 
the  temperature  bring  about  many  and 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. ST.    PETERSBUEGH. 


449 


often  very  sudden  changes  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  population.  In  winter 
every  one  is  clad  in  furs;  in  summer 
robes  of  gauze  and  silk,  with  a  killing 
ckapeau  of  the  most  fragile  materials, 
and  the  lightest  scarf,  are  seen  flutter- 
ing in  the  breeze.  So  instantaneous, 
indeed,  are  some  of  these  capricious 
changes,  that  in  the  morning  the  cos- 
tumes will  be  all  of  a  gossamer  texture, 
and  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day  no 
one  will  venture  out  unless  well  wrapped 
up  in  cloaks  and  mantles.  The  sun 
shines,  and  swarms  of  guardsmen  and 
well  dressed  women  come  fluttering 
forth — it  rains,  and  the  streets  are 
abandoned  to  the  mercantile  community 
and  the  mujiks.  One  day  it  is  all  snow 
and  sledges,  the  next,  all  mud  and 
clattering  wheels;  in  summer,-  again, 
it  is  heat  and  dust,  and  the  ther- 
mometer rises  to  99°  of  Fahrenheit. 
In  winter  it  falls  to  50°  below  zero  of 
Fahrenheit.  This  gives  to  the  tem- 
perature a  range  of  149°  of  Fahren- 
heit, which  probably  exceeds  that  of 
any  other  city  in  Europe.  In  sum- 
mer, a  rough  wind  will,  on  a  hot  sul- 
try day,  drive  down  the  thermometer 
to  26°  of  Fahrenheit.  But  we  are  lin- 
gering too  long  in  the  Prospekt,  for 
there  is  yet  much  to  be  done  before 
dinner,  and  Shivdi,  sMvdi  will  be  the 
word  to  the  istvostchik  when  he 
reaches  a  bend  in  the  street,  at  a 
distance  of  two  miles  from  the  Admi- 
ralty: at  this  point,  the  traveller,  if 
he  looks  back,  will  descry  the  gilt 
spire  and  weathercock  of  that  build- 
ing, towering  above  every  other  ;  and 
the  animated  scene  he  has  witnessed 
at  the  further  extremity  of  the  Pro- 
spekt will  here  be  replaced  by  one  of 
a  very  different  character.  The  gay 
crowd  has  disappeared;  an  istvostchik 
that  has  strayed  with  a  chance  fare 
thus  far,  and  a  few  merchants'  clerks, 
are  seen  returning  to  their  more  central 
haunts  and  habitations;  further  on, 
the  houses,  which  have  only  their 
originality  to  recommend  them,  are 
painted  in  red  and  yellow;  and  every 


man  the  stranger  meets  displays  a 
beard  of  venerable  length,  and  a  yet 
longer  caftan.  Next  follow  markets 
and  magazines  for  the  sale  of  super- 
annuated furniture  and  apparel,  which, 
having  done  good  service  in  the  fashion- 
able quarters  of  the  city,  are  now  con- 
signed to  the  suburbs.  A  little  further 
still,  and  on  the  right,  is  the  Alexander 
parade-ground,  and  immediately  oppo- 
site, on  the  left  hand,  the  winter  pro- 
vision market;  in  the  low  houses  and 
around  the  spirit  shops  near  this  may 
be  descried  swarms  of  Russian  peasants, 
uproariously  happy  under  the  influence 
of  their  favourite  vodka ;  and  we  come 
at  length  to  the  monastery  and  ceme- 
tery of  Alexander  Nevskoi,  situated 
near  the  Neva,  and  terminating  the 
most  extensive  thoroughfare  in  St. 
Petersburgh.  The  distance  from  the 
monastery  to  the  bend  in  this  street 
is  nearly  a  mile.  When  at  the  monas- 
tery, "  Na  levo,"  (to  the  left,)  should  be 
the  instruction  to  the  driver,  and,  fol- 
lowing the  course  of  the  Neva  for 
nearly  a  mile,  he  should  turn  into  the 
Malaia  Bolotnaia,  at  the  end  of  which, 
on  the  left,  is  the  Arsenal  of  the  Horse 
Artillery;  and  a  little  beyond,  on  the 
right,  the  Convent  of  the  Demoiselles 
Nobles  and  the  Smolnoi  church. 
The  river  between  the  Nevskoi  and 
this  convent  is  enlivened  by  num- 
bers of  Rvissian  vessels,  cumbrous  un- 
wieldy craft,  many  of  them  built  only 
to  bring  fire-wood  to  the  capital  from 
the  forests  of  the  Ladoga,  and  then  to 
be  broken  up  themselves  for  the  same 
useful  purpose.  From  the  Smolnoi, 
the  stranger  will  come  into  the  Bol- 
shaia  Voskresenskaia,  and,  passing  the 
Taurida  Palace  in  that  street,  and  fur- 
ther on  the  Summer  Gardens,  proceed  by 
the  quays,  the  Hermitage,  and  Winter 
Palace,  and  along  the  Admiralty  Square 
to  the  point  at  which  he  set  out, 
namely,  the  English  Quay,  in  time  to 
join  the  promenaders  who  resort  there 
in  the  afternoon.  This  is  the  real 
promenade  of  those  who  lounge;  the 
purchases    have    been    made    in    the 


450 


EOUTE    93. — ST. 


Nevskoi,  the  parade  is  over,  the  mer- 
chants are  leaving  the  Exchange,  and 
as  the  quay  is  not  a  convenient  tho- 
roughfare, the  promenaders  are  seldom 
disturbed  by  the  presence  of  persons 
intent  on  business,  or  by  the  humble 
and  not  over  cleanly  mujik.  The  car- 
riages of  the  grandees  stop  at  the  New- 
Admiralty,  and  there  put  down  their 
noble  owners,  who  content  themselves 
with  walking  up  and  down  the  river 
side,  two  or  three  times,  laughing  and 
gossiping  in  loud  continental  tones. 
The  Emperor  and  the  Imperial  family 
are  frequently  on  this  walk,  and  form 
a  centre  to  the  groups  that  come  to 
salute  them  and  to  be  saluted  by  them. 
The  Emperor,  though  apparently  upon 
a  footing  of  equality  with  his  admiring 
subjects,  is  far  from  being  so  on  the 
score  of  height,  and  towers  above 
them  all.  But  of  all  the  tall  men 
that  wander  occasionally  up  and  down 
the  English  Quay  at  St.  Petersburgh, 
the  two  tallest  are  unquestionably  the 
Empress's  footmen,  who,  in  their  pur- 
ple uniforms,  attend  the  steps  of  their 
imperial  mistress.  These  men  are  quite 
giants,  such  as  are  seldom  seen  except 
in  a  booth  at  a  fair ;  should,  however, 
these  Patagonian  twins  be  absent  from 
the  capital,  the  stranger  will  see  very 
fair  representatives  of  them  in  the  per- 
sons of  several  splendid  drum-majors  of 
the  guards — quite  loves !  Thus  one  day 
will  be  well  disposed  of. 

The  next  drive  should  be  by  the 
Izak  Church  and  along  the  Moika 
Canal  into  the  Nevskoi,  in  which  the 
stranger  will  always  find  something 
novel  and  amusing  to  attract  his  atten- 
tion ;  here,  as  in  the  other  streets,  he 
will  not  fail  to  remark  the  Russian 
tradesman's  mode  of  advertising  his 
wares,  by  pictorial  illustrations  of  his 
craft  or  occupation;  for  the  reading 
public  is  somewhat  limited,  and  huge 
placards  and  colossal  letters,  though 
revolving  by  invisible  agency,  and  ex- 
citing attention,  would  here  aiford  little 
information  to  the  multitude.  "  The 
optician   announces   his   calling   by   a 


PETERSBmiGH. ,  ScCt.  V. 

profuse  display  of  spectacles  and  tele- 
scopes ;  the  butcher  suspends  in  front 
of  his  establishment  a  couple  of  painted 
oxen,  or,  perhaps,  a  portrait  of  himself 
in  the  act  of  presenting  a  ruddy  joint 
to  a  passing  dame.  These  signs,  that 
speak  the  only  mute  language  intelli- 
gible to  the  Russian  population,  relieve, 
in  some  measure,  the  monotony  of  the 
streets.  The  baker  is  sure  to  have  a 
board  over  his  door,  with  a  representa- 
tion of  every  species  of  roll  and  loaf 
offered  for  sale  in  his  shop;  the  tallow- 
chandler  is  equally  careful  to  suspend 
the  portraits  of  all  his  varieties  of  longs 
and  shorts  destined  to  light  mankind. 
The  musician,  pastry-cook,  in  short, 
every  handicraftsman  to  whom  the 
humbler  classes  are  likely  to  apply, 
adopt  the  same  plan,  and  from  the 
second  and  third  floors  huge  pictures 
may  sometimes  be  seen  suspended  with 
appalling  likenesses  of  fiddles,  flutes, 
tarts,  sugar-plums,  sausages,  smoked 
hams,  coats,  caps,  shoes,  stockings,  &c. 
For  a  barber  the  customary  symbol  is 
the  following  picture :  a  lady  sits 
fainting  in  a  chair ;  before  her  stands 
the  man  of  science  with  a  glittering 
lancet  in  his  hand,  and  from  her  snow- 
white  arm  a  purple  fountain  springs 
into  the  air  to  fall  afterwards  into  a 
basin  held  by  an  attendant  youth.  By 
the  side  of  the  lady  sits  a  phlegmatic 
philosopher  undergoing  the  operation 
of  shaving  without  manifesting  the 
slightest  sympathy  for  the  fair  sufferer. 
Around  the  whole  is  a  kind  of. ara- 
besque border,  composed  of  black 
leeches  and  instruments  for  drawing 
teeth.  This  picture  is  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  every  large  Russian  town ; 
but  the  most  characteristic  sign  of  all 
is  that  of  a  midwife — a  bed,  with  the 
curtains  closely  drawn,  announces  the 
invisible  presence  of  the  accouchee ; 
and  in  front  is  a  newly  arrived  stranger, 
just  fresh  from  the  gooseberry  bush,  on 
the  lap  of  the  accoucheuse,  undergoing, 
to  his  manifest  discomfiture,  the  inflic- 
tion of  his  first  toilet."  Most  of  these 
signs  are  tolerably  executed ;  the  Rus- 


Bussia. 


ROUTE    93.  —  ST.    PETERSBURGH. 


451 


sians  attach  great  importance  to  them, 
and  a  stranger  will  obtain  from  them 
some  knowledge  of  the  manners  of  the 
people.  On  reaching  the  Fontanka 
Canal  the  driver  must  turn  to  the  left ; 
for  along  the  east  end  of  it  and  the 
Litenaia  the  houses  of  the  most  fashion- 
able persons  are  to  be  seen.  Here  are 
the  palaces  of  the  Kotshubeys,  the  She- 
remetiefs,  who  are  the  largest  landhold- 
ers in  the  empire,  the  Bratniskis,  the  Na- 
rishkins,  the  Chancellors  of  the  Empire, 
the  ministers,  the  grandees,  and  the 
millionaires,  on  ground  where,  a  cen- 
tury ago,  nothing  met  the  eye  but  a 
few  huts  tenanted  by  Ingrian  fish- 
ermen ;  and  the  OrlofFs,  Dolgorukis, 
and  StrogonoflFs,  &c.,  have,  it  must  be 
owned,  displayed  taste  and  judgment 
in  their  choice  of  a  quarter  wherein  to 
erect  their  sumptuous  dwellings.  These 
palaces  are  not  crowded  and  stuck 
close  together,  with  railings  and  a  pit 
in  the  front  of  each,  down  which  the 
pot-boy  takes  the  beer,  and  the  milk- 
man his  sky-blue,  as  in  Belgravia,  but 
every  house  stands  detached  in  aristo- 
cratic exclusiveness,  v/ith  a  handsome 
space  for  carriages  to  draw  up  to  the 
door.  Passing  from  hence,  that  is,  the 
east  end  of  the  Fontanka  Canal,  the 
traveller  should  drive  through  the  Bol- 
shaia  Ssattovaia,  or  Great  Garden  Street, 
which,  leaving  the  Nevskoi,  runs  close 
by  one  side  of  the  Gostinnoi  Dvor. 
Beyond  this,  on  the  right,  is  the  Com- 
mercial Bank,  and  on  the  left,  the 
Apraxin  market-place ;  a  little  dis- 
tance from  whence,  and  still  in  the 
Ssattovaia,  is  the  Sennaia  Ploschad,  or 
hay -market,  which  may  be  considered 
as  the  great  locale  for  the  provisions 
sold  in  St.  Petersburgh.  At  right 
angles  with  this  is  the  Semenofskoi 
parade  ground  and  barracks,  from 
whence  the  stranger  should  return  to 
the  Fontanka,  and  so  home  either  by 
the  Church  of  St.  Nicholas  and  the 
Great  Theatre,  or  by  the  tallow  store- 
houses on  the  Neva,  and  the  New  Ad- 
miralty :  thus  the  west  of  the  city  will 
have  been  cursorily  surveyed.   A  short 


drive  across  the  Izakiefskoi  Bridge  will 
introduce  the  traveller  to  the  splendid 
quays  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Neva ; 
and  here,  turning  short  to  the  left,  is 
the  institution  of  the  Corps  of  Cadets, 
which  building  occupies  a  space  of 
ground  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  English 
mile  square;  near  this  is  the  Roman- 
zoff  Obelisk,  and  beyond  it  the  Aca- 
demy of  Arts  and  the  Second  Corps  of 
Cadets,  the  Finland  Barracks,  and  the 
Hotel  des  Mines.  Pursuing  the  quays, 
the  isvostchik  should  turn  in  at  the 
west  end  of  the  Bolshoi  Prospekt,  one 
of  the  most  peculiar  and  handsome 
streets  in  St.  Petersburgh.  It  is  very 
wide,  and  has  gardens  in  front  of  all 
the  houses  on  either  side.  The  houses, 
tenanted  mostly  by  German  professors, 
academicians,  and  merchants,  and  some 
Russians,  are  agreeably  hidden  behind 
the  trees  of  the  gardens.  In  the  centre 
runs  the  broad  road  for  carriages  and 
pedestrians.  A  footpath  through  the 
garden  leads  to  the  house  door,  but  the 
principal  entrance  is  in  the  court-yard, 
round  which  the  dwelling-house  is 
built,  and  at  every  second  garden  is  a 
drive  for  carriages  to  enter  the  said 
court-yard.  In  turning  from  the 
main  streets  into  one  of  these  court- 
yards the  stranger  might  fancy  himself 
entering  a  detached  farm-house,  or  a 
nobleman's  seat.  This  peculiar  and 
pretty  arrangement  is  owing  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  street  was  first 
laid  out  by  Peter  the  Great.  He  had 
made  broad  canals  on  each  side ;  but 
as  in  time  these  canals  were  found  incon- 
venient, they  were  filled  up,  and  gardens 
planted  in  their  stead.  At  the  eastern 
extremity  of  this  street  the  word  must  be 
JVajoravo  (to  the  right) ;  and,  repassing 
the  front  of  the  Corps  of  Cadets  and 
Academy  of  Sciences  to  the  Exchange, 
the  view  at  the  Strelka  point  is  one  of 
the  finest  that  can  be  enjoyed  from  any 
part  of  the  capital.  The  citadel,  with 
its  bastions  and  bristling  embrasures, 
and  the  church  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul,  with  its  golden  spire  of  faultless 
elegance  and  symmetry,  are  seen  on.  the 


452 


ROUTE    93. — THE   WINTER  PALACE. 


Sect.  V. 


left,  and  the  whole  extent  of  the  Neva 
from  east  to  west,  with  its  constant 
succession  of  gaily  painted  ferry  boats 
passing  from  bank  to  bank  ;  its  bridges 
and  their  passing  crowds  on  either 
hand ;  while  on  the  opposite  shore  are 
distinguished  in  the  far  distance,  to  the 
left,  the  glittering  domes  of  the  Smolnoi 
monastery,  and  nearer  again  the  iron 
railing  of  the  Summer  Gardens,  the 
wide  expanse  of  the  Champ  de  Mars, 
and  the  gilded  tower  of  the  Engineers 
beyond  it;  full  in  front  is  the  long 
continuous  line  of  palaces,  with  the 
Column  of  Alexander  towering  proudly 
above  them  all ;  the  Marble  Palace, 
the  Hermitage,  and  the  Winter  Palace  : 
— the  intervening  space  admits  a  view 
of  the  hotel  of  the  Etat  Major,  and  its 
triumphal  chariot ;  and  then  the  Boule- 
vard, whose  green  trees  inclose  the 
enormous  length  of  the  Admiralty, 
with  its  tapering  spire  and  crowded 
dock-yard.  Beyond  this  again  is  Peter 
upon  his  charger,  the  front  of  the  huge 
Senate  House,  and  the  English  Quay 
stretching  far  along  the  Neva. 

The  quay  on  this  side  of  the  river 
is,  if  anything,  more  mngnificent  than 
that  which  forms  the  boundary  to  the 
line  of  palaces  on  the  opposite  shore. 
There  the  dock-yard  of  the  Admiralty 
"breaks  the  continuity,  and  materially 
diminishes  the  effect ;  but  here  we  have 
one  uninterrupted  line  of  massive  gra- 
nite buttresses  forming  the  bank  of  the 
river  throughout  the  whole  length  of 
the  Vassili  Island,  terminating  in  front 
of  the  Exchange,  at  this  point,  in  a 
circular  landing-place  for  merchandise, 
and  ornamented  throughout  by  a  para- 
pet wall  composed  of  enormous  blocks 
of  red  granite. 

The  Custom  House  is  next  to  the 
Exchange,  and  passing  it  down  the 
quay  ta  the  bridge,  the  best  way  home 
will  be  over  the  little  Neva,  when  the 
right  should  be  kept  round  the  citadel, 
over  the  Troitskoi  Bridge.  In  this  way 
the  most  populous  and  best  portions  of 
the  capital  will  have  been  traversed, 
the  eye  has  become  somewhat  accus- 


tomed to  the  extensive  proportion  of 
its  streets  and  2>ioschads,  and  the  tra- 
veller will  have  attained  some  notion  of 
its  topographical  features.  In  doing 
this  he  will,  if  on  a  droshky,  have  been 
as  ''well  shaken"  as  the  old  woman's 
physic  "  before  it  was  taken."  But 
the  fatigue  which  must  necessarily  arise 
from  this  species  of  locomotion  will  be 
trifling  compared  with  that  of  lionizing 
the  sights  of  this  capital. 

THE   WINTER   PALACE. 

No  modern  city  can  boast  that  it  is 
so  entirely  composed  of  palaces  and 
colossal  public  edifices  as  St.  Peters- 
burgh  :  in  some  of  these  several  thou- 
sand persons  reside — six  thousand,  for 
instance,  are  said  to  inhabit  the  Winter 
Palace  during  the  Emperor's  residence 
in  the  capital ;  and  the  traveller,  when 
he  looks  on  this  gigantic  pile  of  build- 
ing, will  not  fail  to  remember  that  it 
once  fell  a  prey  to  the  ravages  of  fire, 
at  least  the  interior  of  it,  and  in  a  few 
hours  the  greedy  flames  destroyed  much 
of  those  treasures  and  works  of  art 
which  had,  with  extraordinary  zeal, 
been  collected  during  the  prosperous 
reigns  and  magnificent  courts  of  Eliza- 
beth and  Catherine,  and  the  less  gor- 
geous but  more  elegant  ones  of  Alex- 
ander and  Nicholas.  Kohl,  speaking 
of  the  immense  extent  of  this  Palace 
previous  to  its  destruction  on  the  29th 
of  December,  1837,  remarks,  "  that  the 
suites  of  apartments  were  perfect  laby- 
rinths, and  that  even  the  chief  of  the 
imperial  household,  who  had  filled  that 
post  for  twelve  years,  was  not  perfectly 
acquainted  with  all  the  nooks  and  cor- 
ners of  it.  As  in  the  forests  of  the 
great  landholders  many  colonies  are 
settled  of  which  the  owner  takes  no 
notice,  so  there  nestled  many  a  one  in 
this  palace  not  included  amongst  the 
regular  inhabitants.  For  example,  the 
watchmen  on  the  roof,  placed  there  for 
diff'erent  purposes,  among  others  to 
keep  the  water  in  the  tanks  from  freez- 
ing during  the  winter,  by  casting  in 
red-hot  balls,  built  themselves  huts  be- 


Russia. 


EOUTE    93. THE    WINTEK    PALACE. 


453 


tween  the  chimneys,  took  their  wives 
and    children   there,    and   even    kept 
poultry   and   goats,   who   fed    on   the 
grass  of  the  roof ;  it  is  said  that  at  last 
some  cows  were  introduced,  but  this 
abuse  had  been  corrected  before  the 
Palace  was  burnt."     The  conflagration 
of   the    Winter    Palace   originated   in 
some  defect  in  the  flues  by  which  it 
was   heated,   and   though   the    crown 
jewels  and  much  valuable  property  were 
saved  from  the  flames,  still  the  destruc- 
tion of  property  must  have  been   im- 
mense, spread,  as  it  was,  over  a  surface 
of  such  enormous  extent ;  the  principal 
rooms   alone,  nearly  one    hundred  in 
number,  occupied,  on  the  first  floor,  an 
area  of  four  hundred  thousand  square 
feet.       After  the  destruction    by  fire 
of  the    Winter  Palace,  it  is  said  the 
Count  Barincky  ofl'ered  the    Emperor 
1,000,000  of  rubles  towards  the  erec- 
tion of  the  new  edifice  ;  a  small  trades- 
man 1500  ;  and  two  days  subsequent 
to  the  calamity,  a  man  with  a  long 
beard,  and  dressed  in  the  caftan  of  a 
common  mujik,  met  the    Emperor  in 
his  droshky,  and  laid  at  his  feet  bank 
notes  to  the  value  ofe   25,000  rubles. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  the 
Emperor  did  not  accept  these  generous 
offers  of  assistance.  The  inundations  of 
the  Neva,  and  the  destruction  by  fire  of 
the  Winter  Palace,  are  two  prominent 
epochs  in  the  history  of  the  city  ;  and, 
as  on  every  great  emergency,  the  Em- 
peror, at  this  last  calamity,  failed  not 
to  show  qualities  which  have  made  him 
eminently  admired  and  respected  by 
his  subjects.     The  heroic  devotion  and 
disregard  of  danger  exhibited  by  the 
firemen  and  mujiks  are  spoken  of  in 
glowing  terms  by  those  who  witnessed 
the  devastation  of  that  fatal  night,  and 
it  was  with  very  great  difficulty  that 
many  of  them  could  be  prevented  from 
recklessly     endangering     their     lives. 
Some,  indeed,  were  lost ;  on  learning 
which,  the  Emperor  ordered  that  the 
people  should  be  prevented  from  enter- 
ing the  burning  pile ;    and  he  is  re- 
ported  to   have   said,    "  Let   it   burn 


away,  let  it  all  go,  but  let  not  a  life  be 
endangered  in  attempts  to   save  com- 
paratively worthless  property."    Many 
of  those   who    were   in   the   building 
would  not,  however,  leave ;  and,  as  a 
last  resource,  it  is  said  that  Nicholas 
ordered  some  officers  to  go  and  smash 
the    large   mirrors  with   hammers,   in 
order  to  prevent  the  soldiers  and  people 
from  making  any  further  attempts  to 
save    them.     Another    anecdote    was 
current  at  the  time,  that  his  Majesty, 
observing   the    danger   attending   the 
eflforts  of  one  party  who  were  endea- 
vouring to  save  one  of  these  mirrors, 
and  that  it  was  impossible  to  attract 
their  attention  in  the  confusion  which 
reigned,  threw  his  opera-glass   at   it, 
when  the  men  seeing  it  smashed,  but 
not  knowing  whence  the  blow  came, 
immediately  desisted,  and  were  thereby 
saved.     The  gilt  cross  on  the  cupola  of 
the  private  chapel  resisted  the  fury  of 
the   devouring  element,  and,  glowing 
with  increased  brilliancy  in  the  light 
of  the  furnace  around  it,  was  watched 
by  many  an  anxious  eye  in  the  crowd 
of  believers  beneath,  who  ascribed  its 
preservation  to  miraculous  intervention. 
This  idea  proved    a    powerful  engine 
in   the   hands   of  the   architect ;    for, 
under  the   conviction  that  a  blessing 
rested  on  the  Palace,  the  workmen  toiled 
with  double  assiduity  at  its  reconstruc- 
tion.    In  one  point  of  view  this  -de- 
structive fire  has  proved  an  advantage,  for 
the  custom  of  consigning  to   solitude 
those  suites  of  rooms  occupied  by  a 
deceased  sovereign,  had  here  closed  so 
many  of  the  finest  apartments,  that  in 
a   few  more  generations  the  reigning 
monarch  would  have  been  fairly  turned 
out  by  the  ghosts  of  his  predecessors. 
In  two  years  from  the  destruction  of 
this    Palace   it  rose    again  under  the 
skilful  hands  of  the  architect   Klein- 
michael,  and  the   united   industry  of 
several  thousand  workmen,  to  its  former 
magnificence,  and  is  now,  perhaps,  the 
most  splendid  and  largest  royal  edifice 
in  the  world.     This  imperial  residence 
is    indeed    commanding,    presenting, 

X  3 


464 


ROUTE  93. — THE  WINTER  PALACE. 


Sect.  V. 


as  it  does,  a  front  towards  the  Neva 
of     more    than    700    feet ;    it    also 
covers  a  very  large  space   of  ground, 
and  is  nearly  a  third  larger  than  the 
palace  of  the  Austrian  Emperor,  and 
almost  twice  as  large  as  that  of  Naples  ; 
its  form  is  nearly  a  complete  square, 
the  angles  of  which  answer  to  the  four 
cardinal  points  of  the  compass.       Its 
long  fa(5ades  are  highly  imposing,  and 
form  a  grand  continuation  to  those  of 
the  Admiralty  beyond  it.     In  visiting 
this  and  other  imperial  palaces,  it  will 
be  necessary  that  the  traveller  should  be 
arrayed,  not  in   purple  and  fine  linen, 
but   in   a   swallow-tailed   coat.      The 
ticket  of  admission  to  see  the  Winter 
Palace  may  be  obtained  from  the  Major 
of  the  gate  during  the  summer  months. 
The  entrance  for  civilians  is  by  a  small 
door  immediately  opposite  the  Column 
of  Alexander ;    and,    accompanied  by 
one  of  the  imperial  servants  in  a  hand- 
some  livery,   the    stranger  will  have 
the  opportunity  of  wandering  through 
suites  of  splendid  apartments,  galleries, 
and  halls,  filled  with  marbles,   mala- 
chites, precious  stones,  vases,  and  pic- 
tures ;  amongst  them  many  portraits  of 
the  great  generals  and  mighty  men  of 
Russia  and  other  countries.     Also  one 
of  Potemkin  ;  he  is  represented  as  of 
colossal  height  and  fine   countenance, 
and  as  remarkable  for  the  development 
of  limb  and  muscle,  as  well  as  for  the  soft 
expression  of  his  blue  eyes  ;  in  fact,  to 
judge  by  this  portrait,  one  would  say 
that  he  was  made  to  command  an  army 
of  Cossacks,  and   trouble  a   woman's 
heart.     Here  also  are  several  fine  Mu- 
rillos,  and  the  Adoration  of  the  Shep- 
herds by  Berghem,  one  of  the  finest 
works  of  that  master.     The  Empress's 
drawing-room  is    a  perfect    jewel    of 
taste,  and    the    chapel,    St.  George's 
Hall,    a  parallelogram    of    140    feet 
by  60,  and  numbers  of  gilded  cham- 
bers, one  more  gorgeous  than  another, 
form  an  almost  wearying  succession  of 
magnificence.     The  Hall  of  St.  George 
is  the  apartment  on  the  splendour  of 
Avhich  the  Russians  most  pride  them- 


selves. It  is  here  that  the  Emperor 
gives  audience  in  solemn  state  to  foreign 
ambassadors.  Near  it  is  the  gallery  of 
the  generals,  containing  portraits  by 
our  countryman,  Mr.  Dawe,  of  all  the 
distinguished  officers  who  served  under 
the  Russian  colours  during  the  war  of 
the  invasion  and  the  subsequent  hosti- 
lities, till  Napoleon's  final  overthrow  : 
some  of  the  faces  are  strikingly  hand- 
some, and  almost  all  have  a  degree  of 
character  about  them  which  is  surpris- 
ing, when  we  consider  that  they  were 
all  painted  in  rapid  succession  by  the 
same  artist.  There  is  hardly  one  that 
does  not  give  the  idea  of  being  a 
good  likeness  ;  and  certainly  we  never 
saw  so  large  an  assemblage  of  good- 
looking  men,  which,  considering  their 
exposure  to  the  perils  of  war,  and  in- 
clemency of  the  weather,  is  still  more 
singular;  the  most  striking  picture  is 
a  full-length  of  the  Emperor  Alexander 
on  horseback,  of  gigantic  dimensions, 
and  said  to  be  the  best  likeness  of  him 
now  in  existence.  At  the  entrance  to 
this  long  gallery  stand  two  sentinels  of 
the  Russian  guard,  still  and  motionless, 
looking  as  if  they,  also  were  creations  of 
art ;  and  at  each  end  are  suspended 
French  eagles,  the  names  of  the  princi- 
pal battles  that  occurred  in  the  war 
being  written  in  large  gold  characters 
on  the  walls.  Many  of  these  pictures 
must  be  copies,  as  the  soldiers  they 
represent  found  a  warrior's  death  on 
the  field  of  honour  long  before  this  col- 
lection was  begun. 

Beyond  this  gallery  is  the  field-mar- 
shals' saloon.  Here  the  portraits  do 
not  exceed  eight  or  ten  in  number,  for 
that  rank  is  as  rarely  bestowed  in 
Russia  as  in  England.  The  "  Duke  " 
is  amongst  the  distinguished  few  ;  and 
the  symbol  which  accompanies  the  full- 
length  portrait  of  the  hero  of  a  hundred 
fights  is  that  of  imperishable  strength, 
the  British  oak. 

Beyond  this  is  the  Salle  Blanche, 
the  most  magnificent  apartment  in  this 
most  magnificent  of  palaces,  and  so 
called  from  its  decorations  being  all  in 


Russia. 


BOUTE    93. — THE   WINTEB   PALACE. 


465 


pure  white,  relieved  only  with  gilding. 
The  dimensions  are  nearly  the  same  as 
those  of  the  Hall  of  the  Grenerals. 
Here  the  court  fetes  are  held,  and,  to 
judge  by  the  graphic  description  given 

by  Miss  R of  that  on  New  Year's 

day,  we  would  recommend  those  who 
may  have  the  power  to  attend  one ; 
they  must  form  the  most  brilliant  pa- 
geant of  in-door  palace  life  to  be  seen 
in  Christendom,  "  Ranged  along  the 
walls/'  says  this  lady,  "  stood  a  triple 
row  of  motionless  soldiery ;  on  one 
side,  in  graceful  contrast  with  their  stiff 
lines,  was  congregated  a  fair  bevy  of 
female  figures,  with  sweeping  trains 
and  gleaming  jewels ;  while  slim  figures 
of  court  chamberlains,  with  breast  and 
back  laden  with  the  richest  gold  em- 
broidery, with  white  pantaloons  and 
silk  stockings,  hurried  across  the  scene 
— or  stopped  to  pay  homage  to  the 
ladies — or  loitered  to  converse  with  the 
groops  of  officers  in  every  variety  of 
uniform,  with  stars,  orders,  and  cordons 
glittering  about  them,  who  sauntered 
in  the  centre.  Conspicuous  among 
these  latter  was  the  person  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Michael,  brother  to  the 
Emperor — a  magnificent  figure,  with 
immense  length  of  limb  and  a  peculiar 
curve  of  outline  which  renders  him  re- 
cognisable at  any  distance,  among  hun- 
dreds in  the  same  uniform,  and  who 
was  seen  pacing  slowly  backwards  and 
forwards  on  the  marble-like  parqtiet, 
bending  fierce  looks  on  the  sol- 
diery. 

"  Nor  was  the  scene  above  without  its 
attractions  and  peculiarities,  for  many 
distinguished-looking  individuals  were 
leaning  over  the  same  railings  with 
myself — among  them  an  Ingrelian 
princess,  a  middle-aged  woman  of  un- 
common beauty,  with  commanding  fea- 
tures and  long  languishing  eyes,  and  a 
peculiar  high  head-dress,  flowing  veil, 
and  a  profusion  of  jewels.  And  at  the 
upper  end,  apart  from  all,  sat  in  a  soli- 
tary chair  the  Grand  Duchess  Olga, 
second  daughter  of  the  Emperor,  a 
most  beautiful  girl  of  sixteen,  just  re- 


stored from  a  dangerous  fever,  the 
traces  of  which  were  visible  in  the 
exquisite  delicacy  of  her  complexion, 
and  in  the  light  girl-like  cap  worn  to 
hide  the  absence  of  those  tresses  which 
had  been  sacrificed  to  her  illness.  She 
was  attended  by  her  preceptress,  Ma- 
dame Baranoff. 

"  But  now  the  drums  beat,  the  trum- 
pets sounded,  and  every  eye  turned 
below.  A  cortege  was  seen  advancing 
through  the  open  entrance,  and  the 
Commandant  Sakachefsky,  rearing  his 
full  length  and  corpulent  person,  put 
himself  with  drawn  sword  at  their 
head.  A  line  of  military  passed,  then 
a  body  of  chamberlains, — when  the 
band  broke  into  the  soul- stirring  na- 
tional hymn  '  Boje  Zara  chrani ' — 
the  troops  presented  arms,  and  a  noble 
figure  was  seen  advancing. 

"This  was  the  Emperor — the  plainest 
dressed,  but  the  most  magnificent  figure 
present,  wanting  no  outward  token  to 
declare  the  majesty  of  his  presence. 
He  passed  slowly  on,  accommodating 
his  manly  movements  to  the  short,  feeble 
steps  of  the  Empress,  who,  arrayed  in 
a  blaze  of  jewels,  dragged  a  heavy 
train  of  orange-coloiired  velvet  after 
her,  and  seemed  hardly  able  to  support 
her  own  weight.  To  the  Imperial  pair 
succeeded  the  Naslednih,  or  Heritier, 
the  slender  prototype  of  his  father's 
grand  proportions,  with  the  Grand 
Duke  Michael,  and  the  youngest  son 
of  the  Imperial  house.  Portly  ladies 
and  gfaceful  maids  of  honour,  with 
grey-haired  generals,  were  seen  in 
glistening  train  behind.  But  the  eye 
followed  that  commanding  figure  and 
lofty  brow,  towering  above  every  other, 
till  it  vanished  beneath  the  portals 
leading  to  the  chapel.  And  now  en- 
sued all  the  disorderly  rear  of  a  pro- 
cession— tardy  maids  of  honour  and 
flirting  officers,  who  came  helter-skelter 
along,  talking  and  laughing  with  a  free- 
dom proportioned  to  their  distance  from 
the  Imperial  pair — till  the  doors  closed 
on  them  also,  and  the  immoveable  mi- 
litary were  left  to  thank  the  gods  that 


456 


EOUTE    93. THE    HERMITAGE. 


Sect.  V. 


the  Grand  Duke's  eyes  were  otherwise 
employed."  Yet,  although  a  strict 
disciplinarian,  his  invariable  kindness 
to  the  subordinate  officers,  and  non- 
commissioned officers,  and  the  army  in 
general,  merit  his  being  entitled  the  sol- 
dier's friend. 

The    diamond-room,   containing  the 
crowns  and  jewels  of  the  Imperial  fa- 
mily, is  also  well  worthy  of  being  seen. 
Diamonds,   rubies,   and    emeralds   are 
ranged  round  the  room  in  small  cases 
of  such  dazzling  beauty  that  it  is  almost 
bewildering   to   look    at   them.      The 
croAvn  of  the  Emperor  is  adorned  with 
a  chaplet  of  oak-leaves  made   of  dia- 
monds of  an  extraordinary  size,  and 
the  Imperial  sceptre  contains  one  sup- 
posed to  be  the  largest  in  the  world, 
being  the  celebrated  stone  purchased 
by  the   Empress  Catherine  II.  from  a 
Greek  slave,  for    450,000  rubles  and 
a  large  pension  for  life.     Briiloffs  pic- 
ture of  the  Kaising  of  the  Serpent  in 
the    Wilderness  is  to  be   seen   here. 
It  has  great  merit  and  some  few  defects  ; 
the  figures  are  for  the  most  part  por- 
traits of  Israelites    who    inhabit    the 
Ghetto  at  Rome,  and  the  result  there- 
fore is  really  a  Hebrew  crowd.   There 
is  also,   if  not  recently  removed,  the 
famous  Chinese  cabinet  of  Catherine, 
and  a    small    room   to    which    Peter 
the    Great   used  to   retire    from    the 
turmoil  of  affairs.    There  Avas,  in   the 
last  century,  a  palace  called  the  Sum- 
mer Palace  on  the  Fontanka,  but  this 
was  pulled  down  by  the  Emperor  Paul, 
the  name,  therefore,  is  now  without 
meaning,  for  the  castle  built  to  replace 
the    former    was    designated    as    the 
Michailof  Samok  or  Castle.     There  is 
a  telegraph  in  the  corner  of  the  Winter 
Palace,  close  to  the  Emperor's  private 
apartments,  by  means  of  Avhich  he  can 
transmit  his  own  orders  to  Cronstadt, 
Peterhoff,  &c.     This  machine  is  on  a 
different   principle    from    ours,   being 
merely  two  hands  on  a  white  dial,  like 
that  of    a   clock ;   it    works  at    night 
by  means  of  lamps  fastened  to  the  ex- 
tremities   of   the  hands.      This  plan 


seems  to  be  more  complete  than  that  of 
the  French  and  English  telegraphs. 

THE   HERMITAGE. 

It  is    a  well-known  fact  that   the 
great  Catherine  built  her  Hermitage  as 
Frederick    did    his    Sans-Souci,    and 
Numa  his  Grotto  of  Egeria.     But  the 
Hermitage  is  no  cloistered  solitude — no 
rocky  grotto  hidden  amid  the  waters 
of  the  Neva's  murmuring  sources — but 
a  magnificent  palace,   second  only  to 
that    we   have   just    described,    while 
within  it  is  loaded  with  precious  ob- 
jects of  art^and  vertu.     The  Empress 
built  this    temple   in   order  that   she 
might  retire  to  it  in  her  leisure  moments, 
there  to  enjoy  the  conversation  of  the 
French  philosophers  and  men  of  learn- 
ing ;  and  here,  after  the  duties  of  the  sove- 
reign had  been  transacted  in  the  Win- 
ter Palace,  she  was  wont  to  pass  the 
evening,  surrounded  by  all  that  could 
gratify  the   eye  or  the  senses;  musi- 
cians   displayed   their   talents,    artists 
their  works,  scientific  men  their  specu- 
lations, and  political  men  their  opinions ; 
for,  in  accordance  with  the  ukase  sus- 
pended in  all  the  apartments,  perfect 
freedom  and  equality  reigned  ;  and  the 
pictures  which  we  see  elsewhere  only 
as  allegorical  representations  of  art  and 
science-loving  princes,  were  here  every 
day  realized.     On  the  roof  was  a  gai"- 
den  Avith  flowers,  shrubs,   and  trees, 
heated    in    winter    by   subterraneous 
stoves,  and  illuminated  in  summer  by 
variegated  lamps,  under  the  prismatic 
colours  of  which  the  brilliant  assem- 
blage wandered. 

The  Hermitage  is  connected  with 
the  Winter  Palace  by  several  covered 
galleries,  and  forms  a  sort  of  continua- 
tion of  that  vast  building.  The  prin- 
cipal facade  faces  the  Neva.  It  has 
little  claim  to  architectural  beauty,  and 
may  be  divided  into  three  parts,  each 
of  which  was  the  work  of  a  different 
architect.  The  first  part,  which  is 
united  to  the  Winter  Palace,  and  some- 
what resembles  it  in  style,  was  built 
by   Lamotte,   in   1765.     The   second 


Hussi 


la. 


ROUTE    93. — THE    HEEMITAGE. 


457 


part,  which  extends  to  the  small  canal 
connecting  the  Moi'ka  with  the  Neva, 
was  the  work  of  the  architect  Velten, 
in  1775.  The  Theatre  forms  the  third 
part,  and  is  joined  to  the  rest  of  the 
building  by  a  bridge  and  covered  gal- 
lery. It  was  built  by  (juarenghi,  and 
is  perhaps  the  finest  part  of  the  Her- 
mitage. In  1804  the  Hermitage  was 
finally  completed.  Catlierine  not  only 
built,  or  rather  caused  to  be  built,  this 
luxurious  retreat,  but  furnished  those 
who  were  admitted  to  her  intimacy 
with  the  opportunity  of  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  those  admirable  master- 
pieces of  art  which  had  graced  the 
walls  of  many  of  the  royal  palaces  of 
Europe,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation 
of  that  gallery  of  paintings  which  is  now 
without  a  rival  in  Northern  Europe. 
Her  agents  were  sent  into  every  part 
of  Europe  to  collect  objects  of  worth 
and  variety.  The  celebrated  Grimm 
at  Paris,  and  Riefenstein  and  Mengs 
at  Rome,  received  the  orders  of  the 
Empress  to  spare  no  expense  in  col- 
lecting pictures  worthy  a  place  in 
the  gallery  of  their  Imperial  mistress. 
Many  of  these  are  renowned  all  over 
the  civilized  world,  and  will  enchant 
every  connoisseur,  particularly  those 
who  admire  the  Dutch  school  of  paint- 
ing. On  the  whole,  there  are  more 
cottages,  such  as  Ostade  painted,  than 
there  are  Venetian  palaces  or  Roman 
churches ;  more  Grerman  cattle  pastures 
than  southern  Alps ;  more  roasted  and 
un roasted  game  than  roasted  martyrs  ; 
more  hares  transfixed  by  the  spit  of 
the  cook  than  Sebastians  by  the  arrows 
of  the  heathen  ;  more  dogs,  horses,  and 
cows  than  priests,  prophets,  and  saintly 
visions.  The  first  collection  purchased 
by  Catherine's  agents  was  that  of 
Crozat  of  Paris,  and  numbered  four 
hundred  pictures.  Those  of  the  Count 
de  Brlihl,  of  Dresden,  which  consisted 
chiefly  of  specimens  of  the  Dutch  and 
Flemish  schools,  were  soon  afterwards 
added  to  those  of  Crozat,  Several  col- 
lections belonging  to  Tranchini  of 
Geneva,  the  Count  Baudouin  of  Paris, 


and  others,  were  next  purchased  ;  but 
it  was  not  until  the  justly  celebrated 
Houghton  gallery  was  added,  that  the 
Hermitage  boasted  some  of  the  finest 
pictures  in  Europe.  Catherine  gave 
35,000^.  for  this  precious  collection; 
and  we  must  regret  that  no  Englishman 
was  found  sufficiently  wealthy  and 
patriotic  to  prevent  its  removal  to  the 
banks  of  the  Neva.  Several  other  ad- 
ditions of  value  were  made  by  Cathe- 
rine. The  Emperor  Alexander,  in 
1807,  purchased  part  of  the  splendid 
gallery  of  the  Prince  Giustiniani,  and, 
in  1814,  that  of  Hope,  the  banker  of 
Amsterdam,  consisting  chiefly  of  pic- 
tures by  Spanish  masters — 8700^.  was 
paid  for  this  collection.  In  1815,  the 
purchase  of  the  Malmaison  Gallery  was 
added  to  the  already  splendid  collection 
of  the  Hermitage.  Since  that  period 
it  has  been  further  enriched  by  the 
choicest  morsels  from  the  late  Mr. 
Coesvelt's  gallery  in  Carlton  Terrace. 
It  is  interesting  thus  to  trace  the  forma- 
tion of  such  vast  and  splendid  reposito- 
ries of  taste;  but  we  must  unhappily 
refrain  from  instituting  any  comparison 
between  them  and  those  of  our  own 
country. 

M.  Labensky  is  the  Director  of 
the  gallery  of  the  Hennitage ;  and  the 
traveller  should  endeavour  to  procure 
his  permission  to  visit  some  rooms 
which  are  not  usually  shown  to  strangers. 
This  gentleman  has  caused  an  excel- 
lent catalogue  of  the  collection  to  be 
printed,  and  a  copy  is  to  be  found  in 
each  room*.  A  ticket  of  admission  will  be 
procured  by  the  valet-de-place,  and  the 
swallow-tailed  coat  cannot  be  dispensed 
with.  The  entrance  to  the  Palace  is 
by  a  small  door  on  the  quay,  near  the 
canal.  On  entering  the  antechamber 
three  doors  present  themselves  :  that 
facing  the  visitor  leads  into  the  long 
room,  which  is  built  on  the  bridge, 
connecting  the  second  and  third  divi- 
sions of  the  Hermitage,  and  leading  to 
the  Theatre;  that  to  the  right  opens 

*  Livret  de  la  Galerie  Imperials  de  I'Her- 
mitage.— Pratz.  1838. 


458 


EOUTE    93. THE    HERMITAGE. 


Sect.  V. 


into  the  Raphael  Gfallery,  whilst  that 
to  the  left  discloses  a  long  suite  of 
apartments  containing  the  finest  pic- 
tures in  the  collection.  The  room 
which  faces  the  entrance  contains  few 
pictures  worth  detaining  a  visitor  who 
has  so  much  to  see.  Turning  therefore 
to  the  left,  he  enters 

Room  2. — The  best  pictures  in 
this  room  are,  Paul  Potter,  landscape 
with  figures  and  cattle  ;  Rubens,  two 
landscapes ;  Ruysdael,  a  waterfall ;  a 
fine  picture;  Everdingen,  sea  view 
and  figures.  Europa, '  Giddo  ;  Death 
of  Martyrs,  Murillo. 

Room  3.  —  Susannah  and  the 
Elders,  Sebastian  del  Piomho ;  Singer 
with  Guitar,  Caravaggio ;  the  Death 
of  the  first  Inquisitor,  Murillo  ;  several 
pictures  by  Salvator  Rosa  ;  St.  Mark, 
Domenichino  ;  a  Holy  Family,  Schi- 
done;  a  very  fine  picture. 

Room  4.  —  Dead  Christ  with 
Angels,  A.  Carracci;  the  Prodigal 
Son,  Salvator  Rosa.  This  picture  is 
generally  esteemed  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  collection.  The  repentant  youth 
is  kneeling  amid  the  cattle,  his  hands 
clasped,  and  his  looks  directed  towards 
heaven  with  the  most  earnest  ex- 
pression of  sorrow.  The  colouring  is 
forcible,  and  true  to  nature.  The  figure 
is  as  large  as  life.  The  height  of  the 
picture  is  6  ft.  10  in.,  the  breadth, 
6  ft.  6  in. 

Room  5. — The  vases,  candelabras, 
and  other  ornaments  of  violet  jasper, 
which  fill  this  room,  are  of  exquisite 
beauty.  Fra  Bartolomeo,  the  Virgin, 
with  Angels  playing  on  instruments  of 
music.  Andrea  del  Sarto,  a  Holy 
Family.  Guido,  the  Consultation  of 
the  Fathers,  on  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception ;  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Jerome,  and 
four  other  sages  are  investigating  the 
great  mystery,  whilst  the  Virgin  and 
Angels,  surrounded  by  celestial  glory, 
appear  to  the  astonished  Saints.  This 
picture  has  been  engraved,  and  is 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  first  speci- 
mens of  this  master.  Guercino,  Moses 
receiving  the  Divine  Laws.     Salvator 


Rosa. — This  room  contains  several  fine 
pictures  by  this  master  ;  Soldiers 
Grambling ;  Democritus  and  Protagoras. 
Carlo  Maratti,  portrait  of  Pope 
Clement  IX. ;  a  remarkably  fine  speci- 
men of  this  master.  This  room  is  one 
of  the  largest  in  the  Hermitage,  and 
contains  numerous  pictures  of  the  Ita- 
lian school ;  the  lights,  however,  are 
bad — a  defect  which  many  of  the 
rooms  unfortunately  possess. 

Room  6. — Holy  Family ;  Rapliael. 
A  superb  picture,  lately  purchased  from 
Mr.  Cosway,  in  London,  for  6250^.  A 
Christ,  Leonardo  da  Vinci;  a  Sibyl, 
Domenichino.  These  pictures  have 
been  recently  added  to  the  col- 
lection. There  are  several  pictures  in 
this  room  marked  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
and  Raphael,  but  a  focility  in  bestow- 
ing names  is  as  apparent  here  as  in 
most  of  the  galleries  of  Europe. 

Room  7. — This  room  is  devoted  to 
the  works  of  Philip  and  Peter  Wouver- 
onans;  of  the  former  alone  there  are 
fifty-four  specimens;  among  which  are 
some  of  his  finest  pictures.  A  Hunting 
Party  with  Falcons,  a  Stag  Hunt,  Tra- 
vellers Resting,  and  the  Interior  of  a 
Stable  are  the  most  remarkable.  Se- 
veral rooms  here  branch  off  to  the  left, 
and  unite  with  one  already  passed 
through  ;  these  are  generally  visited  on 
returning.  Proceeding  in  a  line  with 
Room  6,  the  next  room  contains  a  large 
clock,  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  its 
mechanism ;  the  Emperor  purchased  it 
for  20,000  rubles  of  the  widow  of  a  poor 
clergyman,  to  whom  it  had  fallen  in  a 
lottery.  This  instrument  executes  over- 
tures with  the  effect  and  precision  of  a 
full  band,  and  is  certainly  a  most  per- 
fect piece  of  machinery ;  its  action  is 
unaccompanied  by  any  jarring,  wheez- 
ing, or  unpleasant  noise,  which  in  these 
complicated  instruments  is  generally 
the  case.  If  the  traveller  can  obtain  per- 
mission to  hear  it,  he  will  be  much  gra- 
tified. 

Roo7n  9. — This  room  is  filled  with 
pictures  of  Teniers,  the  father  and  son  ; 
Brauwer  and  Ostade.       Teniers  (the 


Russia. 


EOUTE    93. — THE    HEKMITAGE. 


459 


son)  has  been  well  termed  the  Proteus 
of  painters.  There  are  forty-four  by 
this  artist  in  this  room  alone ;  and 
they  are  distinguished  by  a  singular 
variety  of  subjects.  The  Interior  of  a 
Kitchen  and  a  Village  Feast  are  in  his 
best  manner. 

RoomlO. — Berghem,  the  Repose  in 
Egypt ;  a  very  fine  picture  of  the  Return 
of  the  Flock,  and  several  others ;  in 
all  eleven  "of  the  very  first  class." 

In  a  small  oval  room,  adjoining 
Room  10,  are  some  cabinets  containing 
a  most  interesting  collection  of  anti- 
quities from  Kertch,  a  town  in  the 
Crimea,  situated  on  the  strait  which 
joins  the  Black  Sea  with  that  of  Azoff, 
It  is  wonderful  that  such  costly  relics, 
for  most  of  them  are  of  gold,  should 
have  been  preserved  for  so  many  cen- 
turies. From  ancient  times  the  count- 
less graves  of  the  Greeks  of  Taurus  and 
the  Chersonesus  have  been  objects  of 
zealous  research ;  the  Huns,  the  Tar- 
tars, and  the  Cossacks  plundered  them 
in  turns,  and  melted  down  the  trea- 
sures found  therein ;  and  whatever  the 
watchfulness  of  the  government  could 
rescue  from  the  unhistorical  merchants 
and  robbers  has  been  deposited  in  the 
Hermitage.  The  greater  part  of  these 
rare  specimens  of  Gfreek  art  were  found 
in  some  of  the  various  tumuli  that 
cover  the  plain  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  ancient  Panticapseum,  and  a  few  came 
from  Olbia,  a  Greek  colony  planted  in 
the  Chersonesus  by  the  Athenians ;  the 
choicest  objects  are  the  laurel  wreaths, 
of  the  purest  gold,  which  adorned  the 
victor's  brow.  Many  of  these  are  quite 
perfect,  not  a  twig  or  leaf  being  de- 
ficient. A  gold  mask  and  shield  are 
also  very  curious ;  indeed  the  gold  orna- 
ments are  most  beautifully  executed, 
and  may  defy  the  Rundels  and  Bridges 
of  our  own  days.  Pictures  as  good  as 
those  in  the  Hermitage  are  to  be  seen 
in  several  capitals,  but  a  collection  of 
antiquities  similar  to  these  will  rarely, 
if  ever,  be  met  with  elsewhere ;  to  those 
acquainted  with  Greek  art  it  will  be 
deeply  interesting. 


Room  12. — This  large  room  is  filled 
with  Remhrandts,  and  forms  one  of  the 
most  valuable  parts  of  the  collection. 
It  contains  thirty-nine  productions  of 
that  master.  The  Return  of  the  Pro- 
digal Son  is  esteemed  one  of  the  finest. 
A  Monk  and  his  Pupil ;  the  Holy  Fa- 
mily in  Joseph's  Workshop ;  St.  Ann 
teaching  the  Virgin  to  read ;  the  por- 
trait of  John  Sobieski ;  Portrait  of  an 
Old  Woman  with  a  Book,  and  several 
other  portraits  are  in  his  best  manner. 

Room  13, — A  superb  malachite 
vase  occupies  the  centre  of  this  room. 
The  celebrated  portrait  of  the  Empress 
Catherine  II.,  by  Lavipi,  hangs  in 
this  apartment.  The  busts  of  several 
Russian  generals,  among  which  may  be 
remarked  that  of  Suwaroif,  are  placed 
here. 

Room  14. — A  small  room.  It  con- 
tains a  fine  picture  by  Rembrandt — 
Abraham  sacrificing  his  son  Isaac.  A 
second  door  leads  from  No.  13  to  six 
apartments,  which  are  not  shown  to 
visitors,  except  on  application  to  the 
Director,  M.  Labensky.  The  three  first 
of  this  suite  contain  the  collection  of 
engravings,  which  is  said  to  be  com- 
posed of  30,000  specimens.  There  are 
also  numerous  original  sketches  by  the 
great  masters ;  an  extensive  series  of 
portraits  of  the  princes  of  Russia,  and 
of  the  most  illustrious  men  of  Europe, 
costumes,  maps,  &c.,  &c.  A  fourth 
room  is  filled  with  cameos,  and  the  re- 
maining two  are  occupied  by  the  col- 
lection of  coins  and  medals.  In 
this  collection  is  a  perfect  series  of 
Russian  coins  from  the  earliest  date, 
but  it  is  in  other  respects  less  complete 
and  extensive  than  many  in  Europe. 

The  cameos  amount  to  the  number 
of  10,000,  and  include  specimens  of 
the  greatest  beauty  and  scarcity.  This 
collection  is  chiefly  scattered  through 
the  picture  gallery.  The  greater  part 
of  it  was  once  the  property  of  Egalite, 
Duke  of  Orleans. 

Room  16. — Here  commence  the  long 
galleries  which  surround  the  garden. 
This  room,  together  with  Rooms  17, 


460 


EOUTE    93. — THE    HERMITAGE. 


Sect.  V. 


18,  and  19,  are  chiefly  occupied  by  the 
works  of  the  French  school;  of  this 
part  of  the  collection  the  French 
writers  speak  with  much  enthusiasm, 
as  surpassing  any  other  department  of 
the  gallery.  Poussin's  landscapes  are 
fine  pictures.  The  Captive  Family  of 
Darius  before  Alexander,  Peter  Mig- 
nard.  We  are  informed  that  this  is 
"I'un  des  chef-d'oeuvres  de  I'Ecole  Fran- 
caise  ;"  and  that  the  martyrdom  of  St. 
Stephen  "  seul  meriterait  a  Le  Sueur 
le  sumom  du  Raphael  Francjais."  We 
may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  to  award 
more  moderate  praise.  In  Eoom  19 
are  several  fine  pictiires  of  Claude,  and 
about  twenty  by  Poussin;  numerous 
works  of  Le  Sueur,  Bourdon,  Joseph 
Vernet,  &c.,  &c. 

Room  20  is  devoted  to  the  Russian 
school. 

Room  21. — This  room  is  termed  the 
Snyders  Gallery,  and  contains  several 
pictures  by  that  master,  of  which,  per- 
haps, the  Bear  Hunt  is  the  most  remark- 
able. Vandyke,  a  large  and  fine  land- 
scape. Wouvermaiu,  a  large  landscape, 
concerning  which  we  have  the  following 
valuable  piece  of  information  from  a 
French  writer : — "  Attribue  par  I'eti- 
quette  a  Thomas  Jones,  mais  nous  ne 
connaissons  aucun  peintre  de  ce  nom, 
a.  moins  que  ce  ne  sois  Inigo,  ou 
Ignace  Jones,  peintre  Anglais  que 
Charles  I.  affectionnait  " ! !  Inigo  Jones 
certainly  painted  one  or  two  land- 
scapes in  his  early  youth,  one  of  which 
is  preserved,  incorrect  in  drawing, 
and  the  colouring  "  very  indifferent  ;" 
bat  that  he  was  the  favourite  painter 
of  Charles  I.  is  certainly  a  new  dis- 
cover}'. 

Rooms  22  and  23  contain  few  re- 
markable pictures. 

Room  24. — The  martyrdom  of  St. 
Peter,  Caravaggio — a  fine  picture;  two 
Saints,  Fra  Bartolomeo;  Hercules  strnn- 
gling  the  Serpents  dreadfully  faded. 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  Thisroom  contains 
numerous  works  of  the  Italian  masters. 

Room  25. 

Room  26. — A  Holy  Family,  marked 


Andrea  del  Sarto ;  a  Portrait,  Bor- 
done  —  a  very  fine  specimen  of  the 
master;  a  Portrait,  Salvator  Rosa; 
and  numerous  productions  of  the  Ita- 
lian school. 

Rooms  27  and  28  contain  several 
ivory  figures  carved  by  Peter  the  Grreat; 
one,  a  doll,  which  represents  that  mo- 
narch's hostess  at  Zaardam,  and  a  group 
of  Laplanders,  in  ivory,  worked  in  their 
country. 

Room  29.  —  Here  commences  the 
Dutch  school :  the  Alchymist,  Gerard 
Dow,  and  several  others  by  the  same 
master.  Two  small  cabinet  pictures, 
Mieris. 

Room  30  contains  several  pictures 
by  G.  Dow,  Van  Ostade,  Mieris, 
Vander  Neer,  Vander  Werff,  &c. 
The  visitor  must  now  retrace  his  steps 
to  the  room  occupied  by  the  pictures  of 
Wouvermans.  A  suite  of  rooms  to  the 
left  contains  the  continuation  of  the 
Dutch  and  the  Flemish  school. 

Room  34.  —  Pictures  by  Vander 
Werff,  Le  Due,  Steen,  Maas,  &c. 

Room  35  and  two  following  rooms 
contain  the  works  of  Ruhens  and  his 
illustrious  pupil  Vandyke,  in  which 
this  collection  is  particularly  rich.  Van- 
dyke, the  portraits  of  Charles  I.  and  his 
Queen,  and  the  Flight  into  Egypt,  in 
the  first  room.  In  the  second,  the 
Roman  Daughter,  Bacchus  and  Satyrs, 
the  River  Tigris,  Perseus  and  Andro- 
meda, may  be  classed  among  the  finest 
productions  of  Rubens.  The  MartjT- 
dom  of  St.  Sebastian.  Portrait  of  Wil- 
liam II.,  Prince  of  Orange,  and  several 
others.  In  the  same  room,  is  the  Astro- 
nomer, by  Bol. 

The  last  room  of  this  suite  con- 
tains pictures  by  Flemish  and  Dutch 
masters. 

In  the  wing  through  which  the 
visitor  Avill  now  pass  is  a  copy  of 
RafFaelle's  Loggie — executed  by  the 
best  Italian  masters,  and  this  part  of 
the  gallery  was  built  for  the  purpose 
of  receiving  them,  by  the  celebrated 
architect  Guarenghi.  These  magnificent 
pictures  are  placed  in  a  more  advan- 


Russia, 


ROUTE    93. THE    HERMITAGE. 


461 


tageous  light  than  in  Rome  itself,  and 
can  be  better  enjoyed  here  than 
there.  In  the  passages  of  the  Loggie 
are  displayed  some  beautiful  models  in 
wax  and  ivory,  partly  representations 
of  Russian  popular  life,  which  every  one 
interested  in  the  study  of  Russia  will 
contemplate  with  delight.  Among  other 
things  there  is  an  exquisitely  modelled 
settlement  of  Russian  peasants  in  wax  ; 
a  wooden  dwelling-house,  shaded  by 
birch  trees,  is  seen  on  the  borders  of  a 
brook;  a  fisherman  is  sitting  by  the 
brook ;  an  old  bearded  peasant  is  at 
work  in  the  yard;  his  daughter  is  going 
to  the  spring;  while  the  old  mother  be- 
fore the  door  is  feeding  the  poultry. 
In  the  Loggie  is  also  the  greater  part 
of  thegemsand cameos,  which  will,  to  the 
lover  of  art,  afford  amusement  and  in- 
struction for  several  days. 
.  Room  40  is  chiefly  occupied  by 
the  Malraaison  Collection,  and  contains 
pictures  of  the  Italian,  Dutch,  and 
Flemish  schools.  Andrea  del  Sarto, 
the  Visitation ;  and  the  same  sub- 
ject attributed  to  Raphael ;  Claude, 
Cattle,  Paul  Potter;  a  very  fine  pic- 
ture, well  known  by  a  somewhat  indeli- 
cate name.  A  collection  of  several 
spirited  sketches  in  one  frame,  by  the 
same  master.  The  Descent  from  the 
Cross,  Rubens.  The  same  subject, 
Remhrandt. 

Room  41  contains  the  works  of 
Spanish  masters.  Bias  del  Prado,  the 
Virgin  and  the  Saviour ;  two  fine  pic- 
tures. The  Mater  Dolorosa,  Morales 
el  Divino,  The  Death  of  St.  Joseph, 
Velasquez,  and  portrait  of  Innocent  X., 
Philip  IV.  of  Spain,  and  the  Duke 
D'Olivarez,  by  the  same  master.  Mu- 
rillo,  the  Repose  in  Egypt;  a  Mar- 
tyr.    Rihera,  St.  Jerome. 

Few  specimens  of  native  talent  have 
been  thought  worthy  of  a  place  in  this 
splendid  collection  ;  the  only  production 
of  a  Russian^artist  we  had  our  attention 
drawn  to  is  a  picture  of  Christ  appearing 
in  the  garden  to  Mary  Magdalene,  by 
an  artist  of  the  name  of  Brum.  In 
the  centre  room  of  the  first  long  suite 


of  apartments  facing  the  river,  is  a 
full-length  painting  of  Catherine  I., 
surrounded  by  the  marble  busts  of 
various  Russian  statesmen  :  this  is  con- 
sidered the  best  likeness  of  Catherine, 
and  certainly  the  most  flattering ; 
the  features  are  fine,  and  the  expres- 
sion of  the  countenance  is  mild  and 
pleasing.  In  another  portrait  of  the  Em- 
press in  the  long  corridor,  which  is  ex- 
pressly devoted  to  the  portraits  of  de- 
ceased members  of  the  Imperial  Family 
(and  to  views  of  prominent  streets  and 
buildings  in  the  city  as  they  appeared 
about  sixty  years  ago),  she  is  represented 
on  horseback  astride,  and  in  man's 
attire. 

There  are  some  few  pictures,  the 
subject  of  which  prevents  their  being 
publicly  exposed  to  view;  they  may 
be  seen  on  application  to  M.  Laben- 
sky. 

Three  or  four  days  at  least  should 
be  devoted  to  an  inspection  of  the  Her- 
mitage. Many  of  the  finest  pictures 
occur  in  the  last  rooms,  and  the  eye  is 
satiated  and  the  feet  weary  before  reach- 
ing them.  The  apartments  are  mostly 
decorated  with  costly  ornaments  in 
malachite,  marble,  or  jasper,  the  mate- 
rials of  which  have  been  found  and 
worked  in  Siberia. 

The  Hermitage  also  contains  the 
Russian  Library,  consisting  of  10,000 
volumes  in  the  Russian  language,  and 
founded  by  Catherine  II.  for  the  in- 
struction and  amusement  of  the  nu- 
merous attendants  who  were  attached 
to  her  luxurious  court,  and  whose  time 
would  have  hung  heavily  on  their  hands 
without  some  such  resource. 

In  the  Library  are  likewise  the  col- 
lections of  Diderot,  Voltaire,  the  Mar- 
quis de  Gralliani,  Nicolai  Zimmerman 
the  Philosopher,  Busching,  Tcherbatof, 
&c.  ;  in  all  120,000  volumes.  The 
donations  of  Voltaire  contain  numerous 
annotations  in  his  own  hand,  and  there 
are  several  unpublished  MSS.  of  the 
French  philosopher,  as  well  as  a  great 
number  of  his  thumb-stains  and  dogs* 
ears. 


462 


ROUTE    93. — THE    MARBLE    PALACE. 


Sect.  V. 


It  may  be  mentioned  that,  in  addition 
to  the  paintings,  drawings,  and  engrav- 
ings, there  are  two  rooms  filled  with 
a  most  extraordinary  collectionof  jewels, 
cameos,  intaglios,  medals,  snuff-boxes, 
etuis,  ivory  carvings,  and  articles  of 
every  kind  of  vertu;  jewels,  arms,  and 
ornaments  of  the  ancient  Tzars,  ormolu 
knick-knacks,  and  valuable  bizarreries 
of  all  sorts.  Most  of  the  snuff-boxes 
are  jewelled,  and  very  costly  :  one  pre- 
sented by  the  Turkish  Sultan  to  his 
'•'fond  ally,"  displays  a  miniature  of 
Mahmoud  in  his  European  costume, 
most  beautifully  painted  on  ivory.  The 
entire  surface  is  covered  with  large 
diamonds  of  the  best  water,  and  with- 
in the  outer  row  in  each  corner  is  a 
still  larger  brilliant,  dazzling  to  look 
upon.  In  one  room  is  a  superb  vase  of 
Siberian  jasper  of  a  lilac  colour,  5  feet 
in  height,  of  exquisite  form  and  polish  ; 
in  another  are  two  magnificent  cande- 
labra, said  to  be  valued  at  9000^. ;  two 
golden  tripods,  7  feet  high,  support- 
ing the  golden  salvers  on  which  salt  and 
bread  were  presented  to  the  Emperor 
Alexander  on  his  triumphal  return 
from  Paris,  as  emblems  of  Wisdom  and 
Plenty  ;  besides  these  tripods  there  are 
two  gold  salvers  presented  to  the  present 
Emperor  at  his  coronation  by  the  nobility 
and  merchants  of  St.  Petersburgh  ;  a 
large  musical  and  magical  secretary, 
which  opens  spontaneously  in  a  hundred 
directions  at  the  sound  of  music, 
purchased  by  the  late  Emperor  for  eight 
hundred  guineas ;  also  a  clock  called 
the  Horloge  du  Paon,  inclosed  in  a  glass 
case  10  feet  high  :  the  form  of  the 
clock  is  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  the  branches 
and  leaves  of  which  are  gold  ;  on  the 
top  sits  a  peacock,  and  when  the  chimes 
begin,  it  expands  its  brilliant  tail,  while 
an  owl  rolls  its  eyes  with  its  own  pecu- 
liar stare,  and  instead  of  a  bell  striking 
the  hour,  a  golden  cock  flaps  his  wings 
and  crows ;  this  clock  is  now  out  of  or- 
der, and  the  machinery  is  so  complicated 
that  no  artist  has  hitherto  been  able  to 
repair  it.  In  fact,  these  treasures  seem 
to  realize  in  all  its  truth  the  proverbial 


expression  of  "  I'embarras  de  richesses," 
and  the  eye,  wearied  and  satiated  with 
them,  reposes  with  no  small  satisfac- 
tion and  interest  on  the  simple  and  un- 
ostentatious dressing  case  of  the  Em- 
peror Alexander :  this  is  extremely 
compact  and  plain,  and,  judging  by  so 
trifling  a  circumstance,  marks  the  soldier 
and  the  sensible  man. 

We  have  but  touched  on  some  of  the 
treasures  of  this  Palace ;  but  enough  has 
been  said  to  show  that  a  hermit  might 
boldly  renounce  the  rest  of  the  world  if 
allowed  to  make  his  cell  here,  where 
half  nature  and  half  mankind  are  offered 
to  his  contemplation  on  canvas,  in 
colour,  in  marble,  glass  and  ivory, 
painted,  chiselled,  stamped,  woven,  and 
printed. 

The  collection  of  imperial  snuff-boxes 
and  articles  of  vertu,  as  well  as  the  li- 
braries, are  not  always  shown  to  stran- 
gers ;  but,  on  application  being  made  in 
person  to  the  Director,  permission  will 
readily  be  obtained.  The  picture  gal- 
leries of  the  Hermitage  are  on  the  first 
floor,  the  large  windows  of  which  com- 
mand a  beautiful  view  of  the  river.  In 
the  court  is  a  garden  raised  to  the  level 
of  these  rooms,  which,  with  its  flowering 
shrubs  and  evergreens,  has  a  curious 
effect;  for,  from  one  window  the  Neva 
is  seen  flowing  at  a  depth  of  about  30 
feet  below,  while  on  the  other  side 
flowers  are  blooming,  and  a  fountain 
playing,  on  a  level  with  the  spectator. 

The  Barracks  of  the  Preobrajensky 
Regiment  of  Guards  are  attached  to  the 
Hermitage;  this  regiment  is  always  on 
duty  at  the  Palace,  and  those  amongst 
the  officers  who  are  lovers  of  the  fine  arts 
must  feel  great  pleasure  in  being  able  so 
frequently  to  promenade  these  splendid 
rooms,  surrounded  by  some  of  the  best  pic- 
tures in  the  world.  Itis,  however,  stated 
that  the  gallery  at  the  Hermitage  is, 
marvellous  to  relate,  little  visited  by  the 
higher  classes  in  St.  Petersburgh. 

A  theatre  is  attached  to  this  Palace, 
but  not  of  very  large  dimensions.  Per- 
formances sometimes  take  place,  but 
there  can  be  but  little  room  for  show 


Bussia. 


ROUTE  93. THE  TAUEIDA  PALACE. 


463 


or  stage  effect.  The  Court  sit  on  chairs, 
in  the  pit,  as  there  are  no  boxes  or  di- 
visions. There  is  nothing  particularly 
striking  in  the  decorations. 

A  silver  ruble  is  a  sufficient  gratuity 
for  a  party  to  give  when  visiting  the 
Hennitage,  though  two  will  of  course 
be  better  appreciated,  and  perhaps  ex- 
pected. 

THE   MARBLE   PALACE. 

The  Hermitage  joins  the  Winter 
Palace  on  the  east ;  then  follows  the  Im- 
perial theatre,  some  other  palaces,  the 
propert}^  of  private  persons,  and,  last  of 
all,  the  Marble  Palace.  This  was  erected 
by  Catherine  as  a  residence  for  Prince 
Grregory  Orloff,  who  died  before  its  com- 
pletion ;  and  its  long  fagade,  stretching 
by  the  river  side,  denotes  that  it  must 
have  been  at  one  time  a  handsome  pile 
of  building.  Without  doubt  every  one 
on  hearing  this  name  will  picture  to 
himself  an  elegant,  white,  gay-looking 
palace,  shining  from  afar  like  a  temple 
of  Solomon,  on  the  banks  of  the  Neva,  and 
will  be  not  a  little  astonished  to  find  it 
a  dark  fortress-looking  building.  Such 
at  least  is  its  appearance  amongst  the 
cheerful  shining  palaces  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  though  it  might  not  be  so  striking 
in  gloomier  cities.  It  ought  more  pro- 
perly to  have  been  called  the  Granite 
Palace,  for  much  more  granite  and  iron 
have  been  employed  upon  it  than  mar- 
ble. The  extraordinary  massive  walls 
are  built  of  blocks  of  granite  ;  the  sup- 
ports of  the  roof  are  iron  beams;  the 
roof  itself  sheet  copper;  the  window 
frames  gilded  copper.  This  Palace  was 
last  inhabited  by  the  Grand  Duke  Con- 
stantine,  and  is  now  about  to  be  re- 
cleaned  within  and  without,  and  sump- 
tuously furnished  and  decorated  for  the 
residence  of  the  present  Grand  Duke  of 
the  same  name. 

THE   TAURIDA    PALACE. 

This  Palace,  a  long,  low  building,  with 
a  badly  paved  court  in  front  and  two 
projecting  wings,  is  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  Neva,  about  a  mile  to  the 


eastward  of  the  Marble  Palace.  It 
was  named  the  Taurida  in  compliment 
to  Potemkin,  the  conqueror  of  the  Khan 
of  the  Crimea,  and  presented  by  Ca- 
therine to  that  nobleman,  and,  oddly 
enough,  was  subsequently  purchased 
from  him.  In  the  favourite's  pride  of 
power,  and  when  his  inordinate  love 
of  show  and  ostentation  animated  and 
adorned  its  noble  apartments,  this  pa- 
lace may  have  realized  the  expecta- 
tions raised  by  its  name  ;  it  now  looks 
forlorn,  and  a  picture  of  deserted  magni- 
ficence. The  exterior,  however,  can  never 
have  been  beautiful,  and  the  interior  has 
been  robbed  of  the  best  part  of  its  con- 
tents to  assist  in  adorning  other  royal  re- 
sidences. On  entering  the  building  the 
stranger  will  find  himself  in  a  lofty  cir- 
cular hall  filled  with  statues,  many  of 
them  of  average  merit.  Beyond  is  a 
ball-room  of  extraordinary  dimensions, 
being  320  feet  long  by  70  feet  wide, 
which,  opening  on  one  side  to  the  en- 
trance-hall, and  on  the  other  to  an  ex- 
tensive conservatory,  from  which  it  is 
separated  only  by  a  row  of  lofty  marble 
columns,  runs  the  whole  length  of  the 
Palace.  The  cicerone  asserts  that  this 
room  is  "  half  a  verst "  in  circum- 
ference, and  to  the  eye  it  does  not  fall 
far  short  of  that  estimate.  The  co- 
lumns are  encircled  by  rows  of  lights 
coiling  round  them  like  serpents,  while 
three  enormous  chandeliers,  each  com- 
posed of  two  or  three  large  rings,  fitted 
with  lights  rising  one  above  the  other, 
are  suspended  from  the  ceiling.  The 
very  shrubs  and  pillars  in  the  conserva- 
tory are  transformed  in  like  manner, 
and  made  to  bear  their  share  in  the 
vast  illumination  ;  an  idea  of  its  im- 
mense proportions  may  be  formed  from 
the  fact  that  20,000  wax-lights  are 
necessary  to  light  it  up  completely,  and 
that  the  colossal  group  of  the  Laocoon, 
at  one  end,  can  be  plainly  seen  from 
the  other  only  by  means  of  a  telescope. 
A  profusion  of  statues,  many  of  them 
well  executed,  are  arranged  round  this 
vast  apartment,  and  a  copy  of  the 
Venus  de  Medici  and  an  Hermaphro- 


464 


ROUTE    93. THE    OLD    MICHAILOFF   PALACE.        Scct.  V. 


dite  are  worthy  of  observation.  In  the 
summer,  the  orange  trees,  of  which 
there  are  great  numbers,  are  removed 
from  the  conservatory  into  the  palace 
gardens.  Here  Potemkin  gave  mag- 
nificent fetes  to  his  imperial  mistress, 
and  all  that  was  bright,  beautiful,  and 
gay  thronged  the  mazy  walks  of  the 
orangery  in  the  long  winter  nights, 
turning  their  dulness  into  the  wild 
revelry  of  a  southern  carnival.  It 
must  have  been  like  magic  to  have 
passed  from  the  frozen  and  snow- 
covered  earth  without  to  this  magni- 
ficent ball-room,  illuminated  with  its 
thousands  of  lights,  and  perfumes  that 
carried  the  imagination  to  regions 
where  an  icicle  was  never  seen,  and 
the  northern  blast  never  felt;  at  these 
festivals  the  musicians  were  suspended 
in  the  chandeliers.  The  last  grand  festi- 
val given  in  this  palace  was  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  marriage  of  the  Grand  Duke 
Michael,  when  the  present  decorations 
were  made.  The  marble  is  all  false, 
the  silver  is  plated  copper,  many  of  the 
pillars  and  statues  are  of  brick  and 
plaster,  and  the  pictures  of  equivocal 
originality  ;  the  looking-glasses,  though 
10  feet  wide  and  lofty  in  proportion, 
are  so  badly  made  that  on  examination 
the  surface  is  found  to  be  all  in  waves 
and  full  of  bubbles,  and  it  is  evident 
they  belong  to  a  very  early  period  of 
the  St.  Petersburgh  manufactory.  The 
Taurida,  now  a  kind  of  Hampton  Court, 
and  inhabited  by  a  few  superannuated 
ladies  of  the  haut-ton,  is  sometimes 
used  as  a  place  of  reception  for  the 
Emperor's  guests;  here  once  resided 
Louisa,  the  beaiitiful  but  unfortunate 
Queen  of  Prussia ;  it  was  also  tenanted 
by  the  Persian  Prince  Chozro  Mirza, 
during  his  embassy,  when  he  came  to 
deprecate  the  wrath  of  the  mighty 
Tzar,  and  lastly,  in  1830,  by  Oscar, 
Crown  Prince  of  Sweden.  The  Em- 
peror Paul  turned  the  entire  Palace 
into  a  barrack  for  his  guards,  but  his 
son  and  successor  restored  it  to  its  ori- 
ginal purpose  of  a  royal  residence.  It 
is  still  thickly  garrisoned  with  impe- 


perial  footmen,  and  kept  in  pretty  good 
order;  but  it  nevertheless,  from  the  ab- 
sence of  furniture,  looks,  as  before  re- 
marked, deserted  and  melancholy.  The 
gardens  are  accessible  to  the  public; 
they  are  tastefully  laid  out,  and,  con- 
sidering their  vicinity  to  so  large  a 
city,  their  extent  is  immense.  A  table 
cover,  on  which  are  some  drops  of  wax 
which  fell  from  the  candles  of  Alex- 
ander, who  frequently  inhabited  some 
apartments  here,  and  some  crayon 
drawings  by  his  admirable  consort 
Elizabeth,  and  other  objects  of  the 
same  kind,  have  a  certain  degree  of 
interest. 

MICHAILOFF   PALACE. 

This  Palace,  or  rather  Castle,  staifds 
on  the  site  of  the  old  Summer  Palace  on 
the  Fontanka,  which  was  pulled  down 
by  the  Emperor  Paul,  who  built  this  of 
granite  in  its  stead,  and  fortified  it  as  a 
place  of  defence  ;  and  according  to  Rus- 
sian custom,  which  dedicates  to  pro- 
tecting saints  and  angels,  not  churches 
only,  but  fortresses,  castles,  and  other 
buildings,  it  was  dedicated  to  the  Arch- 
angel Michael.  The  castle  has  a  more 
gloom}'"  exterior  than  the  other  palaces 
of  St.  Petersburgh,  and  is  of  an  extraor- 
dinary style  of  architecture.  It  is  in  the 
form  of  a  square,  whose  four  facades  all 
differ  in  style  one  from  the  other ;  the 
ditches,  which  originally  surrounded  it, 
are  now  partly  filled  up  and  laid  out  in 
gardens,  but  the  principal  entrance  is 
still  over  some  drawbridges.  In  the 
square  before  the  chief  gate  stands  a 
monument,  insignificant  enough  as  a 
work  of  art,  which  Paul  erected  to 
Peter  the  Great,  with  the  inscription 
"  Prodadu  Pravnuk "  (the  Grandson 
to  the  Grandfather) ;  over  the  principal 
door,  which  is  overloaded  with  archi- 
tectural ornaments,  is  inscribed  in 
golden  letters  a  passage  from  the  Bible 
in  the  old  Slavonian  language  :  "  On 
thy  house  will  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord  rest  for  evermore," 

"  This  Palace  was  built  with  extraor- 
dinary rapidity,  5000  men  were  em- 


Russia.    KOUTE  93. — palace  of  the  geakd  duke  michael.    465 


ployed  on  it  daily  till  finished ;  and,  the 
more  quickly  to  dry  the  walls,  large  iron 
plateswere  madehotand  fastenedto  them 
for  a  time  ;  the  result  was  that  soon  after 
the  Emperor's  death  it  was  abandoned 
as  quite  uninhabitable  ;  the  cost  of  build- 
ing it  is  said  to  have  been  18,000,000 
rubles  ;  had  sufficent  time  been  taken, 
it  would  not  have  amounted  to  six. 
The  halls  and  apartments  of  the  castle 
are  large  and  numerous.  A  fine  marble 
staircase  leads  to  the  first  story,  and 
the  vestibules  and  corridors  are  paved 
with  beautiful  kinds  of  marble.  The 
floorines  of  the  saloons  were  taken  from 
the  Taurida  Palace,  because  the  new 
ones  were  not  ready.  They  have  since 
been  restored  to  their  old  places.  The 
room  in  which  the  Emperor  Paul  died 
is  sealed  and  walled  up.  The  Rus- 
sians generally  do  this  with  the  room 
in  which  their  parents  die.  They  have 
a  certain  dread  of  it,  and  never  enter 
it  willingly.  The  Emperor  Alexander 
never  entered  one  of  them.  The  pre- 
sent Emperor,  who  dreaded  neither  the 
cholera  in  Moscow,  nor  revolt  in  St. 
Petersburgh,nor  the  dagger  in  Warsaw, 
but  shows  a  bold  countenance  every- 
where, has  viewed  these  rooms  several 
times.  The  apartment  in  which  the 
Emperor  Paul  died  is  easily  recogni- 
zable from  without  by  the  darkened 
and  dusty  windows  on  the  second 
story.  The  apartments  of  the  beautiful 
Lapuchin  are  directly  under,  on  the 
first  floor.  They  are  now  inhabited  by 
the  keeper  of  the  castle.  The  stairs 
which  led  down  from  them  are  broken 
away.  During  the  reign  of  Alexander 
the  castle  fell  so  much  into  decay,  that 
when  the  present  Emperor  caused 
it  to  be  restored  it  is  said  to  have  cost 
60,000  rubles  merely  to  remove  the 
dirt  and  rubbish.  The  painted  ceilings 
have  considerable  interest.  In  one  is 
represented  the  revival  of  the  order  of 
Malta,  and  Ruthenia,  a  beautiful  virgin, 
with  the  features  of  Paul,  seated  on  a 
mountain.  Near  her,  the  mighty  eagle. 
Fame,  flying  from  the  south  in  terror, 
announces  the  injustice  done  her  in  the 


Mediterranean,  and  entreats  the  mighty 
eagle  to  shelter  her  under  his  wing. 
In  the  distance  is  seen  the  island 
threatened  by  the  waves  and  the 
hostile  fleets.  In  another  hall  all  the 
gods  of  Greece  are  assembled,  whose 
various  physiognomies  are  those  of 
persons  of  the  Court.  The  architect, 
whose  purse  profited  considerably  by 
the  building  of  the  castle,  appears 
among  them  as  a  flying  Mercury. 
When  Paul,  who  was  a  ready  punster, 
and  who  knew  very  well  that  all  the 
money  he  paid  was  not  changed  into 
stone  and  wood,  caused  the  difl'erent 
faces  to  be  pointed  out  to  him,  he  re- 
cognised the  face  of  the  Mercury 
directly,  and  said  laughing  to  his 
courtiers,  '  Ah  !  voila  I'architecte,  qui 
vole.'" 

The  old  Michailoff  Palace  is  now  the 
abode  of  the  school  of  engineers. 

THE   ANNITCHKOFF   PALACE. 

This  Palace,  which  stands  on  the 
Great  Prospekt,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Fontanka  canal,  and  closes  the 
brilliant  ranges  of  palaces  in  that  street, 
is  not  unfrequently  inhabited  by  the 
Emperor.  It  was  originally  built  by 
the  Empress  Elizabeth,  and  bestowed 
on  Count  Razumoffsky  ;  then  twice 
purchased  by  Catherine,  and  twice 
given  to  Prince  Potemkin.  This  is  on 
the  authority  of  Kohl.  Another  writer 
believes  this  palace  to  have  been  built  by 
a  merchant  of  the  name  it  bears,  and  sold 
by  him  to  one  of  the  Tzars.  It  is  now  the 
favourite  residence  of  the  Imperial 
family,and  handsomely  built,  but  has  no 
particular  historical  interest.  Here  also 
the  Emperor  Nicholas  holds  the  greater 
number  of  his  councils,  receives  ambas- 
sadors, &c.  Hence  the  cabinet  of  St. 
Petersburgh  may  be  called  the  cabinet 
of  Annitchkoff,  as  that  of  London  is 
called  the  cabinet  of  St.  James's,  &c. 

THE  PALACE  OF  THE  GRAND  DUKE 
MICHAEL. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  New 
Michailoff  Palace,  the  residence  of  the 


4()6 


EOUTE  93. — THE   IMPERIAL    LIBRAKY. 


Sect.  V. 


Emperor's  brother,  is  the  most  elegant 
building  in  St.  Petersburgh.  It  was 
built  in  1820,  by  an  Italian  archi- 
tect of  the  name  of  Rossi.  The  inte- 
rior is  also  decidedly  the  handsomest 
andmost  tasteful  in  decoration  and  fur- 
niture of  all  the  royal  residences ; 
its  position  too  is  highly  striking, 
quite  as  much  so  as  that  of  the 
Winter  Palace.  Open  on  all  sides,  it 
expands  its  wings  and  court-yards  in  a 
most  graceful  manner ;  not  a  tower, 
house,  or  any  other  building  being  near 
to  disturb  its  -outline.  Behind  the 
Palace  lies  the  Little  Summer  Gar- 
den, as  it  is  called,  whose  lofty 
trees  and  groups  of  foliage  form  a 
pleasing  contrast  with  its  elegant 
architectural  proportions.  Before  the 
chief  front  is  a  spacious  lawn,  scat- 
tered over  graceful  flowers,  and 
shrubs.  An  iron  Grille,  the  design 
of  which  is  a  model  of  good  taste,  di- 
vides the  inner  from  the  outer  court, 
and  the  outbuildings,  offices,  and  courts 
between  them  are  in  such  harmony 
with  each  other  and  the  main  buildings 
that  it  is  evident  the  whole  was  one 
design,  and  that  nothing  has  been  the 
result  of  after  thought.  All  the 
buildings  which  surround  this  Palace 
are  occupied  by  the  establishment  of 
the  Grand  Duke  ;  so  much  so  that  this 
quarter  of  the  city  might  almost  be 
called  his  kingdom.  Here  reside  his 
staff  and  the  officers  of  his  household  ; 
the  stables  and  riding  school  are  particu- 
larly worthy  of  attention,  and  the  latter 
is  deserving  of  especial  mention.  In 
this  school  50  young  men  are  in- 
structed in  riding  and  in  all  arts  that 
have  reference  to  the  manege;  for  this 
object,  and  for  the  fetes  in  the  riding- 
house,  at  which  the  Court  is  often  pre- 
sent, a  number  of  the  finest  horses  are 
kept,  and  both  men  and  horses  are  so 
well  cared  for,  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to 
walk  through  the  range  of  elegant  dor- 
mitories, sitting,  school,  and  saddle 
rooms.  All  these  apartments  have 
double  folding  doors  in  the  centre, 
which  stand  open  the  whole  day.     A 


long  carpet  is  laid  along  all  the  floors 
down  to  the  stable,  and  the  inspector 
can  overlook  everything  at  a  glance, 
and  see  what  the  young  cadets  are 
doing  in  their  apartments.  Kohl  al- 
ludes particularly  to  the  ventilation, 
and  remarks  that  "  it  is  wonderful  how 
pure  the  air  is  kept,  it  is  as  if  the  stud 
were  perfumed  with  Eau  de  Co- 
logne as  well  as  the  cadets."  Their 
course  of  preparation  extends  over  six 
years,  and  ten  take  their  leave  every 
year  and  join  the  army  as  riding 
masters.  Quadrilles  and  tournaments 
are  sometimes  performed  by  these 
3'ouths  and  their  horses  in  the  presence 
of  the  Court;  these  jousts  sometimes 
take  place  in  the  evening,  Avhen  the 
riding-school  is  splendidly  illuminated 
and  decorated  for  the  occasion  ;  among 
other  wonders  exhibited  at  these  fetes 
are  six  looking  glasses,  so  large  that  in 
them  the  cavaliers  can  see  themselves 
from  head  to  foot. 

Permission  may  be  obtained  to  view 
this  palace  of  the  Grand  Duke  Michael 
from  the  Castalantchih  during  the 
summer  months. 

THE    IMPERIAL   LIBRARY, 

One  of  the  most  extensive  in  Europe, 
is  near  the  Kazan  Church,  and  occupies  a 
large  building,  which,  with  the  Annitch-^ 
koff  Palace,  the  Alexander  Theatre, 
and  that  part  of  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt 
facing  it,  forms  one  of  the  finest  squares 
in  St.  Petersburgh.  This  library  is  open 
daily  for  reading,  and  on  every  Tuesday 
for  public  inspection.  Itcontains400,000 
volumes,  and  about  15,000  MSS.,  viz., 
7200  Latin,  2200  French,  1954 
Sclavonic— 1250  Polish,  1868  Ger- 
man. The  greater  part  of  this  valuable 
collection  formed  a  portion  of  the  spoils 
of  Poland.  The  Count  Stanislas  Za- 
luski,  bishop  of  Cracow,  founded  a 
splendid  library,  which  was  further 
increased  by  his  descendants,  and  An- 
drew Zaluski,  bishop  of  Kief,  be- 
queathed it  to  his  country.  In  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  it 
was  transferred  to  Warsaw,  and  is  said 


Russia . 


EOUTE    93. — THE   IMPEETAL   LIBRARY. 


467 


then  to  have  contained  300,000  vo- 
lumes. When  Suwaroff  conquered 
Poland,  Catherine  II.  directed  the 
library  to  be  transferred  to  St.  Peters- 
burgh.  It  was  further  increased,  in 
1833,  by  that  of  the  Prince  Czarto- 
risky,  taken  in  the  Polish  campaign, 
and  by  a  further  importation  from 
Poland  of  150,000  volumes.  The  va- 
luable books  and  MSS.  of  Peter  Dom- 
browski,  purchased  during  the  early 
troubles  of  the  French  revolution,  were 
afterwards  added  to  this  vast  collection. 
The  MSS.  chiefly  relate  to  the  history 
of  France,  and  form  an  invaluable 
series.  They  consist  of  letters  from 
various  kings  of  France  and  their  am- 
bassadors at  foreign  courts,  reports, 
secret  state  documents,  and  correspond- 
ence of  European  sovereigns.  These  in- 
teresting papers  were  dragged  from  the 
archives  of  Paris  by  an  infuriated  popu- 
lace, and  sold  to  the  first  bidder.  Dom- 
browski  purchased  them  ;  and  thus  some 
of  the  most  valuable  of  the  state  papers  of 
France  adorn  the  library  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh.  A  volume  of  MSS.  letters  from 
English  sovereigns  is  exceedingly  inter- 
esting. The  library  and  MSS.  of  Count 
Schutelen  have  lately  been  added  ;  and 
the  num erous  acquisitions  of  M S S .  during 
the  wars  with  Turkey,  Circassia,  and 
Persia,  have  contributed  to  form  one  of 
the  finest  collections  in  the  world. 
The  printed  volumes  are  catalogued  in 
MS.,  according  to  language,  names  of 
authors,  and  matter ;  and  there  is  now 
a  catalogue  of  the  MSS.  A  list  of  the 
most  curious  may  be  useful : — The 
Ostromir  MS.,  the  oldest  extant  Rus- 
sian manuscript,  was  written  for  a 
private  person  residing  at  Ostromir, 
and  is  in  the  Slavonian  character, 
which  bears  much  resemblance  to  the 
Greek.  It  contains  the  Evangelista- 
rium,  or  Evangelists,  as  read  in  the 
Gfreek  church,  and  bears  the  date  of 
1056,  about  fifty  years  after  Chris- 
tianity was  introduced  into  Russia. 
A  Codex,  containing  the  four  evange- 
lists, on  purple  vellum  and  in  letters  of 
gold.     M.  Edouard  de  Muralt,  minis- 


ter of  the  Reformed  church,  and  the 
learned  editor  of  an  edition  of  Minu- 
tius  Felix,  has  published  an  account  of 
this  MS.,  with  a  facsimile  of  the  cha- 
racter. It  was  taken  by  the  Russian 
troops  under  Field-marshal  Count  Paske- 
witch,  during  the  Russian  war  in  Asia 
Minor,  a.d.  1829.  For  some  centuries 
it  had  remained  in  the  convent  of  St. 
John,  near  the  village  of  Jumisch 
Khan,  and  was  supposed  to  be  the 
work  of  the  Empress  Theodora.  Several 
characteristic  marks  denote  it  to  be  of 
the  ninth  or  tenth  century ;  and,  if  it 
be  really  from  the  pen  of  so  illustrious 
a  personage,  we  may  conclude  that  it 
was  written  by  the  Empress  Theodora, 
wife  of  the  Emperor  Theophilus,  who 
lived  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury. The  characters  are  clear  and 
accurately  formed ;  nor  are  the  con- 
tractions numerous.  The  marginal 
notes  are  in  letters  of  silver.  Age  has 
altered  the  colour  of  the  parchment, 
which  is  now  almost  black ;  the  gold 
still  retains  much  of  its  original  bright- 
ness. The  MS.  is  interesting  in  many 
respects  to  the  theologian.  There  is  too 
the  Codex  San  Germanensis,  formerly 
appertaining  to  the  celebrated  convent  of 
St.  Germains.  It  contains  the  epistles  of 
St.  Paul,  and  has  been  referred  to  the 
seventh  century.  Several  Latin  MSS. 
of  the  fifth  century,  among  which  may 
be  mentioned  the  six  books  De  Civitate 
Dei ;  one  of  the  most  ancient  MSS.  of 
the  works  of  St.  Gregory,  copied  by 
Paul  of  Aquileia;  in  the  same  volume 
is  a  letter  of  Paul  the  Deacon,  the  histo- 
rian of  the  Lombards,  to  Adalhard, 
abbot  of  Corbie.  The  works  of  Isidore 
of  Seville,  seventh  century,  Historia 
Ecclesiastica  tripartita  et  Collecta  in 
unum  ex  Socrate,  Sozomeno,  et  Theo- 
dorito,  in  Latinum,  translata  a  Cassio- 
doro,  Senatore  et  Epiphanio.  In  the 
first  page  we  read,  '  Hie  codex  hero  in- 
sula scriptus  fuit  jubente  sancto  patre 
Adalhardo  dum  exularit  ibi.'  Adal- 
hard was  abbot  of  Corbie  in  774. 
CoUectiones  Cassiani,  from  the  Abbey 
of  Corbie  of  the  seventh  century.     The 


468 


ROUTE    93. — THE    IMrERIAL   LIBRARY. 


Sect.  V. 


works  of  St.  Ambrose,  of  the  eighth 
century  ;  of  Menaeus  Felix  Capella,  of 
Cicero,  of  Columella,  of  the  ninth 
century ;  several  religious  compositions, 
and  MSS.  of  various  portions  of  the 
Scriptures,  brought  from  a  convent  on 
Mount  Athos,  chiefly  of  the  ninth 
century ;  and  numerous  richly  illumi- 
nated MSS.  from  Byzantium,  adorned 
with  miniatures.  The  history  of  Eu- 
tropius,  which  M.  de  Muralt  believes 
as  ancient  as  the  end  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, and  consequently  one  of  the 
oldest  extant  of  the  works  of  that 
author.  Among  the  works  of  the  early 
French  writers  may  be  mentioned, 
'  Les  Amours  de  Rene,  Roy  de  Naples 
et  de  Sicile,  et  de  Jeanne,  Ville  de 
Gruy,  Comte  de  Laual,  qu'il  epousa  en 
seconde  noces,'  rich  in  designs,  which, 
though  extravagant  enough,  still  retain 
much  brightness  of  colour.  The  book 
concludes  with  the  following  lines,  be- 
neath the  arms  of  Anjou,  Naples,  and 
Laual. 

Icy  sont  les  artnes  dessoubs  ceste  couronne 
Du  Bergier  dessudit  et  de  la  Bergeronne. 

It  is  said  to  be  an  autograph  work  of 
Rene  ;  but  this  may  be  doubted.  The 
'  Roman  de  Troye,'  from  the  library  of 
Charles  V.,  very  rich  in  miniatures 
and  arabesques.  Breviare  d' Amour; 
Jeu  d' Amour,  very  curious  ;  Roman  de 
la  Rose ;  and  the  works  of  Guillaume 
de  Guilleville ;  a  Seneca  and  Cicero, 
with  exquisite  miniatures,  by  John  of 
Bruges ;  the  Works  of  St.  Jerome, 
splendidly  illuminated;  the  Missal  of 
Louisa  of  Savoy,  adorned  with  twenty- 
four  miniatures,  said  to  have  been  exe- 
cuted under  the  direction  of  Leonardo 
da  Vinci.  Among  French  historical 
works  in  MS.  may  be  mentioned, 
Histoire  de  Grodefroy  de  Bouillon,  of 
the  thirteenth  century ;  '  De  Origine  et 
Gestis  Francorum,'  of  the  eleventh 
century ;  Les  Livres  Historiaux,  of  the 
fourteenth  century ;  Les  Chroniques  de 
Jehan  de  Courcy,  2  vols,  in  folio ;  the 
original  MS.  of  the  History  of  France 
of  Du  Tillet,  dedicated  to  Charles  IX., 


and  adorned  with  miniatures  of  the  kings 
of  France,  «&c.  "  There  is  also  a  missal 
here  of  great  interest  to  the  English- 
man as  it  formerly  belonged  to  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots :  it  is  quite  perfect, 
except  that  in  the  illuminations,  with 
which  it  is  abundantly  ornamented, 
there  have  once  been  numerous  coats 
of  arms,  every  one  of  which,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  book  to  the  end,  has 
been  carefully  erased  and  the  shield 
left  vacant.  It  is  difficult  to  guess 
with  what  object  this  has  been  done, 
as  no  other  mutilation  is  apparent. 
The  chief  interest  of  this  missal  lies  in 
numerous  scraps  of  the  queen's  hand- 
writing which  are  to  be  found  in  it, 
breathing,  in  general,  of  her  unhappy 
fortunes ;  though,  it  must  be  owned, 
much  cannot  be  said  in  favour  of  her 
poetry,  the  exact  meaning  of  which  is 
not  always  very  clear.  Near  the  be- 
ginning is  written  across  the  bottom  of 
the  two  pages,  '*  Ce  livi-e  est  a  moi." 
Marie  Reyne,  1553 — the  last  figure 
is  very  indistinct. 

In  another  page  are  written  the  fol- 
lowing lines  in  the  queen's  hand : — 

Un  cceur  que  I'Dutrage  martire 
Par  un  mepris  ou  d'un  r^fus 

A  le  pouvoir  de  faire  dire, 
Je  ne  suis  pas  ce  que  ce  fus. 

Marie. 

In  another  place,  in  the  same  writing, 
are  these  verses  : — 

Qui  iamais  davantage  eust  contraire  le  sort 

Si  la  vie  m'est  moins  utile  que  la  mort, 
Et  plutost  que  chager,  de  mes  maus  I'adven- 
ture, 
Chacun  change  pour  moi  d'humeur  et  de 
nature. 

Marie  R. 

Below  these  lines  the  queen  has 
scrawled  a  memorandum — "  escrire  au 
Secretare  pour  Douglas." 

In  a  collection  of  original  letters, 
is  one  from  Mary  to  the  King  of 
France,  written  during  her  imprison- 
ment, in  which,  addressing  the  king 
as  Monsieur  Mon  Frere,  and  sign- 
ing herself  votre  bonne  sceur  Marie, 
she  speaks  of  Douglas,  recommending 


Russia. 


EOUTE    93. KAZAN    CATHEDRAL. 


469 


him  to  the  future  favour  of  his  most 
Christian  Majesty,  whom  she  at  the 
same  time  thanks  for  his  attention  to 
her  former  request  in  behalf  of  the 
same  person.  In  another  letter  from 
Fotheringay  Castle,  the  unhappy  queen 
expresses  her  too  well-grounded  fear  of 
never  being  released  from  prison.  This 
collection  includes  autographs  of  Henry 
VII.,  HenryVIII.,  Elizabeth,  James  I., 
Charles  I.,  and  his  Queen  Henrietta, 
with  those  of  many  distinguished  per- 
sons. Among  others,  Robert  Devereux, 
Earl  of  Essex,  in  whose  hand  are  two 
or  three  letters  to  the  King  of  France, 
expressing  the  deepest  gratitude  and 
devotion  to  his  most  Christian  Majesty, 
and  entreating  for  a  continuance  of  his 
favour.  "  I  am  afraid,"  remarks  Mr. 
Venables,  "  that  Queen  Elizabeth 
would  not  have  been  altogether  pleased 
with  the  tone  of  these  epistles.  Among 
the  most  interesting  letters  is  a  long 
one  dated  at  St.  Germains,  from  Hen- 
rietta, Queen  of  Charles  I.,  to  the 
Sieur  Grrignon,  begging  him,  if  possi- 
ble, to  procure  from  the  S])calcers  of  the 
two  Houses  and<he  General  a  pass  for 
herself  and  her  attendants  to  enable 
her  to  visit  her  husband  in  England, 
and  to  remain  with  him  as  long  as  can 
be  permitted.  The  queen  expresses 
her  fears  that  this  pass  will  be  refused, 
but  she  reminds  the  Sieur  Grignon  how 
much  she  has  the  object  at  heart,  and 
assures  him  of  her  eternal  gratitude  if 
he  succeeds.  She  then  offers  to  make 
out  for  the  inspection  of  the  Speakers 
and  the  General  a  list  of  the  attend- 
ants whom  she  proposes  to  bring 
with  her,  in  order  that  the  name  of 
any  person  to  whom  they  object  msij 
be  omitted  in  the  pass.  Amongst 
the  letters  of  French  monarchs  are 
those  of  Louis  XI.,  Charles  VIII., 
Anne  of  Bretagne,  Louis  XII., 
Francis  I.,  Henry  IV.,  and  Louis 
XIV.  A  writing  exercise  of  the  latter 
prince  consists  of  this  liberal  maxim 
— "  Les  rois  font  ce  qu'ils  veulent 
il  faut  leur  obeir."  It  is  repeated 
six  times,  and,  as  history  has  proved. 


with  considerable  effect.  The  catalogue 
of  M.  Adelung  contains  an  account  of 
the  vast  historical  riches  Avhich,  pur- 
chased in  France  at  an  insignificant 
price,  are  now  deposited  in  this  Librarj'. 

The  collection  of  Oriental  MSS.  is 
most  extensive.  Several  extracts  from 
the  Koran,  in  the  Cufic  character,  are 
said  to  have  belonged  to  Fatiraa,  the 
favourite  daughter  of  Mahomet.  Two 
presses  in  the  Manuscript  Room  are 
filled  with  the  spoils  of  the  last  war 
with  Persia,  and  a  collection  of  MSS., 
of  extraordinary  beauty,  presented  to 
the  present  Emperor  by  the  Shah  of 
Persia  in  1829,  is  also  to  be  seen. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate 
even  the  most  remarkable  objects  of 
this  vast  collection  of  works  from  every 
nation  of  Asia.  The  traveller  will  find 
occupation  for  days  if  he  be  inclined  to 
inspect  with  any  degree  of  minuteness 
these  literary  treasures.  Mons.  Mural, 
the  keeper  of  the  MSS.,  is  almost  al- 
ways at  his  post,  both  ready  and  will- 
ing to  show  them  to  the  visitor;  or, 
in  his  place,  Mons.  Gottwald,  the  orien- 
talist, who  has  apartments  adjoining 
the  Library,  and  speaks  English. 

The  printed  volumes  are  arranged 
against  the  walls  of  the  apartment,  and 
on  double  shelves,  which  stand  at 
some  distance  on  either  side. 

THE   KAZAN   CATHEDRAL. 

St.  Petersburgh,  like  Berlin,  is  a 
creation  of  modern  daj^s,  and  in  opposi- 
tion to  Moscow,  as  Berlin  to  Vienna, 
has  neither  so  many  nor  such  remark- 
able churches  as  the  old  capital,  though 
^some  are  built  in  a  pleasing  style  of 
architecture.  The  modern  Russian 
church  is  a  mixture  of  the  Grecian, 
Byzantine,  and  Tartar;  the  Byzantine, 
which  was  brought  from  Constantinople 
with  Christianity,  being  the  most  pro- 
minent. As  this  cathedral  will  pro- 
bably be  the  first  church  the  traveller 
will  visit,  it  may  be  useful  to  describe 
here  the  external  features  of  a  Russian 
place  of  worship.     In  the  first  place. 


470 


ROUTE    93. KAZAN    CATHEDRAL. 


Sect.  V. 


the  plan  of  the  building  is  a  Greek 
cross, with  four  equal  arms;  in  the  midst, 
a  large  dome  painted  green  or  blue ;  at 
the  four  ends,  four  narrow-pointed  cu- 
polas, their  summits  surmounted  by  four 
crosses ;  in  front,  a  grand  entrance 
adorned  with  many  columns,  and  three 
side  entrances  without  columns.  The 
difference  between  the  Greek  and  Latin 
cross  with  aisles  is  evident.  8uch  is 
the  exterior  form  of  the  greater  portion 
of  Eussian  churches,  including  the 
thirty  of  St.  Petersburgh,  about  one- 
tenth  of  the  number  dispersed  through 
Moscow  the  Holy.  The  interiors  of 
those  in  the  new  capital  are  lighter, 
brighter,  and  more  simple ;  in  the  old, 
darker,  more  overloaded  with  orna- 
ment, more  varied  in  colour,  and  gro- 
tesque. 

The  Metropolitan  church  of  St. 
Petersburgh,  dedicated  to  our  Lady 
of  Kazan,  stands  conspicuously  on  the 
right  of  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt,  about 
half  a  mile  from  the  Admiralty  Square, 
and  retired  from  the  street.  A 
semicircular  colonnade  of  Corinthian 
pillars,  the  two  extremities  of  which 
project  almost  to  the  front  of  the 
houses,  forms  a  screen  to  the  cathedral 
itself,  and  the  dome  rises  immediately 
behind  the  centre  of  the  colonnade, 
where  the  chief  entrance  is  situated. 
In  any  other  place  the  effect  of  this 
semicircular  line  of  columns  would  be 
imposing ;  but  here,  where  everything 
around  is  on  so  vast  a  scale,  it  looks 
the  ver}'  reverse  :  the  columns  are  not 
so  high  as  the  adjoining  houses,  and 
evon  the  dome  is  deficient  in  elevation. 
The  Russians  wish  to  unite  in  their 
capital  all  that  is  grand  or  beautiful  in 
the  whole  civilized  world,  and  this  is 
intended  for  a  copy  of  St.  Peter's  at 
Rome ;  but  the  puny  effort  is  almost 
comic  in  its  contrast  to  the  mighty 
work  of  Buonarotti :  the  colonnade  of 
pillars,  which  in  Rome  seemed  necessary 
and  suitable  to  circumstances,  is  here  a  su- 
perfluous and  incomprehensible  append- 
age. As  an  exception  to  the  rule,  one  tran- 
sept in  the  Kazan  Cathedral  is  shorter 


than  the  others  ;  not,  however,  as  some 
have  alleged,  from  the  peculiar  form  of 
the  Greek  cross,but  simply  from  the  want 
of  space  on  the  canal  side  to  continue  the 
building.  The  eastern  arm  of  the  cross 
answers  to  our  chancel,  and,  in  all 
Greek  churches  is  looked  upon  as  the 
Holy  of  Holies,  shut  off  from  the  rest 
of  the  building  by  a  screen  called  the 
Ikonostast.  This  is  set  apart  for  the 
priests.  Laymen  may  enter,  but  no 
women ;  not  even  the  Empress  can  go 
into  that  mysterious  inclosure.  Here 
stands  a  throne  called  the  "  Prestol," 
a  kind  of  altar,  beneath  a  sumptuous 
canopy  frequently  adorned  with  pre- 
cious stones.  The  throne  stands  on  a 
carpet,  which  reaches  under  the  closed 
doors  of  the  screen,  and  this,  on  solemn 
occasions,  is  spread  out  to  a  low  square 
platform,  erected  immediately  beneath 
the  central  dome ;  on  this  holy  carpet 
no  footstep,  save  that  of  the  priest, 
dare  press.  Behind  and  in  front  of 
the  screen  the  ceremonies  and  service 
are  performed;  the  formalities  are  great; 
robes  of  costly  materials  are  frequently 
changed  ;  the  genuflections  are  nume- 
rous and  very  low;  incense  is  much 
used ;  there  is  no  organ  or  other  in- 
strumental music,  but  the  chanting  is 
peculiar  and  striking,  and  the  priests 
are  splendid-looking  men,  with  long 
flowing  beards,  which  harmonize  well 
with  the  oriental  style  of  their  robes. 
Sermons,  so  much  thought  of  in  other 
countries,  form  but  a  small  portion  of 
the  Russian  church  service ;  a  short 
discourse,  a  few  times  in  the  year,  is  the 
only  homily  which  a  Greek  priest  de- 
livers to  his  flock,  except  at  their 
homes,  where  he  visits  them  frequently. 
At  the  Imperial  chapel,  the  Nevskoi 
monastery,  and  the  Donskoi  and  Semi- 
noff  at  Moscow,  the  singing  is  very 
fine.  The  bass  voices  are  superb,  and 
a  kind  of  chant,  which  they  keep  up 
in  unison  while  the  priest  is  officiating, 
is  not  easily  to  be  compared  with  any 
other  church  music.  It  has  somewhat 
the  effect  of  as  many  double  basses  all 
executing  the  same  short  arpeggio  pas- 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. — KAZAN    CATHEDRAL. 


471 


sage,  and  repeating  it  without  any 
variation  in  the  chord,  time,  or  tone  : 
when  frequently  heard,  it  is  therefore 
tedious.  One  of  the  most  impressive 
portions  of  the  service  is  towards  the 
close ;  the  doors  of  the  Ikonostast  are 
then  shut,  the  chaunting  ceases,  the 
incense-bearers  withdraw,  and  every 
one  seems  breathless  with  attention  ; 
at  length  the  folding  doors  in  the  centre 
are  reopened  and  thrown  back,  and  the 
priest,  generally,  as  before  stated,  of 
gigantic  proportions,  and  carrying  on 
his  head  an  enormous  volume,  which 
he  steadies  with  both  hands,  comes 
forward  and  commences  a  long  recita- 
tive; during  this  every  one  bends  low 
in  a  humble  attitude  of  adoration : 
the  large  volume  contains  the  gospels  ; 
the  prayer  is  for  the  Emperor.  The 
sensation  on  this  occasion,  observes  a 
recent  traveller,  more  than  equals  that 
usually  seen  in  Roman  Catholic 
churches  at  the  elevation  of  the  Host. 
With  this  prestige  for  their  sovereign, 
what  might  not  the  Russians  do  if  cir- 
cumstances should  engage  them  in  a 
national  cause  1  In  Roman  Catholic 
countries  the  church-goers  are  almost 
exclusively  women ;  and  in  France, 
Southern  Germany,  and  parts  of  Italy, 
a  man  in  the  prime  of  life  is  rarely 
seen  within  the  walls  of  a  church, 
except  as  a  mere  spectator.  In  Russia 
it  is  otherwise ;  and  the  outward  forms 
of  the  Greek  church  seem  to  have 
taken  as  firm  and  enduring  a  hold  of 
the  men  as  of  the  women,  all  classes 
alike  participating  in  this  strong  feeling 
of  external  devotion.  The  first  pro- 
ceeding of  a  Russian  on  entering  a 
church  is  to  purchase  a  wax  candle,  a 
plentiful  supply  of  which  is  generally 
kept  near  the  door,  and  the  sale  of 
which  must  constitute  a  very  lucrative 
traffic ;  bearing  this  in  one  hand  he 
slowly  approaches  the  shrine  of  the 
Virgin,  before  which  a  silver  lamp 
burns  day  and  night :  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  it  he  sinks  on  one  knee, 
bowing  his  head  to  the  pavement,  and 
crossing  his  breast  repeatedly  with  the 


thumb  and  two  forefingers  of  his  right 
hand  ;  having  at  length  reached  the 
shrine  itself,  he  lights  his  votive  candle 
at  the  holy  lamp,  and  sets  it  up  in 
one  of  the  various  holes  in  a  large 
silver  plate  provided  for  the  purpose, 
and  falling  low  on  his  bended  knees 
kisses  the  pavement  before  the  altar. 
His  prayers  are  few  and  short,  and  he 
retires  slowly  with  his  face  to  the 
altar,  kneeling  and  crossing  himself  at 
intervals. 

This  kindling  of  lamps  and  tapers  in 
Russian  churches  is  a  pleasing  custom ; 
the  little  flame  is  so  living  a  symbol  of 
the  continued  life  of  the  soul,  and,  be- 
yond all  other  material  things,  flame  is 
the  best  representation  of  the  spiritual. 
The  Russians  ?iave  so  closely  adopted 
this  idea  that  there  is  no  interment,  no 
baptism,  no  betrothing,  in  short,  no 
sacred  ceremony,  without  torch,  lamp, 
or  taper,  to  be  thought  of;  fire  is  for 
them  the  pledge  of  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  and  hence  illuminations 
play  the  most  important  part  in  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Greek  church.  Al- 
though the  Greek  faith  does  not  permit 
the  introduction  of  images  into  their 
churches,  its  votaries  are  scarcely  satis- 
fied with  mere  pictures ;  they  are  fre- 
quently ornamented  with  materials  of 
dress  and  jewellery,  and,  accordingly, 
the  face  of  the  Virgin  is  the  only  part  of 
the  painting  exposed  to  view,  while  the 
dress  is  covered  with  plates  of  silver  or 
gold,  and  the  headis  almost  universally 
adorned  with  a  crown  of  jewels.  The 
pictures  are,  generally  speaking,  mere 
heads  of  saints,  very  indifferently  exe- 
cuted. Many  of  the  jewels,  however, 
are  of  great  size  and  beauty.  One  of 
the  diamonds  in  the  Virgin's  crown  of 
our  Lady  of  Kazan  is  considered  second 
only  to  the  famous  diamond  of  the 
Emperor ;  the  water  is  questionable, 
but  it  is  certainly  a  very  large  stone. 
In  the  Place  before  the  cathedral  of 
Kazan  are  two  well-executed  statues, 
one  of  Kutuzoff,  Prince  of  Smolensko, 
the  other  of  Barclay  de  Tolly.  The 
grand  entrance  door  in  the  centre  be- . 

Y  2 


47'2 


ROUTE    93. KAZAN    CATHEDRAL. 


Sect.  y. 


ncath  the  peristyle  is  of  bronze,  di- 
vided into  ten  compartments,  each 
containing  a  subject  in  bas-relief  from 
the  Old  Testament ;  the  intermediate 
spaces  are  ornamented  with  figures  of 
saints  in  high  relief,  and  heads  in  cir- 
cular frames.  The  workmanship  is 
inferior,  at  least  it  will  be  thought  so 
by  any  one  who  has  seen  the  gates  of 
the  Battisteria  at  Florence. 

The  interior  is  little  suited  to  the 
wants  of  divine  service  as  performed  in 
Russia;  and  the  altar  is  awkwardly 
placed  at  the  side  instead  of  opposite 
the  chief  entrance.  In  the  niches  along 
the  sides  of  the  church  are  colossal 
statues  of  the  Grrand  Duke  Vladimir 
and  Alexander  Nevsky,  St.  John  and 
St.  Andrew ;  the  general  effect  within 
is  dark  and  confined,  and  one  cannot 
help  lamenting  that  the  fifty- six  mono- 
liths, the  mighty  giants  which  support 
the  little  roof,  are  not  employed  in  a 
work  more  worthy  of  them.  Apart 
from  these  architectural  discords,  the 
church  is  not  wanting  in  interest.  First 
of  all,  the  eye  is  attracted  by  the  silver 
of  the  Ikonostast  (the  pictorial  wall  of 
the  sanctuary).  The  balustrades,  doors, 
and  doorways  of  the  Ikonostasts  are 
generally'  of  wood  carved  and  gilded, 
but  in  this  church  all  its  beams  and 
posts  are  of  massive  silver.  The  pil- 
lars of  the  balustrade  round  the  holy 
place,  the  posts  of  the  three  doors,  the 
arches  twenty  feet  in  height  above  the 
altar,  and  the  frames  of  the  pictures  are 
also  of  fine  silver.  The  silver  beams  are 
all  highly  polished,  and  reflect  with 
dazzling  brilliancy  the  light  of  the 
thousand  tapers  that  burn  before  them. 
We  could  not  learn  how  many  hundred 
weight  of  silver  were  emplo3'ed,  but 
doubtless  many  thousands  of  dozens  of 
French  and  German  spoons,  and  hun- 
dreds of  soup-tureens  and  tea-pots  must 
have  been  melted  down  to  furnish  the 
material;  for  it  was  the  Cossacks,  laden 
with  no  inconsiderable  booty  from  the 
campaigns  of  1813  and  1814,  who 
made  an  offering  of  this  mass  of  silver 
to  the  Holy  Mother  of  Kazan,  for  the 


object  to  which  it  is  now  appropriated. 
Platoff  also,  having  secured  some  booty 
in  the  retreat  of  the  French,  sent  it 
to  the  Metropolitan,  directing  that  it 
should  be  made  into  statues  of  the 
four  Evangelists,  and  adorn  the  Church 
of  the  Mother  of  Grod  of  Kazan.  The 
Cossacks  seem  to  have  a  peculiar  venera- 
tion for  this  Madonna,  who  is  half  their 
countrywoman,  for  Ivan  Vassilievitch 
brought  her  from  Kazan  to  Moscow, 
whence  Peter  the  Great  transported  her 
to  St.  Petersburgh.  Her  picture,  set 
with  pearls  and  precious  stones,  hangs 
in  this  church.  It  was  before  this  pic- 
ture that  Kutuzoif  prayed  before  he 
advanced  to  meet  the  enemy,  in  1812, 
for  which  reason  she  is  considered  to 
be  closely  connected  with  that  cam- 
paign. Here,  also,  and  standing  in  the 
shadow  of  the  faded  banners  of  his  ene- 
mies, is  the  monument  of  that  distin- 
guished man,  on  which  no  one  who 
remembers  his  successful  and  patriotic 
services  can  look  unmoved.  Daunt- 
less amid  a  despairing  nation,  he  nobly 
sustained  the  courage  of  the  monarch 
and  the  drooping  valour  of  the  Russian 
troops;  but  for  him  the  battle  of  the 
Moskva  might  never  have  been  fought, 
and  Napoleon  would  have  marched 
without  a  blow  to  Moscow,  and  per- 
haps to  St.  Petersburgh.  Amid  the 
tears  and  blessings  of  his  fellow-citizens 
he  left  the  capital  to  take  the  command 
of  the  army,  who  trusted  in  none  save 
him.  He  vowed  solemnly  to  return 
triumphant,  or  to  end  on  the  field  of 
honour  that  long  life  that  had  been 
spent  in  the  service  of  his  country. 
Well  may  Russsia  be  proud  of  such 
a  son,  and  give  his  remains  all  the 
honours  it  was  in  her  power  to  bestow. 
The  cotip  d'ceil,  on  entering  this  house 
of  prayer,  is  rather  that  of  an  arsenal 
than  a  church,  and  this  maybe  said  of 
many  other  churches  in  this  capital;  for 
they  are  more  or  less  adorned  with 
military  trophies  taken  from  various 
nations  of  Europe  and  Asia.  Here  are 
to  be  seen  the  crimson  flags  of  the 
Persians,  which  may  be  easily  distin- 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. — IZAK    CHUECH. 


473 


guished  by  a  silver  hand,  as  large  as 
life,  fastened  to  the  end;  also  many 
Turkish  standards,  surmounted  by  the 
crescent,  large  unsoiled  pieces  of  cloth, 
for  the  most  part  red,  and  so  new  and 
spotless  that  they  might  be  sold  again  to 
the  merchant  by  the  ell,  and  giving  the 
impression  that  they  were  surrendered 
without  any  very  great  struggle.  Not 
so  the  French  colours,  which  hang  near 
them,  and  which  offer  a  strong  contrast ; 
they  are  rent  to  pieces,  and  to  several 
of  the  seventeen  eagles  only  a  single 
fragment  is  attached;  these,  with  their 
expanded  wings,  with  which  they  vainly 
sought  to  cover  the  whole  of  Europe, 
look  strange  enough  in  the  place  they 
now  roost  in.  Amongst  these  tattered 
banners  is  one  of  white  silk,  on  which 
the  words  "  Garde  National  e  de  Paris  " 
are  visible :  here,  too,  may  be  seen  the 
long  streamers  of  the  wild  tribes  of 
the  Caucasus  and  the  silver  eagles  of 
Poland;  and,  lastly,  the  marshal's  baton 
of  Davoust,  Prince  of  Eckmiihl,  the 
*' Hamburg  Robespierre,"  whose  atro- 
cities will  be  remembered  as  long  as  a 
stone  of  that  city  exists  under  its  pre- 
sent name.  This  trophy,  which  is 
kept  under  a  glass  case,  was  taken  in 
the  disastrous  retreat  of  1812;  it  is 
said  to  have  been  lost  in  the  wild  con- 
fusion that  everywhere  prevailed,  and 
was  afterwards  picked  up  by  some 
straggling  Cossack.  Keys  of  many 
German,  French,  and  Netherland  towns, 
before  whose  gates  a  Russian  trumpet 
has  blown  in  triumph,  also  grace  the 
pillars  of  this  cathedral ;  amongst  them 
are  those  of  Hamburg,  Leipsic,  Dres- 
den, Rheiras,  Breda,  and  Utrecht,  in 
all  twenty-eight  pair.  To  a  Protest- 
ant these  trophies  and  the  tawdry 
paintings,  gilding,  and  jewelry  com- 
pletely destroy  all  ideas  of  a  devotional 
character.  As  the  members  of  the 
Greek  religion  pray  standing,  the  in- 
terior of  their  churches  is  always  devoid 
of  pew,  bench,  or  chair,  but  there  is  in 
every  church  a  place  set  apart  for  the 
Emperor  to  stand  in,  which  is  raised 
above  the  floor,  and   usually  covered 


with  a  canopy,  or  small  dome.  An 
exception  is,  we  believe,  made  in  favour 
of  the  Empress,  on  account  of  ill 
health. 

THE   IZAK   CHUECH. 

This  edifice  cannot  fail  to  excite  the 
admiration  of  those  who  appreciate  grand 
proportions,  a  simple  but  lofty  style 
of  architecture,  and  noble  porticoes. 
The  situation  also  is  highly  suitable, 
for  it  stands  in  one  of  the  largest  open 
spaces  in  the  capital,  surrounded  by 
its  finest  buildings  and  monuments, 
and  it  will  give  the  stranger  some  idea 
of  what  Russian  quarries,  Russian  mines 
and  workmen,  and  a  French  architect, 
Monsieur  Montferrand,  can  produce. 
Nothing  can  exceed  the  simplicity  of 
the  model;  no  ornament  meets  the  eye ; 
the  architect  has  left  all  to  the  impres- 
sion to  be  produced  by  its  stupendous 
proportions.  The  original  design  of  the 
cathedral  at  Cologne  is  said  to  be  on  a 
much  smaller  scale  ;  the  transept  alone 
is  a  building  of  great  magnitude. 
On  the  spot  where  the  Izak  Church 
stands,  the  Russians  have  been  at  work 
upon  a  place  of  worship  for  the  last 
century.  The  original  one  was  in 
wood,  but  this  was  subsequently  de- 
stroyed, and  the  Great  Catherine  com- 
menced another,  which  she  intended 
to  face  Avith  marble,  and  which,  like 
many  other  of  her  undertakings,  was 
never  finished.  The  Emperor  Paul 
continued  the  building,  but  in  brick. 
This  half-and-half  edifice  vanished,  how- 
ever, in  its  turn,  and  under  Nicholas  I. 
the  present  magnificent  structure  has 
been  erected,  such  a  one  as  we  think 
will  scarcely  find  so  splendid  a  suc- 
cessor. To  make  a  firm  foundation,  a 
whole  forest  of  piles  was  sunk  in  the 
swampy  soil,  at  a  cost  of  200,000/. 
The  present  building  is,  as  usual,  in  the 
form  of  a  Greek  cross,  of  four  equal 
sides,  and  each  of  the  four  grand  en- 
trances is  approached  from  the  level  of 
the  Place  by  three  broad  flights  of 
steps,  each  whole  flight  being  composed 
of  one  entire  piece  of  granite,  formed 


474 


ROUTE    93.— IZAK    CHUECH. 


Sect.  V. 


out  of  masses  of  rock  brought  from  Fin- 
land. These  steps  lead  from  the  four 
sides  of  the  building  to  the  four  chief 
entrances,  each  of  which  has  a  superb 
peristyle.  The  pillars  of  these  peri- 
styles are  60  feet  high,  and  have  a  dia- 
meter of  7  feet,  all  magnificent  round 
and  highly  polished  granite  monoliths, 
from  Finland,  buried  for  centuries  in  its 
swamps,  till  brought  to  light  by  the  tri- 
umphant power  of  Russia.  They  are 
crowned  with  Corinthian  capitals  of 
bronze,  and  support  the  enormous  beam 
of  a  frieze  formed  of  six  fire-polished 
blocks.  Over  the  peristyles,  and  at  twice 
their  height,  rises  the  chief  and  central 
cupola,  higher  than  it  is  wide,  in  the 
Byzantine  proportion.  It  is  supported 
also  by  thirty  pillars  of  smooth  polished 
granite,  which,  although  gigantic  in 
themselves,  look  small  compared  to 
those  below.  The  cupola  is  covered 
with  copper  overlaid  with  gold,  and 
glitters  like  the  sun  over  a  mountain. 
From  its  centre  rises  a  small  elegar.t 
rotunda,  a  miniature  repetition  of  the 
whole,  looking  like  a  chapel  on  the 
mountain  top.  The  whole  edifice  is 
surrounded  by  the  crowning  and  far- 
seen  golden  cross.  Four  smaller  cu- 
polas, resembling  the  greater  in  every 
particular,  stand  around,  like  children 
round  a  mother,  and  complete  the  har- 
mony visible  in  every  part.  The  walls 
of  the  church  are  covered  Avith  marble, 
and  no  doubt  the  Izak  Church  is  the 
most  remarkable  one  in  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  and  will  supersede  the  Kazan 
Church  of  the  Virgin,  for  great  state 
festivals.  The  embellishments  of  the 
facjade  and  windows  have  been  en- 
trusted to  various  artists.  The  group 
of  figures  on  the  pediment  of  one  of  the 
former  was  designed  by  a  Frenchman, 
a  Monsieur  Le  Maire';  the  subject  is 
the  Angel  at  the  Tomb,  with  the  Mag- 
dalen and  other  female  figures  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  terrified  soldiers  in 
every  attitude  of  consternation  on  the 
other;  these  figures  are  eight  feet  in 
height,  and  bronze  gilt.  The  great  dome 
is  of  iron,  and,  as  well  as  the  whole 


of  the  bronze  work,  was  manufactured 
at  the  celebrated  foundry  of  Mr.'Baird, 
of  St.  Petersburgh,  whose  well-known 
courtesy  will  enable  any  Englishman 
to  see  everything  connected  with  his 
establishment.  The  interior  of  the 
Izak  Church  is  far  from  being  finished, 
but  if  the  present  design  is  carried  out 
it  will  be  a  mass  of  precious  metals  and 
stones.  The  malachite  columns  for  the 
ikonostast,  or  screen,  are  50  feet  in 
height,  and  exceed  anything  that  has 
yet  been  done  in  that  beautiful  fabric. 

The  prestol  for  the  inmost  shrine  is 
a  small  circular  temple,  the  dome  sup- 
ported by  eight  Corinthian  pillars  of 
malachite,  about  eight  feet  high,  with 
gilt  bases  and  capitals ;  the  exterior  of 
the  dome  is  covered  with  a  profusion 
of  gilding  on  a  ground  of  malachite, 
and  the  interior  is  of  lapis  lazuli.  The 
floor  is  of  polished  marbles  of  various 
colours,  which  have  been  found  in  the 
Russian  dominions,  and  the  whole  is 
raised  on  steps  of  polished  porphyry. 
There  is,  perhaps,  too  much  gilding  about 
this  very  beautiful  work,  but  this  is  in 
accordance  with  its  position  in  a  Greek 
church.  It  was  presented  to  the  Em- 
peror by  Monsieur  Demidoff,  who  pro- 
cured the  malachite  fi-om  his  mines  in 
Siberia,  and  sent  it  to  Italy  to  be 
worked;  its  value  is  said  to  be  as 
much  as  1,000,000  of  rubles. 

From  the  rotunda  over  the  great  dome 
there  is  a  fine  view  of  the  capital  when 
the  day  is  bright  and  clear,  which  is 
generally  the  case  in  the  summer;  the 
eye  then  wanders  unobstructed  over 
the  whole  extent  of  the  imperial  city; 
the  broad  Neva  spreads  its  "  breast  of 
waters "  in  the  warm  sunshine  for 
many  a  mile,  hemmed  in  at  first  be- 
tween those  massive  quays  of  granite 
which  have  not  their  equal  in  Europe, 
and  reflecting  on  its  calm  surface  store- 
house and  palace,  but  beyond,  no  longer 
subject  to  man's  control,  its  wide  stream 
expanding  forth  flows  beneath  the 
wooded  shores  of  Peterhofi"  and  Ora- 
nienbaum,  where  the  wearied  eye  can 
follow  its  course  no  longer.     Our  jour- 


Russia. 


ROUTE  93. CHURCH    OF  SMOLNOI. 


475 


ney  to  the  top  of  the  Izak  Church  was 
by  daylight,  but,  if  it  be  possible  to 
obtain  permission,  we  would  recom- 
mend a  pilgrimage  to  the  summit  in 
one  of  the  rosy  nights  of  a  northern 
summer;  the  view  at  that  hour  must 
be  very  striking  and  beautiful. 

THE   SMOLNOI   CHURCH. 

A  long  jolting  ride. will  bring  the 
traveller  to  the  "  Institution  des  De- 
moiselles Nobles,"  at  the  end  of  Sun- 
day Street,  situated  on  a  gentle  ele- 
vation, round  which  the  Neva  bends  to 
the  west.  This  structure,  originally  a 
convent,  is  a  vast  pile  of  building.  The 
church  is  of  white  marble,  with  five 
blue  domes  spangled  with  golden  stars; 
and  the  interior  is  an  exception  to  the 
surcharged  style  of  every  other  in  St, 
Petersburgh;  its  walls  of  stainless  white 
being  unpolluted  by  flag,  banner,  or 
trophy  that  tells  of  strife  and  blood. 
A  high  and  beautifully  designed  iron 
grating,  whose  rails,  or  rather  pillars, 
are  wound  round  with  wreaths  of  vine 
leaves  and  flowers,  in  iron  work,  sur- 
round the  court-yard,  and  above  it 
wave  the  elegant  birch  and  lime  trees, 
whose  foliage  is  peculiarly  attractive 
where  trees  are  as  scarce  as  they  are  in 
St.  Petersburgh.  This  edifice  may  be 
seen  from  the  eastern  suburb,  from  the 
extremity  of  Sunday  Street,  a  mile  and 
a  half  in  length,  and  from  all  quarters  of 
the  city.  The  orthodox  believers  bow 
and  cross  themselves  at  the  sight  of  its 
cupolas.  Amongst  the  lower  classes, 
the  devotional  feeling  is  so  strong,  that 
some  droshky  drivers,  not  content  with 
pulling  their  hats  oiF  at  every  church 
they  pass,  will  invite  their  fares  to 
descend  at  least  fifty  yards  from  the 
church  door. 

"  The  church  of  Smolnoi,  which  is 
open  to  the  public  as  a  place  of  wor- 
ship, has  something  extremely  pleasing 
in  its  style  of  decoration;  only  two 
colours  are  to  be  seen,  that  of  the  gold 
framework  of  the  ornamental  objects, 
and  of   the    white    imitative   marble, 


highly  polished,  and  covering  all  the 
walls,  pillars,  and  arches.  Several 
galleries,  which  are  illuminated  on  high 
festival  days,  run  like  garlands  round 
the  interior  of  the  dome.  Not  less 
than  four-and-twenty  stoves  of  gigantic 
dimensions  are  scattered  about  the 
church,  which  they  keep  at  the  tem- 
perature of  a  study,  and  greet  all 
that  enter  with  true  Christian  warmth. 
These  stoves  are  built  like  little  chapels, 
so  that  at  first  they  are  taken  for 
church  ornaments.  The  Russians  love 
pomp  and  splendour  in  their  churches; 
in  this,  the  balustrades  surrounding  the 
Ikonostast  are  of  the  finest  glass,  the 
doors  are  formed  of  golden  columns 
twined  and  interlaced  with  vine  leaves 
and  ears  of  corn  in  carved  and  gilded 
wood.  The  pictures  of  this  Ikonostast 
are  all  new,  painted  by  the  pupils  of 
the  St.  Petersburgh  Academy.  The 
faces  of  the  apostles  and  saints,  of  the 
Madonna  and  of  the  Redeemer,  in  the 
old  Russian  pictures,  have  all  the  well- 
known  Byzantine  or  Indian  physiog- 
nomy on  the  handkerchief  of  St.  Vero- 
nica in  Boissere's  collection;  small  long- 
cut  eyes,  dark  complexion,  excessively 
thin  cheeks,  a  small  mouth,  thin  lips, 
slender  ringlets,  and  a  scanty  beard; 
the  nose  uncommonly  sharp  and  pointed, 
quite  vanishing  at  the  root  between 
the  eyes,  and  the  head  very  round. 
In  the  new  pictures  of  the  Russian 
school,  they  have  copied  the  national 
physiognomy  as  seen  in  the  Russian 
merchants;  full  red  cheeks,  a  long 
beard,  light  and  abundant  hair,  large 
blue  eyes,  and  a  blunted  nose.  It  is 
wonderful  that  the  Russian  clergy  have> 
permitted  this  deviation  from  the  old 
models;  the  new  ones,  however,  are 
held  in  very  little  respect  by  the  peo- 
ple, who  reverence  only  the  old  dilsty 
and  dusky  saints,  and  are  as  little 
inclined  to  accept  faces  they  can  under- 
stand, as  to  hear  divine  service  in  a 
language  they  can  comprehend,  for  the 
old  Slavonian  dialect,  which  continues 
to  be  used,  is  unintelligible  to  them." 
On  either  side  of  the  church  is  the 


476    EOUTE  93. MONASTEET  OF  ST.  ALEXANDER  NEVSKOT.    Sect.  V. 


Institution  des  Demoiselles  Nobles,  a 
building  dedicated  to  the  education  of 
young  girls  of  noble  and  citizen  birth, 
of  whom  not  less  than  500  are  brought 
up  at  the  cost  of  the  government,  and 
800  at  the  expense  of  their  own  fa- 
milies. The  Empress  Maria,  the  foun- 
dress and  benefactress "  of  the  convent, 
has  a  simple  monument  in  the  church 
dedicated  in  her  honour  to  St.  Mary. 
There  are  only  two  monastic  establish- 
ments in  St.  Petersburgh :  this  of 
Smolnoi  (one  only  in  name,  for  the 
Empress's  twenty  nuns  have  long- 
since  been  dispossessed  by  the  800 
young  ladies),  and  that  of  St.  Alex- 
ander Nevskoi,  of  which  more  here- 
after. The  chaste  and  simple  style  of 
the  Smolnoi  Church  is  said  to  have 
been  adopted  by  order  of  the  pre- 
sent Emperor,  in  order  to  wean  the 
people  from  their  inordinate  love  of 
picture  and  shrine  worship;  the  con- 
trast between  it  and  our  Lady  of  Ka- 
zan is  something  extraordinary,  and  one 
can  scarcely  believe  the  two  churches 
are  erected  for  worshippers  of  the  same 
faith. 

MONASTERY  OP  ST.  ALEXANDER  NEVSKOI. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
monasteries  in  Russia — aLavra,  that  is, 
the  seat  of  a  Metropolitan,  and  inferior 
only  to  the  Lavra  of  the  Trinity  in 
Moscow,  and  to  the  Lavra  of  the 
Cave  in  Kief;  other  monastic  esta- 
blishments are  only  "  monastirs."  Its 
proper  name  is  Alexander  Nevskaya 
Svatotroitzkaya  Lavra  (the  Alexander 
Nevsky's  Sacred  Trinity  Lavra).  It 
stands,  as  the  traveller  will  have  no- 
ticed in  his  drive,  at  the  extreme  end 
of  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt,  where  it  oc- 
cupies a  large  space,  inclosing  within 
its  Avails  churches,  towers,  gardens,  and 
monks'  cells.  This  church  and  convent 
were  founded  by  Peter  the  Great,  in 
honour  of  the  canonized  Grand  Duke 
Alexander,  who,  in  a  great  battle  fought 
on  this  spot,  defeated  the  Swedes  and 
knights  of  the  military  orders;  his  re- 
mains were  brought  here  by  Peter,  the 


Tzar  thinking  he  could  by  this  means 
attach  the  Russians  to  his  new  capital. 
Alexander  was  their  favourite  saint, 
and  his  bones  had  previously  reposed 
in  the  Convent  of  Gorodichetche,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Volga.  It  is  tra- 
ditional that  the  saint,  indignant  at 
being  thus  disturbed,  or  finding  the 
air  of  Finland  rather  damp,  was  no 
sooner  placed  in  his  new  abode  than 
he  got  up  and  went  home  again  by 
himself,  a  proceeding  which  was  looked 
upon  as  a  great  miracle  ;  but  Peter  was 
not  one  to  be  trifled  with,  and  gave 
the  monks  to  understand  that  he  would 
severely  punish  them  if  the  saint  in- 
dulged in  any  such  peripatetics  for  the 
future.  This  admonition  had  the  de- 
sired effect,  and  the  Grand  Duke  sub- 
sequently remained  where  the  Tzar 
thought  fit  to  place  him.  "  The  chxirch 
and  convent  were  originally  built  of 
wood,  in  1712;  but  some  years  after 
stone  was  substituted.  Peter's  succes- 
sors increased  the  possessions  and 
buildings  of  the  cloister,  and  Catherine 
built  the  Cathedral,  one  of  the  largest 
churches  in  the  capital;  this  is  now 
both  dirty  and  neglected,  its  domes 
have  lost  their  gay  colours,  and  the 
long  red  cloisters,  which  inclose  the 
church,  look  dreary  and  deserted. 
For  the  decoration  of  the  interior 
marble  was  brought  from  Italy,  pre- 
cious stones  from  Siberia,  and  pearls 
from  Persia.  It  is  further  adorned 
with  some  good  copies  after  Guido, 
Reni,  and  Perugino ;  the  altar-piece, 
the  Annunciation,  is  by  Raphael  Mengs, 
or,  as  the  cicerone  monk  assures  the 
visitors,  by  Arphaele  (Rafaelle  him- 
self). In  one  of  the  chapels  are  some 
unfinished  pictures  by  "  Robinsa,"  that 
is,  not  Robinson,  but  Rubens,  "  on  Ita- 
liansky  "  (an  Italian)  is  sometimes  the 
remark  of  the  monk.  Pictures  by 
foreign  masters  are  very  unusual  in  a 
Russian  church.  From  Robinson  to 
the  Cannibals  is  no  great  transition, 
and  therefore  the  stranger  will  be  less 
astonished  if  the  guide  should  chance 
to  say  " there  lies  a  Cannibal"  when 


Russia.   KOUTE  93. — monasteey  of  st.  Alexander  nevskoi.   477 


pointing  to  one  of  the  tombs  in  a  corner. 
If  the  traveller  can  read  the  inscription 
on  it,  he  will  find  it  to  be  the  monu- 
ment of  Hannibal,  the  Russian  gene- 
ral ;  this  is  explained  by  the  Russians 
having  no  H,  and  rendering  that  letter 
by  a  K.  On  two  great  pillars  opposite 
the  altar  are  portraits  of  Peter  the 
Great  and  Catherine  II.,  larger  than 
life;  these  two,  as  founder  and  finisher, 
are  very  frequently  united  in  St.  Pe- 
tersburgh.  The  monument  of  Alex- 
ander Nevskoi  stands  in  a  side  chapel  ; 
it  is  of  massive  silver,  and,  with  the 
ornaments  around  it,  is  said  to  weigh 
5000  lbs,  of  pure  metal;  the  design 
is  pyramidal,  15  feet  high,  surmounted 
by  a  catafalque  and  angels,  as  large 
as  a  man,  with  trumpets  and  silver 
flowers;  also  a  quantity  of  bassi  rilievi, 
representing  the  battle  of  the  Neva. 
The  keys  of  Adrianople,  not  much 
larger  than  those  of  a  midshipman's 
chest,  are  suspended  on  the  tomb. 

The  Nevskoi  cloister  has  profited  yet 
more  by  the  presents  sent  from  Per- 
sia to  the  northern  Petropolis  when 
the  Russian  ambassador,  GrriboyedofF, 
was  murdered  in  Teheran,  than  by  the 
Byzantine  tribute.  The  Persian  gifts 
consisted  of  a  long  train  of  rare  animals, 
Persian  webs,  gold-stuffs  and  pearls. 
They  reached  St,  Petersburgh  in  the 
winter.  The  pearls,  and  gold-stuffs, 
and  rich  shawls  were  carried  in  great 
silver  and  gold  dishes  by  magnificently 
dressed  Persians.  The  Persian  prince, 
Khosreff  Mirza,  drove  in  an  imperial 
state  equipage  with  six  horses;  the 
elephants,  bearing  on  their  backs  towers 
filled  with  Indian  warriors,  had  lea- 
thern boots  to  protect  them  from  the 
cold,  and  the  cages  of  the  tigers  and 
lions  were  provided  with  double  skins 
of  the  northern  polar  bears. 

It  was  like  a  procession  in  the  Ara- 
bian Nights,  and  the  population  of 
whole  counties  would,  with  us,  have 
run  together  to  behold  it.  ''  It  was  a 
trifling  affair,"  they  said  in  St,  Peters- 
burgh, "  and  some  of  the  pearls  false  : " 
it  excited  but  little  attention.    The  ele- 


phants soon  died  of  the  cold,  and  a 
part  of  the  pearls  were  given  to  the 
Nevskoi  cloister.  We  saw  whole  boxes 
full  of  them  there,  besides  a  rich  col- 
lection of  mitres  set  in  jewels,  pon- 
tifical robes  of  gold  brocade,  and  souve- 
nirs of  individual  metropolitans  and 
princes;  among  them  an  episcopal  staff 
turned  by  Peter  the  Great,  and  pre- 
sented by  him  to  the  first  St,  Peters- 
burgh metropolitan ;  another  of  amber, 
from  Catherine  II.,  and  a  number  of 
other  valuables  which,  found  elsewhere, 
singly,  would  be  admired  and  de- 
scribed, but  here,  in  the  mass  of  trea- 
sures, are  unnoticed.  The  Library,  of 
about  10,000  volumes,  independently 
of  a  number  of  very  valuable  manu- 
scripts, concerning  which  many  books 
quite  unknown  to  us  have  been  written, 
contains  many  rare  specimens  of  the 
antiquities  of  Russia. 

The  small  chapel  attached  to  this 
convent  contains  the  tombs  of  several 
illustrious  Russian  families ;  that  of  the 
Naryshkins  bears  the  following  inscrip- 
tion : — "  From  their  race  came  Peter 
the  Great."  Here  are  also  the  tombs 
of  Suwaroff  (a  plain  marble  tablet) 
and  Romanzoff,  the  chancellor  Bez- 
borodko,  Betskoi,  the  favourite  minister 
of  Catherine  II.,  Panine,  her  minister 
for  foreign  affairs,  &c.,  and  numerous 
members  of  the  imperial  family.  In 
the  cemetery  attached  to  the  building 
many  of  the  great  Russian  families 
bury  their  dead,  and  large  sums  are 
paid  for  permission  to  repose  in  this 
holy  ground.  The  graves  are  conse- 
quently very  close  together,  and  the 
new  ones  generally  covered  with  flowers, 
a  pleasing  trait  of  feeling  frequently 
seen  on  the  continent.  The  anchor  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross,  a  favourite  emblem, 
is  placed  above  many  of  the  monu- 
ments. There  are  between  50  and  60 
monks  here  who  superintend  a  classical 
school,  which  numbers  about  1000 
scholars.  The  service  is  well  per- 
formed at  this  monastery,  and,  being 
a  fashionable  church,  the  singing  is 
good.     Mass  commences  at  ten  o'clock. 

Y   3 


478        EOUTE  93. — CHURCH  OF  ST.  PETER  AND  ST.  PAUL.      Sect.  Y. 


PREOBRAJENSKY   CHURCH. 

This  church,  the  Spass  Preobra- 
jenskoi  Sabor,  belongs  to  one  of  the 
oldest  regiments  of  guards  founded  by 
Peter  the  Great,  the  tenth  legion  of 
the  Russian  Caesars,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  considerable  of  the  city,  and  more 
than  any  other  adorned,  both  without 
and  within,  with  trophies  from  con- 
quered nations.  The  railing  that  sur- 
rounds the  churchyard  is  formed  of 
Turkish  and  French  cannon.  Every 
three  of  those  three  hundred  cannon, 
one  large  and  two  smaller,  mounted  on 
a  granite  pedestal,  with  their  mouths 
pointed  downwards,  form  a  column. 
Around  the  cannon,  chains  of  different 
thickness,  gracefully  twined,  are  hung 
like  garlands  between  the  columns ;  on 
the  summit  of  each  is  inthroned  a 
Russian  double  eagle  of  iron,  with  ex- 
panded wings.  Within,  the  church  is 
adorned  with  flags  and  halberds  ;  the 
pillars  look  like  palm  trees,  of  which 
every  leaf  is  a  lance.  Here  also  tra- 
vellers are  shown  a  production  of  Rus- 
sian inventive  talent,  the  work  of  a 
common  peasant.  It  is  a  large  splen- 
did piece  of  clockwork,  made  by  him 
in  his  native  village,  bought  for  lOOOZ. 
by  his  lord,  and  presented  to  the 
church.  The  Avorks  are  said  to  be 
so  good  as  to  have  stood  in  no  need  of 
repair  during  the  six  years  the  clock 
has  been  here.  Some  baldaquins 
— canopies  used  in  the  funerals  of 
the  deceased  Tzars — are  preserved  in 
this  church  with  that  veneration  with 
which  Russians  delight  to  hand  down 
to  posterity  every  relic  of  departed 
royalty.  Every  niche  and  recess  of 
this  building  is  crammed  with  captured 
colours  and  Pasha's  horse-tails,  while 
pillar  and  column  are  thickly  studded 
with  keys  of  fortresses  and  the  spoils 
of  captured  officers. 

THE    CHURCH    OP    ST.     PETER    AND    ST. 
PAUL. 

This  church,  which  is  in  the  citadel, 
is   conspicuous   for    its   beautiful   and 


slender  gilded  spire,  similar  and  hardly 
inferior  in  height  to  that  of  the  Admi- 
ralty. It  being  found  necessary  to  put  a 
new  vane  up  some  years  ago,  estimates 
were  taken  which  were  very  high,  when 
a  peasant,  hearing  of  this,  offered  to  re- 
place the  old  one  by  the  new  for  80  sil- 
ver rubles,  and  accomplished  his  object, 
merely  by  the  assistance  of  a  rope  and 
a  large  nail.  In  the  vaults  of  this  church 
repose  the  remains  of  Peter  the  Grreat 
and  all  his  imperial  successors.  The  pre- 
ceding sovereigns  of  Russia  were  buried 
in  the  Arkhangelskoi  Sabor  in  Moscow. 
Whoever  has  seen  the  monuments  of 
the  Polish  kings  at  Cracow,  or  those  of 
the  French  and  English  kings,  and 
Italian  princes,  will  wonder  at  the  sim- 
plicity and  absence  of  ornament  in  this 
last  resting-place  of  the  Russian  Em- 
perors, particularly  when  he  recollects 
the  splendour  of  the  Winter  Palace. 
The  simple  coffins  are  placed  in  the 
vaults,  and  over  them  in  the  church  is 
nathing  further  in  the  shape  of  a  monu- 
ment than  a  stone  coffin-shaped  sarco- 
phagus covered  with  a  red  pall.  On 
the  pall  the  name  of  the  deceased  em- 
peror or  emperor's  son  is  embroidered 
in  golden  letters,  as  His  Imperial 
Highness  the  Grand  Duke  Constan- 
tine  ;  His  Imperial  Majesty  the  Em- 
peror Peter  the  First,  &c.  On  some 
there  is  nothing  but  the  initial  letters, 
and  here  and  there  some  unimportant 
trophy.  On  the  sarcophagus  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Constantine  lie  the  keys 
of  some  Polish  fortresses.  Peter  III., 
to  whose  remains  Catherine  refused  in- 
terment in  this  place  of  sepulture,  rests 
there  now.  Paul  placed  both  Cathe- 
rine and  his  father  there.  A  hundred 
cannon,  impregnable  bastions,  and  a 
garrison  of  3000  men,  defend  the  place, 
which  can  be  desecrated  by  hostile 
hands  only  when  all  St.  Petersburgh 
lies  in  ruins.  The  Russian  princes  are 
the  only  ones  in  Europe,  as  far  as  we 
know,  who  are  buried  within  the  walls 
of  a  fortress. 

'The  youthful  daughter  of  the  Em- 
peror, whose  fatal  illness  shortened  his 


Russia.      EOUTE  93. — cottage  of  petee  the  gkeat. 


479 


majesty's  visit  to  England,  is  the  last 
of  the  imperial  family  who  sleep  here. 
Her  coffin,  says  a  late  traveller,  "  was 
covered  with  fresh  and  fragrant  flowers, 
tokens  of  affection  from  many  who 
knew  and  loved  her,  and  numbers  daily 
visit  the  last  resting  place  of  her  whose 
early  death  was  so  severe  a  blow  to 
her  family.  The  sight  of  stately  and 
high-born  dames  stooping  and  praying 
over  her  early  grave,  answered  to  my 
mind  in  a  moment  all  the  reports  of 
the  unpopularity  of  the  reigning  family 
among  the  upper  classes  in  Russia ; 
and  to  that  gloomy  church,  unseen  and 
unknown,  many  a  fair  daughter  of  the 
Russian  noble  often  comes  to  pour  forth 
her  supplications  for  the  repose  of  the 
dead  and  the  safety  of  the  living,  and 
to  strew  roses  on  the  tomb  of  one  who, 
young  and  gay  as  themselves,  died 
when  most  happy  and  when  most  be- 
loved. 

The  whole  aspect  of  this  church  is 
dingy  and  wretched ;  and  the  vast 
quantity  of  torn  and  tattered  banners 
and  keys  of  fortresses  hung  up  in  every 
part  of  it,  give  one  completely  the  idea 
of  being  in  some  old-fashioned  gallery 
of  an  arsenal.  Many  of  the  flags  can- 
not be  looked  upon  without  mterest. 
Here  are  the  Swedish  flags  taken  at 
Pultava — the  selfsame  Gothic  banners 
which  Charles  fondly  hoped  to  plant  on 
the  battlements  of  the  Kremlin  ;  the 
Prussian  eagles,  too,  wrested  from  the 
great  Frederic  ;  the  horse-tails  of  count- 
less Pashas,  and  their  batons  of  office, 
curiously  inlaid,  and  in  shape  very 
much  resembling  a  small-headed  ham- 
mer with  a  long  and  taper  handle. 
Seven  French  eagles,  and,  above  all, 
the  keys  of  Paris  and  many  other  cities 
and  fortresses  of  "  la  belle  France." 
A  Turkish  flag  was  pointed  out  by  our 
attendant,  on  the  tarnished  silk  of 
which  was  the  impress  of  a  bloody 
hand  distinctly  stamped,  telling  more 
forcibly  than  words  of  the  death  strug- 
gle that  accompanied  the  capture  of 
this  trophy,  in  defence  of  which  life 
was   thought   well   sacrificed.      It    is 


now  consigned  to  dust  and  neglect, 
save  when  the  chance  visit  of  some  cu- 
rious stranger  unfurls  once  again  that 
wide-swelling  fold,  around  which  the 
storm  of  battle  once  raged  fast  and 
furious. 

Several  hundred  Persian  suns  and 
Turkish  crescents  on  these  standards 
bend  before  the  cross  of  the  Christians. 
There  are  some  very  large  jewels  in  the 
diadem  of  the  Virgin  in  this  church,  but 
they  are  either  of  an  inferior  quality,  or 
have  been  imperfectly  polished,  as  they 
are  dim  and  rayless.  Among  the  sacred 
vessels  are  shown  some  turned  in  wood 
and  ivory,  the  work  of  Peter  the  Great, 
and  attention  is  generally  drawn  to  oiie 
cross  in  particular,  the  centre  of  which 
is  ornamented  with  a  circular  slide  of 
ivory,  on  which  the  crucifixion  with 
the  mourning  women  below  are  carved 
in  bas-relief.  A  multitude  of  rays  issue 
from  the  slide  as  from  a  sun  ;  every  ray 
is  turned  in  ebony,  in  the  ornamenting 
of  which  with  all  manner  of  carving 
an  enormous  degree  of  labour  must 
have  been  expended. 

The  Imperial  Mint  is  inclosed  within 
the  walls  of  the  citadel :  an  order  to 
view  the  various  processes  of  assaying, 
coining,  &c.,  can  easily  be  procured  by 
applying  at  the  offices  of  the  Etat  Major. 

THE   COTTAaE   OF   PETER  THE   UREAT 

is  on  the  same  island,  but  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  citadel.  It  is  divided 
into  three  small  rooms :  the  inner  apart- 
ment was  his  bedroom  ;  the  adjoin- 
ing one  his  chapel,  where  the  pictures 
that  he  worshipped  are  still  preserved  ; 
and  that  to  the  right  his  receiving-room. 
Here  are  preserved  numerous  relics  of 
this  extraordinary  man.  The  boat 
which  he  is  said  to  have  constructed, 
and  the  sails  he  used,  are  also  shown. 
The  Emperor  Alexander  covered  the 
whole  cottage  in  with  an  outer  casing. 
It  was  here  that  the  city  was  first 
commenced ;  and  the  wooden  church, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Troitska  Bridge,  is 
the  oldest  in  St.  Petersburgh. 


480 


ROUTE  93.— THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH. 


Sect.  y. 


THE   CHURCH   OP   THE   HOLY   TRINITY. 

The  Church  of  the  Trinity  is  also  a 
modern  erection,  like  the  Smolnoi,  and 
somewhat  resembles  that  edifice.  The  ex- 
terior, however,  offers  an  example  of  the 
very  fantastic  manner  in  which  the  Rus- 
sians decorate  their  churches.  Under  the 
cornice  of  the  dark  blue  star-bespangled 
cupola,  an  arabesque  of  vine-leaves  and 
flowers  runs  all  round.  The  garlands 
are  held  up  by  angels,  and  between 
every  pair  of  them  a  crown  of  thorns 
is  introduced  as  a  centre.  But  for  this 
martyr  token  of  Christianity,  we  might 
fancy  this  church  the  gay  temple  of 
some  Grecian  god. 

The  half,  and  certainly  the  most  im- 
portant half,  of  the  churches  of  St, 
Petersburgh  are  the  erections  of  the 
present  century.  The  Nicolai  Church, 
the  Church  of  the  Resurrection,  and 
some  others  of  the  time  of  Catherine, 
are  not  worth  mentioning  in  an  archi- 
tectural point  of  view.  In  the  Nicolai 
Church,  which  is  built  in  two  stories, 
one  for  the  performance  of  divine  ser- 
vice during  the  winter,  and  the  other 
in  the  summer,  the  four  small  cupolas 
are  tenanted  by  a  number  of  pigeons 
who  have  made  their  nests  there,  and, 
singular  to  say,  they  are  fed  by  their 
attendants  with  the  rice  Avhich  the 
pious  place  there  for  the  dead.  Among 
the  churches  of  other  confessions, -that 
built  by  Paul,  when  he  assumed  the 
protectorship  of  the  Maltese  Order,  is 
at  least  interesting.  It  is  quite  in 
the  style  of  the  old  churches  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John,  and  still  contains 
the  chair  on  which  the  Emperor  sat  as 
Grand  Master  of  the  Order. 

There  are  several  Roman  Catholic 
churches  in  St,  Petersburgh,  The 
priests  are  Germans,  and  the  service, 
half  German,  half  Latin,  is  attended  by 
the  Poles  and  Lithuanians,  The  Rus- 
sians rarely  attend  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic service  ;  if  they  do  go  to  any 
foreign  church,  it  is  generally  the 
Protestant.  The  Roman  Catholics, 
Greeks,  and   Armenians  hold  to   the 


doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  but  the  Dutch, 
as  it  appears,  to  a  Duality ;  for  on  their 
church  stands  the  singular  inscription, 
"  Deo  et  salvatori  sacrum."  This 
church,  with  its  very  rich  revenues, 
dates  from  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great, 
when  the  Dutch  were  the  most  con- 
siderable merchants,  and  were  endowed 
by  the  Tzar  with  so  much  land  within 
the  city  that  many  a  Dutch  cathedral 
may  envy  the  church  of  this  little 
northern  ecclesiastical  colony. 

In  the  New  Lutheran  Church  the 
altar-piece,  a  Crucifixion,  is  by  Brliloff. 
The  body  of  the  Saviour  is  splendidly 
drawn,  but,  otherwise,  he  has  infused  no 
freshness  of  idea  into  this  oft  repre- 
sented subject.  The  Administration  of 
the  Sacrament  below  this,  and  by  the 
same  master,  is  infinitely  higher  in  in- 
terest. 

Several  of  these  churches  are  in  the 
Nevskoi  Prospekt,  also  the  mosques  of 
the  Sunnite  and  the  Schite  communi- 
ties, in  familiar  neighbourhood  one  with 
another ;  thus,  this  street  has  not  in- 
aptly received  the  sobriquet  of  Tolera- 
tion Street. 

THE   ENGLISH   CHURCH. 

The  chapel  of  the  English  Factory  is 
on  the  English  Quay ;  the  church  itself 
is  a  splendid  building,  richly  fitted  up, 
and  capable  of  containing  a  congrega- 
tion of  twelve  hundred  persons.  The 
living  is  of  considerable  value;  the  resi- 
dence of  the  incumbent  is  under  the 
same  roof  with  the  church,  as  are  also 
those  of  the  clerk  and  sexton,  and  all  are 
maintained  on  the  same  liberal  footing. 
The  general  appearance  of  the  edifice 
requires  no  date  to  remind  one  that  it 
was  founded  in  that  period  of  our  his- 
tory when  attachment  to  the  church 
was  not  questioned,  and  liberal  endow- 
ments were  thought  the  wisest  economy, 
and  it  now,  by  mainly  contributing  to 
keep  up  the  true  national  spirit,  makes 
a  worthy  return  to  the  descendants  of 
those  who  established  it.  The  altar- 
piece,  a  "  Descent  from  the  Cross,"  is 
well   executed.     In    addition   to   the 


Hussia. 


EOUTE    93. ACADEMY    OF    SCIEKCES. 


481 


church  establishment,  the  Factory  has 
an  excellent  library,  and  the  mer- 
chants, to  whom  it  belongs,  are  most 
liberal  towards  any  English  visitor 
who  may  desire  to  consult  any  of  their 
books.  A  stranger  should,  if  possible, 
be  furnished  with  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion to  one  of  these  gentlemen;  we  can 
say  it  from  an  experience  to  which  we 
look  back  with  real  pleasure,  that  their 
courtesy  and  hospitality  is  unbounded. 
It  may  with  truth  be  said  of  the  British 
merchants,  in  St.  Petersburgh,  that  they 
are  of  the  first  class  in  character,  intel- 
ligence, and  stability,  and,  though  resi- 
dent there  for  generations  past,  are 
honourably  and  jealously  national  in 
their  habits  and  feelings,  and  bring  up 
their  families  in  the  same  spirit.  The 
Emperor  has  a  very  sincere  respect  for 
them. 

THE   ROMAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 

The  principal  church,  which  is  in  the 
Nevskoi,  is  amost  graceful  building,  with 
a  finely  proportioned  dome  and  slender 
Corinthian  columns.  In  the  interior 
is  a  tablet  of  white  marble  edged  with 
black,  which  bears  the  name  of  Moreau, 
and  tells  of  the  brilliant  achievements 
and  sad  fate  of  the  conqueror  of  Ho- 
henlinden. 

ACADEMY   OF   SCIENCES. 

Peter  the  Great,  during  his  residence 
in  France,  resolved  on  forming  in  his 
capital  an  Academy  of  Sciences,  on  the 
plan  of  the  establishment  at  Paris,  and 
he  applied  to  that  body  to  furnish  him 
with  their  laws  and  regulations.  He 
was  referred  to  Leibnitz,  and  the 
Tzar  had  several  interviews  with  that 
celebrated  philosopher,  who  devoted 
much  time  in  forming  a  plan  for  the 
new  Academy,  which  was  finally  esta- 
blished by  Peter  in  the  year  1725; 
but  the  building  which  is  appropriated 
to  its  museum  and  the  meetings  of  its 
members,  was  not  completed  until  the 
year  1790.  The  Academy,  since  its 
foundation,  has  reckoned  many  eminent 
men  amongst  its  members,  including 


Pallas,  Gmelin,  and  Schubert.  It  is 
now  divided  into  three  departments  ; 
the  first  is  devoted  to  the  mathematical 
sciences  ;  the  second  to  natural  history ; 
and  the  third  to  history  and  statistics. 
There  are  twenty-one  professors,  and 
to  these  may  be  added  the  ordinary 
and  honorary  members,  and  its  foreign 
correspondents.  The  Emperor  names 
the  president  and  vice-president. 

The  following  departments  of  the 
Academy  should  be  visited  : — 

The  Library,  which  contains  above 
100,000  volumes  and  an  extensive 
collection  of  MSS.  ;  among  the  latter 
may  be  mentioned  those  of  the  cele- 
brated Kepler,  in  eighteen  volumes, 
and  a  large  collection  of  political  docu- 
ments relating  to  the  history  of  Russia. 

In  the  Asiatic  Museum  is  a  rich 
collection  of  Chinese,  Mongol,  Mand- 
chou,  and  Thibetian  MSS.,  written 
frequently  in  characters  of  gold  or 
silver.  These  MSS.  were  mostly  found 
in  a  temple  in  the  Irtuish  in  Siberia ; 
there  are  also  numerous  Arabian,  Per- 
sian, Turkish,  and  Japanese  MSS. ;  and 
various  works  relating  to  the  history, 
religion,  and  literature  of  the  people 
of  the  East.  The  M^tseum,  perhaps 
unique,  contains  a  large  collection  of 
idols,  dresses,  domestic  utensils,  and 
instruments  of  war  of  the  nations  of 
Asia.  Among  the  idols  is  an  interest- 
ing collection  from  Mongolia,  cut  in 
bronze  and  gilded,  illustrating  the  reli- 
gion of  Budha.  There  is  likewise  a 
cabinet  of  eastern  coins  and  medals, 
containing  above  15,000  specimens, 
amongst  which  a  golden  seldjouh,  and 
a  golden  etabek  of  Mosul,  are  extremely 
valuable.  The  tribute  money  paid  by 
the  King  of  Persia,  in  1828,  to  the  Em- 
peror of  Russia,  is  also  preserved  here. 

The  Egyptian  Museum  has  a  few 
fine  specimens  of  papyrus,  but  is  in 
other  respects  deficient  in  interest. 

The  Ethnograjjhic  Museum  consists 
of  dresses  and  domestic  implements  of 
various  nations  which  inhabit  the 
northern  parts  of  Russia ;  also  figures 
of  many  of  the  different  people  con- 


482 


EOUTE    93. ACADEMY   OF   SCIENCES. 


Sect.  V. 


quered  by  the  Russians,  habited  in 
their  own  peculiar  costumes ;  likewise 
some  of  Chinese,  Persians,  Aleutans, 
Carelians,  and  the  inhabitants  of  many 
of  the  Eastern,  Pacific,  and  Northern 
Islands,  discovered  or  visited  by  Rus- 
sian travellers  and  navigators,  as  well 
as  of  the  different  nations  inhabiting 
Siberia. 

The  Collection  of  Medals  and  Coins 
consists  chiefly  of  specimens  collected 
by  the  Count  Suchtelen,  and  purchased 
by  the  Academy.  The  series  of  Rus- 
sian coins  is  complete  and  valuable. 

The  Mtiseitm  of  Natural  History  is 
not  extensive,  but  the  objects  are  well 
preserved. 

The  collection  of  stuffed  birds  and 
animals  is  beautiful  of  its  kind,  the 
specimens  exquisitely  perfect  in  form 
and  plumage,  and  well  arranged. 

The  first  three  or  four  rooms  contain 
glass  cases  filled  with  these,  some  of 
which  are  most  splendid,  being  princi- 
pally tropical  birds  of  the  brightest  and 
most  gaudy  plumage.  In  other  rooms 
is  a  goodly  collection  of  stuffed  animals, 
and,  further  on  again,  the  skeletons  of 
brutes  of  common  dimensions,  together 
with  a  large  quantity  of  horns  and 
tusks  of  enormous  length,  found  in 
Siberia  ;  many  of  these  do  not  measure 
less  than  7  or  8  feet  in  length.  Hav- 
ing passed  these  specimens,  the  visitor, 
turning  sharply  at  the  end  of  the  long 
range  of  rooms,  will  stand  at  once  be- 
fore the  giant 

Mammoth — admirably  placed  for 
displaying  its  huge  dimensions  and 
massive  bones,  which  are  supported  by 
iron  bars.  It  is,  we  believe,  a  perfect 
skeleton,  with  the  exception  that  one 
of  the  hind  feet  seems  to  be  a  restora- 
tion in  wood ;  the  right  fore  foot  has 
the  covering  of  skin  still  complete  upon 
it,  and  a  roll  of  the  animal's  hide  lies 
before  it — bullet  proof,  we  should 
think,  from  its  great  thickness.  The 
skeleton  of  a  common  elephant  is 
placed  by  the  side  of  that  of  the  mam- 
moth, and  shrinks  into  insignificance 
when  compared  with  it ;  the  mammoth 


being  at  least  2  feet  higher,  and  longer 
in  the  same  proportion.  The  head  of 
this  antediluvian  monster  still  retains 
its  integuments  and  many  of  its  liga- 
ments entire ;  the  skin  was  covered 
with  black  bristles,  thicker  than  horse- 
hair, 12  to  16  inches  long,  and  with 
wool  of  a  reddish  brown  colour.  About 
30  lbs',  weight  of  this  fur  was  gathered 
from  the  wet  sand-bank  on  which  it 
was  found.  The  animal  is  16  feet  long, 
without  reckoning  the  tusks.  The 
difference  between  the  two  skeletons 
in  the  p'osition  of  the  tusks  immediately 
attracts  notice.  In  the  mammoth  they 
approach  closer  together  at  the  roots 
than  in  the  elephant,  and  thence  ex- 
tend laterally  like  two  sythes  in  the 
same  horizontal  plane,  and  not  in  two 
parallel  vertical  planes,  as  in  the  ele- 
phant. It  would  thus  appear  that  the 
mammoth  in  defending  itself  moved 
the  head  from  side  to  side,  whereas  the 
elephant  in  striking  tosses  the  head 
upwards.  The  mammoth  is  also  dis- 
tinguished from  the  elephant  by  the 
greater  length  and  compression  of  its 
skull,  as  well  as  by  its  superior  height. 

In  the  Hermitage  is  a  bas-relief  of  a 
woman's  head,  as  large  as  life,  cut  from 
a  tusk  which  belonged  to  one  of  these 
monsters.  An  Irish  traveller  humor- 
ously calculates  that  the  one  in  the 
museum  would  require  an  acre  of  grass 
and  five  or  six  birch  trees  for  a  break- 
fast. 

This  huge  inhabitant  of  our  "  earth 
in  its  vigorous  prime"  was  found  in 
1803,  by  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Lena  in  Siberia,  in  lat.  70°.  It  fell 
from  a  mass  of  ice,  in  which  it  must 
have  been  incased  for  ages,  and  so 
fresh  was  the  flesh  of  the  animal,  that 
the  wolves  and  bears  were  actually 
found  eating  the  carcase.  How  it  was 
preserved  during  the  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  such  stupendous  beings 
as  the  mammoth  and  mastodon  walked 
the  earth  with  their  brethren,  is  a 
question  which  has  given  rise  to  much 
speculation.  It  is  impossible  to  con- 
template the  gigantic  structure  of  the 


Russia.      EOUTE  93. — museum  of  peter  the  gee  at. 


483 


skeleton  without  being  struck  with  the 
wonderful  power  such  a  colossal  brute 
miist  have  possessed.  How  the  earth 
must  have  shaken  beneath  his  pon- 
derous and  unwieldly  gambols,  when 
"  he  moved  his  tail  like  a  cedar,  and 
drank  up  a  river  and  hasted  not." 
The  sight  of  this  primeval  relic  of  an 
extinct  race  imparts  a  deep  feeling  of 
the  boundless  power  of  the  Almighty 
Being  who  breathed  the  breath  of  life 
into  the  nostrils  of  this  mighty  work  of 
his  creation ;  and  again  in  the  fulness 
of  his  appointed  time  bade  them  be- 
gone, and  their  race  was  no  more 
known  upon  earth.  Here  are  also 
large  quantities  of  bones  of  several 
extinct  species  of  elephant,  one  of 
which  (named  by  Fischer  Elephas 
Panicus)  seems  to  have  surpassed  the 
mammoth  in  size,  as  much  as  the  latter 
exceeded  the  Indian  elephant :  in  addi- 
tion to  these,  there  are  a  great  many 
skulls  of  the  larger  kind  of  antediluvian 
rhinoceros  [Rhin.  Teichorhinus,  Pal- 
las), which  far  exceed  in  size  any  of 
the  living  African  species.  The  skull, 
owing  to  its  great  length  and  arching 
of  the  upper  jaw,  has  some  resemblance 
to  that  of  a  bird,  and  may,  perhaps, 
have  given  rise  to  the  fables  which  now 
circulate  among  the  Yukagirs,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Icy  Sea,  respecting  a 
colossal  bird  of  old  times,  the  bones  of 
which  are  said  to  be  occasionally  met 
with. 

In  another  room  is  the  largest  artifi- 
cial globe  we  believe  in  Europe :  it  is 
made  of  oiled  silk,  inflated,  on  which 
are  depicted  the  various  countries  and 
seas  of  the  globe  we  inhabit.  It  was 
constructed  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  great  Euler  during  his  residence 
here,  and  appears  to  be  carefully  and 
accurately  executed.  The  south  pole 
rests  on  the  ground,  and  its  height 
must  be  at  least  10  feet,  as,  standing 
close  to  it,  the  equator  is  full  on  a  level 
with  the  face. 

The  mineralogical  collection  is  much 
less  extensive  than  that  of  the  Corps 
des  Mines.     The  Academy  is  indebted 


to  the  labours  of  the  learned  Pallas  for 
the  greater  part  of  its  riches.  In  the 
room  devoted  to  anatomical  subjects  is 
an  exhibition  by  no  means  agreeable, 
but,  no  doubt,  useful  to  medical  science. 
Amongst  the  specimens  is  a  child  with 
two  heads,  &c.  More  interesting  to 
the  visitor  is  a  large  collection  of 
medals  and  different  articles  in  gold 
found  in  the  tumuli  of  Siberia,  con- 
sisting of  bracelets,  vases,  crowns, 
bucklers,  rings,  sabres  with  golden 
hilts,  &c.,  &c.,  many  of  them  of  great 
value  and  very  elegant  workmanship, 
which  have  given  rise  to  much  interest- 
ing speculation  in  regard  to  the  people 
who  formerly  inhabited  that  country. 

The  Botanical  Collection  is  one  of 
the  finest  in  Europe,  and  is  well 
worthy  of  inspection. 

The  collection  of  chemical  and  phy- 
sical apparatus  is  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Professor  Lenz,  whose 
labours  in  the  cause  of  science  have 
acquired  him  a  just  reputation.  Many 
of  the  instruments  are  English.  A 
large  galvanic  battery  and  the  electric 
and  magnetic  apparatus  were  con- 
structed in  Russia. 

An  interesting  account  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Academy  for  the  last 
few  years,  with  the  particulars  of  the 
expeditions  that  have  been  sent  [into 
various  parts  of  Russia,  may  be  found 
in  the  Precis  du  Systeme,  &c.,  de 
rinstruction  publique  en  Riissie,  par 
Alexandre  de  Krusenstern. 

An  introduction  to  one  of  the  pro- 
fessors will  be  useful  in  obtaining  per- 
mission to  see  all  the  departments  of 
the  Academy  which  are  not  generally 
open  to  the  public. 

A  ruble  will  satisfy  the  attendants. 

MUSEUM    OP    PETER   THE    GREAT. 

Scarcely  a  town  in  Russia  is  without 
some  memorial  of  the  handywork  of 
Peter  the  Great,  and  the  constant  an- 
swer to  the  inquiry  after  the  maker 
of  any  extraordinary  looking  article 
is  "  Peter  Veliki."  But  whatever  has 
been  seen  in  other  places  dwindles  into 


484 


ROUTE    93. — ACADEMY   OF   ARTS. 


Sect.  V. 


insignificance  when  compared  with  tlie 
contents  of  the  suite  of  apartments  in 
which  that  Tzar  was  in  the  habit  of 
passing  his  leisure  hours  engaged  in 
some  mechanical  employment.  These 
rooms  are  under  the  same  roof  as  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  in  the  Vassili 
Island^  and  their  contents  form  a  mu- 
seum more  peculiarly  known  as  that  of 
Peter  the  Grreat.  The  first  objects 
here  seen  are  unpleasing  enough ;  con- 
sisting of  a  number  of  Tartar  and 
Mongol  figures,  dressed  in  their  ugly 
national  costume :  but,  above  all,  a 
figure  of  a  sorcerer  in  rags  and  tatters, 
hideously  deformed,  and  squinting 
frightfully,  with  the  very  lineaments 
and  expression  of  a  fiend.  In  the  next 
room  is  a  very  indifferent  collection  of 
stuffed  birds  and  beasts.  The  Arabian 
horse,  also  stuffed,  which  Peter  rode  at 
the  battle  of  Pultava,  and  the  two 
dogs  that  always  accompanied  him, 
are  in  this  part  of  the  Museum. 
The  crowning  horror  of  the  collection 
is  the  flayed  skin  of  Peter's  favourite 
attendant,  a  gigantic  Holsteiner — a 
disgusting  object  in  itself,  and  rendered 
tenfold  more  so  by  the  arrangement 
of  the  figure.  Grlad  to  escape  from 
such  repulsive  objects,  the  stranger  will 
do  well  to  hurry  his  guide  up  stairs  to 
"  Peter's  own  room,"  as  it  is  called. 
Here  a  wax  figure  of  the  monarch,  as 
large  as  life,  dressed  in  a  suit  of  blue 
satin,  the  same  which  he  wore  when 
he  placed  the  crown  on  the  head  of  his 
beloved  Catherine,  is  seated  beneath  a 
crimson  velvet  canopy.  The  features, 
bej'ond  doubt,  bear  an  exact  resem- 
blance to  the  original,  having  been 
taken  from  a  cast  applied  to  his  face 
when  dead,  and  shaded  in  imitation  of 
his  real  complexion.  The  eyebrows 
and  hair  are  black,  the  eyes  dark,  the 
skin  swarthy,  and  the  aspect  stern. 
This  figure  is  surrounded  by  portraits 
of  several  of  his  predecessors,  in  the 
costumes  of  the  day.  Here,  also,  is 
Peter's  uniform  of  the  Preobrajenskj' 
Guards,  gorget,  scarf,  and  sword,  and 
hat;  shot  through  at  the  battle  of  Pultava. 


A  stick  is  shown  measuring  his  exact 
height,  6  feet.  A  large  press  is  filled  with 
a  plentiful  display  of  the  Tzar's  wardrobe, 
the  contents  of  which  appear  endless. 
The  immense  quantities  of  Peter's  per- 
formances exhibited  in  these  rooms  are 
enough  to  have  occupied  the  life  of  any 
ordinary  man.  A  chandelier,  with  a 
whole  cluster  of  branches ;  plates  with- 
out number,  embossed  with  silver  and 
gold  ;  reading-tables  and  escritoirs ;  a 
curious  musical  instrument  playing  two 
tunes  by  clockwork,  and  not  unlike  a 
musical  snuff-box  in  tone,  allowing  for 
the  difference  of  size ;  a  group  in  ivory, 
representing  Abraham  offering  up  his 
son  Isaac,  the  ram,  and  the  angel  Ga- 
briel cut  out  entire  ;  some  bronze  bas- 
reliefs,  representing',  Avith  great  perfec- 
tion of  outline,  different  stages  of  the 
battle  of  Pultava ;  and  a  heap  of  tools 
of  all  kinds,  enough  to  stock  a  very 
respectable  carpenter's  shop,  form  but 
a  portion  of  his  labours.  There  are 
three  or  four  lathes  in  one  room,  evi- 
dently much  used,  and  on  one  of  them 
a  curious  half-finished  cylinder  of  brass 
inlaid  with  silver,  which  we  may  con- 
clude was  the  last  piece  of  mechanical 
labour  with  which  this  indefatigable 
man  was  occupied.  The  Museum  of 
Peter  the  Great  is  open  to  the  public 
every  Monday  from  9  till  2  o'clock 
during  the  summer  months  :  a  ticket 
will  admit  five  persons. 

THE    ACADEMT    OF    ARTS. 

This  building,  also  on  the  Vassili 
Island,  is  described  by  a  late  writer  on 
Russia  as  one  of  "those  outwardly  splen- 
did piles,  with  ten  times  more  space  than 
in  England  would  be  allowed  for  the 
saiue  object,  ten  times  more  out  of  re- 
pair, and  ten  thousand  times  dirtier. 
At  the  ceremony  of  Russian  baptism 
the  sign  of  the  cross  is  made  on  the 
lips  to  say  nothing  bad,  on  the  eyes  to 
see  nothing  bad,  on  the  ears  to  hear 
nothing  bad,  and,  it  must  be  supposed, 
on  the  nose  also,  to  smell  nothing  bad  ; 
for  the  Russians  do  not  seem  incon- 
venienced by  the  trials  to  which  this 


Bussia. 


ROUTE    93. ACADEMY    OF   ARTS. 


485 


organ  is  exposed  on  entering  their 
dwellings.  But  to  return  to  this  odor- 
iferous academy — the  hall  and  staircase 
are  all  on  a  grand  scale,  and  appro- 
priately adorned  with  casts  from  the 
Laocoon,  the  Grladiator,  and  other  cele- 
brated statues  of  antiquity.  A  stripling 
population,  students  in  uniform,  and  ca- 
dets from  the  colleges,  to  whom  it  was 
a  half-holiday,  were  swarming  in  the 
extensive  rooms ;  seemingly  under  no  re- 
straint except  that  of  a  dancing-master, 
before  whom  about  fifty  of  them  were 
dancing  quadrilles,  with  much  grace  and 
expression,  in  a  cloud  of  dust.  They 
seemed  to  consider  this  very  great  fun, 
and  twisted  their  slim  pale  partners 
about  most  emphatically,  while  many 
a  laughing  eye  turned  upon  the  un- 
bidden spectators,  who,  to  own  the 
truth,  loitered  longer  in  this  room  than 
the  occasion  required.  But  in  these 
times,  when  good  dancing  has  proved  a 
quick  step  to  advancement  in  Russia, 
this  accomplishment  is  not  to  be  neg- 
lected. The  walls  are  lined  with  eight 
cartoons  of  boar-hunts  and  sylvan  sports 
by  Rubens  and  Snyders — the  latter 
quite  undeniable — of  great  merit,  though 
we  could  procure  no  information  of 
their  history.  Also  a  fine  marble  bust 
of  this  magnificent  Emperor,  which,  had 
it  been  dug  up  in  classic  ground,  would 
have  been  declared  a  Grecian  demigod 
— it  was  impossible  to  pass  it  without 
admiration. 

"  But  the  great  attraction  was  Brii- 
loff's  picture  of  the  fall  of  Pompeii — an 
immense  canvas— at  least  20  feet  wide 
by  15  high,  which  now  ranks  as  one 
of  the  lions  of  the  capital.  This  pic- 
ture is  a  gallery  in  itself,  and  one  of 
absorbing  interest.  Above  the  scene 
hangs  the  dense  black  cloud  as  de- 
scribed by  Pliny.  To  the  right  this  is 
broken  by  a  stream  of  forked  lightning, 
whose  vivid  light  blends  horribly  with 
the  red-hot  sulphureous  glare  of  the 
volcano,  the  outline  of  which  is  dimly 
visible.  In  the  centre  of  the  picture, 
where  the  light  falls  strongest,  lies  the 
body  of  a  female,  her  arms  extended — 


a  crying  infant  lying  upon  her,  with 
one  little  hand  clinging  to  the  drapery 
beneath  her  bosom ;  she  has  evidently 
been  killed  by  a  fall  from  a  chariot, 
one  broken  wheel  of  which  is  close  to 
her,  and  which  is  seen  borne  along  at 
full  speed  in  the  distance  by  two  terri- 
fied horses,  while  the  driver,  the  reins 
twisted  round  his  wrist,  is  dragging  be- 
hind them.  Forwarder,  on  the  right, 
is  a  group  of  father,  mother,  and  three 
sons  :  the  aged  father,  trying  with  one 
hand  to  ward  off  the  shower  of  ashes, 
is  carried  in  the  arms  of  the  eldest  son, 
who,  helmeted  like  a  soldier,  is  care- 
fully picking  his  way  among  the  falling 
stones.  The  younger,  quite  a  lad,  is 
supporting  the  old  man's  feet,  and 
gazing  with  a  countenance  of  agony  at 
a  tottering  monument.  The  second  son 
is  supplicating  his  mother  to  trust  her- 
self also  in  his  arms ;  but,  half  extended 
on  the  ground,  she  gently  repulses  him, 
and  affectionately  urges  his  own  safety. 
The  expression  and  lighting  of  this 
group  is  beyond  all  praise.  In  the  right 
corner  of  the  picture  is  a  lover  bearing 
the  body  of  his  fainting  mistress  ;  from 
the  chaplet  on  her  head,  and  other  bri- 
dal ornaments,  they  appear  to  have  been 
just  united.  Behind  is  a  grey  horse  in 
full  light,  furious  with  terror,  his  rider 
clinging  with  every  muscle;  while 
half  hidden,  appears  a  frantic  figure, 
the  nails  fastened  into  the  animal's  back 
in  the  attempt  to  mount.  On  the  left 
of  the  centre  is  a  terror-stricken  family 
— father,  mother,  and  two  children, 
cowering  half-naked  beneath  the  red- 
hot  hail,  and  forming  a  dark  mass  in 
opposition  to  a  confusion  of  figures  in 
full  light  behind  them — some  escaping 
terrified  from  the  tottering  portal  of  a 
building,  others  bearing  children  or 
valuables  in  their  arms  ;  a  priest  with 
the  golden  vessels  of  the  temple  ;  and 
in  the  midst  an  artist,  Brliloff  himself, 
carrying  his  box  of  implements  on  his 
head.  The  picture  terminates  with  a 
group  of  Christians,  with  an  anachrontic 
chalice  and  censer,  intended  by  their 
pious  resignation  and  attitude  of  devo- 


486 


EOUTE    93. — TECHNOLOGICAL   INSTITUTION.  Scct.    V. 


tion  to  contrast  with  the  wild,  hopeless 
terror  around.  But  these  are  the  least 
effective  of  the  composition." 

The  remaining  works  worthy  of  any 
notice  are  the  Cartoons  of  Raffaelle 
Mengs ;  an  Apollo  and  Muses,  and  a 
few  of  the  Raffaelles  and  Peruginos. 
Some  statues  from  Warsaw  are  not 
"v^ithout  merit ;  those  brought  from  the 
islands  of  the  Archipelago  by  Ad- 
miral Spiridion  are  mere  fragments. 
There  is  also  a  well-executed  statue, 
in  marble,  of  Napoleon,  brought  from 
Hamburg  by  Benningsen  and  Witgen- 
stein. 

If  Briiloff  should  be  in  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  his  studio  in  this  academy  will 
be  worth  a  visit ;  we  remember  when  in 
Rome  calling  at  his  domicile,  but  the 
master-spirit  of  the  place  was  absent  in 
the  frigid  land  of  his  birth ;  we  tried 
again  to  make  his  acquaintance  in  St. 
Petersburgh,  but  he  was  then  suffer- 
ing from  so  severe  an  illness  as  to  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  an  interview 
with  him,  and  in  fact  of  his  handling 
the.  pencil  for  months  perhaps  years. 
Briiloff  can  paint,  and  with  great  free- 
dom, subjects  of  less  importance  than 
the  fall  of  Pompeii ;  Ave  have  seen 
groups  of  dancing  girls  with  all  the 
flow  of  Rubens;  sultanas  etched  in 
every  languid  attitude  ;  and  even  ele- 
phants and  dogs — all  breathing  that 
originality  and  fire,  which  forms  the 
chief  charm  of  his  great  pictures. 

The  academy  has  an  elevation  of 
70  feet ;  the  whole  length,  400  feet, 
along  the  facjade  facing  the  Neva,  is 
adorned  with  columns  and  pilasters ;  on 
the  centre  cupola  is  seated  a  colossal 
Minerva,  and  the  portal  is  supported 
by  a  Farnese  Hercules  and  a  Flora. 

The  parapet  in  front  of  the  Academy 
of  Arts  is  adorned  with  two  superb 
granite  sphinxes  brought  from  Egypt. 
This  institution  is  so  extensive,  that 
not  only  the  300  pupils  who  receive 
instruction  live  here,  but  also  the  pro- 
fessors and  academicians,  and  many 
artists ;  in  all,  it  is  said,  not  less  than 
1000  persons. 


ROMANZOFF  MUSEUM. 

This  Museum,  bequeathed  to  the 
public  by  the  chancellor.  Count  Ro- 
nianzoff,  is  open  every  day  except 
Sundays.  It  contains  a  large  collection 
of  minerals,  models,  antiquities,  &c., 
and  a  considerable  library,  rich  in  Sla- 
vonian MSS.  We  observed  among  the 
latter  a  volume  entitled  "Copies  of  Let- 
ters written  and  received  by  Sir  Charles 
Cornwaleys,  Knight,  during  his  Em- 
bassie  in  Spain,  with  other  his  Observ- 
ations and  Negociations,  1606."  There 
are  two  statues  by  Canova ;  one  of 
Count  Romanzoff,  the  grandfather  of 
the  chancellor,  and  an  allegorical  figure 
of  Peace  ;  neither  of  which  can  be 
classed  among  his  best  works.  The 
Museum  is  confided  to  the  care  of  M. 
Onatcewitcz,  a  Polish  gentleman,  for- 
merly professor  at  the  university  of 
Wilna.  M.  Onatcewitcz,  known  as  the 
author  of  several  works  on  the  history 
of  Poland,  is  now  employed  by  the 
government  in  collecting  materials  for  a 
history  of  Russia.  He  is  deeply  versed 
in  the  history  of  Europe,  and  particu- 
larly in  that  of  his  own  country.  The 
Romanzoff  Museum  is  open  to  the 
public  daily  from  10  till  3. 

TECHNOLOGICAL   INSTITUTION. 

An  institution  which  merits  the  at- 
tention of  a  traveller  is  the  '  Institut 
Technologique,'  founded  by  the  Em- 
peror Nicholas,  in  1829.  This  estab- 
lishment contains  at  present  215  pupils, 
sons  of  respectable  tradesmen,  who  are 
instructed  in  the  various  branches  of 
mechanics.  Several  small  buildings 
are  attached  to  a  large  edifice,  and  de- 
voted to  various  branches  of  mechani- 
cal labour;  cotton  spinning,  manufac- 
tory of  cloth,  silk,  lace,  carpentry, 
carving  in  wood,  engraving,  &c.,  &c. 
Each  department  is  superintended  by 
an  able  workman,  and  the  pupils  are 
provided  with  tools  and  materials,  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  their  occupa- 
tion, and  a  steam  engine  is  kept  con- 
tinually at  work  on  the  premises  for 


Russia. 


KOUTE    93. CORPS    OF    CADETS. 


487 


their  use.  They  have  a  museum,  with 
a  collection  of  minerals,  &c.,  and  a  room 
filled  with  casts  and  drawings  for  in- 
struction in  the  arts.  The  morning  is 
devoted  to  study,  and  in  the  afternoon 
the  pupils  are  distributed  through  the 
different  workshops.  Those  who  are  able 
to  contribute  towards  the  support  of 
the  establishment  pay  30/.  the  first 
year,  and  251.  the  five  succeeding; 
they  must  remain  six  years,  but  only  a 
few  can  afibrd  to  pay  even  that  sum ; 
the  rest  are  entirely  supported  by  Go- 
vernment. 

The  University  of  St.  Petersburgh  is 
on  a  large  scale ;  there  are  58  Pro- 
fessors and  upwards  of  500  students. 

CORPS    OF    CADETS    AND    OTHER    MILI- 
TARY  ACADEMIES. 

The  military  institutions  form  the 
most  conspicuous  feature  in  the  acade- 
mical system  of  Russia;  they  are  un- 
rivalled in  Europe,  and  the  traveller 
should  endeavour  to  visit  one  or  other 
of  them. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  military 
schools  in  St.  Petersburgh ► 

Regiment  des  Nobles. 

First  Corps  of  Cadets. 

Second  Corps  of  Cadets. 

Corps  of  Cadets  of  Paulofsky. 

Ecole  des  Porte-Enseignes  de  la  Garde. 

Corps  des  Pages. 

Ilcole  d'Artillerie. 

Ecole  du  Genie. 

Corps  de  Voies  de  Communicatio»s. 

Corps  de  Marine. 

Corps  des  Mines. 

The  three  last,  though  not  strictly 
military,  have  been  added ;  but  this 
list  does  not  include  the  several  esta- 
blishments where  the  children  of  sol- 
diers are  educated  and  maintained. 
The  ground  occupied  by  the  Corps  des 
Cadets  in  the  Vassili  Island  forms  a 
square,  of  which  each  side  is  about  a 
quarter  of  an  English  mile  in  length — 
this  will  give  some  idea  of  its  vast  ex- 
tent. The  orderand  cleanliness  of  these 
establishments  are  well  worthy  of  at- 
tention, in  a  country  where  neither  of 


these  virtues  is  very  generally  practised, 
except  under  the  influence  of  the  mili- 
tary system.  The  long  dormitories  and 
refectories  are  admirable  specimens  of 
a  well-ordered  barrack-room,  and  the 
discipline  of  these  youths,  though  not 
kept  up  by  the  birch,  is  such  that  they 
are  able  to  share  in  all  the  fatigues 
of  a  review  with  the  regular  troops. 
The  description  of  one  of  these  esta- 
blishments will  give  an  idea  of  the  rest. 
The  most  ancient,  as  well  as  one  of  the 
most  interesting,  is  the  First  Co7ys 
of  Cadets.  It  was  founded  July,  1731, 
in  the  reign  of  the  Empress  Anne,  and 
was  destined  to  receive  200  cadets  ; 
150  of  whom  were  to  be  chosen  from 
the  noble  families  of  Russia,  and  50 
from  the  same  rank  in  Livonia  and 
Esthonia,  The  cadets  are  divided  into 
four  battalions,  each  of  which  has  dis- 
tinct apartments  and  officers.  They 
are  instructed  in  all  the  necessary  du- 
ties of  a  soldier,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  day  is  taken  up  with  military  exer- 
cises. The  culture  of  the  mind  is  not 
neglected ;  mathematics,  in  which  are 
included  the  works  of  Newton,  the 
French  and  German  languages,  and 
history,  are  among  their  studies. 

The  hall  appropriated  to  recreation 
is  decorated  with  instruments  of  war, 
and  on  the  walls  are  inscribed  the 
principal  events  in  the  history  of 
Russia,  the  names  of  her  generals, 
the  battles  gained  by  her  armies,  and 
the  fortified  towns  which  have  yielded 
to  her  arms.  Two  hospitals,  provided 
with  every  convenience,  are  attached  ; 
one  devoted  to  diseases  of  an  infectious 
nature,  the  other  to  ordinary  complaints. 
They  are  both  under  the  superintendence 
of  a  physician  and  a  military  officer. 
There  are  three  places  of  worship  in  the 
building ;  Greek,  Lutheran,  and  Roman 
Catholic.  A  priest  of  the  Greek  faith 
is  exclusively  attached  to  the  establish- 
ment. The  services  of  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholic and  Lutheran  chapels  are  per- 
formed by  the  ministers  belonging  to  the 
churches  of  these  creeds  in  St.  Peters- 
burgh.    The  museum  contains  military 


488 


ROUTE  93.— CORPS  DES  MINES. 


Sect.  V. 


instruments  of  all  descriptions,  plans  of 
fortified  towns,  models  of  fortifications, 
and  various  objects  relating  to  the  art 
of  war.  There  are  twenty-six  of  these 
academies  in  the  empire,  containing  al- 
together between  9000  and  10,000 
pupils,  the  annual  expense  of  which  to 
the  state  exceeds  3,000,000  rubles. 
The  cadets  usually  enter  the  schools  be- 
tween the  ages  of  ten  and  fourteen ;  and 
there  is  a  preparatory  one  at  Tzarsko 
Selo,  where  they  are  taken  in  at  seven. 
Some  special  schools  for  the  ensigns  of 
the  guard  have  also  been  instituted, 
where  they  are  admitted  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  after  they  obtain  their  com- 
mission :  the  qualifications  requisite  for 
admission  are  noble  extraction  (though 
this  is  not  necessary  for  the  schools  of 
artillery  and  engineers),  a  good  consti- 
tution, and  some  previous  knowledge 
of  the  elements  of  education.  In  the 
Corps  des  Pages,  which  ranks  first 
among  the  academical  institutions  of 
the  empire,  are  the  chldren  of  gene- 
ral officers,  or  civil  functionaries  of 
that  rank,  who  almost  always  become 
officers  of  the  guards.  Punishments 
are  sparingly  used,  and  rewards  are 
distributed  with  a  certain  degree  of 
solemnity  when  the  cadet  receives  his 
commission  ;  but  the  most  brilliant  re- 
compense of  his  scholastic  career  is  the 
inscription  of  his  name  in  golden  letters 
on  a  tablet  in  the  refectory— this  re- 
mains as  a  memento  of  his  attainments, 
and  aff"ords  a  great  incentive  to  exertion 
for  future  pupils.  A  tablet  of  black 
marble,  in  the  church  of  each  aca- 
demy, perpetuates  the  names  of  those 
inmates  of  the  institution  who  may 
have  died  a  hero's  death  in  the  field  of 
battle  ;  and  if  any  action  of  peculiar 
gallantry  has  signalized  his  death  an 
account  of  it  is  there  recorded;  thus 
the  fame  of  many  a  youthful  soldier, 
whose  career  was  too  short  to  attain  a 
place  in  history,  is  preserved  from  ob- 
livion. The  theory  of  the  entire  sys- 
tem has  been  almost  completely  de- 
veloped by  the  Grand  Duke  Michael, 
the  greater  part  of  whose  time  is  given 


up  to  this  subject.  As  many  as  3000  of 
these  young  soldiers  are  sometimes  re- 
viewed by  him ;  some  of  them  measure 
only  three  feet  and  a  half.  With  rare 
exception  they  stand  well  to  their  arms; 
but  it  is  recorded  that  on  one  occasion, 
when  formed  in  square  and  charged  by 
cavalry,  their  little  hearts  failed  them 
as  the  dragoons  got  quite  close,  and  they 
took  to  their  heels  in  all  directions. 
In  the  summer  the  various  Corps  of 
Cadets  are  united  and  encamped  for 
some  weeks  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  palace  at  Peterhoif,  in  order  that 
their  manoeuvres  may  be  conducted 
under  the  eye  of  the  Emperor,  who 
takes  a  great  interest  and  pride  in  these 
lilliputian  regiments ;  they  also  bivouac 
occasionally,  and  conform  to  all  the 
usages  of  an  army  which  has  taken 
the  field. 

The  Corps  de  la  Marine  is  well  de- 
serving a  visit. 

For  full  and  interesting  details  re- 
lating to  the  military  establishments 
of  St.  Petersburgh,  consult  Precis  du 
Systeme,  &c.,  de  I'lnstruction  Publique 
en  Russie,  par  A  de  Krusenstern. 

CORPS   DES    MINES. 

This  institution,  situated  near  the 
western  point  of  the  Vassili  Island,  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  establish- 
ments in  the  capital.  The  building  is 
grand  and  imposing,  and  a  striking  ob- 
ject as  the  traveller  comes  up  the  river 
from  Cronstadt.  Like  many  other  of 
the  institutions  in  St.  Petersburgh,  it 
was  founded  by  Peter  the  Great  for  the 
purpose  of  training  and  forming  a  corps 
of  mining  engineers,  who  should  be 
able  to  explore  scientifically  the  vast 
mineral  resources  of  the  empire.  The 
arrangement  of  the  dift'erent  rooms  and 
collections  is  admirable,  and  the  stranger 
will  find  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  ad- 
mission. This  college  is  the  chief  of 
the  various  schools  scattered  through 
the  mining  provinces  of  Russia,  and  is 
composed  of  forty  pupils  who  have  at- 
tained the  rank  of  officers,  and  280 
cadets,  100  of  whom  are  maintained 


Russia. 


ROUTE  93. — COEPS  DES  MINES. 


489 


and  educated  at  the  expense  of  the 
government,  and  180  either  at  the  ex- 
pense of  their  friends  or  the  directors  of 
the  provincial  mining  establishments. 
The  cadets  supported  at  the  public  ex- 
pense are  sons  of  persons  employed  in 
the  government  mines,  the  other  pupils, 
who  pay  280  rubles,  (about  4SL,)  must 
be  children  of  noblemen,  clergymen,  or 
merchants  of  the  first  guild.  They 
are  compelled  to  remain  eight  years  in 
the  corps.  The  education  is  extensive 
and  liberal,  and  embraces  the  accom- 
plishments of  a  gentleman,  dancing, 
fencing,  music,  &c.  After  they  have 
finished  the  several  branches  of  study 
required,  the  cadets  are  sent  to  super- 
intend the  government  mines,  or  placed 
in  the  mint.  They  hold  a  military 
rank  and  vv^ear  an  uniform. 

The  M^iseum  attached  to  the  "  Corps 
des  Mines  "  possesses  the  finest  mine- 
ralogical  collection  in  Europe.  The 
most  remarkable  specimens  are  an  ag- 
gregate of  seventy-three  crystals  of  eme- 
rald, each  crystal  measuring  from  an 
inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length ; 
splendid  crystals  of  native  sulphur ; 
a  block  of  malachite,  weighing  4000  lbs. 
and  valued  at  18,478^.  This  block  was 
brought  from  Ecatherineburg,  A  piece  of 
native  platina,  weighing  10 1  lbs.,  and 
valued  at  4347^.,  from  the  mines  of 
Nuovo-DemidofF;  also  750  pieces  of 
native  gold,  forming  an  extremely  in- 
structive series  of  specimens  of  the 
alluvial  gold  found  in  the  Uralian 
chain ;  the  metalliferous  grains  vary 
from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  a  mass  of 
80  pounds'  weight,  yet  in  all  may 
be  remarked  a  tendency  to  a  spheri- 
cal kidney-shaped  figure,  and  in  this 
they  agree  with  the  platinum  found  in 
the  same  region.  In  other  parts  of  the 
earth  the  same  metals  are  generally 
found  with  a  crystalline  structure.  The 
piece  of  gold  weighing  80  lbs.,  came 
from  Alexandrofsk,  near  Miask,  in  the 
Ural.  There  is  also  another  piece  which 
came  from  the  same  place,  it  is  8  inches 
in  length  and  5  broad,  and  has  been 
valued  at  26,236^,,  it  Avas  found  3| 


feet  deep  in  the  sand ;  the  silver  ore 
is  from  Tobolsk ;  a  single  crystal  of 
beryl,  weighing  above  6  pounds,  is  con- 
sidered the  finest  known  specimen,  and 
valued  at  6521/.  There  is  also  a  mass 
of  meteoric  iron,  which  was  .found  in 
the  government  of  Yenisei  in  Siberia, 
and  which,  after  having  furnished  spe- 
cimens, under  the  name  of  Pallas's 
native  iron,  to  most  of  the  mineralogi- 
cal  collections  in  Europe,  still  exceeds 
3  cubic  feet  in  bulk.  The  iron  of  this 
mass,  like  the  gold,  shows  no  tendency 
to  crj^stalline  structure ;  this  is  curious, 
for  in  another  collection  are  some  re- 
markable specimens  of  meteoric  iron 
grains,  from  6  to  8  cubic  lines  in  size, 
and  of  a  regular  octahedral  figure,  which 
fell  in  1824,  in  the  government  of  Oren- 
burgh,  separately  inclosed  in  hail-stones. 
Attached  to  the  Corps  des  Mines  is  a 
large  collection  of  fossil  conchology, 
mining  instruments,  models  of  mines, 
chemical  apparatus,  and  combinations 
used  for  mining  purposes,  coins,  and 
medals.  The  riches  contained  in  the 
mineralogical  collection  must  be  enor- 
mous :  four  of  the  specimens  enume- 
rated, siipposing  they  are  of  the  value 
stated,  would  alone  be  worth  112,632/., 
an  extraordinary  sum  to  be  left  within 
a  museum.  Among  the  models  of 
lakes,  mines,  and  mountains,  is  one  of 
a  large  portion  of  the  Ural  chain,  and 
the  lake  of  Olonetz.  The  mines  are 
filled  with  pigmy  labourers,  engaged  in 
the  various  operations  of  excavating, 
smelting,  &c.,  &c. ;  in  our  idea  the 
most  interesting  series  we  ever  saw  in 
any  country. 

But  the  most  curious  part  of  this 
valuable  repository  is  underground, 
being  a  model  of  a  mine  in  Siberia,  ex- 
hibiting to  "the  life"  the  various  prac- 
tical operations  of  mining  in  that  coun- 
try. Furnished  with  lighted  tapers, 
but  no  miner's  dress,  the  visitor  is  led 
by  the  guides  through  winding  passages 
cut  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  the 
sides  of  which  represent,  by  the  ag- 
gregation of  real  specimens,  the  various 
stratifications,  with  all  the  different  ores 


490 


ROUTE    93.-^ECOLE    DU    GENIE. 


Sect.  V. 


and  minerals  and  different  species  of 
earth,  as  they  are  found  in  the  natu- 
ral state ;  the  coal  formation,  veins  of 
copper,  and  in  one  place  of  gold,  being 
particularly  well  represented,  forming 
an  admirable  practical  school  for  the 
study  of  geology,  though  under  a  chilli- 
ness of  atmosphere  which  would  be 
likely  very  soon  to  put  an  end  to  stu- 
dies of  all  kinds  ;  there  ought  at  least 
to  be  a  brandy  bin  in  one  corner  of  it. 
The  pupils  of  this  institution  are  sent 
to  manage  the  mines  in  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains— an  important  branch,  particularly 
in  late  years,  of  the  Russian  revenue. 

At  the  present  time  Russia  produces 
more  gold  than  probably  any  other 
country  in  the  globe,  not  excepting 
Brazil.  The  source  of  this  wealth  is 
the  sand  and  gravel  lying  on  the  sur- 
face, or  immediately  below  the  turf,  at 
the  base  of  the  Ural  Mountains,  and  of 
the  chain  of  the  Altai,  in  Siberia.  Von 
Humboldt  estimates  the  value  of  the 
gold  there  obtained  in  1837,  at  490 
puds,  more  than  one  million  pounds 
sterling.  The  director  of  this  institu- 
tion is  General  Tschefkine.  The  Corps 
des  Mines  may  be  seen  daily  from  10 
till  3  o'clock — a  ticket  of  admission  is 
to  be  had  on  the  spot- 

ECOLE   DU   GENIE. 

This  establishment  for  the  education 
of  military  engineers  is  in  the  old 
Michiloff  Palace,  it  was  devoted  to 
its  present  purpose  after  the  death  of 
the  Emperor  Paul ;  its  gilded  spire  rises 
beautifully  above  the  trees  of  the  grand 
duke's  palace  and  those  of  the  Summer 
Gardens. 

"  One  hundred  and  fifty  young  per- 
sons here  receive  their  mathematical 
and  physical  education.  Its  gardens 
are  filled  with  blooming  young  cadets, 
who  play  and  exercise  there ;  and  the 
former  audience  and  banqueting-rooms 
are  partly  used  as  school,  examination, 
sleeping,  and  eating-rooms,  and  partly 
to  hold  collections  of  various  objects  of 
a  very  attractive  kind,  of  the  highest 
interest   in  engineering   and   fortifica- 


tion. It  is  wonderful  what  progress  the 
Russians  have  already  made  in  this 
branch. 

"  Russia,  with  reference  to  its  military 
fortifications,  is  divided  into  ten  cir- 
cles. To  the  objects  relating  to  the 
fortification  of  each  circle,  a  separate 
hall  is  devoted.  In  large  presses,  in 
the  halls,  are  kept  all  the  plans,  gene- 
ral and  special,  of  already  existing  or 
projected  fortresses.  Each  fortress  has 
its  own  press  for  the  materiel,  in  which 
are  specimens  of  the  bricks,  kinds  of 
earth,  and  the  different  rocks  which  lie 
in  the  neighbourhood,  and  of  which 
the  fortresses  are,  or  are  to  be,  con- 
structed. Lastly,  on  large  stands  in 
the  middle  of  the  halls,  are  to  be  seen 
all  the  fortified  places  in  Russia,  mo- 
delled in  clay  and  wood,  and  with  such 
exactness,  that  not  the  slightest  eleva- 
tion or  sinking  of  the  ground — not  a 
tree  or  a  house  is  forgotten.  In  this 
manner  are  presented,  among  others, 
the  most  striking  pictures  of  Kief, 
Reval,  and  Riga.  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, that  among  them  is  a  complete 
representation  of  all  the  castles  of  the 
Dardanelles,  with  their  bastions  and 
towers,  and  the  most  minute  details  of 
all  the  little  cre?ks  of  the  Hellespont, 
and  the  neighbouring  heights  and 
rocks.  By  means  of  these  models,  the 
whole  plan  of  attack  on  the  Darda- 
nelles could  be  directed  from  St.  Pe- 
tersburgh.  The  mingling  of  the  castles 
of  the  Dardanelles  with  those  already 
garrisoned  by  Russian  troops,  indicates 
that  the  Russians  covet  them,  and 
keeps  warm  the  memory  of  Alexander's 
saying,  'Ilfaut  avoir  les  clefs  de  noire 
maison  dans  la  poche.' 

"  In  one  of  the  rooms  is  an  extraor- 
dinary quantity  of  ukases  and  military 
ordinances,  having  reference  to  the 
erection  of  defences.  They  are  signed, 
and  many  of  them  corrected,  by  the 
different  emperors  and  empresses  with 
their  own  hands.  Catherine,  in  par- 
ticular, has  made  many  corrections  with 
a  red-lead  pencil ;  and  the  present  Em- 
peror always  makes  with  his  own  hand 


Russia. 


KOUTE  93. — OLD  AND  NEW  ARSENALS. 


491 


his  amendments,  alterations,  annota- 
tions, and  additions  to  his  laws,  de- 
crees, and  sentences.  Here  may  be 
seen  a  hundred  repetitions  of  those 
three  important  words,  '  Buit  po  semu,' 
(Be  it  so,)  which  are  annexed  to  every 
ukase.  Catherine's  handwriting  is 
bad ;  but  the  signature  is  never  hur- 
ried ;  on  the  contrary,  she  seems  to 
have  taken  troiible  in  painting  every 
one  of  the  Russian  letters.  All  the 
long  letters  have  a  little  flourish  under 
them,  which  are  made  with  a  trembling 
hand;  some  are  quite  awry,  nor  are 
all  the  letters  in  a  line ;  they  are  not 
joined,  but  nearly  every  one  stands 
alone  and  tolerably  perpendicular, 
without  flow  or  rounding ;  it  is  like 
the  handwriting  of  an  old  man.  Even 
the  individual  letter  will  sometimes  be 
formed  of  unconnected  strokes.  The 
whole  is  plain,  and  without  any  orna- 
mental additions.  After  her  name 
'  Ickathrina,'  stands  always  a  large  dot, 
as  if  she  would  say,  '  And  therewith 
pimcU^n  basta.'  The  Emperor  Alex- 
ander wrote  a  fine  hand  ;  his  name  be- 
gins with  a  large  elegant  A  ;  the  other 
letters,  though  narrow,  are  not  very 
plain  till  the  conclusion,  the  r  is  very 
plainly  written  and  well  formed.  Under 
the  name  is  a  very  long  complicated 
flourish,  which  looks  confused  at  first, 
but  the  thread  is  easily  found,  as  it  is 
always  very  regularly  formed,  and  in 
the  same  figure.  Nicholas  writes  de- 
cidedly the  best  hand  of  all  the  Russian 
Emperors ;  it  is  calligraphically  irre- 
proachable, regular,  intelligible,  and 
flowing.  The  Emperor  begins  with  an 
arching  stroke  of  the  pen,  under  which 
his  name  stands  as  under  a  roof.  The 
last  stroke  of  the  i  slopes  under  in  a 
slender  arch  once  or  twice,  is  then  car- 
ried upwards  to  join  the  first  line,  and 
ends  over  the  name  in  a  thick  bold 
stroke  made  with  a  firm  hand  and  the 
whole  breadth  of  the  pen.  The  name 
is  thus  prettily  inclosed  in  a  frame." 

OLD   AND   NEW   ARSENALS. 

In   the   immediate   vicinity   of  the 


gardens  of  the  Taurida  Palace  are  the 
Old  and  New  Arsenals,  the  latter  built 
by  the  Emperor  Alexander,  in  a  very 
magnificent  style ;  the  former  erected 
by  Count  OrlofiF  at  his  own  cost, 
and  presented  by  him  to  the  Empress 
Catherine.  The  exterior  of  both  is 
adorned  with  a  profuse  array  of  cap- 
tured cannon,  chiefly  Turkish  and  Per- 
sian, of  all  sizes;  and  heaps  of  shot  and 
shell  are  piled  up  in  front.  On  entering 
the  New  Arsenal  the  visitor  will  mount 
a  winding  staircase  which  leads  into  a 
long  gallerj^,  in  which  are  ranged  a 
profusion  of  French  cannon  and  some 
eagles  of  that  nation,  together  with  a 
quantity  of  Russian  arms  of  all  kinds 
fit  for  immediate  use.  A  cannon  foundry 
is  annexed  to  the  arsenal,  the  boring 
being  performed  by  a  steam-engine 
of  twenty-horse  power;  small  arms 
are  also  made  here,  but  the  principal 
manufactory  is  at  Tula,  in  the  govern- 
ment of  that  name.  From  this  foundry 
the  marine  as  well  as  the  land  artillery 
is  supplied,  and  some  of  the  pieces  cast 
are  of  very  large  calibre — we  saw  one 
bored  for  a  ball  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds.  "When  a  gun  is  cast, 
bored,  and  finished  amid  the  songs  of 
the  workmen — for  a  Russian  workman 
is  always  singing,  whether  in  the 
service  of  Ceres  or  of  Mars — it  is 
brought  to  the  place  of  trial,  and  tho- 
roughly examined  by  the  head  en- 
gineer and  master  of  the  works,  when 
the  latter  sets  his  stamp  upon  it,  and 
baptizes  it.  The  finished  cannon  are 
piled  up  in  the  spacious  inner  courts  of 
the  arsenal,  and  we  counted  eight 
hundred  in  one  spot,  with  rammer, 
match,  and  sponge,  ready  for  any  work 
their  owner  might  have  for  them.  In 
this,  as  well  as  in  the  Old  Arsenal, 
are  numerous  apartments  filled  with 
glittering  weapons,  new  and  old,  mili- 
tary engines  and  trophies  of  various 
kinds,  also  relics  that  identify  some 
interesting  periods  of  Russian  history. 
Amongst  the  former  "  there  stands 
in  one  of  the  halls  of  this  arsenal  a 
large  Russian  eagle,  whose  neck,  body. 


492 


ROUTE  93. OLD  AND  NEW  ARSENALS. 


Sect.  V. 


and  legs  are  composed  of  gun-flints; 
the  pinions  of  swords,  every  feather  on 
the  breast  and  belly  is  a  dagger,  every 
tail  feather  a  yatagan,  the  eyes  the 
muzzles  of  two  black  pistols,  the  gullet 
the  bore  of  a  cannon,  a  terrible  *  noli 
me  tangere.''  In  another  hall  is  a  mar- 
ble statue  of  the  Empress  Catherine, 
throned  in  a  royal  chair,  and  surrounded 
by  all  the  emblems  of  imperial  power. 
Her  horse,  a  white  one  stuffed,  stands 
near  her  ;  the  saddle  is  not  a  lady's  side 
saddle,  but  an  ordinary  one  for  the 
other  .sex  ;  we  presume  therefore  that 
the  empress  sat  astride  when  on  horse- 
back, like  one  of  her  OAvn  generals." 

The  street  must  be  crossed  to  enter 
the  immense  square  whose  four  sides 
are  occupied  by  the  Old  Arsenal. 
Here,  in  a  gallery  of  almost  intermin- 
able length,  in  which  an  antiquary 
might  linger  for  days,  are  arranged  the 
various  arms  used  by  the  Russian  army 
under  successive  monarchs,  deposited  as 
each  new  improvement  superseded  that 
previously  in  use.  Cannon  of  wood 
and  leather,  of  the  most  minute  as  well 
as  of  the  most  gigantic  proportions,  are 
also  arranged  side  by  side.  Near  these 
are  some  extraordinary  implements  of 
destruction,  which  might  very  well  be 
called  infernal  machines,  composed  of 
sixty  or  seventy  gun  barrels  arranged 
horizontally  in  a  circle  moving  on 
wheels,  men  being  placed  in  the  centre 
ready  to  fire  and  reload  them.  A 
strange  vehicle  is  also  preserved  here, 
called  the  chariot  of  war,  and  a  most 
fearful-looking  chariot  it  is,  painted 
bright  red,  that  darling  colour  of  the 
Russians,  (which  in  their  language 
is  synonymous  with  beautiful,  hrasnoi,) 
and  garnished  with  an  array  of  dragons 
and  serpents,  opening  wide  their  pon- 
derous and  armed  jaws  on  all  sides. 
Mounted  on  high  on  this  congenial  en- 
gine, Suwaroff,  it  is  said,  was  wont  to 
harangue  his  legions.  The  quantity  of 
ancient  weapons  of  offence,  partizans, 
halberts,  maces,  and  battle-axes,  ar- 
ranged along  the  walls  in  various  de- 
signs, is  surprising;   but  the  greatest 


curiosity  is  a  bench  set  around  with 
pistols  which  belonged  to  a  great  rob- 
ber chief  of  the  Caspian,  who  killed 
the  subjects  of  the  great  Peter  for  a 
length  of  time  with  impunity,  and 
whose  staff  would  have  made  a  nice 
cane  for  Goliath  of  Gath.  This  pirate 
once  burned  a  frigate  and  slaughtered 
the  crew  that  the  Tzar  sent  to  take 
him  ;  but,  bowled  out  at  last,  his  stool 
and  walking-stick  accompanied  his 
head  to  St.  Petersburgh ;  the  stick  is 
as  thick  as  a  man's  wrist,  and  has  brass 
studs  at  intervals  of  about  an  inch  all 
over  it.  Some  of  the  historical  souve- 
nirs and .  antiquities  here  are  highly 
interesting  :  "  for  example,  the  stand- 
ards of  the  Strelitzes,  huge  things  made 
of  pieces  of  silk  sewed  together,  and 
adorned  with  many  highly  original  pic- 
tures characteristic  of  that  fanatical 
Russian  pretorian  band,  who  may  be 
justly  called  the  Janizaries  of  Russia. 
In  the  middle  of  this  flag  sits  a  represent- 
ation of  God  the  Father,  holding  the  last 
judgment ;  over  his  head  is  the  azure 
sky  of  Paradise,  beneath  him  blaze  the 
flames  of  the  infernal  gulf;  at  his  right 
hand  stand  the  just,  that  is,  a  chorus 
of  Russian  priests,  a  division  of  Stre- 
litzes, and  a  number  of  bearded  Rus- 
sians ;  to  his  left  the  unbelievers  and 
the  wicked,  that  is,  a  tribe  of  Jews, 
Turks,  and  Tartars,  negroes,  and 
another  crowd  in  the  dresses  of  Ny- 
emtzi,  or  Germans.  Under  each  group 
the  national  name  is  inscribed ;  and  so, 
also,  by  those  tormented  in  the  flames 
of  hell.  '  A  Turk,  a  German,  a  Miser, 
a  Murderer,'  &c.  Many  angels,  armed 
with  iron  rods,  are  busied  in  delivering 
the  rest  of  the  unbelievers,  the  shriek- 
ing Jews,  Mahomedans,  and  other  in- 
fidels, to  the  custody  of  the  devils. 
Near  the  flags  lie  a  number  of  the  ac- 
coutrements of  the  Strelitzes,  and  the 
images  of  their  patron  saints ;  each 
saint  has  its  own  little  case,  of  which 
a  whole  row,  fastened  to  straps,  were 
worn  on  the  breast,  in  a  fashion  simi- 
lar to  the  Circassian  cartouches.  Some 
Russian  cannon  of  the  period  are  also 


Russia. 


THE    OLD    AND    NEW    ARSENALS. 


493 


placed  here ;  they  are  very  large,  cast 
in  iron,  and  ornamented  with  silver 
and  gold. 

To  every  emperor  and  empress  since 
Peter  the  Great  a  separate  apartment 
is  devoted,  containing  the  clothes,  wea- 
pons, and  utensils  belonging  to  them, 
with  the  instruments  of  war  in  use  at 
that  time,  uniforms,  &c.,  &c.  The  uni- 
forms of  distinguished  generals,  with 
all  their  orders,  crosses,  and  ribbons, 
are  here  deposited  in  glass  cases ;  many 
thousand  ells  of  historically  interesting 
ribbons  figure  among  them.  With  the 
help  of  this  cabinet  a  very  good  history 
of  the  Riissian  army  might  be  com- 
posed. We  may  here  learn  that  the 
SeminofF  and  Preobrajensky  regiments 
of  the  guards,  the  most  important  and 
celebrated  legions,  the  core  of  the 
Russian  armies,  during  their  cen- 
tury of  existence  have  changed  their 
uniform  five  and-twenty  times ;  and 
that  it  does  not  now  in  the  least  re- 
semble what  it  was  a  hundred  years 
ago.  The  changes  of  the  Russian  sol- 
dier from  white  to  black,  from  red  to 
green,  from  long  to  short,  and  from 
wide  to  narrow,  are  more  manifold 
than  those  from  caterpillar  to  chrysalis 
— from  chrysalis  to  butterfly.  In  the 
chamber  of  Alexander  there  are  not 
less  than  sixty  orders  that  he  wore  :  the 
broad  ribbon  of  the  Russian  order  of  St, 
George,  however,  is  not  among  them ; 
the  Emperor  would  not  accept  it,  al- 
though it  was  decreed  him  several 
times  by  the  Chapter  of  the  Order  and 
the  Senate.  This  order  is  only  given  for 
a  great  battle  won,  for  the  preservation 
of  the  empire,  or  the  restoration  of 
peace  by  a  series  of  military  exploits  ; 
and  the  Emperor,  who  could  not  ascribe 
one  of  these  deeds  to  himself  personally, 
refused  the  honour,  in  order  to  maintain 
the  credit  of  the  order  and  its  laws — 
a  noble  trait  ! 

Ever  since  Peter  the  Great,  the  Rus- 
sian Emperors  have  shown  their  re- 
spect and  adherence  to  the  military 
system,  and  thereby  given  their  sub- 
jects a  great  example.    The  pike  which 


Peter  carried  as  a  volunteer  in  his 
own  army,  the  unifonns  he  wore  as 
sergeant,  captain,  and  colonel,  and  the 
leathern  shirt  he  wore  as  a  carpenter, 
all  of  which  are  preserved  in  the  ar- 
senal, constantly  warn  his  successors  to 
follow  his  example.  In  this  Tzar's 
apartment  there  is  still  kept  the  cab- 
riolet he  made  use  of  to  measure  the 
roads,  and  the  number  of  revolutions 
made  by  the  wheels  is  shown  by  the 
machinery  contained  in  the  box  behind. 
On  the  lid  of  this  box  is  a  curious  old 
picture  representing  Peter's  method  of 
travelling.  It  is  a  portrait  of  the  cab- 
riolet itself,  drawn  by  one  horse  and 
driven  by  Peter.  Eehind  him  are 
newly  built  houses,  and  gardens  laid 
oiit ;  before  him  a  forest  and  a  wilder- 
ness, to  the  annihilation  of  which  he  is 
boldly  proceeding ;  behind  him  the 
heavens  are  serene,  before  him  the 
clouds  are  heaped  up  like  rocks.  As 
this  picture  was  probably  designed  by 
the  Tzar  himself,  it  shows  what  he 
thought  of  himself. 

In  remarkable  contrast  with  the 
little  modest  cabriolet  of  the  road- 
making  and  measuring  emperor  is  the 
great  triumphant  car,  with  its  flags 
and  kettle-drums,  which  Peter  II.  drove 
before  the  band  of  his  guards,  at  the 
time  when  the  ladies  wore  hoop-petti- 
coats and  the  gentlemen  long  perriwigs. 
Here,  too,  are  Paul's  rocking-horse ; 
Peter  III.'s  Holstein  cuirassiers,  who 
were  so  great  a  cause  of  vexation  to  the 
native  Russians ;  Senka  Rasin's  state 
chair  of  ebony,  garnished  with  rude  pis- 
tols ;  and  the  uniform  of  General  Milora- 
dovitch  *,  in  which  is  seen  the  hole  made 
by  the  bullet  that  pierced  his  heart  in 
therevoltofthe  14th of  December,  1826; 
his  blood  is  still  to  be  distinguished 
round  the  small  but  fatal  aperture — 
the  bullet  is  preserved  here. 

"  In   this    collection,    the   accoutre- 

*  The  command  of  the  Emperor  to  de- 
posit the  uniform  of  a  general  or  com- 
mander in  a  public  place,  the  arsenals  of 
St.  Petersburgh,  or  Moscow,  or  in  any 
church,  is  a  peculiar  distinction  which  has 
only  fallen  to  the  lot  of  a  few  patriots. 
Z 


494 


THE    OLD   AND    NEW   AESENALS. 


Sect.  V. 


ments  of  neighbouring  states  have  not 
been  neglected ;  even  the  equipments 
of  the   Japanese    and    Chinese    may 
be  studied.     The  cuirasses  and  coats  of 
mail  of  the  Japanese  guards  are  made 
of  tortoise-shell,  which  cover  the  whole 
body,  and  are  put  together   in   small 
scales  :  the  face  is  concealed  in  a  black 
mask   representing    an   open-mouthed 
dragon.   The  Chinese  soldier  is  clothed 
from  head  to  foot  in  thickly  wadded 
cotton  :  if  he  cannot  move  about  much 
in  battle,  he  must  be,  at  all  events,  in 
some  measure  protected  against  arrows 
and  cudgels.  Grimacing  masks  are  also 
in  use  among  them.     The  timid  have 
everywhere   a    great  wish    to    infuse 
into  others,  by  means  of  disguises,  that 
terror  which  they   cannot  inspire  by 
their  own  courage.     The  Chinese  wea- 
pons appear  to  have  the   same   aim  : 
among  them  is  a  halberd,  of  which  the 
edge  of  the  axe  is  nearly  six  feet  long, 
an  instrument  of  murder  which  would 
require  a  free  space  of  ten  feet  diameter 
for  every  soldier  to   wield   properly ; 
it  seems  destined  for  the  destruction 
of  giants.     Countless  as  are  the  uni- 
forms, there  is  scarcely  one  to  which  the 
Russian  has  not  once  been  opposed — 
the  Japanese  not  excepted  ;  and  scarcely 
one  from  which  these  northern  warriors 
have  not  torn  some  trophy  of  victory. 

"  Those  in  the  arsenals  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh  are  splendid  silver  shields  of 
Turkish  leaders ;  Polish,  Prussian, 
French,  and  Persian  flags  ;  and  at  least 
a  thousand  ells  of  silk  in  Turkish 
standards,  besides  a  whole  heap  of 
crescents  taken  from  the  mosques.  In 
one  room  we  have  an  opportunity  of 
admiring  the  singular  forms  of  keys 
among  various  nations,  belonging  to 
Persian,  Grusinian,  and  Turkish  fort- 
resses stormed  by  the  Russians ;  and 
by  every  bunch  of  keys  is  a  view  of  the 
city  that  surrendered  them. ' 

Even  a  brief  survey  of  all  these  cu- 
riosities will  have  wearied  the  visitor, 
and  he  will  probably  be  meditating  his 
escape  at  the  end  of  the  third  gallery, 
when  a  new  and  equally  interesting 


display    awaits    him,     consisting     of 
models  of  captured  fortresses,  and  some 
extraordinary  piles    of  flags,  banners, 
and  arms  of  all  nations,  arranged  as 
trophies  of  some  signal  victory.     First 
and  foremost  of  these  is  of  course  Pul- 
tava,   exhibiting  among   other  memo- 
rials of  that  fatal  day,  "  when  fortune 
left   the  royal    Swede,"   the    plumed 
helmet  worn  by  the  monarch  himself, 
war-worn   and   soiled,  while  a  bullet- 
hole  on  the  crown  bears  witness  that 
the  wearer  did  not  shun  the  perils  of 
that  disastrous  fight.     The  wild  horse- 
men of  the  Ukraine  and  the  Caucasus 
are  here  mounted  on  their  mail-covered 
steeds,    and    arrayed   in   their  bright 
panoply ;  the  pacha's  horse-tails  wave 
idly  from  the  walls,  no    more   to  be 
spread  to  the  winds  of  heaven;  and 
the  black  eagle  tells  of  the  day  when 
even  the  stern  discipline  of  the  great 
Frederick   yielded   to  the   fortune   of 
Russia.     Poland,  too,  has  contributed 
her  share   to   this  marshalling  of  na- 
tions overthrown,  in  silver  eagles  and 
torn  and  scathed  banners.  Some  of  the 
fortresses  on  the  Caspian  Sea  appear, 
from  the  models,  to  have  been  of  great 
strength ;  bastion   upon  bastion  brist- 
ling with  cannon,  and  the   wide   sea 
flowing  round  their  ramparts. 

The  last  scene  of  all  this  long  array 
is  the  room  containing  the  funeral  trap- 
pings used  in  conducting  the  remains 
of  the  Emperor  Alexander  to  their  last 
long  resting-place  :  the  walls  are  hung 
with  flags  and  banners,  bearing  the 
arms  of  the  various  provinces  of  this 
vast  empire  emblazoned  on  them,  and 
sable  trappings  for  the  twenty  horses 
that  dragged,  in  slow  and  solemn  state, 
the  ponderous  platform  whereon  the 
royal  coffin  was  laid.  Ilia,  Alexander's 
Russian  coachman,  who  had  served  him 
faithfully  for  thirty  years,  and  accom- 
panied him  everywhere,  slept  during 
the  whole  journey,  wrapt  in  his  furs, 
under  the  hearse  that  brought  his 
master's  corpse  from  Taganrog  to  St. 
Petersburgh.  This  man,  who  was  a  very 
shrewd  fellow,  was  greatly  beloved  by 


Bussia. 


THE   FOUNDLING   HOSPITAL. 


495 


the  Emperor,  and  now  lives  in  the  ca- 
pital, rewarded,  singularly  enough,  with 
the  rank  of  a  councillor  of  state,  where, 
remarks  Kohl,  he  gives  entertainment 
to  his  friends,  and  relates  anecdotes  of 
the  deceased  Emperor.  Such  a  man 
would  be  worth  seeing.  Along  one 
side  of  this  room  are  arrayed  coats, 
boots,  &c.,  innumerable,  of  all  the  Tzars, 
from  Peter  the  Great  to  Alexander ; 
and  in  a  large  glass  case  are  preserved 
the  various  foreign  orders  and  decora- 
tions conferred  upon  the  last-men- 
tioned monarch. 

THE    FOUNDLING   HOSPITAL. 

From  the  moment  the  traveller's  eye 
rests  on  the  gigantic  quays  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  to  that  on  which  he  comes  in 
sight  of  the  above  institution,  the  co- 
lossal character  of  every  public  esta- 
blishment which  has  come  in  his  way 
will  strike  him  as  the  prevailing  fea- 
ture ;  quay,  church,  monolith,  academy, 
palace,  and  cadet  corps  are  all  on  the 
same  stupendous  scale.  But,  however 
deeply  he  may  have  been  impressed  by 
this  fact,  he  must  expand  his  intellect 
for  the  comprehension  of  something  still 
greater  when  he  enters  the  walls  of  the 
Foundling  hospital,  which,  like  all  the 
public  institutions  of  this  capital,  has 
the  air  of  a  palace  rather  than  a  build- 
ing intended  for  charitable  purposes. 
The  Vospitatelnoi  Dom  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  which  occupies  with  its  courts, 
gardens,  and  dependencies,  a  space  of 
twenty-eight  English  acres,  is  close  to 
the  Fontanka  Canal,  and,  therefore,  in 
the  best  part  of  the  town.  The  main 
building  is  composed  of  what  were  for- 
merly the  palaces  of  Prince  Bobrinski 
and  Count  RasumofFski,  which  were  pur- 
chased for  the  institution ;  but  a  number 
of  additional  buildings  have  since  then 
been  erected,  and  the  whole  may  now 
be  said  to  form  a  little  district  of  its 
own.  This  hospital  is  of  more  recent 
origin  than  that  of  Moscow,  of  which 
it  was  only  a  dependent  branch  when 
instituted  by  Catherine    II.  in  1770, 


but  it  now  eclipses  the  parent  insti- 
tution, and  the  children  are  better 
educated.  The  original  endowment  of 
Catherine  was  insignificant  compared  to 
the  present  wealth  of  the  establish- 
ment, which  has  been  enriched  by  pre- 
sents from  private  individuals,  and  by 
large  gifts  from  Alexander,  Paul,  and 
Nicholas,  till  it  has  become  one  of  the 
wealthiest  landed  proprietors  in  Russia, 
not  to  speak  of  some  dozens  of  millions 
lent  out  on  mortgage.  Alexander, 
moreover,  made  a  gift  to  the  hospital 
of  the  monopoly  of  cards,  and  of  the  reve- 
nues of  the  Lombard  bank ;  and  the  con- 
stant ebbing  and  flowing  that  goes  on 
in  the  St.  Petersburgh  purses  makes 
the  Lombard  a  place  of  very  great  im- 
portance. Thus  it  is  that,  in  one  way 
or  another,  the  annual  revenues  of  the 
Foundling  Hospital  do  not  fall  short  of 
from  600  to  700  millions  of  rubles,  or 
about  twice  the  amount  of  the  national 
revenue  of  Prussia.  The  annual  ex- 
penses of  the  institution  are  estimated 
at  5,200,000  rubles;  and  in  1837  the 
buildings  then  in  progress  for  its  ac- 
commodation were  expected  to  cost 
2,000,000.  Among  others,  a  neat 
church  was  in  the  course  of  erection, 
on  which  it  was  intended  to  expend 
600,000  rubles. 

The  establishment  was  at  first  of 
very  limited  extent,  containing,  in 
1790,  not  more  than  300  children. 
Since  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century,  the  number  has  increased  with 
astonishing  rapidity,  and  in  1837  no 
less  than  25,600  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion were  under  the  direction  of  this 
colossal  institution.  The  number  of 
children  annually  brought  in  has  been 
continually  on  the  increase.  In  1829, 
the  number  amounted  to  upwards  of 
3000;  from  1830  to  1833,  it  was  be- 
tween 4000  and  5000;  and  from  1834 
to  1837,  between  5000  and  7000.  No 
condition  is  annexed  to  the  reception 
of  children ;  all  are  received. 

The  first  apartment  into  which  the 
visitor  is  taken  is  the  Lodge,  where  the 

z  2 


496 


THE    FOUNDLING   HOSPITAL. 


Sect.  V. 


children  are  brought  on  their  arrival. 
It  is  a  small  warm  room,  and  the  en- 
trance leading  to  it  stands  open  night 
and  day,  all  the  year  round.  An  in- 
spectress  and  several  servants  are  at  all 
times  in  attendance,  and  a  large  book 
lies  open  in  w^hich  the  young  stranger 
is  forthwith  registered.  From  fifteen  to 
twenty  usually  arrive  in  the  course  of 
the  day,  and  the  only  question  ever 
asked  is,  whether  the  child  has  been 
baptized  and  named.  If  the  answer  is 
in  the  affirmative,  the  name  is  entered 
in  the  book ;  if  not,  the  child  is  merely 
numbered  and  registered  accordingly, 
like  a  bale  of  goods.  In  the  dusk  of 
evening  it  is  that  the  greatest  number 
are  usually  brought  in.  In  fine  wea- 
ther there  are  more  arrivals  than  in 
bad,  and  in  summer  more  than  in 
winter.  "  When  we  entered  the  room," 
writes  Kohl,  "  it  was  about  one  o'clock; 
and,  down  to  that  hour,  the  day  had  al- 
ready increased  the  great  family  by 
seven,  whom  we  found  entered  in  the 
book  under  the  numbers  of  2310-2317. 
Sometimes  when  the  mother  unwinds 
the  cloth  she  will  find  her  infant  already 
dead,  in  Avhich  case  it  is  not  received, 
but  the  fact  is  notified  to  the  priest." 

When  the  poor  mother,  oft  amid 
sobs  and  tears,  has  imprinted  her  last 
kiss  upon  her  infant,  the  latter  is  con- 
veyed to  the  chapel  to  be  immediately 
received  into  the  bosom  of  the  orthodox 
Greek  church,  and  hymns  and  pious 
ceremonies  of  interminable  length  salute 
the  newly  arrived.  Many  die  in  the 
hands  of  the  priests,  and  some  on  their 
way  from  the  receiving  lodge  to  the 
chapel,  in  which  case  there  remain  but 
two  documents  to  tell  the  melancholy 
tale.  In  one  book  will  be  perhaps 
the  following  entry:  "  No.  4512.— A 
child  three  weeks  old.  A  girl.  Re- 
ceived 6th  April,  8  a.m."  The  cor- 
responding entry  then  in  another  book 
will  be  :  "  No.  4512.— Died  6th  April, 
9  A.  M.  Handed  to  the  grave-digger  to 
be  buried."  Those  that  come  alive  out 
of  the  chapel  are    examined   by  the 


medical  attendant,  and,  if  found  healthy, 
are  delivered  into  the  care  of  the  in- 
spectress  of  wet-nurses,  who  delivers 
for  each  a  certificate  something  like  the 
following:  "No.  4513.— Boy.  Bap- 
tized Ivan  Petrovitch.  Received  10th 
May,  10  a.m.  Healthy.  Placed  among 
the  infants  at  the  breast." 

The  wards  for  the  sucklings  are 
spacious,  warm,  well  lighted,  and  hand- 
somely fitted  up.  In  the  ante-rooms 
are  baths,  constantly  kept  full  of  warm 
water,  in  which  the  children  are  fre- 
quently washed.  The  nurses  are  all 
neatly  dressed  in  the  Russian  national 
costume.  Sometimes  the  mothers  will 
apply  to  be  appointed  nurses  to  their 
own  children;  a  wish  that  is  generally 
complied  with,  when  no  reason  to  the 
contrary  presents  itself.  To  prevent 
the  nurses  from  changing  the  children 
confided  to  them,  the  cradles  are  placed 
alternately,  first  a  boy  and  then  a  girl, 
and  then  the  beds  of  the  nurses,  two 
and  two,  in  such  a  manner  that  be- 
tween two  infmts  of  the  same  sex 
there  must  always  intervene  two  nurses 
and  another  infant.  In  each  ward 
there  are  from  40  to  50  beds,  and  on 
the  occasion  of  our  visit  there  were 
650  sucklings,  and  an  equal  number  of 
wet-nurses  in  the  house. 

For  the  first  six  weeks  the  infants 
are  usually  kept  in  the  hospital,  after 
which  they  are  sent  out  to  nurse  among 
the  peasantry  within  a  circuit  of  about 
130  versts,  and,  when  about  six  years 
old,  they  are  taken  from  their  foster 
parents  (what  a  parting  this  must  be 
to  thousands  every  year!);  the  girls  to 
St.  Petersburgh,  for  their  education, 
and  the  boys  to  a  branch  establishment 
at  Gatshina.  Four  or  five  deaths  occur 
daily  in  the  hospital  itself,  or  from 
1500  to  1800  yearly;  but,  including 
those  in  the  branch  establishment  and 
the  children  in  the  country,  the  annual 
deaths  average  from  2400  to  3000.  A 
section  of  the  cemetery  of  Okhta  is  set 
apart  for  the  foundlings,  and  they  are 
usually  buried  several  at  a  time ;  those 


Russia, 


THE    FOUNDLING   HOSPITAL. 


497 


who  have  died  during  two  or  three 
successive  days  being  committed  to  the 
ground  at  one  and  the  same  time:  it 
is  calculated  that  as  many  as  46,000 
foundlings  have  been  already  deposited 
in  the  above  cemetery.  The  propor- 
tion of  deaths  is  greater  than  at  the 
hospital  in  Moscow;  and  this  is  ac- 
counted for  by  the  circumstance  that 
Moscow  lies  in  the  centre  of  the  most 
vigorous  portion  of  the  Russian  popu- 
lation, among  whom  it  is  easy  to  find 
good  healthy  nurses,  and  people  dis- 
posed to  treat  the  children  well  that 
are  confided  to  them.  Around  the 
capital  the  bulk  of  the  peasantry  are 
of  the  Ingrian  race,  and  they  and  their 
houses  are  wretched  in  the  extreme. 
Of  the  children  brought  into  the  hos- 
pital, one-fourth  die  during  the  first 
six  weeks,  at  the  breast,  and  of  those 
sent  out  amongst  the  peasants  more 
than  one-half  die  during  the  first  six 
years,  so  that  at  the  end  of  that  time 
scarcely  a  third  of  the  children  brought 
into  the  institution  remain  alive.  To 
the  great  distances  which  the  children 
have  to  be  carried  this  mortality  must 
be  attributed;  indeed,  many  of  them 
are  all  but  dead  when  they  arrive. 
Not  merely  St.  Petersburgh  and  its 
immediate  environs,  but  one-half  of 
Russia  sends  its  surplus  infantine  popu- 
lation to  this  institution,  and  the  other 
half  deals  in  the  same  way  towards 
Moscow.  In  1836  there  arrived  on 
the  same  day  at  the  Vospitatelnoi  Dom, 
a  child  from  Kisheneff,  in  Bessarabia, 
near  the  Danube,  and  another  from 
Tobolsk,  in  Siberia,  towns  considerably 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  off — how 
many  infants  must  therefore  perish  on 
the  road  ! 

A  portion  of  this  hospital,  and  sepa- 
rated from  the  rest,  is  allotted  to  the 
girls  who  have  returned  from  the  coun- 
try, and  contains  many  hundreds  of 
them,  between  six  years  old  and  eight- 
teen  ;  here  the  order,  cleanliness,  and 
excellent  arrangement  of  the  school 
rooms  and  dormitories,  and  the  neat- 
ness of  the   pupils  themselves,  is  ad- 


mirable ;  everything,  indeed,  about  the 
place  is  truly  imperial.  There  are  always 
from  600  to  700  wet-nurses  ready  for 
as  many  babies,  who  are  paid  at  the 
rate  of  about  11/.  a  year,  and  have 
their  board,  lodging,  &c.,  free;  and  on 
such  terms  there  is  no  doubt  an  abund- 
ant supply  of  competent  individuals 
may  always  be  had.  Of  teachers  and 
inspectors,  or  class  ladies  as  they  are 
called  in  Russia,  there  are  from  400  to 
500  in  the  hospital — French,  Grerman, 
and  Russians;  and  their  salaries  often 
amount  to  several  thousand  rubles. 
The  educational  expenses  of  the  insti- 
tution are  alone  estimated  at  more 
than  half  a  million,  that  is,  including 
the  establishment  for  boys  at  Gatshina. 
Twelve  medical  men,  mostly  Grermans, 
are  attached  to  the  establishment,  and 
are  bound  to  pay  frequent  visits  to  the 
infants  out  at  nurse  in  the  country. 
Then  thereare  cooks,  hoiisekeepers,  and 
other  servants,  some  of  them  members  of 
the  institution  though,  for  many  reasons, 
strangers  are  always  preferred.  In  the 
building  at  St.  Petersburgh,  the  number 
of  inmates  rarely  falls  short  of  6000. 

The  last,  and  perhaps  the  most  strik- 
ing scene,  is  the  dining  hall.  Long 
tables  in  three  rows  are  neatly  laid 
out,  and  long  lines  of  the  elder  girls 
march  in  from  different  sides,  in  double 
files,  led  by  their  governesses  and  in- 
spectresses.  Hundreds,  however,  may 
be  seen  running  in  from  the  garden,  or 
skipping  down  the  stairs;  they  are 
differently  clad,  according  to  their 
several  classes.  Some  in  red,  others 
in  blue,  yellow,  brown,  &c.,  but  all 
clean,  and  their  hair  either  laid  smoothly 
over  the  forehead,  or  prettily  braided. 
An  air  of  health  and  cheerfulness  per- 
vades them  all,  and  the  sight  of  so 
many  pretty  girls  is  quite  bewitching. 
The  director  stands  by  their  side, 
and  each  of  the  children  in  passing 
salutes  him  in  the  most  unconstrained 
manner,  with  a  "  Good  day,  papa,"  in 
Russian,  French,  or  German.  Gradu- 
ally all  arrange  themselves  at  their  re- 
spective tables,  and  a  moment  of  com- 


498 


THE    OBOUKOFF   HOSPITAL. 


Sect.  V. 


plete  silence  follows,  after  which  a 
hymn  is  sung.  The  singing  in  the 
Russian  churches  is  at  all  times  im- 
posing ;  but  to  hear  a  hymn  sung  to  a 
Russian  sacred  melody  by  at  the  least 
a  thousand  voices  has  in  it  something 
so  irresistibly  touching,  that  nothing 
remains  for  the  stranger  but  to  yield  to 
the  impulse  of  feeling  and  join  in  this 
act  of  pratse.  This  pious  formality 
over,  a  lively  buzz  of  conversation,  and 
a  brisk  clattering  of  spoons,  ensues. 
The  dining  room  is  a  relief  after  the 
spectacle  of  the  ward  for  sucklings; 
for  it  is  melancholy  to  think,  that  for 
each  little  head  in  the  room  three 
cherubs  rest  in  the  cold  church- 
yard. 

In  immediate  connection  with  this 
establishment  is  a  lying-in  hospital, 
conducted  with  the  same  degree  of 
liberality,  all  that  apply  being  received 
gratuitously;  while  the  arrangements 
are  so  excellent  that  persons  far  above 
the  lowest  classes  frequently  avail 
themselves  of  it.  Women  may  enter 
the  hospital,  if  they  wish  it,  a  full 
month  before  the  period  at  which  they 
expect  their  confinement,  and  the  ut- 
most secrecy  is  observed,  none  but 
those  connected  with  the  house  being 
permitted  to  enter  these  rooms.  Every 
other  part  of  the  establishment,  how- 
ever, isfreely  shown,  except  on  Sundays, 
on  which  day  no  strangers  are  admitted, 
but  the  friends  and  relatives  of  the 
foundlings,  for  many  parents  continue 
to  watch  the  progress  of  their  infants 
even  after  having  committed  them  to 
the  care  of  the  great  house.  Not  only 
poor  pedestrians  and  private  soldiers 
may  be  seen  wending  their  way  to  the 
Vospitatelnoi  Dom,  on  a  Sunday,  but 
ladies  richly  clad,  and  gentlemen  be- 
dizened with  orders,  stepping  from  their 
coaches-and-four. 

We  cannot  help  thinking  that  a  visit 
to  this  remarkable  establishment  can- 
not fail  to  excite  very  serious  reflections 
in  the  mind  of  the  English  traveller. 
If  the  institution  is  to  be  viewed  in  the 
light  of  a  charity,  it  is  charity  upon  a 


very  questionable  principle;  but,  be 
this  as  it  may,  this  vast  breeding  cage 
will  give  the  visitors  a  very  clear  idea 
of  the  power  and  immense  resources  of 
the  state. 

OBOUKOFF    HOSPITAL. 

The  largest  civil  hospital  in  St. 
Petersburgh  is  that  of  Oboukoff^,  situ- 
ated on  the  Fontanka  Canal,  and  near 
the  SemenofFskoi  parade  ground.  All 
persons  are  received  here.  Those  who 
are  able  contribute  a  small  monthly 
sum  towards  its  support.  Twelve  me- 
dical men  are  attached  to  this  hospital. 
An  iron  plate,  with  the  name  of  the 
patient,  the  nature  of  the  disease,  the 
time  of  entering,  and  the  course  of 
treatment,  is  affixed  above  each  bed. 
The  bedsteads  are  of  iron,  and  the  linen 
remarkably  clean.  There  is  a  school, 
belonging  to  this  hospital,  where  youths 
are  educated  for  hospital  attendants. 
They  are  taught  to  read  and  write, 
instructed  in  Latin  and  in  a  smatter- 
ing of  medicine  and  anatomy,  and  at  a 
certain  age  distributed  among  the  va- 
rious hospitals  of  the  city  as  subor- 
dinate ofiicers.  The  military  hospital 
contains  2000  patients. 

GOSTINNOI   DVOR. 

The  Russians  have  a  very  convenient 
custom  for  persons  who  are  desirous  of 
making  purchases,  that  of  offering  for 
sale  within  the  same  building  almost 
everything  that  is  likely  to  be  bought. 
This  plan  is,  on  the  other  hand,  very 
disagreeable  to  those  who  have  nothing 
to  buy,  for  the  bearded  worthy  who 
stands  at  every  door  of  the  Gostinnoi 
JDvor  is  by  no  means  content  with  ver- 
bally inviting  the  stranger  to  walk  in, 
but  seizes  him  by  the  arm,  or  coat-tails, 
without  ceremony,  and,  unless  he  makes 
some  show  of  resistance,  the  chances 
are  that  he  will  be  transferred,  nolens- 
volens,  to  the  darkness  visible  of  the 
merchant's  dirty  storehouse.  But,  pur- 
chaser or  not,  to  the  great  market  the 
foreign  visitor  must  go,  if  his  object  is 


Russia. 


THE    GOSTINNOI   DVOR. 


499 


to  make  himself  acquainted  with  Rus- 
sian life  amongst  the  middling  and 
lower  classes — the  most  national  in 
every  European  country.  Moreover, 
he  will  find  goods  here  of  every  kind 
and  description,  and  from  almost  all 
parts  of  the  civilized  and  uncivilized 
quarters  of  the  globe. 

There  is  in  most  Russian  cities  of 
importance,  and  generally  in  a  central 
position,  a  Gostinnoi  Dvor,  where  all 
the  more  important  articles  of  com- 
merce are  collected  for  sale.  It  is  gene- 
rally a  large  building,  consisting  of  a 
ground  floor  and  an  upper  floor.  The 
upper  floor  is  generally  reserved  for 
wholesale  dealings;  the  ground  floor 
consists  of  a  multitude  of  booths  or 
shops  in  which  the  various  descriptions 
of  merchandise  are  sold  by  retail.  The 
dwellings  of  the  merchants  are  away 
from  these  markets;  and,  when  the 
business  hours  are  at  an  end,  each 
tradesman  locks  up  his  own  stall,  and 
commits  the  whole  building  for  the 
night  to  the  guardianship  of  the  watch- 
men and  their  dogs. 

The  Gostinnoi  Dvor  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh  is  a  colossal  building,  one  side 
being  in  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt,  and  an- 
other in  the  Bolshaia  Ssattovaia,  or 
Great  Garden  Street,  through  which, 
and  some  of  the  adjoining  streets,  ex- 
tend from  it  a  number  of  shops  and 
booths,  giving  to  that  part  of  the  town, 
throughout  the  year,  the  appearance  of 
a  perpetual  fair.  The  better  de- 
scription of  Russian  goods  will  all  be 
found  in  the  Gostinnoi  Dvor,  those 
of  an  inferior  kind  in  the  adjoining 
'  markets,  the  Apraxin  Rinok  and 
the  Tshukin  Dvor  which  lie  a  little 
farther  on  in  the  Bolshaia  Ssattovaia. 
Following  the  last-named  street,  which 
is  bordered  throughout  its  whole  length 
by  shops  and  booths,  the  stranger  will 
arrive  at  an  open  place,  the  Sennai'a 
Ploschad  or  hay-market,  which  may 
be  considered  the  principal  provision 
market  of  St.  Petersburgh. 

All  the  lanes  and  alleys  that  inter- 
sect the  Gostinnoi  Dvor  are  deluged 


throughout  the  day  by  a  stream  of 
sledges  and  droshkies,  in  which  the 
cooks,  the  stewards,  and  other  ser- 
vants of  the  great  houses  come  to 
make  their  daily  purchases.  In  a  city 
containing  half  a  million  of  inhabitants, 
there  must  at  all  times  be  a  great  and 
urgent  demand  for  a  vast  variety  of 
articles  ;  but  there  are  many  reasons 
why  this  should  be  more  the  case  in 
St.  Petersburgh  than  in  any  other 
capital.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no 
other  European  capital  where  the  in- 
habitants are  content  to  make  use  of 
goods  of  such  inferior  quality,  or  where, 
consequently,  they  have  such  frequent 
occasion  to  buy  new  articles,  or  to  have 
the  old  ones  repaired.  Then  there  is 
no  other  capital  where  the  people  are 
so  capricious  and  so  fond  of  change. 
The  wealthy  Russians  are  here  one 
day,  and  gone  the  next;  now  travel- 
ling for  the  benefit  of  their  health,  now 
repairing  to  the  country,  to  re-establish 
their  finances  by  a  temporary  retire- 
ment, and  then  reappearing  on  the 
banks  of  the  Neva,  to  put  their  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  into  circulation. 
This  constant  fluctuation  leads  daily  to 
the  dissolution  and  to  the  formation  of 
a  number  of  establishments,  and  makes 
it  necessary  that  there  should  be  at  all 
times  a  greater  stock  of  all  things  ne- 
cessary to  the  outfit  of  a  family,  than 
would  be  requisite  in  a  town  of  equal 
extent,  but  whose  population  is  more 
settled. 

A  Russian  seldom  buys  anything 
till  just  when  he  wants  to  use  it,  and, 
as  he  cannot  then  wait,  he  must  have 
it  ready  to  his  hand.  Boots,  saddlery, 
wearing  apparel,  confectionary,  and 
other  articles,  which  in  other  countries 
are  generally  ordered  beforehand  from 
a  tradesman,  are  here  bought  ready  for 
immediate  use.  Each  article  has  its 
separate  row  of  shops,  and  the  multi- 
tude of  these  rows  is  so  great,  that  a 
stranger  may  often  be  heard  to  inquire, 
"  My  little  father,  where  is  the  row 
of  fur  booths]"  "  My  little  mother, 
where  is  the  cap  row?"     "  Pray  show 


500 


THE    GOSTINNQI   DVOK. 


Sect.  V. 


me  the  stocking  row."  "  My  little 
father,  tell  me  the  way  to  the  petticoat 
row." 

If  the  throng  of  buyers  is  calculated 
to  amuse  a  stranger,  he  will  be  likely 
to  find  still  more  diversion,  as  he 
lounges  along  the  corridors,  in  observ- 
ing the  characteristic  manners  of  the 
dealers.  These  Gostinnoi  Dvor  mer- 
chants are  almost  invariably  flaxen- 
haired,  brown-bearded,  shrewd  fellows, 
in  blue  caftans,  and  blue  cloth  caps,  the 
costume  uniformly  worn  by  merchants 
throughout  Russia.  They  are  con- 
stantly extolling  their  wares  in  the 
most  exaggerated  terms  to  those  who 
are  passing  by.  "  What  is  your  plea- 
sure, sir]  Clothes]  I  have  them 
here ;  the  very  best,  and  all  of  the 
newest  fashion." — "  Here  are  hats  of 
the  first  quality,  and  by  the  best 
makers."  "  Kasan  boots  of  the  choicest 
description;  isvoltye,  isvoltye!"  — 
"  Shto  vam  ugodno  'ss?  (What  would 
suit  you  ■?)  a  bear-skin,  a  fox-skin,  or  a 
cloak  of  wolf-skin?  You  will  find 
everything  here  ;  pray,  walk  in."  Cap 
in  hand,  the}'  are  always  ready  to  open 
their  doors  to  every  passer  by,  and  are 
incessant  in  the  exercise  of  their  elo- 
quence, whatever  may  be  the  rank, 
station,  or  age  of  those  they  address. 
They  will  not  hesitate  to  ofi'er  a  bear- 
skin mantle  to  a  little  fellow  scarcely 
strong  enough  to  carry  it,  recommend 
their  coarsely  fashioned  boots  to  a 
passing  dandy,  invite  an  old  man  to 
purchase  a  child's  toy,  or  solicit  a 
young  girl  to  carry  away  a  sword  or  a 
fowling-piece.  Where  the  merchant 
does  not  act  as  his  own  crier,  he  usually 
has  somebody  to  officiate  in  his  place, 
and  it  may  easily  be  imagined  what 
life  and  animation  these  constant  cries 
and  solicitations  give  to  the  whole 
market.  Preachers  and  actors  have 
generally  a  tone  peculiar  to  their  several 
classes,  and  even  so  has  the  Gostinnoi 
Door  merchant,  whose  voice  may  be 
known  afar  oif,  but  who  immediately 
alters  that  tone  when  a  fish  shows  a 
disposition  to  fasten  on  the  bait,  for 


then  commences  a  more  serious  discus- 
sion of  the  merits  and  quality  of  his 
merchandise. 

No  light  or  fire  is  allowed  in  the 
building,  \mless  it  be  the  sacred  lamps 
that  are  kept  burning  before  the  pic- 
tures of  the  saints,  and  which  are  sup- 
posed to  be  too  holy  to  occasion  any 
danger.  The  merchants  are,  in  conse- 
quence, often  exposed  to  intense  cold, 
but  this  they  endure  with  admirable 
fortitude  and  cheerfulness.  Over  their 
caftans,  it  is  true,  they  put  on  a  close 
fur  coat  of  white  wolf-skin,  a  piece  of 
apparel  worn  by  every  Gostinnoi 
Dvor  merchant,  of  the  same  cut  and 
material. 

Even  without  including  the  peasants 
who  ofi'er  provisions  for  sale,  there  are 
probably  not  much  less  than  10,000 
merchants  and  dealers  of  different 
degrees  assembled  in  the  Gostiniioi 
Dvor  of  St.  Petersburgh,  and  its  de- 
pendent buildings.  Of  these  people, 
few  have  their  household  establish- 
ments in  the  vicinity  of  the  market, 
yet  all  have  the  wants  of  hunger  to 
satisfy  in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  it 
may  therefore  readily  be  conceived 
that  a  host  of  small  traders  have 
attached  themselves  to  the  establish- 
ment for  the  mere  convenience  of  the 
merchants.  Among  the  streets  and 
lanes  of  the  bazaar  there  are  constantly 
circulating,  retailers  of  tea  with  their 
large  steaming  copper  urns ;  quass 
sellers,  together  with  dealers  in  bread, 
sausages,  cheese,  &c.;  and  all  these 
people  receive  constant  encouragement 
from  the  hungry  merchants.  Careworn 
looks  are  as  little  seen  in  this  market 
as  grumbling  tones  are  heard ;  for  a 
Russian  seldom  gives  house  room  to 
care  or  melancholy,  and  yet  more  rarely 
gives  utterance  to  a  complaint.  Nor 
indeed  has  he  occasion ;  for  in  this 
rising  country,  Slava  Bogu !  (God  be 
thanked  !)  be  the  merchandise  ever  so 
bad,  trade  goes  on  nevertheless.  In 
other  countries,  a  merchant  relies  upon 
the  goodness  of  his  merchandise  for 
custom ;  the  Russian  speculator  believes 


Hussia. 


THE    APRAXIN    RINOK. 


;oi 


that,  the  worse  his  wares,  the  sooner 
will  his  customers  want  to  renew  their 
stock. 

THE   APRAXIN   RINOK   AND    TSHUKIN 
DVOR. 

These  two  markets  occupy  a  piece  of 
ground  about  1500  feet  square,  con- 
taining, therefore,  a  surface  of  rather 
more  than  2,000,000  square  feet. 
The  whole  is  so  closely  covered  with 
stalls  and  booths,  that  nothing  but 
narrow  lanes  are  left  between ;  and 
supposing  each  booth,  including  the 
portion  of  lane  in  front  of  it,  to  occupy 
500  square  feet,  which,  is  certainly 
making  a  very  liberal  allowance,  it 
would  follow  that  there  must  be  within 
the  two  bazaars  nearly  5000  booths, 
tents,  and  stalls.  These  form  a  city  of 
themselves.  The  tops  of  the  booths 
frequently  project  and  meet  those  that 
are  opposite  to  them,  making  the  little 
lanes  between  as  dark  as  the  alleys  of 
the  Jews'  quarters  in  some  of  the  old 
German  towns,  or  like  the  streets  of 
many  an  oriental  city  at  the  present 
day.  Through  narrow  gates  the  tra- 
veller will  pass  from  the  busy  Garden 
Street  into  this  market-place,  where  a 
well-dressed  human  being  will  be  look- 
ed for  in  vain ;  where  all  are  "  black 
people,"  bearded,  and  furred,  and  tho- 
roughly un-European. 

With  the  exception  of  furs,  many  of 
which  are  of  excellent  quality,  there 
are  in  the  Gostinnoi  Dvor,  properly 
so  called,  but  the  iron  and  wax  shops 
where  the  articles  are  thoroughly  Rus- 
sian. Most  of  the  merchandise  con- 
sists of  bad  imitations  of  foreign  fabrics. 
As  the  goods,  so  the  customers.  Both 
are  Europeanised,  for  there  is  little  in 
the  Frenchified  soubrettes,  the  lackies 
in  livery,  the  employes  in  uniform,  and 
the  foreign  teachers,  to  remind  one  of 
Russian  nationality  :  but  a  little  far- 
ther on,  when  you  enter  the  gates  of 
the  Apraxin  Rinok  and  the  Tshukin 
Dvor,  you  come  to  a  market  where 
sellers,  buyers,  and  wares  are  all 
equally  and  entirely  Russian  ;  and 
iere,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  palaces 


and  plate  glass  of  St.  Petersburgh,  in 
this  capital  of  princes  and  magnates, 
there  is  to  be  seen  a  motley  dirty  po- 
pulace, precisely  similar  to  what  may  be 
supposed  to  have  thronged  the  fairs  of 
Novgorod  in  the  middle  ages,  or  may 
still  be  seen  in  the  bazaars  of  any  of 
the  provincial  cities  of  Russia. 

Here  also,  in  the  true  Russian  spirit, 
like  has  paired  with  like.  In  one 
corner,  for  instance,  all  the  dealers  in 
sacred  images  have  congregated.  The 
Russians,  who  believe  themselves 
abandoned  by  God  and  all  good  angels, 
as  soon  as  they  are  without  His  visible 
and  tangible  presence,  or,  rather,  who 
think  every  place  the  Devil's  own 
ground,  until  the  priest  has  driven 
him  out  of  it,  and  who,  therefore,  de- 
corate their  bodies,  their  rooms,  their 
doors,  and  their  gates,  as  well  as  their 
churches,  with  sacred  images,  require, 
of  course,  a  very  large  and  constant 
supply  of  those  articles,  of  which,  in  face, 
the  consumption  is  enormous.  The 
little  brass  crosses,  and  the  Virgins, 
the  St.  Johns,  the  St.  Georges,  and 
other  amulets,  may  be  seen  piled  up  in 
boxes  like  gingerbread  nuts  at  a  fair. 
On  the  walls  of  the  booths  are  hung 
up  pictures  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  radiant 
with  mock  gold  and  silver.  Some  are 
only  a  few  inches  in  length  and  breadth. 
Of  these  a  nobleman's  footman  will 
buy  a  few  score  at  a  time,  as  necessary 
to  the  fitting  up  of  a  new  house  ;  for 
in  every  room  a  few  of  these  holy  little 
articles  must  be  nailed  up  against  the 
wall.  For  village  churches,  for  private 
chapels,  and  for  devout  merchants  of 
the  old  faith,  there  are  pictures  of 
several  ells  square,  before  which  a 
whole  household  may  prostrate  them- 
selves at  their  ease.  Some  are  neatly 
set  in  mahogany  frames  of  modern 
fashion,  others  are  still  adorned  in  the 
good  old  style  with  pillars,  doors,  and 
temples  of  silver  wire  ;  some  are  new, 
and  from  the  pencils  of  the  students  of 
the  newly  established  St.  Petersburgh 
Academy  of  Arts,  but  the  greater  part 
are  old,  and  present  figures  often  nearly 

z  3 


503 


THE   APEAXIN   ETNOK. 


Sect.  V. 


obliterated  by  tbe  dust  and  smoke  of 
centuries.  .  To  these  it  is  (particularly 
when  they  can  be  warranted  to  have 
once  adorned  the  wall  of  a  church)  that 
the  lower  orders  in  Russia  attach  the 
greatest  value,  just  as  the  Grerman 
peasant  prefers  an  old,  dirty,  well- 
thumbed  hymn-book,  to  one  just  fresh 
from  the  binder's. 

In  another  part  of  the  market  will 
be  found  a  whole  quarter  of  fruit-shops, 
in  which  an  incredible  quantity  of 
dried  fruit  is  offered  for  sale.  Each  of 
these  shops  is  as  oddly  decorated  as  its 
fellows.  In  the  centre,  on  an  elevated 
pedestal,  there  stands  generally  a  rich 
battery  of  bottles  and  boxes  of  con- 
serves, mostly  manufactured  at  Kieif. 
Round  the  walls,  in  small  boxes,  the 
currants,  raisins,  almonds,  figs,  and 
oranges  are  arranged,  while  huge  sacks 
and  chests  of  prunes,  nuts,  and  juniper- 
berries,  retire  more  modestly  into  cor- 
ners ;  and  large  tuns  full  of  gluJcvi,  a 
small  red  berry  of  which  the  Russians 
are  passionately  fond,  stand  sentinels 
at  the  door.  These  are  mostly  sold  in 
winter,  when  they  are  generally  frozen 
to  the  consistency  of  flint  stones,  and 
are  measured  out  with  wooden  shovels 
to  amateurs.  Inside  and  outside,  these 
shops  are  decorated  with  large  festoons 
of  mushrooms,  at  all  times  a  favourite 
dish  with  the  common  people  in  Russia. 
It  is  surprising  that  no  good  artist 
should  ever  have  chosen  one  of  these 
picturesque  Russian  fruit-shops  for  the 
subject  of  his  pencil.  Such  a  booth, 
with  its  bearded  dealers  and  its  no  less 
bearded  customers,  would  make  an 
admirable  tableau  de  genre. 

A  little  farther,  and  the  stranger 
will  come  to  whole  rows  of  shops 
full  of  pretty  bridal  ornaments ;  gay 
metal  wedding-crowns,  such  as  it  is 
customary  during  the  ceremony  to 
place  upon  the  heads  of  bride  and 
bridegroom,  and  artificial  wreaths  and 
flowers,  of  a  very  neat  fabric,  and  all 
at  very  reasonable  prices.  A  whole 
garland  of  roses,  for  instance,  tastefully 
interwoven  with  silver  wire,  may  be 


had  for  little  more  than  sixpence;  a 
bride  can  here  be  handsomely  decorated 
from  head  to  foot  for  a  few  shillings ; 
and,  as  among  the  humbler  classes  of 
St.  Petersburgh  some  thirty  weddings 
are  daily  solemnized,  without  speaking 
of  other  festive  celebrations,  it  may 
be  imagined  what  piles  of  orna- 
ments of  various  kinds  are  constantly 
kept  on  hand  to  supply  the  wants  of 
brides  and  bridemaids,  birthday  guests, 
and  the  like. 

Whole  groups  of  shops  are  filled 
with  perfumes,  incense,  and  various 
articles  for  fumigation.  Others  with 
honey  from  Kazan  and  Tula,  neatly 
laid  out  in  wooden  vessels,  some  as 
clean  as  the  milk  pans  in  the  caves  of 
Homer's  Cyclops,  while  others,  of  a 
less  attractive  look,  remind  one  rather 
of  Limburg  cheese  in  an  advanced  state 
of  decay. 

The  pastrycooks  have  also  their 
qiiarter  in  this  market,  where  they 
vend  the  oily  fish  pirogas,  of  which  the 
bearded  Russians  are  so  passionately 
fond.  Here  little  benches  are  ranged 
around  the  table  on  which  are  placed 
the  dainty  delicacies,  covered  with  oily 
pieces  of  canvas,  for  the  jiiroga  to  be 
properly  enjoyed  must  be  eaten  warm. 
A  large  pot  of  green  oil  on  a  salt-stand 
of  no  ordinary  size  are  the  indispen- 
sable accompaniments  to  the  feast. 
Pass  one  of  these  shops,  and  throw  an 
accidental  glance  at  his  wares,  and  the 
merchant  will  be  sure  to  anticipate 
your  desires  ;  quickly  he  will  plunge 
his  tempting  cake  into  the  oil  pot, 
scatter  a  p!hch  of  salt  upon  the  drip- 
ping mass,  and  present  it  to  you  with 
the  air  of  a  prince.  The  sheepskinned 
bearded  Moscovite  will  rarely  be  able 
to  resist  the  temptation ;  he  will  seat 
himself  on  one  of  the  benches,  and  one 
rich  savoury  ^^iVo^a  after  the  other  will 
wend  its  way  down  his  throat,  till  his 
long  and  well-anointed  beard  becomes 
as  bright  and  glossy  as  a  piece  of  highly 
polished  horse-hair.  Some  travellers 
may  turn  with  disgust  from  the  picture 
here  presented  to  them;  but  others 


Russia. 


THE    TSHUKIN   DVOK. 


503 


will  be  too  much  amused  by  the  wit 
and  politesse  of  the  oil-lickers  to 
expend  much  indignation  on  the  ven- 
dors of  these  pirogds.  Even  the 
coarsest  and  dirtiest  article  of  mer- 
chandise will  be  presented  with  a 
courtly  and  insinuating  demeanour  by 
these  rough-looking  bearded  fellows  ; 
even  a  greasy  piroga,  dripping  with 
green  oil,  will  be  accompanied  by  a 
neatly  turned  compliment  or  a  lively 
jest,  and  the  few  kopeks  paid  for  it 
are  sure  to  be  received  with  expres- 
sions of  the  warmest  thankfulness. 

Almost  every  article  may,  however, 
be  described  as  cheap  and  nasty,  and 
yet  what  vistas  of  yet  worse  and  worse 
wares  unfold  themselves  as  the  traveller 
wanders  on  to  the  outskirts  of  the 
market,  where  disbanded  apparel  and 
invalided  furniture  are  exposed  for 
sale.  Things  may  be  seen  there  of 
which  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  that 
they  can  still  retain  a  money  value. 
Kags,  bits  of  ribbon,  fragments  of 
paper,  and  broken  glass ;  clothes  that 
the  poorest  isvostchik  has  dismissed 
from  his  service,  and  petticoats  that 
the  humblest  housemaid  has  thought 
herself  bound  to  lay  aside.  Yet  all 
these  things,  and  others,  which  a  Gos- 
tinnoi  Dvor  merchant  would  scarcely 
use  except  to  warm  his  stove,  are  not 
arranged  without  some  show  of  taste 
and  elegance,  nor  are  they  offered 
without  a  multitude  of  civil  speeches 
and  lofty  panegyrics  to  the  barefooted 
beggar,  to  the  gipsy  and  Jewess,  who 
timidly  hover  around  the  poverty-struck 
repositories,  and  cast  many  a  longing 
glance  at  the  many  things  with  which 
they  might  cover  their  nakedness  or 
decorate  their  huts,  but  the  possession 
of  which  they  are  unable  to  purchase 
with  the  copper  coin  within  their  grasp. 
The  crumbs  swept  from  the  tables  of 
the  rich  are  here  gathered  together ; 
and  though  the  joint  stock  of  many  of 
these  shops  be  not  worth  the  silver 
ruble,  staked  at  a  card-table  in  the 
saloon  of  a  noble,  yet  each  article  has 
its  estimated  value,  below  which  it  will 


not  be  parted  with — no,  not  for  one 
quarter  of  a  kopek. 

THE   TSHUKIN   DVOR. 

But  for  a  stranger,  perhaps,  the  most 
interesting  of  this  world  of  markets  is 
that  of  the  Tshukin  Dvor,  where  the 
various  species  of  the  feathered  tribe 
are  sold.  "Here  he  will  see  two  rows 
of  booths  full  of  pigeons,  fowls,  geese, 
ducks,  swans,  larks,  bulfinches,  siskins, 
and  hundreds  of  other  singing  birds, 
forming  the  most  picturesque  and  varie- 
gated menagerie  that  can  be  imagined. 
Each  booth  is  of  wood,  and  open  in 
the  front,  so  that  the  whole  of  its  con- 
tents may  be  seen  at  once  by  the  pass- 
ing stranger,  who  is  saluted  with  such 
a  concert  of  cackling,  crowing,  chatter- 
ing, cooing,  piping,  and  warbling,  as 
would  suffice  to  furnish  the  requisite 
supply  of  idyllic  melodies  for  a  hun- 
dred villages.  Between  the  opposite 
booths  are  usually  bridges  from  which 
the  pictures  of  saints  are  suspended, 
for  the  edification  of  the  devout.  On 
these  bridges,  and  on  the  roofs  of  the 
booths,  whole  swarms  of  pigeons  are 
constantly  fluttering  about,  the  peaceful 
Russian  being  a  great  lover  of  this 
gentle  bird.  Each  swarm  knows  its ' 
own  roof,  and  the  birds  allow  them* 
selves  to  be  caught  without  much  diffi- 
culty, when  a  bargain  is  about  to  be 
concluded.  The  pigeon  is  never  eaten 
by  a  Russian,  who  would  hold  it  a  sin 
to  harm  an  animal  in  whose  form  the 
Holy  Grhost  is  said  to  have  manifested 
itself.  Pigeons  are  bought,  therefore, 
only  as  pets,  to  be  fed  and  schooled  by 
their  masters.  It  is  curious  to  see  a 
Russian  merchant  directing  the  flight 
of  his  docile  scholars.  "With  a  little 
flag  fastened  to  a  long  staff  he  conveys 
his  signals  to  them,  makes  them  at  his 
will  rise  higher  in  the  air,  fly  to  the 
right  or  left,  or  drop  to  the  ground  as 
if  struck  by  a  bullet  from  a  rifle. 

The  poor  little  singing  birds — the 
larks,  nightingales,  linnets,  bulfinches, 
&c. — must  be  of  a  hardier  race  than  in 
more  southern  lands ;  for,  in  spite  of 
the  bitter   frost,   they  chirrup   away 


504 


THE    TSHUKIN    DVOE. 


Sect.  V. 


merrily,  and  salute  with  their  songs 
every  straggling  ray  of  sunshine  that 
finds  its  way  into  their  gloomy  abodes. 
The  little  creatures  receive  during  the 
whole  long  winter  not  one  drop  of 
water,  for  it  would  be  useless  to  offer 
them  what  a  moment  afterwards  would 
be  converted  into  a  petrified  mass. 
Their  little  troughs  are  accordingly 
filled  only  with  snow,  which  they  must 
liquefy  in  their  own  beaks  when  they 
wish  to  assuage  their  thirst. 

Moscow  is  famed  for  its  cocks,  and 
here  the   Moscow  cock  may  be  seen 
proudly  stalking  about,  in  cages  and 
out   of  them.     The  best  pigeons   are 
said  to  come  from  Novgorod,  and  Fin- 
land furnishes  the  chief  supply  of  sing- 
ing  birds.      Greese   are  brought   even 
from  the  confines  of  China,  to  be  sold 
as  rarities  in  the  Tshukhi  Dvor,  after  a 
journey   of    more    than   4000    miles, 
Q-ray   squirrels   may   be    seen   rolling 
about   in    their   cages    like    incarnate 
quicksilver ;  while  rabbits  and  guinea- 
pigs  without  number  gambol  their  time 
away  in  their  little  wooden  hutches. 
Within  the  booth,  a  living  centre  of  all 
this    living   merchandise,   behold    the 
merchant,    closely   ensconced    in    his 
wolf-skin,  and  ready  to  dispose  of  his 
little  feathered  serfs  at  any  acceptable 
price.     At  the  back  of  the  booth,  be 
sure  there  hangs  a  saintly  picture  of 
gome  sort,  its  little  lamp  shedding  a 
cheerful  light,  to  guard  the  feathered 
crowd  against  the  evil  influence  of  in- 
truding  demons;    but   there   are   evil 
spirits  that  the  good  saint  cannot  ban- 
ish.    Man  is  there,  to  hold  in  chains 
or  to  sentence  to  death,  according  as  it 
may  suit  his  calculations  of  profit,  or 
the  caprices  of  his  palate.     On  shelves 
around  are  ranged  the  trophies  of  his 
murderous    tribe,    and    the    northern 
swans,  the  heathcocks  {reptshiki),  and 
the  snow-white  partridges  {kurapathi), 
are  piled  up  under  the  very  cages  from 
which  the  captive  larks  warble  their 
liquid  notes. 

It  is  astonishing  what  a  qixantity  of 
these  birds  are  yearly  consumed  at  the 


luxurious  tables  of  St.  Petersburgh.   In 
winter  the  cold  keeps  the  meat  fresh, 
and  at  the  same  time  facilitates  its  con- 
veyance  to   market.      The   partridges 
come  mostly  from  SaratofF,  the  swans 
from  Finland ;    Livonia  and  Esthonia 
supply  heath-cocks  and  grouse,  and  the 
wide  steppes  must  furnish  the  trapp 
geese  which  flutter  over  their  endless 
plains,  where  the  Cossack  hunts  them 
on  horseback,  and  kills  them  with  his 
formidable  whip.     All  these  birds,  as 
soon  as  the  life-blood   has  flown,  are 
converted  into  stone  by  the  frost,  and, 
packed  up  in  huge  chests,  are  sent  for 
sale  to  the  capital.    Whole  sledge-loads 
of  snow-white  hares  find  their  way  to 
the   market.     The   little   animals    are 
usually  frozen  in  a  running  position, 
with  their  ears  pointed,  and  their  legs 
stretched  out  before  and  behind,  and, 
when  placed  on  the  ground,  look,  at 
the  first  glance,  as  if  they  were  in  the 
act  of  escaping  from  the  hunter.  Bear's 
flesh  also  is  sometimes  offered  for  sale 
in  this   market,  and  here   and  there 
may  be  seen  a  frozen  reindeer  lying  in 
the  snow  by  the  side  of  a  booth,  its 
hairy  snout  stretched  forth  upon  the 
ground,  its  knees  doubled  up  under  its 
body,  and  its  antlers  rising  majestically 
into  the  air.     It  looks  as  if,   on  our 
approaching  it,  it  would  spring  up,  and 
dash  away  once  more  in  search  of  its 
native  forests.     The  mighty  elk,  like- 
wise, is  no  rare  guest  in  this  market, 
where  it  patiently  presents  its  antlers 
as  a  perch  for  the  pigeons  that  are  flut- 
tering about,  till,  little  by  little,  the 
axe  and  the  saw  have  left  no  fragment 
of  the  stately  animal,  but  every  part  of 
it  has  gone  its  way  into  the  kitchens  of 
the  wealthy. 

Similar  markets  for  birds  and  game 
will  be  found  in  almost  every  large  Rus- 
sian city.  Indeed,  the  habits  and  fashions 
of  the  Russian  markets  are  completely 
national.  Those  of  Moscow  vary  but 
little  from  those  of  Tobolsk ;  and  Irk- 
hutsk,  Odessa,  and  Archangel  have 
shown  themselves  equally  servilein  their 
imitation  of  the  metropolitan  bazaars. 


Russia. 


THE    SENNAIA   PLOSCHAD. 


505 


SENNAIA  PLOSCHAD  (oR  HAY   MARKET). 

.  Beyond  the  Apraxin  Rinok  is  the 
Sennaia  Ploschad ;  and  here,  again, 
the  manners  of  the  lower  orders  may- 
be conveniently  studied.  The  open 
space  is  frequently  so  crowded  with 
them  that  the  police  have  some  trouble 
to  keep  a  passage  clear  in  the  centre 
for  the  equipages,  which  are  constantly 
coming  and  going.  On  one  side  of  this 
passage  stand  the  sellers  of  hay,  wood, 
and,  in  spring,  of  plants  and  shrubs. 
On  the  other  side  are  the  peasants  with 
their  stores  of  meat,  fish,  butter,  and 
vegetables.  Between  these  two  rows 
are  the  sledges  and  equipages  whose 
owners  come  to  make  the  daily  pur- 
chases, and  depart  laden  with  herbs 
and  vegetables,  the  bleeding  necks  of 
the  poultry  often  presenting  a  singular 
contrast  to  the  brilliant  carriages  from 
whose  windows  they  are  listlessly 
dangling.  Along  the  fronts  of  the 
houses,  meanwhile,  are  arrayed  the 
dealers  in  quass  and  pastry,  together 
with  the  beer  and  tea  stalls,  at  which 
the  peasants  never  fail  to  expend  a 
portion  of  their  gains. 

The  sledges,  after  bringing  the  va- 
rious commodities  to  market,  serve 
their  owners  as  stalls  and  counters. 
The  matting  thrown  aside  allows  the 
poultry  and  meat  to  be  arranged  in  a 
picturesque  manner  to  catch  the  eye  of 
the  passing  stranger.  The  geese  are 
cut  up,  and  the  heads,  necks,  legs,  and 
carcases  sold  separately,  by  the  dozen 
or  the  half-dozen,  strung  ready  for  sale 
upon  little  cords.  He  whose  finances 
will  not  allow  him  to  think  of  luxu- 
riating on  the  breast  of  a  goose  may 
buy  himself  a  little  rosary  of  frozen 
heads,  while  one  still  poorer  must  con- 
tent himself  with  a  neck-lace,  or  a  few 
dozen  of  webbed  feet,  to  boil  down 
into  a  Sunday  soup  for  his  little  ones. 
The  most  singular  spectacle  is  furnished 
by  the  frozen  oxen,  calves,  and  goats, 
which  stand  about  in  ghastly  rows,  and 
look    like   bleeding   spectres   come   to 


haunt  the  carnivorous  tyrants  whose 
appetites  have  condemned  the  poor 
victims  to  a  premature  death.  The 
petrified  masses  can  be  cut  up  only 
with  hatchets  and  saws.  Sucking  pigs 
are  a  favourite  delicacy  with  the  Rus- 
sians. Hundreds  of  the  little  crea- 
tures, in  their  frozen  condition,  may  be 
seen  ranged  about  the  sledges,  with 
their  tall  motionless  mothers  by  the 
side  of  them. 

The  anatomical  dissections  of  a  Rus- 
sian butcher  are  extremely  simple. 
Bones  and  meat  having  been  all  ren- 
dered equally  hard  by  the  frost,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  attempt  to  sepa- 
rate the  several  joints.  The  animals 
are,  accordingly,  sawn  up  into  a  num- 
ber of  slices  of  an  inch  or  two  in  thick- 
ness, and  in  the  course  of  this  operation 
a  quantity  of  animal  sawdust  is  scat- 
tered on  the  snow,  whence  it  is  eagerly 
gathered  up  by  poor  children,  of  whom 
great  numbers  haunt  the  market.  Fish, 
which  is  offered  for  sale  in  the  same 
hard  condition,  is  cut  up  in  a  similar 
way.  The  little  diminutive  snitki  are 
brought  to  market  in  sacks,  and  rattle 
like  so  many  hazel  nuts  when  thrown 
into  the  scale.  The  pike,  the  salmon, 
and  the  sturgeon,  so  pliant  and  supple 
when  alive,  are  now  as  hard  as  though 
they  had  been  cut  out  of  marble,  and 
so  they  must  be  kept,  for  a  sudden 
thaw  would  spoil  them,  and,  to  guard 
against  this,  they  are  constantly  incased 
in  ice  or  snow.  Sometimes  the  whole 
mass  freezes  together,  and  the  hatchet 
must  then  be  liberally  applied  before 
the  piscatory  petrifactions  can  be  libe- 
rated from  their  icy  incrustations. 

So  long  as  the  frost  keeps  all  liquid 
matter  in  captivity,  and  so  long  as  the 
snow,  constantly  renewed,  throws  a 
charitable  covering  over  all  the  hidden 
sins  of  the  place,  so  long  the  ploschad 
looks  clean  enough  ;  but  this  very  snow 
and  frost  prepare  for  the  coming  spring 
a  spectacle  which  I  would  counsel  no 
one  to  look  upon,  who  wishes  to  keep 
his  appetite  iu  due  order  for  the  sump- 
tuous  banquets    of    St.    Petersburgh. 


606 


FACTORIES, 


Sect.  V. 


Every  kind  of  filth  and  garbage  accu- 
mulates during  the  winter ;  and  when 
at  last  the  melting  influence  of  spring 
dissolves  the  charm,  the  quantities  of 
sheep's  eyes,  fish  tails,  crab  shells, 
goat's  hairs,  fragments  of  meat,  pools 
of  blood,  not  to  speak  of  hay,  dung,  and 
other  matters,  are  positively  frightful." 
The  Sennaia  Ploschad  is  remarkable 
as  the  spot  on  which  the  mob  barricaded 
themselves  with  hay-carts  after  storm- 
ing the  cholera  hospital  and  destroying 
divers  Grerman  doctors,  whom,  in  their 
ignorance,  they  fancied  were  the  ori- 
ginators of  that  calamity  (possibly 
luckless  professors  of  homoeopathy). 
But  the  square  is  far  more  remarkable 
for  what  followed  that  popular  tumult. 
The  present  Emperor,  having  heard  of 
it,  repaired  to  the  market  in  an  open 
carriage,  unattended  by  any  military 
escort,  and,  the  barricades  disappearing 
at  his  approach,  his  carriage  drew  up 
at  the  entrance  of  the  church.  Here 
he  prayed  and  crossed  himself,  and 
then  addressed  a  few  words  to  the 
multitude,  bidding  them  kneel  down 
and  pray  to  God  to  forgive  them  their 
sins.  The  influence  which  a  Tzar  so 
wonderfully  exercises  over  the  Russian 
people  was  instantly  displayed,  and  all 
that  tumultuous  assembly  at  once  knelt 
down,  and  unresistingly  allowed  the 
police  to  come  among  them  and  quietly 
convey  the  ringleaders  of  the  riot  to 
prison.  The  Zinnaia  Ploschad,  near  the 
winter  provision  market,  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt,  is 
worthy  of  inspection.  Here  the  living 
cattle  are  disposed  of;  also  sledges  and 
country  waggons.  Thousands  of  spe- 
cimens of  the  Russian  telega  may  here 
be  examined  at  leisure. 

FACTORIES. 

St.  Petersburgh  and  its  neighbour- 
hood contain  some  splendid  industrial 
establishments,  particularly  of  the  de- 
scription which  produces  the  more  rare 
and  costly  articles  required  by  that  class 
to  whom  luxuries  are  indispensable. 
Among  these  may  be  enumerated  that  of 


the  Grobelin  tapestry,  the  porcelain  glass, 
the  playing-card,  and  one  for  cutting 
and  polishing  precious  stones  ;  also  the 
cotton  factory  at  Alexandrosky,  the  pa- 
per manufactory,  and  the  cannon  found- 
ries. All  these  are  either  the  property 
of  foreigners  or  of  the  crown,  or  are 
under  the  management  of  foreigners, 
and  serve  as  models  to  the  whole  em- 
pire; they  are  readily  shown  to 
strangers.  It  is  characteristic  of  Rus- 
sia, that  it  had  universities  before 
schools,  and  tapestry  manufactories  be- 
fore it  had  learned  to  spin  cotton. 
The  Spalernoi  manufactory  is  the 
oldest  in  Petersburgh ;  as  the  Acade- 
my built  by  Peter  the  Great  is  the 
oldest  school ;  in  that  Tzar's  reign  the 
workmen  in  the  tapestry  manufactory 
were,  one  and  all,  French  and  Italians  ; 
now  they  are,  with  the  exception  of  the 
director,  a  designer,  all  Russians  ;  the 
establishment  is  recruited  from  the 
Great  Foundling  Hospital.  Ordinary 
carpets  are  made  here  for  sale,  but  the 
real  Gobelin  tapestry  is  destined  for 
the  Court  alone.  The  numerous  palaces, 
and  the  expensive  way  in  which  they 
are  furnished,  create  a  constant  demand 
for  these  productions,  which  are  also 
frequently  required  as  presents  to 
Asiatic  and  European  potentates.  The 
little  boys,  w^ho  come  here  as  appren- 
tices, first  work  at  leaves  and  flowers 
in  one  colour  ;  then  they  advance  to  the 
shaded  and  varied  leaves  with  several 
colours  ;  then  to  stars,  arabesques,  &c. 
The  drawings  are  placed  directly  be- 
hind perpendicular  threads,  and,  while 
the  outline  of  the  picture  is  traced  with 
a  black  coal,  it  is  transferred  to  the 
threads,  and  the  limits  to  the  difi'erent 
tints  are  marked  out.  Every  three  or 
four  weeks  papers  are  fastened  over  the 
web,  and,  as  it  is  finished,  this  is  rolled 
up  so  that  it  may  not  be  injured  during 
the  tedious  process  of  manufacture. 
Not  only  silk,  but  flax  and  wool  are 
employed  in  this  work  ;  the  brightness 
of  the  silk,  the  neutral  effects  of  the 
flax,  and  the  force  of  the  wool,  each 
render   their  several  services.      This 


Russia. 


FACTOEIES. 


507 


woven  painting,  if  not  so  enduring,  is 
much  richer  than  mosaic,  which  it  more 
nearly  resembles  than  it  does  any- 
thing else.  The  Gobelin  tapestry 
manufactory  of  St.  Petersburgh  is, 
perhaps,  one  of  the  largest  existing 
establishments  of  this  branch  of  indus- 
try in  Europe. 

The  porcelain  manufactorj'-,  at  which 
the  fine  vases  presented  by  the  Em- 
peror to  foreign  princes  are  made,  is  on 
the  road  to  Alexandrosky.  An  an- 
nual exhibition  takes  place  here  in  the 
autumn,  when  many  objects  of  great 
value  and  beauty  are  exposed  for  sale. 
The  plate-glass  manufactory  is  situated 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Alexander 
Nevskoi  convent.  The  wealthy  Peters- 
burghians  carry  the  use  of  plate  and 
looking-glass  to  a  high  pitch  of  luxury 
— their  windows  are  colossal — in  gar- 
den pavilions  a  whole  wall  is  sometimes 
covered  with  looking-glass,  and  this  is 
the  case  in  private  houses,  where  it 
is  used  to  supply  the  place  of  pictures, 
and  present  at  every  turn  the  picture 
most  admired  of  all — that  of  self.  Some 
of  these  mirrors  are  8  feet  wide,  15 
feet  long,  and  an  inch  and  a  half 
thick.  Articles  of  less  value  are  also 
made  at  this  manufactory;  amongst 
them  are  curiously  cut  glass  eggs, 
which  are  purchased  as  Easter  presents, 
and  "  nargiles "  for  Persia ;  as  much 
as  50,000  rubles'  worth  is  exported  of 
these  annually,  and,  though  so  fragile, 
they  are  transported  by  land  to  that 
country.  The  glass-cutting  depart- 
ment is  perhaps  the  largest  in  Europe, 
but  we  do  not  recommend  the  traveller 
to  bring  his  ears  within  reach  of  the 
crushing,  scratching,  and  screeching 
produced  by  the  united  industry  of  the 
three  hundred  workmen  employed 
here.  A  characteristic  anecdote  of 
national  intelligence  is  told  in  connec- 
tion with  this  establishment.  The 
Emperor  wished  to  illuminate  the  Alex- 
ander column  in  grand  style ;  the 
size  of  the  round  lamps  was  indicated, 
and  they  were  ordered  at  this  manu- 
factory, where  the  workmen   exerted 


themselves  in  vain,  and  almost  blew 
the  breath  out  of  their  bodies  in  the 
endeavour  to  obtain  the  desired  mag- 
nitude. But  the  commission  must  be 
executed,  that  was  self-evident ;  but 
how  1  A  great  premium  was  offered 
to  whoever  should  solve  the  problem. 
Again  the  human  bellows  toiled  and 
puffed,  but  the  object  seemed  unattain- 
able ;  at  last  a  long-bearded  Russian 
stepped  forward,  and  declared  he  could 
do  it ;  he  had  strong  and  sound  lungs, 
and  would  only  rinse  his  mouth  first 
with  a  little  cold  water,  to  refresh  them. 
Accordingly  he  applied  his  mouth  to 
the  pipe,  and  puffed  to  such  purpose 
that  the  vitreous  ball  swelled  and 
swelled  nearly  to  the  required  dimen- 
sions, up  to  it,  beyond  it.  "  Hold, 
hold,"  cried  the  lookers  on,  "  you  are 
doing  too  much,  and  how  did  you  do  it 
at  all]"  "The  matter  is  simple 
enough,"  answered  the  long-beard; 
"but,  first,  where  is  my  premium]" 
And,  when  he  had  clutched  the  pro- 
mised bounty,  he  explained.  He  had 
retained  some  of  the  water  in  his  mouth, 
which  had  passed  thence  into  the  glow- 
ing ball,  and  there  becoming  steam  had 
rendered  him  this  good  service. 

A  glass  bed  of  great  value,  presented 
by  the  Emperor  to  the  King  of  Persia, 
an  enormous  mirror  sent  to  the  Sultan, 
and  the  glass  railings  of  the  Smolnoi 
church  were  made  here. 

A  day  may  be  agreeably  passed  in 
visiting  the  imperial  cotton  manufac- 
tory, and  that  for  playing  cards,  at 
Alexandrosky.  The  latter  is  under 
the  direction  of  a  Mr.  Delarue,  a  rela- 
tive, we  believe,  of  the  partners  of  the 
London  firm  of  that  name  ;  the  cotton 
manufactory  and  the  iron  foundry 
at  Copenha  are  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  another  Englishman,  a 
General  Wilson.  The  articles  ma- 
mifactured  here  are  of  various  kinds; 
in  one  department  cotton  is  spun,  in 
another  sheets  and  table  linen  are  wove, 
and  in  a  third  are  made  all  the  playing 
cards  used  in  Russia,  for  the  manufac- 
ture  of  these  is  monopolized  by  the 


608 


THE    THEATRES. 


Sect.  V. 


crown.  About  3000  operatives  are 
employed  here  ;  of  these  nearly  1000 
are  foundling  boys  and  girls,  from 
twelve  years  of  age  and  upwards  :  at 
twenty-one  the  men  are  allowed  to 
marry  and  quit  the  establishment,  or 
remain  as  paid  workmen ;  the  girls 
may  do  the  same  at  eighteen.  The 
children  on  their  arrival  receive,  in  ad- 
dition to  their  food,  clothing,  and  lodg- 
ing, small  monthly  wages,  half  of  which 
is  given  to  them  byway  of  pocket  money, 
and  the  other  half  is  placed  at  interest 
in  a  savings-bank,  so  that  when  they 
come  of  age  or  marry  they  have  a  little 
fund  of  three  or  four  hundred  rubles 
with  which  to  begin  the  world. 

''  Immediately  after  our  arrival  at 
Alexandrosky,"  writes  Mr.  Venables, 
"  we  were  taken  to  see  the  foundlings 
at  dinner,  which,  as  it  was  Lent  (the 
only  fast  in  the  year  which  they  are 
required  to  keep),  consisted  of  soup- 
maigre,  fish,  rye-bread,  and  quass — all 
served  in  pewter.  The  day  was  an 
ordinary''  working-day,  and  our  arrival 
was  perfectly  unexpected,  yet  nothing 
could  exceed  the  neatness  and  perfect 
cleanliness  of  these  young  manufac- 
turers, more  especially  the  girls,  whose 
hair  in  particular  excited  our  admira- 
tion, every  head  being  arranged  alike, 
and  with  a  degree  of  taste  and  neat- 
ness which  many  a  lady  might  copy. 
Caps  are  never  worn  by  the  lower 
classes  in  "this  country,  and  certainly 
the  well-brushed  hair,  drawn  smoothly 
over  the  forehead  and  fastened  at  the 
back  by  a  high  comb,  rendered  the 
line  of  heads  infinitely  more  agreeable 
to  the  eye,  and  at  least  as  cleanly  in 
appearance,  as  the  row  of  mob  caps 
which  would  have  been  ranged  down 
the  table  had  these  been  English  cha- 
rity girls.  A  wooden  screen  about  six 
feet  high  ran  down  the  middle  of  the 
hall  to  separate  the  two  sexes,"  Din- 
ner over,  a  bell  is  rung,  when  the 
whole  body,  young  men,  boys,  and 
girls,  stand  up  and  sing  a  hymn ;  the 
efiect  produced  by  so  many  voices  we 
have  already  alluded  to,  when  speaking 


of  a  similar  custom  at  the  Foundling 
Hospital ;  at  the  conclusion  of  this 
hymn  the  bell  gives  the  signal  of  de- 
parture, and  the  two  sexes  move  out  of 
the  hall  at  difi^erent  ends  in  the  most 
orderly  manner.  This,  like  other  pub- 
lic establishments  in  Russia,  is  a  per- 
fect model  of  cleanliness;  a  fact  the 
more  striking,  as  the  virtue  is  not  gene- 
rally practised  in  private  life,  even 
amongst  the  upper  classes.  The  ma- 
chinery is  for  the  most  part  under  the 
direction  of  English  workmen,  about 
seventy  are  employed,  and  divine  ser- 
vice is  performed  here  every  Sunday 
evening  by  the  British  chaplain. 

On  the  road  to  Peterhoff  is  the  im- 
perial paper  manufactory,  and  imder 
the  same  roof  is  an  establishment  for 
cutting  and  polishing  stones.  In  no 
court  in  the  world  are  such  quantities 
of  jewels  employed  as  in  the  Russian. 
The  Emperor  and  Empress  never  travel 
without  taking  with  them  a  large  jewel 
casket,  in  order  that  they  may  leave 
behind  them  some  mark  of  their  favour. 
The  most  peculiar  and  beautiful  objects 
to  be  seen  here  are  the  large  malachite 
vases,  the  material  of  which  is  brought 
from  Siberia  ;  some  of  these  are  valued 
at  100,000  rubles. 

Some  of  the  private  manufactories  of 
St.  Petersburgh  are  likewise  on  an 
imperial  scale  ;  amongst  them  are  the 
founderies  and  refinery  of  Mr.  Baird, 
and  the  cotton- spinning  establishment 
of  Baron  Stiglitz. 

THE    THEATKES. 

From  the  enjoyment  which  the  Rus- 
sians of  all  classes  take  in  every  spe- 
cies of  scenic  diversion,  the  theatre 
is  particularly  a  popular  amusement. 
There  are,  independent  of  the  one  near 
the  Hermitage,  three  large  theatres  in 
St,  Petersburgh  :  the  Bolshoi,  or  Great 
Theatre,  on  the  square  of  that  name 
between  the  Moika  and  Catherina 
canals;  the  Alexander  Theatre,  in  the 
Nevskoi  Prospekt ;  and  the  French  in 
the  square  near  the  palace  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Michael.  The  performances  at  the 


Russia, 


THE    THEATKES. 


509 


two  former  are  devoted  to  Russian  and 
Grerman  plays  and  operas,  the  latter  to 
French  and  German  dramas.     All  thea- 
trical   establishments    in    Russia    are 
under  the  immediate   management  of 
Government,  by  whom  every  expense 
is    paid ;    and,    as    none    is    spared, 
the  scenery  and  dresses  are  of  the  very 
best  kind  :  the  sums  disbursed  must 
be  very  considerable — in  fact,  the  ex- 
penses are  so  much  above  the  receipts, 
that  it  is  said  to  be  but  an  indifferent 
speculation.     The  imperial  purse,  how- 
ever, is  pretty  capacious  and  well  lined, 
and  stinginess  is  certainly  not  one  of 
the  Emperor's  infirmities.     The  houses 
are    spacious,     very    nearly    semicir- 
cular in  shape,  and  handsomely  deco- 
rated ;  and  a  magnificent  box  for  the 
Imperial    family   occupies    the    centre 
of  the  two  first  tiers.     The  arrange- 
ments for  the   accommodation  of  the 
public  is  exceedingly  good,  every  seat 
being  numbered  in  such  a  manner  as 
entirely   to    prevent   confusion.       The 
state  box,  however,  is    seldom   used, 
the   Imperial    family    generally    occu- 
pying one    next    to    the    stage  conti- 
guous   to   that   of   the    Grand    Duke 
Michael  ;    opposite   is    one    similarly 
decorated  for  the  Ministre  de  la  Cour. 
The  entire  pit  is  fitted  with  arm-chairs 
ihraslya),  numbered  on  the  back,  the 
numbers    commencing    from    the    or- 
chestra; and  on  obtaining  a  ticket  at 
the  JCassa,  on  which  the  number  of  the 
seat  is  likewise  specified,  a  servant  in 
the  imperial  livery  at  once  conducts  the 
visitor  to  his  appointed  place,  and,  in  case 
it  is  already  occupied,   ejects  the  in- 
truder in  the  most  summary  manner. 
The  ordinary  price  for  these  seats  is  1 
silver  ruble,  but  in  the  two  rows  near- 
est  to   the    stage    they   are    2  silver 
rubles.      On   extraordinary  occasions, 
however,  the  public  are  put  under  extra 
contribution ;  and  when,  for  instance, 
Taglioni  performs,  or  rather  dances,  the 
prices  are  sometimes  raised  _/ive/bM,  an 
arm-chair  in  the  pit  being  6  silver  rubles, 
or  somewhat  more  than  a  guinea ;  the 
other  prices  are  raised  in  proportion,  and 


even  at  these  exorbitant  rates,  every 
seat  is  engaged  for  five  o^  six  evenings 
in  advance. 

There  are  no  stalls  in  any  of  these 
theatres,  but  the  back  part  of  the  pit  is 
fenced  off  as  a  parquet,  and  contains 
seats  at  a  lower  price ;  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  pit  seats  are  generally  oc- 
cupied by  officers  wearing  uniforms  of 
all  fashions  and  colours,  and  almost 
universally  muffled  up  in  long  gray 
cloaks,  without  which  no  Russian  officer 
seems  to  consider  himself  fully  accou- 
tred. No  sooner  has  an  act  concluded, 
and  the  curtain  fallen,  than  an  universal 
rush  to  the  door  takes  place,  as  if  the 
house  were  on  fire.  Six  or  seven  times 
in  the  course  of  each  evening's  perform- 
ance, one  is  obliged  to  make  way  for 
whole  troops  of  these  gray  cloaks,  trail- 
ing swords,  and  cocked  hats. 

We  have  remarked  that  the  prices 
are  quintupled  when  Taglioni  appears, 
and  this  is  so ;  but,  as  Taglioni  or  any 
other  European  of  celebrity  can  be  seen 
any  season  at  the  Italian  Opera-house 
in  the  Hajonarket,  we  recommend  the 
traveller  to  be  a  spectator  of  a  national 
drama  or  opera  when  a  national  au- 
dience is  present — he  will  thus  have  an 
opportunity  of  observing  the  real  senti- 
ments and  emotions  of  the  Russian. 
The  witty  mermaid  of  the  Baltic 
thus  describes  a  Russian  opera,  the  first 
ever  written,  entitled  "  Jishn  za  Zara," 
or,  "  Your  Life  for  your  Tzar;"  the 
music  by  Glinki,  the  libretto  by  Count 
Rosen.  "  This  opera,  equally  from  the 
popularity  of  the  subject  and  the  beauty 
and  nationality  of  the  music,  has  met 
with  the  utmost  success ;  the  plot  of  the 
piece,  as  far  as  we  could  fathom  it,  was 
the  concealment  and  subsequent  dis- 
covery of  the  true  Zar,  and  his  final 
coronation  at  Moscow,  with  a  splendid 
representation  of  the  Kremlin.  This  is 
woven  up  with  a  love-tale,  and  rendered 
interesting  by  the  fidelity  of  a  fine  old 
Russian  with  a  long  beard  and  a  bass 
voice,  who  eventually  pays  for  his  ad- 
herence with  his  life. 

"  The  music  was  strikingly  national. 


510 


STATUE    OF   PETER   THE    GEE  AT. 


Sect.  V. 


and  one  trio  in  particular  appeared  to 
combine  every  peculiar  beauty  of  Rus- 
sian melody  and  pathos,  and  will  doubt- 
less acquire  a  European  celebrity.  It 
was  very  strange  to  see  true  Russians 
personating  true  Russians — gallery,  pit, 
and  stage  being  equally  filled  with  the 
same  bearded  and  caftaned  figures. 
The  national  feeling  seemed  in  every 
heart  and  on  every  lip  ;  any  allusion  to 
the  Tzar — and  the  subject  was  thickly 
strewn  with  them — was  pronounced 
by  the  actors  with  the  utmost  anima- 
tion, and  responded  to  by  electric 
shouts  from  the  audience.  Nor  was 
there  any  casual  inducement  for  this 
display  of  loyalty,  for  neither  his  Ma- 
jesty nor  any  of  the  Imperial  family 
were  present. 

"  These  are  the  scenes,  more  than 
any  luxurious  entertainment  or  military 
parade,  which  reveal  the  strength  of 
the  Crown."  The  Alexander,  unlike 
almost  every  other'  continental  theatre, 
has  chandeliers  round  the  boxes,  a  great 
improvement  upon  the  palpable  obscure 
of  many  theatres,  where  the  entire  blaze 
of  light  is  concentrated  on  the  stage 
— here  not  only  Russian  dramas  on  na- 
tional subjects  are  performed,  but,  as 
appears  by  the  account  of  another  tra- 
veller, the  actors  attempt  to  delineate 
the  proceedings  of  those  who  figure  in 
our  ecclesiastical  courts.  At  one  time 
the  great  attraction  at  this  theatre  was 
a  Russian  version  of  a  life  of  Edmund 
Kean.  The  opening  scene  was  laid  in 
a  public-house  at  Wapping,  and  in 
the  centre  of  the  stage  stood  a  Rus- 
sian stove  with  a  pipe,  to  carry  oif  the 
smoke  ;  the  English  sailors,  who  formed 
part  of  the  dramatis  personae,  were  ar- 
rayed in  tight  knee-breeches,  long 
leather  gaiters,  and  red  waistcoats,  and 
the  principals,  including  "  Milor  Cox," 
were  habited  much  in  the  same  way. 

The  troop  of  actors  at  the  French 
Theatre,  in  the  Michaelosky  Square, 
are  by  no  means  mediocre ;  those  we 
saw  perform  both  at  Moscow  and  St. 
Petersburgh  had  considerable  merit, 
much  more  so  than  their  compeers  who 


star  it  at  the  St.  James's  Theatre. 
There  is  also  a  large  wooden  theatre 
in  the  Kammenoi  Island,  where  an  ex- 
cellent French  company  perform  three 
times  in  the  week  during  the  summer; 
it  is  not  much  attended,  for  every  one  is 
out  of  town  at  that  season.  In  the 
winter  the  theatres  are  all  heated,  and 
sometimes  to  an  excessive  degree,  the 
thermometer  standing  as  high  as  82*^  of 
Fahrenheit.  The  censorship  of  the 
theatre  is  in  the  hands  of  Count  Benken- 
dorf,  who  approves,  or  otherwise,  of 
every  play  previously  to  its  being 
brought  forward  for  performance. 

STATUE   OP   PETER   THE    GREAT. 

In  the  western  corner  of  the  Admi- 
ralty Square,  and  near  the  Isaac  Bridge, 
itself  a  fine  structure,  1050  feet  long, 
and  60  feet  wide,  with  two  draw- 
bridges, stands  the  well-known  eques- 
trian statue  of  Peter  the  Great.  The 
subject  is  admirably  treated,  and  the 
idea  of  representing  the  Emperor  riding 
up  a  rock,  on  both  sides  of  which,  and 
in  front,  steep  precipices  threaten  de- 
struction, is  as  poetical  a  thought  as  ever 
sculptor  entertained,  and  it  were  dif- 
ficult not  to  find  the  parade-stepping 
horses  in  the  generality  of  equestrian 
statues  spiritless  after  seeing  this.  It 
is  said  that  Falconet,  who  executed  this 
great  work,  was  aided  in  his  inspira- 
tions by  a  Russian  officer,  the  boldest 
rider  of  his  time,  who  daily  rode  up  to 
the  edge  of  a  high  artificial  mound,  the 
wildest  Arabian  of  Count  Orloff's  stud, 
where  he  suddenly  halted  him  with 
his  fore  legs  pawing  the  air  over  the 
abyss  below.  The  head  was  modelled 
by  Marie  Callot.  The  Emperor's  face 
is  turned  towards  the  Neva,  his  hand 
outstretched  as  if  he  would  grasp  land 
and  water :  this  attitude  was  bold  and 
to  the  purpose ;  it  is  therefore  inconceiv- 
able why  the  artist  did  not  rest  con- 
tented with  it,  instead  of  adding  to  the 
idea  of  power  and  possession  which  his 
attitude  gave,  the  subduing  a  ser- 
pent which  the  Tzar  finds  on  the  rock, 
and  which  is  trodden  under  his  horse's 


Russia. 


THE    ALEXANDEK    COLUMN. 


611 


feet ;  the  cliarm  of  a  great  work  of  art 
is  sinned  against  by  this  destruction 
of  unity  of  action  and  idea.  The 
spring  of  the  horse^  the  carriage  of 
the  rider  and  his  well-chosen  Rus- 
sian costume  are,  however,  admirable. 
The  air-born  position  of  the  whole 
statue  rendered  it  necessary  that  un- 
usual precautions  should  be  taken  to  pre- 
serve the  centre  of  gravity ;  the  thick- 
ness of  the  bronze  in  front  is  therefore 
very  trifling,  but  behind  it  increases  to 
several  inches,  and  10,000  lbs.' weight 
of  iron  were  cast  in  the  hind  quarters 
and  tail  of  the  horse — a  tolerable 
ajolomb. 

The  huge  block  of  granite  which 
forms  the  pedestal,  and  weighs  1500 
tons,  was  brought  from  Lacta,  a  Finnish 
village  four  miles  from  St.  Petersburgh, 
and  may  have  been  torn  by  the  Deluge 
from  the  Swedish  mountains ;  it  was 
originally  45  feet  long,  30  feet  high, 
and  25  feet  in  width  ;  but  the  chisel 
was  set  to  work,  and,  in  cutting  it,  the 
mass  broke  in  two  pieces ;  these  were 
subsequently  patched  together,  and  it 
now  looks  as  unnatural  as  the  imitative 
rocks  we  see  on  the  stage.  Some  work 
may  have  been  necfessary  to  obtain  a 
footing  for  the  horse  and  give  an  incli- 
nation to  the  stone.  This,  however, 
must  have  been  done  without  due  pre- 
caution, for  one-third  was  taken  away. 
It  is  now  only  14  feet  high,  20  feet 
broad,  and  35  feet  long;  the  statue  11 
feet  in  height,  and  the  horse  17;  on  the 
two  long  sides  are  chiselled  the  follow- 
ing inscriptions  in  Russian  and  Latin : 
**  Petramu  Pervomu,  Catherina  Vto- 
vaya."  "Petro  Primo  Catherina  Se- 
cunda,"  mdcclxxxii. 

A  laughable  anecdote  connected  with 
this  statue  recently  occurred  at  St. 
Petersburgh.  "  Some  American  sailors, 
who  had  been  making  rather  too  free 
with  the  jolly  god,  sallied  forth  on  a 
frolicksome  cruise,  and  one  of  them,  not 
having  the  fear  of  the  police  before  his 
eyes,  climbed  over  the  wire  palisade  sur- 
rounding the  statue,  and,  clambering  up 
the  rock,  seated  himself,  en  crou;pe,  be- 


hind the  Tzar.  He  was  speedily  dis- 
mounted, and  after  a  night's  confine- 
ment was  brought  before  the  divisional 
officer  of  police,  when  the  case  was  sum- 
marily disposed  of,  and  so  heavy  a  fine 
inflicted  that  the  offender  naturally  re- 
monstrated. "  No,  no,"  said  the  officer, 
"  we  can  make  no  abatement ;  if  you 
will  ride  with  great  people,  you  must 
pay  great  people's  prices." 

THE   ALEXANDEK   COLUMN. 

In  the  open  space  between  the  Etat 
Major  and  the  Winter  Palace  stands  the 
greatest  monolith  of  modern  times,  the 
column  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  late 
Emperor  Alexander;  a  single  shaft  of  red 
granite  which,  exclusive  of  pedestal  and 
capital,  is  upwards  of  80  feet  in  height. 
This  beautiful  monument  is  the  work 
of  Monsieur  Montferrand,  the  architect 
of  the  Izak  Church,  and  was  erected 
under  his  superintendence;  the  shaft 
originally  measured  102  feet,  but  it  was 
subsequently  shortened  to  its  present 
dimensions  from  a  fear  that  its  diameter 
was  insufficient  for  so  great  a  length. 
The  base  and  pedestal  is  also  composed 
of  one  enormous  block  of  the  same  red 
granite,  of  the  height  of  about  25  feet, 
and  nearly  the  same  length  and  breadth; 
the  capital  measures  16  feet,  the 
statue  of  the  angel  on  the  summit  14 
feet,  and  the  cross  (7  feet),  in  all  about 
150  feet.  As  the  whole  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh is  built  on  a  morass,  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  drive  no  less  than 
six  successive  rows  of  piles,  in  order  to 
sustain  so  immense  a  weight  as  this 
standing  upon  so  confined  a  base ;  the 
shaft  of  the  column  alone  is  computed 
as  weighing  nearly  400  tons,  and  the 
massive  pedestal  must  materially  in- 
crease the  tremendous  pressure.  The 
statue  was  raised  in  its  rough  state,  and 
polished  after  it  was  firmly  fixed  on  its 
present  elevation.  On  the  pedestal  is 
the  following  short  and  well-chosen 
inscription  : — "To  Alexander  the  First. 
"  Grrateful  Russia."  The  eye  rests 
with  pleasure  on  this  polished  monu- 
ment ;  and  in  any  other  city  its  enor- 


512 


ROMANZOFF   MONUMENT. 


Sect.  V. 


mous  size  would  make  a  greater  im- 
pression. "  Here,  in  St,  Petersburg^, 
where  the  eye  expands  with  the  vast 
surrounding  spaces,  it  is  seen  under 
a  smaller  angle  of  vision.  The  place  on 
which  it  stands  is  so  vast  in  its  dimen- 
sions, the  houses  around  are  so  high  and 
massive,  that  even  this  giant  requires 
its  whole  hundred  and  fifty  feet  not  to 
disappear.  But  when  the  stranger  is 
close  to  it  and  becomes  aware  of  its 
circumference,  while  its  head  seems  to 
reach  the  heavens,  the  impression  is 
strong  and  overpowering.  The  best 
points  of  view  are  the  gateways  of  the 
Etat  Major  and  the  Winter  Palace  ; 
from  them  it  is  contemplated  as  in  a 
frame,  and  a  point  of  measurement 
gained  for  the  eye  by  which  the  height 
may  be  estimated.  It  is  incomprehen- 
sible why  the  crown  of  the  pillar  has 
been  made  so  wide  and  heavy.  It  extends 
so  far  over  the  shaft,  that  the  angel 
with  the  cross  is  not  to  be  seen  from 
beneath  ;  and  to  look  at  it  properly  one 
must  ascend  the  second  story  of  the 
palace,  or  go  the  distance  of  a  verst  on 
the  Admiralty  Platz  to  observe  it  thence 
with  a  telescope.  The  worst  of  all  is,  that 
already  an  abominable  worm  is  gnaw- 
ing at  this  beautiful  monolith,  and  it  has 
already  received  a  very  sad  and  offen- 
sive rent  from  above  towards  the  mid- 
dle. It  may  be  that  the  stone  was  at  first 
badly  chosen,  or  that  the  cold  of  St, 
Petersburgh  will  not  tolerate  such 
monuments  of  human  art.  There  are 
people  in  St,  Petersburgh  who  think  it 
a  patriotic  duty  to  deny  the  existence 
of  the  rent,  which  has  been  artfully 
filled  with  a  cement  of  granite  frag- 
ments. But  in  the  sunshine,  when  the 
polish  of  the  rent  shows  differently  from 
that  of  the  stone ;  or  in  the  winter, 
when  the  hoar-frost  forms  in  icicles  on 
the  cold  stone,  but  not  on  the  warmer 
cement,  the  wicked  line  is  but  too  ap- 
parent. 

"  The  idea  of  this  column  is,  like  every- 
thing else  in  Russia,  religio-political. 
It  was  erected  in  honour  of  the  Emperor 
Alexander,  and  is  meant  to  eternalize 


with  his  memory  that  of  the  re-con- 
firmation of  the  political  constitution 
and  of  the  security  of  religion.  The 
attack  of  the  irreligious,  unbelieving 
Napoleon  is  considered  in  Russia,  not 
only  as  an  attack  on  the  State,  but  also 
as  one  on  the  faith.  Hence  the  erec- 
tion of  the  angel  with  the  cross  on  the 
summit.  This  column,  whose  capital 
and  ornaments  on  the  pedestal  were 
formed  from  Turkish  cannon,  throws 
into  one  category  all  the  enemies  of 
Russia,  the  Turks,  the  French,  &c,, 
and  is  the  sealing,  ratification,  and  im- 
mortalization of  all  the  modern  victo- 
ries of  the  Russian  eagle." 

ROMANZOFF    MONUMENT. 

Nearly  equidistant  from  the  Aca- 
demy of  Arts  and  Corps  of  Cadets  is  a 
monument  to  the  field-marshal  of  this 
name,  erected  to  his  memory  for  his 
services  against  the  Turks,  The  in- 
scription on  it  is  "  Romantzoiva  joo- 
hcedam."  To  the  victories  of  Ro- 
manzoff. 

"  This  monument  is  composed  of 
half-a-dozen  different-coloured  stones, 
and  is  ornamented  with  patches  of 
metal  besides.  The  obelisk  itself  is  of 
black  granite.  It  stands  in  a  socket 
of  red  marble,  whose  base  is  of  another 
colour,  in  addition  to  which  there  are 
several  strata  of  white  marble ;  and  the 
whole  bears  on  its  extreme  point  a 
golden  ball,  with  an  eagle  hovering 
over  it.  In  vain  we  ask  what  har- 
mony the  artist  could  find  in  all  these 
various  colours  and  materials.  Fortu- 
nately this  artistical  abortion  will  not 
last  long.  There  are  already  several 
rents  and  splits  in  it,  and  so  many 
pieces  broken  from  all  corners,  that  it 
looks  as  if  it  had  stood  for  centuries. 
It  will  soon  sink  under  its  own  weight. 
The  eight  Egyptian  Sphinxes,  which 
lie  not  far  from  this  monument  before 
the  Academy  of  Arts,  seem  to  look  de- 
ridingly  on  the  unimposing  obelisk. 
In  defiance  of  the  thousand  years  of 
warlike  tumult — in  defiance  of  the 
countless  burning  suns,  of  the  endless 


Russia. 


THE    SUMMER    GARDENS. 


513 


series  of  days  and  nights  that  have 
passed  over  their  heads — they  look  as 
youthful  as  if  newly  born;  their  skin 
as  smooth  and  polished  as  when  they 
came  from  the  chisel." 

SUWAKOFP   MONUMENT. 

This  memorial  to  one  of  Russia's  most 
distinguished  generals  is  on  the  Champ 
de  Mars,  opposite  the  Troitszka  bridge ; 
a  most  appropriate  situation.  But,  were 
we  to  judge  of  his  merits  as  a  com- 
mander by  his  monument,  they  were 
indeed  few.  Certain  it  is,  as  the  mar- 
shal was  an  original  and  a  wit,  he 
would,  if  he  could  see  this  cenotaph  to 
his  genius,  make  many  an  epigram 
upon  it.  It  is  a  bronze  statue,  on  foot, 
Avielding  a  sword  in  the  right  hand, 
and  holding  a  shield  in  the  left,  in 
defence,  over  the  crowns  of  the  Pope, 
Naples,  and  Sardinia,  which  lie  at  his 
feet.  The  position  of  the  statue  is 
that  of  a  fencing- master  who  is  about 
to  show  his  pupil  a  thrust — the  cos- 
tume is  Roman. 

THE    SUMMER   GARDENS. 

These  far-famed  gardens  are  on  the 
Neva,  close  to  the  Troitzka  bridge,  and 
bound  the  eastern  end  of  the  Champ 
de  Mars.  They  are  half  a  mile  in 
length  by  a  quarter  in  breadth,  and 
much  more  frequented  than  those  of 
the  Taurida  Palace,  or  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Michael. 

"  It  is  the  oldest  garden  in  the  city, 
contains  a  number  of  fine  old  trees,  and 
is  therefore  of  incalculable  value  in  the 
centre  of  the  stony  masses  of  the  city. 
It  is  laid  out  in  a  number  of  long 
avenues,  interspersed  with  flower  beds, 
somewhat  in  the  ancient  style  of  gar- 
dening, with  an  abundance  of  marble 
statues  of  Springs  and  Summers,  Floras 
and  Fauns,  and  other  divinities  belong- 
ing to  the  same  coterie.  On  the 
northern  side  is  the  celebrated  iron 
railing,  which  the  people  will  tell 
you  an  Englishman  once  travelled  all 
the  way  from  London  to  see  and  make 
a  sketch  of,  and  then  returned,  satisfied 


with  his  journey,  not  deigning  to  cast 
an  eye  on  any  of  the  other  marvels  of 
the  northern  city."  This  railing,  which 
is  about  16  feet  in  height,  is  certainly 
grand  and  massive ;  it  extends  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  the  gilded 
spikes  give  it  a  very  elegant  effect.  The 
garden  is  attended  to  as  carefully  almost 
as  those  of  Tzarsko  Selo,  where  a  police- 
man is  said  to  run  after  every  leaf  that 
falls,  that  it  may  instantly  be  removed 
out  of  sight.  In  autumn  all  the  statues 
are  cased  in  wooden  boxes,  to  protect 
them  against  the  rain  and  snow  of 
winter,  and  all  the  tender  trees  and 
shrubs  are  at  the  same  time  packed  up 
in  straw  and  matting,  in  which  they 
remain  till  the  return  of  spring,  Avhen 
statues,  trees,  and  men  lay  their  winter 
garments  aside  nearly  at  one  and  the 
same  time.  The  grassplots  are  regularly 
watered  in  summer,  and  the  paths  are 
carefully  cleaned  and  trimmed.  And 
the  garden  gratefully  repays  the  pains 
expended  on  it,  for  throughout  the  fine 
season  it  forms  a  delightful  retreat,  and 
its  turf  and  its  trees  in  spring  are 
green  and  smiling,  before  any  of  the 
other  gardens  have  been  able  to  divest 
themselves  of  the  chill- hardened  grain 
into  which  their  features  have  been 
stiffened  during  a  six  months'  winter. 

In  one  corner  of  the  Summer  Garden 
stands  the  palace  in  which  dwelt  Peter 
the  Great.  It  is  a  little  low,  white 
house,  with  a  few  tasteless  bas-reliefs, 
painted  yellow.  On  the  roof  between 
the  chimneys,  St.  George,  mounted  on 
a  tin  horse,  is  in  the  act  of  piercing 
the  dragon.  In  the  interior,  a  few 
articles  of  furniture,  formerly  used  by 
Peter,  are  still  preserved.  The  house 
seems  to  have  grown  ashamed  of  its 
littleness,  for  it  hides  itself  completely 
among  the  tall  linden-trees  of  the  gar- 
den, as  though  fearful  of  intruding  into 
the  company  of  the  stately  palaces  that 
have  grown  up  around.  How  differ- 
ently it  must  have  looked  when  it  was 
j^et  sole  lord  of  the  wilderness — when 
it  stood  alone  amidst  a  mob  of  fisher- 
men's huts.     This  garden  is  the  great 


534 


THE   ISLANDS. 


Sect.  V. 


lounge  of  the  population  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  and  on  Whit-monday  a  strange 
spectacle  is  to  be  seen  here,  for  on  that 
day  the  celebrated  festival  of  the  wife 
marJcet  takes  place.  Here,  according  to 
ancient  custom,  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  the  tradesmen  assemble  in  all  their 
finery,  to  pick  and  choose  a  partner  for 
life,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  a  future  marriage  ;  for,  though 
this  class  still  muster  in  great  force  on 
"Whit-monday,  the  practice  is  not  so 
thoroughly  carried  out  as  it  used  to  be. 
In  former  days,  the  girls  on  this  mo- 
mentous occasion  were  dressed  from 
head  to  foot  in  all  their  best  apparel, 
and  decorated  with  every  ornament 
they  could  borrow  from  their  family. 
It  is  even  said  that  a  Russian  mamma 
once  contrived  to  make  a  necklace  of 
six  dozen  gilt  teaspoons  for  her  daugh- 
ter, a  girdle  of  an  equal  number  of 
tablespoons,  and  then  fastened  a  couple 
of  punch-ladles  behind,  in  the  form  of 
a  cross — Greek,  of  course. 

GARDENS   OF   CATHERINENHOFF. 

These  gardens  were  laid  out  by 
Peter  the  Great,  in  1711,  as  a  memo- 
rial of  a  victory  gained  on  the  spot  over 
the  Swedes.  These  and  the  Summer 
Gardens  were  for  a  long  period  the  only 
places  for  the  recreation  of  the  citizens 
of  the  infant  capital.  They  are  now  an- 
nually visited  on  the  1st  of  May,  when 
all  St.  Petersburgh  flock  there  either  in 
carriages,  on  horseback,  or  on  foot;  as 
indeed  the  Russians  do  to  some  public 
garden  or  other  in  every  town  in  the 
empire,  to  hail,  it  is  said,  the  Spring; 
though  it  not  unfrequently  happens,  at 
St.  Petersburgh,  that  they  receive  the 
young  lady  in  their  bear  skins.  The 
carriages  move  after  a  certain  pre- 
scribed plan,  the  whole  day  long,  like 
horses  in  a  mill.  The  Emperor,  whose 
presence  crowns  this  festival,  is  gene- 
rally on  horseback,  accompanied  by  his 
sons  and  a  brilliant  staff;  his  arrival 
on  the  ground  is  looked  for  with  im- 
patience, as  if  he  were  the  representa- 
tive of   opening  crocuses  and   snow- 


drops, and,  when  he  has  passed  by,  the 
admiring  crowd  drop  off  one  after  the 
other  and  go  home  again,  as  if  the  sun 
himself  had  disappeared. 

The  gardens  are  full  of  bowling- 
greens  and  restaurants,  and,  while 
smoking  a  cigar  before  one  of  these 
latter,  the  traveller  may  see  half  the 
magnificoes  of  the  empire  move  slowly 
past  in  their  carriages-and-four. 

THE   ISLANDS. 

In  the  whole  Delta  of  the  Neva 
there  are  more  than  forty  islands,  great 
and  small,  some  of  which,  although  all 
belong  to  the  precincts  of  the  city,  are 
still  completely  deserted,  inundated  by 
the  sea  and  the  Neva,  and  visited  only 
by  seals,  or  by  wolves  who  come  over 
the  ice  during  the  winter,  or  by  fisher- 
men, in  a  less  inclement  season  of  the 
year.  Many  of  these  swampy  and 
birch-covered  islets,  such  for  instance 
as  the  Volny  and  Truktanoff  Islands, 
are  scarcely  known  to  many  of  the 
inhabitants  of  St.  Petersburgh;  and  it 
is  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  wildness 
and  uncultivated  region  which  sur- 
rounds the  capital,  at  least  on  one  side, 
that  a  man  may,  if  he  feel  so  disposed, 
kill  either  a  bear  or  a  wolf  between 
breakfast  and  dinner.  In  hard  win- 
ters, hungry  wolves  have  not  only  ap- 
proached the  suburbs  in  search  of  food, 
but  even  the  imperial  palace.  Kohl 
tells  us  of  a  lady  who  scared  one  of 
these  animals  away  with  her  parasol ; 
and  of  another  who,  being  surprised 
by  a  bear  while  reading  in  her  villa 
in  the  environs  of  St,  Petersburgh,  re- 
pulsed his  advances  by  throwing  her 
book,  a  novel  of  George  Sand's,  at  his 
head.  Five,  however,  of  the  islands 
of  the  Delta,  though  originally  yielding 
nothing  but  shrubs  and  a  few  old  oaks, 
birches,  and  firs,  were  invaded  by  the 
gardener  towards  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  and  are  now  laid  out  in  the 
most  tasteful  manner.  Imperial  palaces 
arose,  too,  under  the  creative  hand  of 
Catherine,  who  made  grants  of  land, 
and  even  whole  islands,  to  her  favou- 


Russia. 


THE   ISLANDS. 


515 


rites,  that  they  might  build  and  lay 
out  villas  and  houses  there;  hence, 
perhaps,  the  name  datscha  (gift)  for  a 
villa,  with  which  the  Kammenoi,  or 
Stone  Island,  is  nearly  covered.  These 
buildings  are  in  every  variety  of  stylp, 
Grothic,  Chinese,  &c.,  and  specimens 
are  to  be  found  of  all  ages  and  nations 
in  gardening  and  villa  building;  but, 
though  costly  and  luxurious,  they  are., 
destitute  of  the  comfort  of  an  English 
country  house.  One  charm,  however, 
they  have,  and  for  this  they  are  in- 
debted, singular  enough,  to  the  severity 
of  the  climate;  the  hothouses  are  as 
numerous  as  the  villas,  and  in  the 
warm  weather  the  balconies,  doors,  and 
windows  of  the  datsches  are  adorned 
with  multitudes  of  exotic  plants.  These 
villas  are  generally  inhabited  by  the 
wealthier  classes.  There  is,  too,  on 
this  island  a  summer  theatre,  in  which 
French  plays  are  performed;  an  im- 
perial villa,  and  the  hospital  for  the 
disabled. 

"The  datsches  of  the  nobility  are 
all  of  wood,  the  Emperor's  alone  being 
of  stone,  and  tortured  into  every  incon- 
gruous form  that  bad  taste  can  devise ; 
the  whole  touched  up  and  picked  out 
with  painted  cornices  and  pilasters,  in 
red  and  yellow  ochre,  and,  once  done, 
left  to  the  mercy  of  the  seasons.  Each 
has  just  enough  ground  around  to  give 
the  idea  of  an  English  tea-garden,  with 
every  appurtenance  of  painted  wooden 
arcb,  temple,  and  seat,  to  confirm  it.  At 
the  same  time  it  is  here  the  established 
idea  that  such  houses  and  such  gardens 
are  precise  fac-similes  of  an  English 
country  residence,  and  some  Russians 
are  not  a  little  chagrined  at  our  not 
accepting  this  piece  of  homage  to  our 
native  land.  In  this  neighbourhood  is 
also  a  Russian  village,  wooden  cottages 
with  deep  roofs,  and  galleries  running 
round  like  the  Swiss,  ornamented  with 
most  delicately  carved  wood :  of  course 
here  was  also  plenty  of  red,  blue,  and 
yellow,  for  it  seems  that  without  these 
primary  colours  little  can  be  done. 
The  love  of  red,  especially,  is  so  inhe- 


rent a  taste  in  Russia,  that  red  and 
heautifxd  are,  in  a  popular  sense,  ex- 
pressed by  the  same  word.  But  this  is 
evidently  the  show  village  of  the  capi- 
tal, and  almost  entirely  let  to  families 
for  the  summer." 

Joined  to  the  Kammenoi,  on  the 
west,  by  a  bridge,  is  another  garden 
island,  called  the  Yelaginskoi,  or  Yel- 
agin  Island,  after  the  name  of  a  family 
who  once  possessed  it.  It  is  now  ex- 
clusively occupied  by  the  imperial  cha- 
teau and  gardens.  The  Court  fre- 
quently reside  here  in  the  spring,  the 
most  brilliant  season  for  the  islands, 
but  there  is  no  amusement  for  the 
public  beyond  that  of  strolling  about 
on  foot,  and  lionizing  the  Emperor's 
datscha.  This  has  the  appearance  of 
an  English  country  residence,  with  the 
gravel  walks  and  flower  beds  in  ad- 
mirable order;  the  rooms  are  by  no 
means  large,  but  exceedingly  well  ar- 
ranged for  living  in  quietly  and  com- 
fortably. The  Emperor's  own  room  is 
a  perfect  snuggery  in  its  way.  This 
is  said  to  be  a  favourite  resort  of  the 
Empress,  and  no  one  will,  we  think,  feel 
disposed  to  differ  with  her.  The  view 
from  the  chateau  is  delightful;  first  the 
gardens  of  the  villa,  then  the  broad  sheet 
of  the  Neva  with  its  verdant  banks, 
and,  lastly,  the  lofty  spires  of  the  capi- 
tal are  seen  rising  in  the  distance.  A 
promenade,  similar  to  that  at  Cathe- 
rinenhoff,  takes  places  later  in  the  year 
on  the  Yelagin  Island,  at  which  the 
Imperial  family  are  present ;  this  fete 
is  more  attractive,  for  the  weather  is 
more  settled,  and  the  scenery  is  much 
finer.  To  the  south  of  the  islands, 
Yelagin  and  Kammenoi,  is  the  Kres- 
tovsJcy,  or  Cross  Island,  which  lies 
before  the  courtly  Yelagin  and  Kam- 
menoi Ostroff,  towards  the  sea,  and 
is  larger  than  the  two  former  put  to- 
gether. Numerous  avenues  have  been 
opened  through  the  thick  primeval 
birch  and  pine  wood  of  this  island,  and 
afford  agreeable  views  of  the  Gulf  of 
Finland.  This  island  is  peculiarly  the 
resort  of  the  lower  classes  of  St.  Peters- 


516 


THE   ISLANDS. 


Sect.  V. 


burgh ;  hither  flock  the  Mujih  and  the 
Kupez  in  gay  gondolas,  to  enjoy,  in 
the  woods,  their  national  amusements 
of  swings  and  Russian  mountains,  and 
here  on  holidays  smokes  on  the  grass 
under  every  pine-group  the  favourite 
somovar,  round  which  may  be  seen 
encamped  a  party  of  long-beards,  gos- 
siping, singing,  and  clamouring. 

The  German  part  of  the  population 
have  appropriated  to  themselves  ano- 
ther island,  that  of  Petroshy.  The 
arrangements  are  on  a  smaller  scale, 
and  here  only  are  to  be  found  milk  and 
cake  gardens,  coffee-houses  and  taverns ; 
it  must  not  be  understood,  however, 
that  there  is  anything  exclusive,  for 
datschas,  chateau,  and  Russians  mingle 
here  as  elsewhere. 

The  fifth  garden  island  is  that  of  the 
Apteharslcoi,  or  Apothecaries'  Island, 
and  here  is  the  Botanical  Garden,  one 
of  the  most  interesting  sights  of  the 
capital.  This  is  open  to  the  public  on 
Sundays  and  holidays. 

The  science  of  hothouse  gardening 
is  here  brought  to  the  utmost  perfec- 
tion, and  one  of  the  finest  assortments 
of  tropical  plants  in  existence  has 
been  collected  amid  the  snows  of  the 
north.  The  whole  establishment  is 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Fisher,  a 
Scotchman,  whose  success  in  propagat- 
ing and  preserving  the  most  delicate 
plants  is  wonderful.  The  collection 
of  Orchidaceous  plants  is  one  of  the 
best  in  Europe,  and  agents  are  em- 
ployed in  many  different  parts  of  the 
Avorld  in  sending  home  plants  worthy 
of  these  immense  conservatories. 

The  traveller  should  select  a  holiday 
or  Sunday  for  seeing  the  islands,  and 
above  all,  let  him  not  think  of  going 
there  on  foot,  as  if  he  were  going  from 
Bond  Street  to  Hyde  Park,  or  from  the 
Palais  Royal  to  the  Tuileries;  the 
gardens  and  buildings  are  scattered  over 
a  large  surface,  and  their  beauties  are 
seen  to  much  greater  advantage  when 
comfortably  seated  in  a  carriage.  Kohl 
states  how  they  should  be  visited. 
"  Call,"  he  observes,  "  upon  a  friend, 


if  you  have  one  in  any  of  these  elegant 
swamp  villas,  and  enjoy  the  tea  ot 
evening  collation  upon  his  luxurious 
divans.  Then,  towards  sunset,  have  a 
gondola,  manned  by  half-a-dozen  sturdy 
fellows,  and  row  down  the  arm  of  the 
Neva  to  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  Watch 
there  the  globe  of  the  northern  summer 
sun  sink  into  the  lap  of  Thetis,  and 
hurry  back  through  the  magic  July 
night,  and  row  round  some  of  the 
islands,  taking  a  wide  sweep,  for  there 
is  plenty  of  room  here  on  the  water 
also,  punching  and  driving  your  gon- 
doliers,m  eanwhile,  to  make  them  go 
the  faster.  Listen  then  from  the  water 
to  the  sounds  from  the  thick  forest, 
gaze  on  the  lights  from  the  fishing- 
villages,  the  late  illumination  of  the 
brilliant  datschas,  and  hearken  to  the 
nightly  doings  on  the  islands,  where 
all  is  as  loud  by  night  as  it  was  by 
day ;  and  at  last,  return  home  like  a 
night-wandering  ghost,  when,  towards 
one  o'clock,  the  cold  dew  announces 
the  return  of  the  sun." 

The  gardens  in  Count  Strogonoff's 
domain,  where  there  is  a  fine  park,  are 
open  to  the  public.  Here  is  to  be 
seen  an  antique  sarcophagus  and  marble, 
vulgarly  called  the  tomb  of  Homer, 
which  Avas  brought  from  the  island 
of  los,  in  the  Archipelago,  at  the  end 
of  the  last  century.  These  gardens  and 
those  of  Count  Nessslrode  are  open  to 
the  public  daily. 

It  is  ornamented  with  has  reliefs 
representing  scenes  from  the  life  of 
Achilles.  There  is  a  little  book  writ- 
ten thereon,  by  Heyne,  the  celebrated 
Archaeologist  and  Professor  at  Gottin- 
gen,  which  has  been  reproduced  by  M. 
Murall. 

The  traveller  will  also,  perhaps,  hear 
of  the  villages  of  St.  Petcrsburgh,  but 
those  who  have  read  of  "sweet  Au- 
burn," and  seen  a  real  one,  of  which 
there  are  so  many  in  England,  will  not 
be  much  enchanted  by  Great  and  Little 
Okhta,  the  Great  and  Little  Derevnia, 
and  the  Tshornaj'a  Retska,  The  houses 
in  these  villages  are  constructed  of  logs 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. TZARSKO    SELO. 


517 


of  fir  trees,  strongly  put  together;  and 
are  planted  like  soldiers,  in  one  long 
straight  line.  From  the  houses,  hardly 
one  of  which  possesses  a  tree,  long  cab- 
bage and  cucumber  plantations  stretch 
into  the  country  on  the  land  side,  while 
the  road  on  the  banks  of  the  river  is 
filled  on  holidays  with  carriages  driv- 
ing up  and  down  as  they  do  in  the 
avenues  of  the  Garden  Islands.  Those 
persons  whose  revenues  are  too  mo- 
derate for  a  Gothic  or  a  Chinese 
datscha,  engage  a  summer  residence  in 
some  of  these  deal  houses,  and  enjoy 
there  as  much  happiness  as  a  somovar, 
a  pack  of  cards,  and  a  dusty  gallop- 
ing drive  can  afford  them.  A  mov- 
ing crowd  is,  however,  always  an  ani- 
mated sight,  and  in  the  private  gardens 
at  Okhta  a  Grerman  band  plays.  The 
gardens  at  Sergola  are  also  open  to  the 
public. 

TZARSKO   SELO. 

This  royal  residence  and  favourite 
resort  of  the  Imperial  family  is  distant 
about  23  versts  from  St.  Petersburgh, 
and  maybe  reached  in  a  hack  carriage  in 
two  hours ;  the  road  to  it  was  made 
by  the  Empress  Catherine  at  a  cost  of 
1,000,000  of  rubles.  Soon  after  passing 
the  Moscow  barrier  two  huge  figures  of 
bulls  are  seen  in  front  of  a  building  on 
the  right  of  the  road  ;  this  is  the  great 
cattle  market,  and  further  on  is  a 
triumphal  arch  similar  to  that  erected 
at  the  Riga  Gate.  There  is  nothing 
to  attract  attention  on  this  road,  or 
anything  to  indicate  that  the  traveller 
is  in  the  vicinity  of  a  large  capital,  un- 
less it  be  the  imperial  milestones, 
which  are  of  colossal  dimensions — the 
main  and  two  side  roads  are,  it  is  true, 
of  great  width,  but  the  open  unculti- 
vated plain  on  either  hand  is  swampy 
and  flat.  The  road  for  the  first  seven 
versts  to  Tzarsko  Selo  is  that  to  Mos- 
cow, and  at  this  point  the  former  turns 
off  to  the  right.  Ne^r  here  is  the  royal 
Chateau  of  Tchesme,  built  by  the 
Empress  Catherine  to  commemorate  the 
victory   obtained  by    Orloff  over  the 


Turks  on  the  coast  of  Anatoli.  The 
edifice  is  in  the  form  of  a  Turkish  pa- 
vilion, with  a  central  rotunda  con- 
taining the  full-length  portraits  of 
sovereigns  contemporary  with  Cathe- 
rine. Since  her  death  this  palace  has 
been  deserted.  In  1825  Alexander 
and  his  consort  passed  it  on  their 
way  to  the  south  of  Russia,  and  about 
eight  months  after  their  mortal  remains 
found  shelter  in  it  for  a  night  on  their 
way  to  the  Imperial  Sepulchre.  There 
is  no  other  object  of  interest  on  this 
road. 

We  have  described  the  road;  but 
the  best  and  most  rapid  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding to  Tzarsko  is  by  the  rail- 
road, the  first  laid  down  in  Russia; 
the  train  will  land  the  traveller  at  a 
little  distance  from  the  palace,  and  the 
trajet  of  23  versts  is  generally  per- 
formed in  less  than  40  minutes ; 
droshkys,  or,  in  winter,  sledges,  are  in 
readiness  at  the  station  to  carry  the 
passengers  on.  For  upwards  of  a 
verst  before  reaching  Tzarsko  the  road 
is  bounded  on  either  side  by  a  village 
which  seems  interminable,  one  long 
monotonous  row  of  wooden  huts  with  no- 
thing to  enliven  them  but  a  few  bearded 
Mujiks  and  ugly  women.  At  the  en- 
trance to  the  grounds  of  the  palace  are 
two  small  towers  carved  with  Egyptian 
figures  and  hieroglyphics,  &c. ;  a  barrier 
is  here  thrown  across  the  road,  at 
which  a  guard  is  stationed ;  the  en- 
trance, when  completed,  will  be  covered 
with  iron  bas  reliefs  froin  Egyptian 
scenes,  taken  from  the  classical  work  of 
Denon  on  that  country. 

Opposite  the  gate  called  the  Caprice 
is  a  cluster  of  white  houses,  in  two  rows 
of  different  sizes  diminishing  as  they  re- 
cede from  the  road,  and  converging  at 
the  farthest  extremity,  altogether  a  bi- 
zarre arrangement,  and  showing  the 
magnificence  of  Russian  gallantry.  The 
Empress  Catherine,  at  the  theatre  one 
night,  happened  to  express  her  plea- 
sure on  seeing  the  perspective  view  of 
a  small  town,  and  the  next  time  she 
visited  Tzarsko  Selo  she  saw  the  scen« 

A  A 


518 


EOUTE    93. TZAESKO    SELO. 


Sect.  V. 


realized  in  a  town  erected  by  Count 
OrlolF  at  an  immense  expense,  before 
the  gate  of  the  palace.  The  faqade  of 
the  palace  is  1200  feet  in  length;  ori- 
ginally every  statue,  pedestal,  and  capi- 
tal of  the  numerous  columns,  the  vases, 
carvings  and  other  ornaments  in  front 
were  covered  with  gold  leaf,  and  the 
gold  used  for  that  purpose  amounted  to 
more  than  a  million  of  ducats.  In  a 
few  years  the  gilding  wore  off,  and  the 
contractors  engaged  in  repairing  it  of- 
fered the  Empress  nearly  half  a  million 
of  silver  rubles  for  the  fragments  of 
gold  leaf;  but  Catherine  refused,  say- 
ing, ''Je  ne  suis  pas  dans  I'usage  de 
vendre  mes  vieilles  hardes." 

The  only  gilding  which  now  re- 
mains is  on  the  dome  and  cupolas  of 
the  church,  which  are,  as  usual  in 
Russia,  surmounted  by  the  cross  and 
crescent.  The  front  of  the  palace,  to- 
wards the  gardens,  is  tawdry  and 
glaring,  in  green,  white,  and  yellow, 
which  at  first  sight  appear  to  have 
been  smeared  on  the  walls  in  large 
patches  and  stripes,  and  have  a  most 
unpleasant  effect.  The  first  portion  of 
the  building  generally  shown  is  the 
chapel,  a  spacious  room,  fitted  up  en- 
tirely with  dark-coloured  wood,  most 
lavishly  gilded,  even  the  ceiling  being 
one  bright  sheet  of  gold ;  on  the  walls 
are  some  curious  old  paintings,  particu- 
larly one  of  a  man  with  a  solid  wooden 
beam  projecting  from  his  eye,  nearly 
as  large  and  quite  as. long  as  his  whole 
body,  while  the  mote  in  his  neighbour's 
eye  is  certainly  most  visible,  as  it  is 
half  as  big  as  his  head.  A  key  of  the 
city  of  Adrianople  hangs  beside  the 
altar ;  but  there  is  no  other  emblem  of 
war's  havoc  and  destruction  within  this 
temple  of  the  Most  High.  The  royal 
family  have  a  kind  of  gallery  in  the 
chapel,  communicating  with  their  vari- 
ous apartments  in  the  palace,  and 
situated  immediately  opposite  the  screen 
or  Ikonostast. 

The  Palace  of  Tzarsko  was,  at  the 
late  Emperor's  death,  abandoned  by  the 
Imperial  family,  and  is  therefore  bare 


of  furniture,  though  the  walls  and  floors 
are  exceedingly  richly  decorated,  the 
former  are  either  simple  white  and  gold, 
or  hung  with  rich  silks ;  the  latter  par- 
quetted  in  the  most  graceful  designs  and 
tender  colours,  and  still  as  fresh  as  when 
first  laid  down.  One  very  elegant  room 
is  that  called  the  lapis  lazuli,  in  which 
strips  of  this  stone  are  inlaid  in  the  walls, 
and  the  floor  of  this  apartment  is  of 
ebony  inlaid  with  large  flowers  of 
mother-of-pearl,  forming  one  of  the  most 
splendid  contrasts  possible.  The  room 
itself  is  not  very  large,  but  the  effect  is 
beautiful.  Catherine  has  been  fre- 
quently accused  of  Vandalism  in  having 
the  pictures  in  this  room  cut  so  as  to  fit 
the  walls.  After  examining  them  most 
narrowly,  we  do  not  however  think  this 
sin  can  be  laid  at  her  door ;  the  wall 
is  certainly  covered  with  pictures  with- 
out frames,  forming  a  complete  lining, 
and  a  most  comical  group  they  make — 
Teniers'  boors,  with  a  beautiful  Cana- 
letti  of  the  royal  Polish  Zamek,  most 
lovingly  fastened  together,  but  their  fair 
proportions  have  not  been  curtailed. 
Here  is  also  a  celebrated  statue  of  our 
Saviour  by  Danneker.  But  the  wonder 
of  this  palace  is  the  famous  amber  room, 
the  walls  of  which  are  literally  pannelled 
with  this  material  in  various  architectu- 
ral designs,  the  arms  of  Frederick  the 
Great,  by  whom  the  amber  was  pre- 
sented to  Catherine  II.,  being  moulded 
in  different  compartments  with  the  im- 
perial cipher,  the  Russian  E.  for  Ekate- 
rina.  Accustomed  to  see  only  small 
pieces  of  this  beautiful  substance,  one 
can  hardly  believe  that  the  large  rough 
fragments  projecting  from  the  walls  are 
really  amber ;  these  are  coloured  a  pale 
yellow,  and  in  several  places  groups  of 
figures  are  formed  with  fragments  of 
this  precious  substance  ingeniously  put 
together,  while  the  frames  are  composed 
of  larger  portions.  The  eff'ect  produced 
by  this  species  of  decoration  is,  however, 
too  fade  and  waxy  to  be  pleasing. 

The  bed-chamber  of  Catherine  is 
adorned  with  walls  of  porcelain  and 
pillars  of  purple  glass,  and  the  bed- 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. TZARSKO    SELO. 


519 


clothes  are  those  under  which  she  slept 
the  last  time  she  was  at  the  palace.  In 
the  banqueting  room  the  entire  walls 
to  the  height  of  about  nine  feet  are 
covered  with  gold^  which  is  also  laid 
on  most  lavishly  on  the  ceilings  in  al- 
most all  the  state  apartments.  The 
Chinese  room  is  remarkable  for  the 
taste  with  which  everything  is  ar- 
ranged after  the  fantastic  fashion  which 
is  supposed  to  be  that  of  the  Celestial 
Empire.  Two  grand  ballrooms  are 
also  conspicuous,  the  upper  end  of  each 
being  occupied  by  a  collection  of  the 
most  splendid  China  vases  placed  on 
circular  tiers  up  to  the  ceiling,  and 
marked  with  the  imperial  E.  The 
whole  palace,  in  fact,  breathes  recollec- 
tions of  the  great  Catherine ;  and  here 
are  to  be  seen  private  rooms  with  a 
door  communicating  with  the  adjoining 
apartments,  and  the  gentle  descent 
leading  into  the  garden  by  which  she 
was  wheeled  up  and  down  when  in- 
firmity had  deprived  her  of  the  use  of 
her  limbs. 

"  But  the  sentiment  of  the  edifice," 
observes  a  recent  traveller,  "  dwelt 
in  the  simple  rooms  of  the  late  Em- 
peror Alexander,  whom  all  remember 
with  affection,  and  speak  of  with  me- 
lancholy enthusiasm.  His  apartments 
have  been  kept  exactly  as  he  left  them 
when  he  departed  for  Taganrog.  His 
writing-cabinet,  a  small  light  room  with 
scagliola  walls,  seemed  as  if  the  Impe- 
rial inmate  had  just  turned  his  back. 
There  was  his  writing-table  in  confu- 
sion, his  well-blotted  case,  the  pens 
black  with  ink.  Through  this  was  his 
simple  bed-room,  where  in  an  alcove, 
on  a  slight  camp  bedstead  with  linen 
coverlet,  lay  the  fine  person  and 
troubled  heart  of  poor  Alexander.  On 
one  side  was  the  small  table  with  the 
little  green  morocco  looking-glass,  his 
simple  English  shaving  apparatus,  his 
brushes,  combs,  a  pocket-handkerchief 
marked  Z.  23.  On  a  chair  lay  a  worn 
military  surtout,  beneath  were  his 
manly  boots.  There  was  something  very 
painful  in  these  relics.     If  preserved  by 


fraternal  affection,  it  seems  strange  that 
the  same  feeling  should  not  shield  them 
from  strangers'  eyes  and  touch. 

The  palace  of  the  Emperor  Nicho- 
las, originally  built,  upon  the  marriage 
of  her  grandson  Alexander,  by  the 
Empress  Catherine,  excited  very  dif- 
ferent feelings.  It  was  simpler  in  de- 
coration than  many  a  noble's  at  Peters- 
burgh,  clean  as  possible,  and  light  with 
the  rays  of  the  bright  winter's  sun. 
The  only  objects  on  the  plain  walls  of 
the  great  drawing  room  were  a  small 
print  of  Admiral  Sir  Edward  Codring- 
ton,  and  the  busts  of  the  seven  Imperial 
children  in  infantine  beauty.  The 
Emperor's  own  room,  in  point  of  heavy 
writing-tables  and  bureaux,  was  that  of 
a  man  of  business,  but  his  military 
tastes  peeped  through  all.  Around  on 
the  walls  were  arranged  glass  cases 
containing  models  of  the  different  ca- 
valry regiments,  executed,  man  and 
horse,  with  the  greatest  beauty,  and 
right,  as  a  military  attendant  assured 
us,  to  a  button ;  and  this,  it  seems,  is 
the  one  thing  needful.  Paintings  of 
military  manoeuvres  and  stiff  squares 
of  soldiers  were  also  dispersed  through 
his  apartments. 

Leaving  this,  we  proceeded  to  the 
arsenal,  a  recent  red  brick  erection  in 
English  Gothic,  in  the  form  of  many 
an  old  English  gatehouse,  and  a  most 
picturesque  object  in  the  most  pictu- 
resque part  of  these  noble  gardens. 
Here  a  few  weather-beaten  veterans 
reside,  who,  peeping  at  our  party 
through  the  latticed  windows,  opened 
the  arched  doors;  and,  once  within,  to 
an  antiquarian  eye,  all  was  enchant- 
ment. For  several  successions  the 
Russian  sovereigns  have  amassed  a 
collection  of  armour  and  curious  antique 
instruments.  These  have  been  increased 
in  the  reign  of  his  present  Majesty, 
who  erected  this  building  purposely 
for  their  reception,  and  intrusted  their 
classification  and  arrangement  to  an 
Englishman  ;  and  truly  that  gentleman 
has  done  credit  to  the  known  antiqua 
rian  tastes  of  his  own  land. 

A  A  2 


520 


EOUTE    93. — TZARSKO    SELO. 


Sect.  V. 


It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate 
the  objects  here  preserved,  consisting 
chiefly  of  ancient  armour,  weapons, 
and  accoutrements  of  every  description, 
for  man  and  horse,  from  every  warlike 
nation,  both  Christian  and  idolater. 
Figures  in  armour  guard  the  entrance 
and  lead  the  eye  along  the  winding 
staircase,  whence  you  enter  a  lofty  cir- 
cular vaulted  hall,  with  oak  flooring, 
and  walls  hung  round  with  carbines, 
lances,  &c.,  in  fanciful  devices,  and 
where,  placed  on  high  pedestals  in  a 
circle  round  the  room,  are  eight  equest- 
rian figures  in  full  accoutrements  and 
as  large  as  life,  like  our  kings  in  the 
Tower.  Between  these  you  pass  on  to 
various  little  alcoves  or  oratories  with 
groined  ceiling  and  stained  window, 
whose  light  falls  on  the  gorgeously 
wrought  silver  cross  or  precious  missal 
of  some  early  pope,  or  on  the  diamond 
and  pearl-woven  trappings  of  present 
Turkish  luxury ;  or  on  the  hunting- 
horn,  with  ivory  handle  of  exquisitely 
carved  figures  of  some  doughty  German 
Markgraf  of  the  olden  time,  or  on  the 
jousting  instruments  and  other  play- 
things of  the  araazons  of  Catherine  II.'s 
court. 

In  a  glass  case  in  the  arsenal  are 
preserved  the  small  silver  drum  and 
trumpet  given  by  Catherine  to  the 
Emperor  Paul  in  his  childhood,  and 
beside  them  is  the  autograph  letter  of 
Bessieres  to  Davoust,  as  Grovernor  of 
Moscow,  ordering  him  to  evacuate  the 
city. 

In  a  recess  are  placed  two  sets  of  horse 
trappings  presented  by  the  Sultan  to 
the  Emperor — the  first  on  concluding 
the  peace  of  Adrianople,  when  the 
*'  yellow-haired  Griaours,"  passed  vic- 
toriously the  mountain  barrier  of  the 
Balkan,  and  were  well-nigh  at  the 
gates  of  his  capital.  This  saddle  is 
superb,  with  its  trappings  of  purple 
velvet  studded  with  diamonds,  and  its 
stirrups  of  gold ;  but  the  other  makes 
its  glories  dim  the  instant  one  beholds 
them  together.  This  was  given  when 
the  Porte  sued  as  a  suppliant  to  Russia 


for  an  auxiliary  force  to  defend  a  totter- 
ing throne  against  a  rebellious  vassal, 
after  the  fatal  field  of  Konieh  had  wit- 
nessed the  overthrow  of  the  only  army 
the  Sultan  possessed.  The  diamonds 
on  the  pistol  holsters  of  this  saddle  are 
of  unusual  size,  and  their  brightness 
perfectly  dazzling,  while  every  part  of 
the  saddle  and  bridle  is  actually  covered 
with  brilliants.  Several  swords,  stud- 
ded with  diamonds,  are  also  preserved 
here ;  for  the  most  part  presents  from 
various  sovereigns  to  the  present  Em- 
peror. 

But  this  pleasant  arsenal,  the  only 
memento  in  this  capital  of  modern 
objects  and  ephemeral  fashions  which 
recalls  the  past,  would  require  a  volume 
to  itself,  and  offers  inexhaustible  in- 
terest to  the  artist  in  mind,  and  a  very 
treasury  of  beautiful  subjects  to  the 
artist  in  profession.  By  command  of 
the  Emperor,  a  most  careful  and  ela- 
borate delineation  of  its  contents,  by 
the  best  artists  of  the  day,  and  under 
the  direction  of  M.  Velton  of  Peters- 
burgh,  is  going  forward,  to  appear  in 
numbers,  of  which  at  present  only  a  few 
have  been  completed.  These  are  the 
most  exquisite  specimens  of  drawing 
and  emblazonry,  and  offer  an  interest 
only  second  to  that  of  the  arsenal  it- 
self. But  the  price  is  high,  500  rubles 
a  number. 

The  grounds  around  this  palace  are 
eighteen  miles  in  circumference,  and 
contain  plenty  of  larch,  oak,  and  elm, 
which  seem  to  flourish ;  the  gardens 
are  certainly  the  most  carefully  kept 
in  the  world  ;  the  trees  and  flowers  are 
watched  and  inspected  with  the  most 
anxious  minuteness.  An  old  invalid 
soldier  commands  his  500  or  600  men 
as  gardeners  and  overseers.  After 
every  falling  leaf  runs  a  veteran  to  pick 
it  up  ;  and  after  a  violent  north  wind 
they  have  enough  to  do,  as  may  be 
well  imagined.  Every  tiny  leaf  that 
falls  in  pond  or  canal  is  carefully 
fished  out ;  they  dust  and  trim  and 
polish  the  trees  and  paths  in  the  gardens, 
as  they  do  the  looking-glasses  and  fiir- 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. STRELNA   AND    PETERHOF. 


6'^l 


niture  of  the  saloons  ;  every  stone  that 
is  kicked  aside  is  laid  straight  again,  and 
every  blade  of  grass  kept  in  a  proper 
position.  We  once  saw  here  an  inquiry 
instituted  about  a  broken  flower,  and 
carried  on  with  as  much  solemnity  as  if 
it  had  been  a  capital  offence.  All  the 
gardeners  were  called  together,  the  in- 
spector held  the  flower  in  his  hand,  and 
every  possible  question  was  put,  as  to 
whose  division,  and  out  of  what  bed, 
the  flower  might  have  been  taken ;  whe- 
ther plucked  by  a  child,  or  broken  by 
a  dog ;  and  this  investigation  proceeded 
with  the  profoundest  seriousness,  and 
the  closest  contemplation  of  the  corpus 
delicti;  threats  were  lavished,  rewards 
for  the  discovery  of  the  off"ender  were 
promised,  &c.  The  cost  of  all  this 
polishing  and  furbishing  alone  is  above 
100,000  rubles  yearly,  but  then  the 
sacrifice  keeps  the  gardens  in  the  order 
of  a  ball-room. 

The  odd  caprices  exhibited  in  the 
decoration  of  the  grounds  are  really 
extraordinary,  and  so  numerous,  that  it 
would  be  difficult  to  enumerate  them 
all.  In  one  corner  is  the  tower  of  the 
Crown  Prince,  an  ornam.ental  building 
in  several  stories,  where  this  young 
prince  resided  with  his  tutor ;  in  an- 
other are  the  baby-houses  of  the  young 
Grand  Duchesses,  where  they  carried  on 
a  mimic  inenage.  In  front  of  a  Chinese 
tower  is  a  high  pole,  rigged  like  the 
mast  of  a  frigate,  for  the  young  Grand 
Duke  Constantine  to  practise  his  ''  hand 
over  hand"  upon.  On  one  of  the 
ponds  is  a  fleet  of  pigmy  vessels,  intended 
to  amuse  the  youthful  admiral  in  his 
professional  studies.  In  addition  to  all 
these  strange  objects  are  a  theatre,  a 
Chinese  village,  a  Dutch  and  Swiss  cow- 
house, a  Turkish  kiosk,  a  summer- 
house  in  the  form  of  an  Ionic  colon- 
nade supporting  an  aerial  garden, 
planted  with  flowers,  a  Gothic  building 
called  the  Admiralty,  a  marble  bridge 
with  Corinthian  columns  of  polished 
marble,  also  rostral  pillars  and  bronze 
statues  which  Catherine  erected  to  her 
favourites;  amongst  these  is  a  column  to 


,  Orloff".  There  are  likewise  some  com- 
memorative monuments  raised  by  Alex- 
ander to  his  "  companions  in  arms," 
intermingled  with  fields  of  roses,  her- 
mitages, artificial  ruins,  Eoman  tombs, 
grottoes  and  waterfalls,  Tzarsko  Selo 
is  seen  to  more  advantage  on  Wednes- 
days and  Sundays,  as  on  those  days 
only  can  the  armoury  and  the  inte- 
rior of  the  palace  be  seen.  Since  the 
death  of  the  late  emperor  the  palace  has 
been  untenanted  except  by  servants  ; 
the  Imperial  family,  when  they  come 
here,  inhabit  a  large  building  in  the 
park.  Like  almost  all  other  royal  build- 
ings in  Russia,  Tzarsko  owes  its  origin  to 
Peter  the  Great,  He  erected  the  first 
house  here,  and  planted,  to  his  eternal 
praise,  the  avenues  of  plane  trees  with 
his  own  hand ;  but  it  was  the  Empress 
Elizabeth  who  built  the  castle,  which 
was  further  embellished  by  Catherine, 
and  after  the  great  fire  it  was  restored 
by  Alexander. 

The  two  imperial  residences  of  Paul- 
ofsky  and  Gatchina,  the  favourite  abode 
of  the  late  Erh press  mother,  but  now 
seldom,  if  ever,  visited  by  any  member 
of  the  Imperial  family,  are  situated  be- 
yond Tzarsko  Selo ;  the  one  at  the 
distance  of  about  eight,  the  other  about 
twenty-five  English  miles.  The  gardens 
of  Paulofsk  are  less  magnificent  but 
more  attractive  than  those  of  Tzarsko 
Selo.  According  to  Swinin,  the  walks 
in  these  gardens  amount  to  150  versts 
in  length,  and  there  is  so  much  variety 
in  the  disposition  of  them,  and  in  the 
shrubs  and  grouping  of  the  trees,  that 
Russian  literature  may  boast  of  several 
books  written  on  this  subject  alone. 
Paulofsky  may  also  be  reached  by  the 
railway.  There  are  many  villas  there, 
and  a  band  plays  in  the  gardens  during 
the  summer  months.  These  gardens, 
and  the  palace,  are  the  property  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Michael. 

STRELNA   AND    PETERHOF. 

The  road  to  Tzarsko  Selo  excepted, 
the  coast  road  to  Peterhof  is  certainly 


522 


BOUTE    93. STEELNA   AND    PETEEHOF. 


Sect.  V. 


the  most  lively  and  best  inhabited  of 
any  in  the  environs  of  the  capital ;  the 
road,  too,  is  broad,  finely  paved,  with 
excellent  bridges  and  handsome  granite 
mile-stones.  It  is  a  proof,  however,  of 
the  general  monotony  of  Russian  road- 
side scenery,  that  the  verst-stones  are 
almost  the  only,  at  any  rate  the  most 
striking  landmarks,  and  in  this  sense 
are  really  very  useful ;  for  instance,  a 
Petersburghian  wishing  to  explain  to  a 
friend  where  his  villa  is  situated,  will 
say — "  We  are  living  this  year  on  the 
Peterhof  road,  at  the  seventh  verst,"  or 
*^  th  e  OrlofF  Datsha  stands  at  the  ele  venth 
verst,"  "  We  will  take  our  dinner  at  the 
Traktir's  at  the  fourteenth  verst,"  as  if 
these  mile-stones  were  pyramids.  But 
so  it  is,  there  are  neither  valleys, 
brooks,  nor  smiling  villages,  gnarled 
oaks  or  giant  elms,  whereby  to  distin- 
guish places,  and  people  can  find  their 
way  only  by  considering  the  position, 
of  the  mile-stones. 

Peterhof  is  distant  from  St.  Peters- 
burgh  twenty-five  versts  ;  the  road  to  it 
is  by  the  Riga  Gate,  where  the  traveller 
will  pass  under  the  triumphal  arch 
erected  by  the  inhabitants  to  celebrate 
the  return  of  the  Russian  army  from 
Paris.  This  structure  is  cumbrous  in 
the  extreme,  covered  with  sheets  of 
copper  supporting  a  brazen  triumphal 
car  drawn  by  six  horses  abreast,  in 
which  is  a  figure  of  victory.  Shortly 
after  passing  the  Riga  Gate,  the  tra- 
veller will  see  on  the  right  the  old 
palace  of  Catharinenhof,  already  men- 
tioned as  the  rendezvous  of  the  Rus- 
sians on  May-day.  The  castle  is  novv 
deserted  as  a  royal  residence,  and  is 
fast  sinking  into  the  bosom  of  the  mo- 
rass on  which  it  was  built ;  its  decay 
was  greatly  accelerated  by  the  inunda- 
tion of  the  Neva  in  1824.  Beyond 
this  is  the  Annenhof  Lunatic  Asylum, 
founded  by  the  Empress  Anne,  whose 
name  it  bears,  which  was  removed 
here  from  its  original  situation  within 
the  city  in  order  that  the  patients 
should  have  an  additional  chance  of 
regaining  their  reason  in  the  calmer  I 


situation   and  fresh   air   of  the   open 
country. 

As  far  as  Strelna  the  traveller  follows 
the  great  western  road  that  leads  to 
Germany,  which  here  branches  off  to 
the  south,  while  the  road  to  PeterhofF 
continues  its  course  along  the  southern 
bank  of  the  Neva.  This  alone  of  all 
the  approaches  to  the  capital  is  lined 
with  the  villas  and  country  seats  of 
Russian  nobles  and  merchants,  many 
of  which  are  alike  conspicuous  for  their 
splendour  and  elegance,  but  seem  al- 
most without  exception  to  be  much 
better  adapted  for  the  warm  and  genial 
climate  of  some  land  of  the  sun  than 
the  stern  inhospitable  shore  of  a  sea 
which  is  frozen  nearly  half  the  year. 
At  the  distance  of  four  or  five  miles 
from  St.  Petersburgh  the  line  of  houses 
on  the  right  hand  ceases,  and  the  wide 
expanse  of  the  Neva  spreads  before  the 
windows  and  terraces  of  the  houses 
which  border  the  road  on  the  left 
hand. 

The  palace  of  Strelna  is  a  pretty 
Gothic  building,  situated  on  a  command- 
ing position,  immediately  overhanging 
the  Neva;  but  its  interior  is  plain,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  the  ball-room,  by 
no  means  splendidly  fuinished.  In  this 
building  are  several  pictures  by  Russian 
artists,  Orlofsky,  VolkofF,  and  others  of 
considerable  merit,  together  with  a  few 
of  the  Italian  school.  Since  the  death  of 
Constantine,  this,  like  most  of  the  other 
royal  residences  near  the  Russian  capi- 
tal, has  been  untenanted. 

From  hence  to  Peterhof,  a  distance 
of  eight  versts,  the  road  winds  along 
the  shore  of  the  Neva,  still  presenting 
a  succession  of  villas  and  pavilions,  with 
gardens  and  Dutch  cottages  in  every 
variety  of  shape.  > 

Nothing  can  be  finer  than  the  actual 
situation  of  the  palace  at  Peterhof;  on 
the  verge  of  a  steep  declivity  its  win- 
dows command  the  whole  extent  of  the 
Neva,  from  Cronstadt  to  St.  Peters- 
burgh, with  the  green  islands  of  the 
Neva  and  the  shore  of  Finland  be- 
yond.    But   of    late    years  it  seems 


Russia. 


ROUTE    93. STRELNA   AND    PETERHOF. 


523 


to  have  found  but  little  favour  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Imperial  family ;  and, 
though  both  garden  and  palaces  are 
still  kept  in  the  strictest  order,  they 
are  seldom  visited  by  them.  The  gar- 
dens are  not  so  extensive  as  those  at 
Tzarsko  Selo  ;  but  their  situation  is  far 
more  beautiful,  and  their  arrangement 
more  tasteful.  The  water^wqrks  are 
considered  but  little,  inferior  to  those  at 
Versailles.  That  called  the  Sampson, 
in  front  of  the  palace,  is  a  magnificent 
jet  d'eau,  eighty  feet  higK  and  from  it 
to  the  sea,  a  distance  oifive  hundred 
yards,  runs  a  canal,  wherein  are  many 
smaller  fountains.  On  each  side  of  the 
fountain  of ,  Sampson,  so  called  from  a 
colossal  bronze  figure  tearing  open  the 
jaws  of  a  lion  from  whence  rushes  the 
water,  are  other  jets  d'eau  which  throw 
water  vertically  and  horizontally  ;  these 
basins  are  at  the  foot  of  the  elevation 
on  which  the  palace  stands.  In  the 
centre  is  a  broad  flight  of  steps  leading 
to  the  castle,  and  on  each  side  a  con- 
tinuous range  of  marble  slabs  to  the  top 
of  the  hill  over  which  the  water  pours 
down,  the  slabs  being  placed  high  and 
far  apart  so  as  to  allow  lamps  to  be  ar- 
ranged behind  the  water.  This  is  done 
at  the  Peterhof  fetes. 

The  present  Emperor,  when  at  Pe- 
terhof, does  not  occupy  the  Imperial 
palace,  but  a  wooden  pavilion,  in  which 
he  resided  when  grand  duke.  The 
suite  of  apartments  in  which  the  Em- 
peror Alexander  lived  when  last  at 
Peterhof  have  never  since  been  inha- 
bited ;  and  all  remains  as  he  left  it. 

The  principal  attraction  at  Peterhof 
is  the  old  castle  built  by  Peter  the 
Great ;  and,  although  every  emperor 
and  empress  has  made  alterations  and 
additions,  the  character  of  the  whole  is 
the  same  as  that  of  all  the  palaces  built 
by  that  Tzar  ;  even  the  yellow  colour, 
which  was  its  original  hue,  is  always 
renewed,  and  like  them  its  architecture 
is  very  insignificant  in  character,  and 
deserves  as  little  to  be  mentioned  with 
Versailles  or  the  other  French  cha- 
teaux, which  may  have  served  as  mo- 


dels, as  the  Kazan  Church  deserves  to 
be  compared  with  St.  Peter's  at  Rome. 
The  interior  presents  in  many  instances 
the  same  curious  mixture  of  simplicity 
and  tawdriness  as  the  old  summer 
palace  and  the  Taurida. 

Here,  however,  are  to  be  seen  some 
beautiful  tapestries,  countless  articles  of 
bijouterie,  tazzas  of  porcelain,  mala- 
chite, and  marble,  and  a  number  of 
pictures  chiefly  representing  the  naval 
victories  of  Orloff  and  other  Russian 
Generals  of  Catherine  II.  In  the  castle 
is  also  one  highly  interesting  apartment, 
containing  a  collection  of  368  female  por- 
traits executed  by  a  certain  Count  E.o- 
tali  for  that  Empress  during  a  journey 
which  he  made  through  the  fifty  govern- 
ments of  Russia.  They  are  all  beautiful 
young  girls,  whom  the  count  has  painted 
in  picturesque  attitudes,  and  in  their  na- 
tional costume  ;  and  one  cannot  but  ad- 
mire the  inventive  genius  of  the  artist 
in  giving  a  different  position  and  ex- 
pression to  so  many  faces.  One  pretty 
girl  is  knitting  diligently,  another  em- 
broidering ;  one  peeps  archly  from  be- 
hind a  curtain,  another  gazes  expect- 
ingly  from  a  window  ;  another  leans 
over  a  chair,  as  if  listening  to  her  lover ; 
a  sixth,  reclining  on  cushions,  seems  lost 
in  thought.  One  slumbers  so  softly 
and  so  sweetly  that  a  man  must  be  a 
Laplander  in  apathy  not  to  wish  for  a 
kiss  ;  this  stands  before  a  glass,  comb- 
ing her  beautiful  hair  ;  that  has  buried  , 
herself  up  to  the  ears  in  fur,  leaving' 
visible  only  a  pair  of  tender  rosy  lips, 
and  soft  blue  eyes  gleaming  from  under 
the  wild  bear's  skin.  There  are  also 
some  excellent  portraits  of  old  people 
— two  in  particular — an  old  man  with 
a  staflf,  and  an  old  woman  by  the  fire. 
This  collection  is  unique  in  its  kind, 
and  would  be  invaluable  for  a  physiog- 
nomist, if  he  could  be  certain  that 
these  portraits  were  as  exact  and  faith- 
ful as  they  are  pleasing  and  tasteful. 
But  this  is  doubtful,  for  they  all  bear, 
undeniably,  rather  the  stamp  of  the 
French  school  than  of  the  Russian, 
Tartar,  Finnish,  or  any  other  nation- 


/? 


524 


EOUTE    93. — STKELNA   AND    PETEKHOF. 


Sect.  V. 


ality  within  the  Russian  empire.  It 
is  also  a  suspicious  circumstance,  that 
they  were  done  by  a  gentleman  for  a 
lady ;  and  probably  behind  every 
graceful  attitude  some  flattering  homage 
to  the  Empress  lies  concealed;  the 
other  apartments  do  not  contain  any- 
thing very  remarkable.  In  one  are  the 
little  table  and  benches  with  which  the 
Emperors  Alexander  and  Nicholas 
played  as  children ;  in  another,  some 
carving  and  turner's  work  of  Peter  the 
Great.  In  one  room  are  shown  the 
blots  of  ink,  made  by  this  emperor  or 
that,  while  engaged  in  his  boyish  stu- 
dies ;  and  in  another  is  seen  on  the 
ceiling  an  extraordinary  picture,  re- 
presenting a  whole  corps  of  angels 
playing  from  notes !  every  one  with 
his  -music  lying  on  a  cloud  by  way 
of  desk  ! — while  a  fifth  room  contains 
all  the  gods  of  Greece,  also  reclining  on 
clouds. 

Descending  from  the  palace  to  the 
sea-shore,  the  garden  is  laid  out  in  ter- 
races adorned  with  fountains  and  water- 
falls ;  the  basins,  the  Neptunes,  storks, 
swans,  and  nymphs,  the  tritons,  dol- 
phins, painted  rocks,  and  grottoes  are 
copied  from  the  engravings  in  Hush- 
field's  Art  of  Gardening ;  these  are  cora- 
mon-place  enough  ;  not  so  the  oaks  and 
lime-trees  planted  by  Peter  himself, 
which  one  cannot  pass  without  notice. 
The  smaller  buildings  of  Marly  and 
Monplaisir,  which  lie  under  these  trees 
as  wings  to  the  larger  edifice,  remind 
the  spectator,  as  the  small  house  in  the 
summer  garden  has  done,  of  the  modest 
domestic  arrangements  of  the  carpenter 
of  Sardaam,  the  great  reformer  of 
Eastern  Europe. 

It  was  from  Marly  that  Peter  the 
Great  loved  to  contemplate  his  infant 
fleet,  moored  beneath  the  •  batteries  of 
Cronstadt.  In  Monplaisir,  a  low  Dutch- 
built  summer-house,  the  Empress  Eliza- 
beth used  to  amuse  her  royal  leisure  by 
cooking  her  own  dinner.  In  this  lowly 
abode  the  great  Peter  breathed  his  last, 
and  his  bed  is  still  preserved  untouched 
since  his  death,  and  now  fast  crumbling 


to  decay.  The  last  act  of  his  life,  the 
attempt  to  succour  a  stranded  vessel, 
was  well  worthy  to  close  the  busy  ca- 
reer of  such  a  being  as  Peter. 

The  Hermitage  is  chiefly  remarkable 
for  the  contrivance  by  which  the  dishes 
and  plates  descend  from  the  table 
through  grooves  cut  in  the  floor,  and 
are  replaced  by  others  without  any  ser- 
vant being  seen. 

The  famous  Cottage  of  Catherine  is, 
without,  all  plain,  even  to  poverty; 
within,  all  glorious  and  radiant  with 
gold,  and  mirrors  reflecting  each  ob- 
ject, giving  the  tiny  dwelling  an  ap- 
pearance of  size  and  magnificence  quite 
astonishing.  The  present  Empress  has 
a  small  palace  in  the  park  of  Peterhof, 
called  Sniamnisky. 

There  is  also  a  low  thatched  build- 
ing, called  the  Straiv  Palace.  In  a 
piece  of  water  in  the  gardens  are  a 
great  many  tame  carp,  which  are  regu- 
larly fed,  and  come  to  the  visitors  as 
readily  as  the  swans  in  St.  James's 
Park,  or  a  parish  clerk  for  his  Christ- 
mas-box. 

We  strongly  recommend  the  traveller 
to  see,  if  possible,  the  renowned  Peter- 
^iof  fetes,  which  take  place  in  July ; 
the  water-works,  illuminations,  and 
ball  are  nulli  secundus.  The  least  fa- 
tiguing mode  of  reaching  the  spot  is  in 
a  steamer,  the  embarkation  generally 
takes  place  at  the  English  quay ;  there 
are  sometimes  as  many  as  250,000  per- 
sons present  at  this  fete.  During  the 
three  days  the  holiday  lasts  all  is  life, 
revelry,  and  display.  The  rest  of  the 
year  Peterhof  looks  as  if  no  one  was 
at  home. 

A  few  versts  from  hence  is  the 
country  seat  of  Rojpscha,  at  which 
Peter  III.  met  his  death.  Beyond 
Peterhof,  in  a  situation,  if  possible, 
more  beautiful  and  commanding,  stands 
Oranienbaum,  now  the  property  of  the 
Gand  Duke  Michael.  It  was  originally 
bestowed  upon  Prince  Menzikoflf  by 
Peter,  to  whom  it  again  reverted  on 
the  disgrace  and  banishment  of  that 
proud  courtier. 


Bussia.    KouTE  93. — the  biding  house. — the  exchange.   525 


SUMMART. 

We  think  we  have  now  enumerated 
and  described  all  the  principal  objects 
of  interest  which  are  to  be  seen  at  St. 
Petersburgh,  but  there  still  remain  to 
be  cited  a  few  of  less  importance  which 
may  be  interesting  to  the  traveller.  In 
this  summary  should  be  mentioned  the 
colossal  manege  or  Riding  House,  in 
the  MichailofF  quarter,  in  which  a  regi- 
ment of  infantry,  or  two  squadrons  of 
cavalry,  may  manoeuvre  at  their  ease. 
The  Circassians  of  the  guard  are 
sometimes  seen  here  performing  their 
favourite  feats  of  horsemanship  or  shoot- 
ing at  a  mark,  and  the  reverberation 
of  their  pistols  may  well  puzzle  the 
scientific  student  of  acoustics,  so  singu- 
larly loud  is  the  report.  The  roof, 
with  its  appendages,  presses  on  the 
walls  with  a  weight  of  15,000  tons, 
the  iron  rods  alone  weighing  5700 
tons  ;  to  this  must  be  added  3000 
great  trees  made  use  of  in  the  wood- 
work, and  2000  square  fathoms  of  iron 
plates  with  which  the  Avhole  is  covered 
on  the  outside.  Sixteen  immense 
stoves  warm  the  building,  and  the 
walls  are  lined  with  thick  woollen  cloth ; 
it  was  built  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Paul. 

Also  worthy  of  notice  is  an  equally 
colossal  edifice  called  the  Palace  of  the 
Senate,  in  which  is  a  copy  of  the  Rus- 
sian laws,  said  to  have  been  written  by 
Catherine  II.  with  her  own  hand,  and 
as  such  kept  most  carefully  guarded  in 
a  silver  shrine. 

The  Hotel  de  VFAat  Major. — Imme- 
diately fronting  the  Winter  Palace  is 
likewise  one  of  the  many  striking  piles 
of  buildings  in  the  City  of  Palaces,  and 
remarkable  for  its  vast  extent  and  sin- 
gular architectural  ornament  of  a  cha- 
riot of  Victory,  drawn  by  eight  horses, 
which  are  rearing  and  plunging  in  all 
directions  to  the  no  small  discomfort  of 
the  plumed  and  mailed  lady  who  drives 
the  team.  From  the  arch  over  which 
this  group  is  placed  one  of  the  most 


pleasing  views  of  the  Winter  Palace 
and  the  adjacent  buildings  may  be 
obtained.  The  traveller  will  do  well 
to  get  an  order  to  see  the  Etat  Major, 
as  it  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in- 
stitutions in  St.  Petersburgh. 

The  Exchange. — A  fine  building  on 
the  Vassili  Island,  should  be  visited  at 
Change  hours,  that  is  to  say,  between 
three  o'clock  and  five,  the  coup  d'oeil  of 
the  foreign  and  Russian  merchants  to  be 
seen  there  at  those  hours  talking  to  one 
another  in  every  variety  of  tongue  is 
an  amusing  sight.  Stately  flights  of 
steps  lead  from  this  very  noble  edifice 
to  the  river,  and  on  the  open  space  in 
front  of  it  are  two  massive  "  Columnse 
Rostratae  "  above  one  hundred  feet  in 
height,  decorated  with  the  prows  of 
ships  erected  to  the  honour  of  Mercury. 
These  columns  are  hollow,  and  on  their 
summits,  which  we  reached  by  a  flight 
of  iron  steps,  are  gigantic  vases  that 
are  filled  with  combustibles  on  all  oc- 
casions of  public  illumination.  The 
erection  of  the  whole,  including  the 
quays,  occupied  nearly  twelve  years, 
from  1804  to  1816,  a  most  unheard-of 
period  in  St.  Petersburgh,  where  a 
copy  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  was  "got 
up  in  two  years,"  and  a  new  Imperial 
palace  rose  from  its  ashes  in  eleven 
months.  The  great  hall  of  the  Ex- 
change, which  is  of  colossal  propor- 
tions, is  lighted  from  above.  At  either 
end  on  both  sides  are  spaces  in  the 
form  of  arcades  :  in  one  of  the  first 
stands  an  altar,  with  lamps  constantly 
burning,  for  the  benefit  of  the  pious 
Russian  merchants,  who  always  bow  to 
the  altar,  and  sometimes  even  prostrate 
themselves,  on  their  entrance,  to  im- 
plore the  favour  of  all  the  saints  to 
their  undertakings.  The  great  gun  on 
the  Exchange  is  Baron  Stiglitz;  and 
tallow  is  there  the  staple  article  of  con- 
versation. 

A  visit  to  the  Imperial  stables  will  oc- 
cupy an  hour.  In  the  winter  it  is  well 
worth  while  to  hear  the  Imperial  Choir 
practise ;  this  they  do  every  Friday  at 
AA  3 


526 


ROUTE    93. — GUARD    MOUNTING. 


Sect.  V. 


twelve  o'clock  in  their  establisliment 
near  the  Winter  Palace.  As  the  room 
is  generally  crowded,  the  visitor  should 
go  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  the  time. 
It  is  necessary  to  have  a  ticket  of  ad- 
mission, and  this  should  be  applied  for 
two  days  before;  the  Director  lives  in 
the  upper  story  of  the  building. 

To  a  military  man  the  inspection  of 
the  large  barracks  of  the  guards  will  be 
interesting,  also  the  parade  grounds,  of 
which  there  are  several  of  unusual 
extent.  The  Tzarizinskoi  Lug,  or 
Field  of  the  Tzars,  which  has  incor- 
rectly been  translated  the  Champ  de 
Mars,  is  more  used  than  any  other  for 
military  manoeuvres ;  but  the  Alex- 
andrefskoi  parade  ground,  near  the 
Nevskoi  Monastery,  is  the  largest  of 
all,  and  occupies  fully  a  square  verst. 
The  chief  parade,  however,  is  held  in 
the  square  of  the  admiralty,  and  forms 
one  of  the  daily  enjoyments  of  many  of 
the  inhabitants.  The  Emperor  fre- 
quently commands  here  in  person,  and  as 
there  are  always  several  thousand  men 
on  the  ground,  and  a  host  of  guardsmen 
and  staff  officers,  this  parade  forms  a 
handsome  spectacle,  and  is  in  fact  fre- 
quently a  review,  for  100,000  men  can 
be  manoeuvred  here.  As  the  Emperor 
advances  accompanied  by  his  sons  and 
splendid  staiF,  the  troops,  drawn  up  in 
line,  "  present  arms,"  and  the  specta- 
tors uncover  their  heads.  "  Good 
morning,  my  children,"  is  the  Em- 
peror's salutation.  "We  thank  your 
Majesty,"  is  the  response  that  comes 
thundering  in  unison  from  thousands 
of  throats.  The  parade  sometimes  lasts 
several  hours,  and  whoever  has  wit- 
nessed a  portion  of  it,  taken  a  stroll 
down  the  Nevskoi  Prospekt,  looked 
into  the  summer  gardens,  and  walked 
up  and  down  the  English  quay,  may 
quiet  his  conscience  with  the  reflection 
that  he  has  neglected  no  part  of  the 
St.  Petersburgh  promenades  for  that 
day.  There  are  at  some  periods  of  the 
year  upwards  of  60,000  troops  in  the 
capital,  when  every  variety  of  costume 


is  to  be  seen  on  this  parade.  The  uni- 
forms are  endless,  including  Cossack, 
Circassian,  Tartar,  and  Kalmuck.  The 
Semenofskoi  and  Preobrajenski  parade 
grounds,  though  not  so  large  as  that  of 
Alexander,  are  calculated  for  manoeuvr- 
ing a  very  large  body  of  men.  The 
troops  go  under  canvas  during  the 
summer  months,  and  are  generally  en- 
camped at  Krasno  Selo  or  some  other 
place  in  the  environs  of  the  capital. 
The  reviews  during  this  season  are  well 
worthy  of  being  seen,  and  particularly 
interesting  to  the  military  man;  if 
he  has  his  uniform  with  him,  he  will 
do  well  to  put  it  on.  At  the  re- 
views which  are  occasionally  held  in 
the  interior  of  Russia  or  Poland,  offi- 
cers in  the  British  army,  who  appear 
in  uniform,  are  furnished  with  horses 
and  quarters,  and  every  attention  is 
paid  to  them. 

Should  the  traveller  be  in  St.  Peters- 
burgh in  the  spring,  he  will  have  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  Russians  in 
the  excitement  of  their  great  Easter 
festival ;  this  is  preceded  by  a  car- 
nival of  eight  days,  styled  the  butter 
week,  for  then  the  favourite  dish  called 
Blinni,  a  pancake  baked  in  butter, 
served  with  a  sauce  of  melted  butter 
and  eaten  with  caviare,  is  punctually 
served  at  every  breakfast,  and  these 
cakes  are  never  made  at  any  other  time 
of  the  year.  After  this  breakfast,  the 
Russians  go  and  swing  till  dinner  time, 
and  in  this  amusement  all  classes  par- 
ticipate. After  this  comes  the  long 
fast  of  seven  weeks,  and  then  Easter,, 
which  is  the  climax  of  festivity.  Dur- 
ing the  Butter- week,  theatres  and 
booths  of  wood  are  erected  in  the  open 
spaces  about  the  Admiralty  and  Etat 
Major;  the  former  are  immense  struc- 
tures. The  festival  called  the  blessing 
of  the  waters,  which  takes  place  at  the 
opening  of  the  Neva,  generally  between 
the  18th  and  26th  of  April,  is  also 
highly  characteristic;  it  is  then  that 
the  bridges  of  boats  are  restored,  and 
to   the  construction  of   that    of   the 


Russia. 


EOUTE    93. — THE    FISH   PEESEKVES. 


527 


Troitzkoi,  and  St,  Izak,  we  call  the 
traveller's  attention ;  an  iron  bridge 
between  the  latter  and  the  end  of 
the  English  quay  is  now  being  erected, 
and  when  completed  will  be  of  im- 
mense advantage. 

The  festival  to  the  memory  of  their 
dead  is  a  singular  observance  of  the 
Russian  population;  this  is  held  the 
Monday  after  Easter,  thence  called 
''  Pominatelnui  poniedelnik,"  or  Recol- 
lection Monday.  Thousands  congre- 
gate to  the  churchyards  on  this  day, 
bringing  with  them  eatables  and  drink- 
ables of  every  kind  and  description, 
and  the  funeral  picnic,  which  opens 
with  the  mournful  recollection  that  a 
wife  or  a  friend  has  been  taken  from 
them,  closes  amidst  the  most  uproarious 
scenes  of  revelling.  Cloths  are  spread 
over  the  graves  of  their  deceased  rela- 
tives, and  on  these  are  placed  the 
piroga,  or  some  other  favourite  dish, 
and  plenty  of  quass,  punch,  and  such- 
like compounds.  "  Here 's  to  the  me- 
mory of  Ivan  Dimitrivitch,"  says  one, 
with  a  glass  of  brandy  in  his  hand ; 
"  Poor  Ivan,  he  cannot  drink  himself, 
and  therefore  we  will  drink  for  him ;" 
and  thus  they  drown  their  sorrow. 

Foreigners  who  are  at  St.  Peters- 
burgh  during  the  winter  will  be  highly 
amused  with  the  exciting  and  agree- 
able pastime  of  the  ice  hills,  which  are 
the  great  focus  of  attraction  while  the 
frost  lasts.  These  ice  hills  are  made  of 
large  blocks  of  ice,  cemented  together 
by  water  being  poured  into  the  inter- 
stices, the  plane  at  the  foot  of  the  in- 
cline, of  which  the  angle  is  consider- 
able, being  similarly  constructed.  On 
the  summit  of  each  hill  is  a  wooden 
tower,  which  is  gained  by  a  commo- 
dious flight  of  steps,  and  from  it  parties 
get  into  their  sledges,  and  are  projected 
down  the  incline  and  along  the  level 
at  the  foot,  until  they  arrive  at  the 
bottom  of  the  next  hill;  here  they 
leave  their  sledges,  which  are  carried, 
by  men  employed  for  the  purpose,  to 
the  top  of  the  next  tower,  when  they 
again  are  launched  olf.      The  sledge 


used  in  this  exercise  is  a  slight  frame- 
work of  steel,  about  one  foot  high  and 
three  long,  having  on  the  top  a  cushion 
for  a  seat.  The  Russian  nobility,  the 
English,  the  Germans,  and  French,  have 
each  their  separate  hills,  erected  by  sub- 
scription amongst  themselves,  in  some 
inclosed  spot;  there  are  also  many 
public  ones,  for  all  classes.  A  large 
space  on  the  Neva  is  carefully  levelled 
and  inclosed,  for  trotting  and  ambling 
matches,  in  harness, — a  favourite  amuse- 
ment of  the  Russian  merchants,  who 
take  great  pride  in  the  speed  and  ac- 
tion of  their  horses.  The  sledges  used 
in  this  species  of  sport  are  of  the 
slightest  construction,  sometimes  not 
weighing  more  than  fifty  pounds.  It 
is  entirely  a  Sunday  amusement,  as 
are  most  others.  Skating  is  not  in 
vogue  more  than  a  few  weeks,  it  is 
tame  to  a  Russian,  compared  to  his  ice- 
hill  ;  this  and  the  swing  are  their  two 
most  popular  enjoyments.  A  stroll  to 
the  markets  of  frozen  provisions  must 
not  be  forgotten  at  this  season  of  the 
year. 

The  national  sports  of  our  countrymen 
may,  too,  be  indulged  in  at  St.  Peters- 
burgh;  the  English  merchants  have  a 
subscription  pack  of  fox-hounds :  their 
success,  however,  has  been  stated  as 
partial,  and  the  only  good  run  on  record 
is  one  they  had  with  a  wolf,  which 
was  fairly  run  into  in  the  open  country, 
after  a  two  hours'  burst  without  a 
check.  It  should  be  remarked,  that 
the  marshy  nature  of  the  soil  is  not 
adapted  to  this  kind  of  sport.  There 
is  bear,  elk,  and  wolf  hunting  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  capital,  and 
some  of  the  British  residents  there 
are  very  keen  sportsmen. 

In  summer  an  evening  will  always 
be  agreeably  spent  on  the  Neva,  row- 
ing along  the  quays,  or  visiting  the  fish 
reservoirs,  or  zadoks,  which  are  very 
interesting.  These  floating  fish  maga- 
zines on  the  Neva  are  even  more  in- 
teresting to  the  stranger  than  the  wash- 
ing-boats, which  are  also  worthy  of  a 
passing  glance.     Ever     kind  of  fish, 


528 


EOOTE    93. THE    BEER    CELLARS. 


Sect.  V. 


alive  in  summer  and  frozen  in  winter, 
as  well  as  dried  and  smoked,  may  be 
purchased  in  these  zadohs  ;  and  in  some 
of  them  there  is  a  kind  of  refreshment 
room,  set  apart  for  those  who  visit 
them  for  the  purpose  of  eating  caviare 
in  perfection. 

A  lounge  into  the  fruit  shops  of  the 
Nevskoi  Prospekt  will  kill  an  hour, 
and  a  stroll  into  the  English  magazine 
in  the  same  street,  and  a  splendid 
new  Bazaar,  will  enable  the  visitor 
to  purchase,  if  he  is  in  want  of  one, 
a  Russian  leather  portmanteau,  or  a 
nightcap,  if  he  is  so  unfortunate  as  to 
wear  and  lose  one.  The  magazine  of 
Gramb,  a  cabinet-maker,  is  very  cele- 
brated, and  worth  seeing.  The  coffin 
shops  are  a  characteristic  of  the  capital. 
These  melancholy  commodities  are  piled 
up  by  hundreds,  for  all  religions,  ranks, 
and  ages  ;  black  with  golden  crosses, 
for  the  Lutheran  Protestants ;  brown 
and  light  colours,  for  the  Russians  of 
the  Greek  Church  ;  small  rose-coloured 
ones  with  white  lace,  for  young  girls; 
and  azure  blue,  for  the  boys.  As  the 
dead  are  always  laid  out  immediately 
in  Russia,  coffins  must  be  kept  ready 
made,  and  in  considerable  numbers  to 
afford  a  choice.  Kohl  advises  the  fo- 
reigner to  visit  the  wine  and  beer 
cellars  frequented  by  the  lower  orders, 
the  walls  of  which  are  adorned  with  pic- 
tures that  offer  many  facilities  for  study- 
ing the  national  character  of  the  Russians. 
In  the  most  glaring  colours  are  repre- 
sented the  mujik's  idea  of  the  most  im- 
portant subjects  of  human  thought ;  the 
Deity,  heaven,  hell,  the  soul,  and  the  cre- 
ation of  the  world,  without  some  refer- 
ence to  which,  they  would  not  venture 
even  to  swallow  a  mouthful  of  hvass. 
Tap-rooms  of  this  kind  are  usually  pa- 
pered with  such  pictures  like  a  show- 
box.  The  study  of  them  is  the  more  in- 
teresting because  they  are  in  general 
very  old,  and  with  many  of  them  not  the 
slightest  deviation  from  old  established 
types  is  ever  permitted.  They  are 
generally  the  production  of  the  church 
painters  of  Moscow  and  Kieff,  in  which 


cities,  under  the  shadow  of  the  most 
ancient  and  most  sacred  temples  of 
Russia,  this  kindred  branch  of  industry 
is  still  in  high  preservation,  and  the 
fancy  they  display  is  exceedingly  lively 
and  orientally  grotesque.  You  may 
see,  for  example,  the  day  of  creation 
depicted  on  an  enormous  scale.  On 
the  upper  part  Chaos  is  represented  by 
dark,  vigorous  strokes ;  morass,  Avater, 
and  unformed  masses  of  rock  in  fearful 
confusion  ;  over  it  lowers  a  thick  dark 
cloud,  made  palpable  by  a  single  stroke 
of  the  brush  ;  in  the  midst  hovers  the 
Creator  under  the  physiognomy  of  a 
Russian  priest,  from  whose  mouth  pro- 
ceeds the  creative,  "  Be  thou,"  scrawled 
in  the  old  Slavonian  character;  and 
beneath  it  the  sun  and  the  stars  glide 
out  of  Chaos,  the  sun  closely  resembling 
a  Medusa's  head,  attended  by  the  moon 
and  the  seven  greater  planets.  The 
name  of  every  star  is  written  in  the 
Slavonian  character.  All  the  other 
stars  are  running  after  a  solid  blue 
beam,  which  represents  the  firmament. 
They  revolve,  sun  and  all,  about  the 
earth,  of  which  a  portion,  the  Grarden 
of  Eden,  is  indicated  on  the  lower  part 
of  the  canvas,  and  on  it  smiles  the 
sun,  his  rays  indicated  by  a  multitude 
of  yellow  stripes  crossing  one  another. 
On  either  side  over  Paradise,  clouds 
are  heaped;  from  one-half  fall  thick 
spots  as  black  as  ink,  near  which  is 
written,  "  rain,"  and  out  of  the  other, 
an  equally  generous  allowance  of  white 
dabs,  with  "'  snow,"  written  in  great 
letters  on  the  other  side;  for  a  Russian 
can  hardly  picture  to  himself  Paradise 
without  snow.  Round  about  Paradise 
runs  a  garland  of  mountains,  some  of 
whose  summits  reach  the  stars.  The 
less  a  Russian  knows  of  mountains,  the 
more  liberally  his  fancy  paints  them. 
The  edges  of  the  mountains  are  abun- 
dantly sprinkled  with  flowers  of  every 
colour  of  the  rainbow,  and  almost  as 
big  as  the  mountains  themselves.  Be- 
tween every  two  flowers  stands  regu- 
larly a  tree,  the  tree  sometimes  over- 
shadowing the  flowers,  and  sometimes 


Russia. 


KOUTE  91. ST.    PETERSBUKGH    TO    MOSCOW. 


529 


the  flowers  overshadowing  the  tree, 
and  near  them  several  times  inscribed 
the  words,  "  the  blooming  flowers,  the 
blooming  flowers."  In  the  middle  of 
the  garden,  Adam  and  Eve  are  kneel- 
ing, a  Russian  and  his  wife ;  close  to 
them,  a  fountain,  breathed  on  by  two 
swollen-cheeked  cherub-heads,  signify- 
ing the  air,  and  dancing  over  it,  a 
gigantic  will-o'-the-wisp  indicating  fire. 
All  around,  in  the  tumultuous  excite- 
ment of  creation's  dawn,  all  the  crea- 
tures of  nature  and  fancy  seem  to  be 
bellowing;  all  the  birds,  real  and  un- 
real, the  elephant,  the  lion,  the  unicorn, 
the  seducing  serpent,  the  leviathan,  the 
hare,  the  carp,  the  fish  of  Jonas,  the 
four  beasts  of  the  Apocalypse,  rats  and 
mice.  The  whole  picture  is  in  a  frame 
of  arabesques  of  wreaths  and  heads  of 
saints  and  angels. 

In  this  style  all  the  pictures  are 
done.  Mount  Athos,  so  renowned  in 
the  Russian  Greek  church,  is  never 
represented  with  less  than  a  hundred 
and  fifty  churches  and  convents  on  it. 

At  Novava  Derevnya  is  the  new 
establishment  of  Struve  for  mineral 
waters,  a  magnificent  house,  with  ele- 
gant saloons,  and  promenades  under 
cover.  It  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  bare 
swamp,  nearly  four  (English)  miles 
from  the  centre  of  the  town.  In  sum- 
mer this  is  a  favourite  resort  of  the 
fashionable  world  of  the  islands  ;  an 
unprejudiced  person  finds  it  difficult  to 
comprehend  why  so  useful  an  esta- 
blishment was  formed  in  such  a  place. 
Those  who  drive  out  and  back  again 
every  day  to  enjoy  this  mock  Carlsbad 
might  go  to  the  real  one  for  the  same 
expense  of  time  and  money. 

The  picture  galleries  of  Count  Strogo- 
nofF,  Mr.  Narishkin,  Prince  Belozel- 
sky,  and  of  Prince  Besborodko  should, 
if  possible,  be  visited.  A  stranger,  on 
sending  his  card  to  the  houses  of  these 
gentlemen,  and  expressing  a  wish  to 
see  their  collections,  will  be  admitted 
without  difficulty.  The  studies  of 
Baron  Klot,  Monsieur  Ladournaire, 
Ortofsky,  the  Russian  Horace  Vernet, 


and  Monsieur  Jaques,  where  the  visitor 
may  moralize  over  a  stag,  or  his  statue  of 
Peter  the  Great,  will  be  found  highly 
interesting.  Baron  Klot,  an  Esthonian 
nobleman  and  an  old  military  man,  has, 
in  the  evening  of  life,  and  without  the 
advantage  of  foreign  study,  produced 
some  very  admirable  works  in  sculp- 
ture. 

A  Russian  artist  of  the  name  of  Tol- 
stoy has  also  a  good  reputation ;  his 
bas  reliefs,  illustrating  the  campaign  of 
1812,  are  executed  with  great  spirit. 

At  Dixon's,  in  the  Mala  Morskoi, 
English  books  and  stationery  may  be 
procured.  The  best  bookseller  for 
German  and  French  books  is  BriefF 
and  Grafe,  the  first  Russian  publisher 
is  Smirdin, 

While  these  sheets  were  going 
through  the  press,  the  Editor  learnt 
with  regret  of  the  decease  of  Mrs.  Wil- 
son ;  the  traveller  will,  however,  be 
glad  to  know  that  the  merited  reputa- 
tion of  this  boarding-house  exists  under 
the  attentive  management  of  her  suc- 
cessor. There  is  also  another  pension 
not  mentioned,  kept  by  a  Mr.  Spink. 
On  the  same  authority  we  may  state  the 
existence  of  two  other  restaurateurs, 
those  of  Dusean  (formerly  that  of  Le 
Grand)  and  St.  George.  To  the  last- 
mentioned  house  is  attached  a  delight- 
ful garden  tastefully  laid  out  in  walks, 
and  furnished  with  hesetkas  (summer- 
houses),  for  the  accommodation  of  visi- 
tors ;  there  is  also  the  Cafe  Dominique. 
In  addition  to  the  newspapers  named 
as  being  admitted  into  Russia  should 
be  added  t\ie  Evening  Mail,  Galignani, 
and  La  Presse. 

ROUTE  94. 

ST.    PETERSBtJRaH    TO    MOSCOW. 

For  information  respecting  the  pada- 
roshna,  posting,  diligences,  railway,  &c., 
see  page  388  to  393. 

The  passport,  or  padaroshna,  having 
been  examined  at  the  Moscow  gate  of 
St.  Petersburgh,  the  Imperial  toll  bar 
is  raised,  and  the  traveller  will  find 


530 


KOUTE    94. — ST.    PETEKSBURGH   TO    MOSCOW.  Sect.  V. 


himself,  if  posting,  bowling  along  at 
the  rate  of  twelve  miles  an  hour ;  if 
railing,  at  a  somewhat  better  pace ; 
but  we  will  now  assume  that  he  in- 
tends to  take  the  road,  and  is  comfort- 
ably ensconced  either  in  the  corner  of 
his  carriage  or  the  diligence,  prepared 
to  travel  over  one  of  the  best  roads  but 
most  unpicturesque  countries  in  Europe, 
The  width  of  the  road  on  leaving  the 
capital  will  surprise  him  if  he  com- 
pares it  with  the  scanty  numbers  of  the 
passers  to  and  fro.  The  central  chaus- 
see  is  exceedingly  wide,  and  on  either 
side  is  another  road,  itself  of  ample  di- 
mensions, separated  from  the  main  road 
by  a  deep  ditch,  but  communicating  at 
intervals  by  bridges.  These  three  roads 
run  in  this  manner  parallel  to  each 
other  for  the  first  six  or  seven  versts, 
until  the  main  road  divides  at  a  small 
village,  branching  off  to  Tzarsko  Selo 
on  the  right,  while  the  left  branch  leads 
to  Moscow.  There  is  nothing  on  these 
seven  versts  to  denote  the  vicinity  of  a 
capital,  unless  it  is  the  avenue  of  trees 
and  the  granite  mile-stones  eight  feet 
high  ;  very  few  houses  are  built  by  the 
roadside,  and  these  are  principally  of 
wood,  and  of  an  inferior  description. 
Those  who  travelled  between  the  an- 
cient and  modern  capitals  of  the  Eus- 
sian  empire  before  the  present  mac- 
adamized road  was  made  and  diligences 
were  established,  described  the  suffer- 
ings they  underwent  in  such  fearful 
colours  that  it  appeared  little  less  ap- 
palling than  an  expedition  to  the  back 
woods  of  America  before  roads  and 
steam  boats  were  known  in  that  country. 
"  No  man,"  remarks  one  author, 
"  should  think  of  setting  out  without 
a  tea-kettle  and  a  saucepan,  the  lid  of 
which  may  serve  as  a  dish,  and  a  sup- 
ply of  provisions,  particularly  a  cheese;" 
and  that  there  was  no  exaggeration  in 
this  may  fairly  be  believed  by  what  is 
actually  the  character  of  roadside  ac- 
commodation and  travelling  in  almost 
every  other  part  of  Russia,  to  say  no- 
thing of  the  roads  themselves,  to  which 
the  reader's  attention  has  been  drawn 


in  the  preliminary  information  given 
it  the  commencement  of  this  section  of 
the  Hand-Book.  However,  no  disa- 
greeables of  this  kind- exist  between 
Moscow  and  St,  Petersburgh  ;  the  road, 
as  we  have  already  remarked,  is  excel- 
lent, and  kept  in  very  good  repair  by 
the  numerous  gangs  of  cantonniers  who 
are  stationed  at  short  distances  along 
the  road.  The  hasarmes  (or  barracks), 
as  they  are  called,  in  which  these  men 
reside,  are  the  only  pretty  objects  on 
the  road,  being  conspicuous  for  their 
extreme  neatness  and  the  order  in 
which  their  gardens  in  the  rear  are 
kept.  These  men  are  generally  retired 
soldiers  of  good  character,  and  the  situ- 
ation is  a  kind  of  honourable  retreat 
for  past  services.  The  mode,  however, 
in  which  they  repair  the  object  of  their 
care  would  not  please  the  fastidious  eye 
of  a  road  surveyor  in  England  ;  very 
little  is  picked  up  with  the  axe  when 
new  material  is  laid  on,  which  is  chiefly 
granite  from  the  boulders  in  the  neigh- 
bouring forests.  The  number  of  men 
employed  in  this  service  must  be  very 
great,  as  we  frequently  passed  compa- 
nies of  thirty  or  forty,  working  in 
places  where  substantial  repairs  were 
going  on,  and  solitary  stragglers  in 
their  long  grey  coats  were  to  be  seen 
continually  besetting  the  slightest  in- 
equality. The  road  throughout  its 
whole  extent  is  in  the  same  order,  hard 
and  smooth,  and  so  long  as  the  present 
excessive  attention  is  bestowed  upon 
its  preservation,  and  so  few  heavy  ve- 
hicles travel  upon  it,  it  Avill  continue 
one  of  the  finest  roads  in  Europe,  "  It 
is  macadamized  through  its  whole  ex- 
tent ;  in  many  places  the  old  '  cor- 
duroy' road,  made  by  Peter  the  Great, 
is  still  seen  by  the  side  of  the  chaus- 
see." 

This  corduroy  road  was  in  some 
parts  a  mere  causeway  formed  of  trees 
lying  transversely,  and  must  have  been 
an  agreeable  road  to  travel  on  in  carriages 
without  springs,  frequently  the  case 
in  Russia,  for  the  logs  were  laid  down 
quite  indiscriminately,  and  the  bound 


Russia.     ROUTE  94. — st.  petersburgh  to  Moscow. 


531 


from  a  forest  tree  to  a  sapling  was 
not  at  all  unfrequent;  so  that  a  jour- 
ney to  a  foreigner  in  those  days  must 
have  been  excruciating.  In  summer 
it  is  usual  to  strew  these  log  roads 
with  boughs  and  leaves;  in  winter 
the  snow  fills  up  everj'^  cavity  and 
brings  all  to  a  level.  The  first  stage 
after  leaving  the  capital  is — 

Cheiiri  Rouki  (or  the  Four  Roads), 
distant  10 j  versts.  This  is  a  post- 
royal,  and  must  be  paid  for  accordingly, 
as  stated  in  the  observations  on  posting. 

Jjora,  20j. 

Beyond  Jjora,  thick  forest  prevails 
on  both  sides  of  the  road,  and  pools  of 
water,  collected  in  every  open  spot, 
mark  the  fenny  character  of  the  coun- 
try ;  birch  and  tall  pines  predominate 
almost  exclusively.  With  occasional 
exception,  the  whole  distance  between 
the  first  stage  and  Torjok  exhibits 
little  else  than  a  bleak  open  country  or 
thick  forest ;  a  journey  through  these 
forests  is  like  a  sea  voyage,  one  spot 
resembling  another  so  much,  that  the 
traveller  seems  always  to  remain  in  the 
same  place. 

Sahlina,  11 4. 

Tosna,  12. 

Riahova,  ]8. 

Pomerania,  14 1. 

Chudova,  26.  The  character  of  the 
landscape  begins  to  change  here,  and  a 
low  range  of  hills  extending  to  the 
Ilmen  Lake  varies  the  scene. 

Spaslaia  Polist,  23.  The  children 
at  this  and  other  post  stations  in  the 
neighbourhood  bring  out  quantities  of 
wood  strawberries  for  sale  ;  on  a  hot 
and  dusty  day,  which  it  is  certain  to  be 
in  summer^  this  forest  fruit  is  very  re- 
freshing. The  post  house  and  traiteur 
at  this  station  is  unusually  good. 

Podheresa,  24.  The  name  of  this 
place  implies  "  under  a  birch  wood." 

Novgorod,  21  |.  This  is  the  chief 
town  of  the  government  of  Novgorod, 
and,  though  its  name  simply  translated 
is  New  Town,  it  was  once  the  capital 
of  Russia.     It  is  situated  on  the  Vol- 


chova.  "  Next  unto  Moscow,"  says 
an  old  traveller,  "  the  city  of  Novogo- 
rod  is  the  chiefest  in  Russia ;  for,  al- 
though it  be  in  majestie  inferior  to  it, 
yet  in  greatness  it  goeth  beyond  it.  It 
is  the  chiefest  and  greatest  mart  town 
of  all  Muscovy  :  and  albeit  though  the 
Emperor's  seat  is  not  there,  but  at  Mos- 
cow, yet  the  commodiousness  of  the 
river,  falling  into  that  gulf  which  is 
called  the  Sinus  Finnicus,  whereby  it 
is  well  frequented  by  merchants,  makes 
it  more  famous  than  Moscow  itself." 
There  was  an  ancient  saying  of  "  Who 
can  resist  the  gods  and  Novgorod  the 
Great  T'  and  "Quis  contra  Deos — et 
magnam  Novgorodiam."  Three  cen- 
turies ago  the  city  covered  an  area  of 
sixty-three  versts  in  circumference,  and 
contained  a  population  of  more  than 
400,000  inhabitants.  The  first  Rus- 
sian money  was  coined  here  in  the 
reign  of  Basil  II.,  and  about  the  year 
1420 ;  the  commerce  of  the  city  with 
the  Hanse  Towns  led  to  this. 

Few  of  the  ruined  cities  of  the  old 
world,  unless  it  be  some  of  those  in 
India,  for  instance  that  of  Gour,  pre- 
sent so  striking  an  appearance  of 
fallen  greatness  as  the  once  mighty 
Novgorod ;  its  population,  already 
greatly  reduced,  is  rapidly  dwindling 
away  by  continued  emigration  towards 
and  to  the  capital,  and  the  number  of 
its  present  inhabitants  does  not  exceed 
7000.  Some  parts  of  the  town  are 
well  built,  but  the  larger  portion  has 
fallen  into  decay,  and  its  moulder- 
ing walls,  ruined  churches,  and  grass- 
grown  streets  render  it  a  scene  of  com- 
plete desolation.  It  still  possesses, 
however,  some  monasteries,  whose 
domes  and  minarets  will  strike  the 
traveller's  eye;  the  steeples  on  them 
bear  the  cross  unaccompanied  by  the 
crescent,  this  proud  token  showing 
that  the  Tartars,  in  all  their  inva- 
sions, never  conquered  the  city ;  in 
the  reconquered  towns  the  steeples  all 
exhibit  the  crescent  surmounted  by  the 
cross.     There  are  a  few  relics  of  by- 


532 


ROUTE    94. — ST.    PETERSBURGH    TO    MOSCOW.  Sect.  Y. 


gone  days  here  :  the  old  Kremlin  and 
the  brass  gates  of  the  church  are  cu- 
rious, the  ruined  battlements  still  cover 
an  immense  space  of  ground,  and  en- 
able the  stranger  to  form  some  idea  of 
the  original  extent  and  grandeur  of 
this  ancient  capital.  The  cathedral 
church  of  the  Kremlin  contains  the 
tomb  of  Feodor.  There  is  a  handsome 
bridge  of  modern  date  in  the  centre  of 
the  town,  the  iron  railing  of  which  is 
ornamented  with  a  profusion  of  gilded 
eagles  and  warlike  trophies. 

Shortly  after  leaving  Novgorod,  the 
Volkof,  a  considerable  stream,  which 
flows  from  the  Ilmen  to  the  Ladoga 
Lake,  is  passed  ;  the  Volkof  is  navi- 
gable for  the  barges  of  the  country 
throughout  its  entire  course.  The  Ilmen 
Lake  is  just  visible  from  the  road,  but 
there  is  nothing  picturesque  in  its  ap- 
pearance ;  the  surface  seems  stagnant, 
with  low  banks,  occasionally  relieved 
by  a  vessel,  whose  primitive  shape  is 
still  the  same,  in  all  probability,  as 
these  craft  were  in  the  days  of  Peter 
the  Great.  The  road  near  this  runs 
for  some  miles  through  one  of  the  mili- 
tary colonies,  which  will  be  an  inte- 
resting object  to  the  military  man,  and, 
if  he  has  an  introduction  to  one  of  the 
officers,  he  will  do  well  •  to  stop  for  a 
few  hours  and  make  himself  acquainted 
with  an  establishment  which  forms  so 
important  a  feature  in  the  military  po- 
lity of  Russia.  A  long  line  of  cottages, 
the  habitations  of  these  soldier  hus- 
bandmen, is  seen  parallel  to  the  road. 
In  the  centre  is  a  semicircular  space, 
containing  the  church  and  the  officers' 
houses. 

Bronitzi,  25j.  Here  the  Mtsa  is 
crossed — the  river,  in  spite  of  its  slug- 
gishness, has  a  fine  appearance,  owing 
to  its  great  width.  The  right  bank 
rises  to  a  height  of  150  feet  above  the 
water,  and  this  elevation  continues 
over  an  extensive  tract  of  country. 

Saitsova,  26. 

Moshni,  15. 

We  have  remarked  elsewhere  that 


in  Russian  travelling  the  great  point  is, 
to  get  over  the  ground  with  the  greatest 
possible  speed,  for  nothing  can  be  more 
dreary  or  monotonous  than  the  scenery 
of  that  country.  This  observation  ap- 
plies as  much  to  Nature,  as  developed 
on  the  Moscow  read,  as  on  any  other 
in  the  kingdom. 

Krestsi,  12|.  a  small  town.  The 
oak  makes  its  appearance  here,  mixed 
with  birch  and  ash. 

Rakino,  1 9.  From  hence  to  Zima- 
goria  or  Valdai,  the  next  stage  but  one, 
the  country  is  relieved  by  gentle  undu- 
lations from  perfect  flatness.  These 
undulations  are  called  the  mountains 
of  Valdai,  and  the  traveller,  unless  he 
is  going  to  geologize  in  the  Ural,  had 
better  take  a  good  look  at  them,  for 
these  Valdai  hills  are  the  highest 
ground  in  European  Russia,  and  the 
Russians,  very  naturally,  are  eloquent 
in  the  description  they  give  of  their 
beauties ;  the  lower  orders,  too,  seem 
to  have  a  very  elevated  notion  of  their 
height,  and,  at  some  of  the  acclivities, 
preparations  are  made  as  if  for  the  as- 
cent of  some  Alpine  pass  :  extra  horses, 
greasing  of  wheels,  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  all  the  means  and  appliances 
necessary  to  the  remedying  any  acci- 
dent, and,  lastly,  a  selection  of  the 
choicest  blessings  is  resorted  to  ;  the 
drag,  however,  is  seldom  put  on,  and, 
by  dint  of  hard  flogging,  the  rapid  de- 
scent of  one  hill  generally  effects  the 
ascent  of  the  next.  At  one  of  these 
slopes  our  near  post-horse  fell,  and,  as 
the  impetus  the  carriage  had  gained 
prevented  all  idea  of  a  pull  up,  the 
wretched  animal  was  dragged  to  the 
bottom  of  the  hill  before  we  could  re- 
lease him,  and  by  that  time  both  skin 
and  hair  had  disappeared,  and  he  was 
left  on  the  road-side  till  the  postilion 
should  return. 

The  next  stage  is 

Yajillitzi,  15|.  The  finest  straw* 
berries  on  the  road  were  obtained  here. 

Valdai,  or  Zimagoria,  20.  A  small 
town,  on  the  edge  of  a  handsome  lake. 


Russia.       ROUTE  94. — st.  petersburgh  to  Moscow. 


533 


in  which  is  an  island  containing  a  mo- 
nastery, and  around  this  is  some  pretty 
broken  ground  covered  with  wood. 
The  fish  from  this  lake  are  delicious, 
and  remarkably  well  dressed  by  the 
mistress  at  the  post  station  ;  they  seem 
to  be  a  species  of  trout,  without  the 
spots,  and  about  herring  size.  Had 
the  late  Lord  S.  been  aware  of  their 
existence,  he  certainly  would  have  vi- 
sited Valdai ;  they  are  best  fried  with 
bread-crumbs.  This  town  is  in  the 
heart  of  the  hills,  and  about  1220  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Though  insignificant  as  regards  eleva- 
tion, the  hills  of  Valdai  present  many  po- 
sitions of  great  military  strength,  and  it 
was  here  that  the  Russians  formed  their 
intrenched  camp  after  the  issues  of  the 
dreadful  Borodino  had  convinced  them 
that  they  v/ere  scarcely  able  to  cope 
with  the  "child  of  destiny"  in, the 
open  field  of  battle ;  for,  though  the 
Russian  army  showed,  on  all  occasions, 
a  most  determined  front,  and  was  in  a 
high  state  of  discipline,  the  tactics  of 
the  superior  officers  were  not  equal  to 
those  of  the  French.  Gathering  around 
him  the  fragments  of  his  retreating 
army,  Alexander  here  waited  patiently 
until  the  icy  hand  of  winter  should  pa- 
ralyze the  hitherto  victorious  legions  of 
his  adversary,  and  sent  forth,  in  the 
mean  time,  those  hardy  and  untiring 
Cossacks  to  annoy  and  harass  them 
by  their  unexpected  and  merciless  at- 
tacks. The  strength  of  the  works  on 
the  hills  of  Valdai  was  never  put  to 
the  test ;  none  of  the  invaders  pene- 
trated in  that  direction  save  those 
whose  fate  it  was  to  tread  again  as 
captives  the  fields  over  which  they  had 
before  marched  in  all  that  wonderful 
excitement  engendered  by  the  presence 
of  that  extraordinary  being  it  was  their 
pride  and  curse  to  serve.  Valdai  is 
said  to  bear  the  palm  from  all  Russian 
cities,  Moscow  excepted,  for  the  noise 
of  its  bells  and  the  beauty  of  its  wo- 
men. By  the  latter  the  traveller  will 
be   beset    on   alighting,   and   he   will 


scarcely  reach  the  post  house  until  he 
has  first  purchased  some  of  their  bis- 
cuits. These  are  made  in  the  shape  of 
large  rings,  and  a  purchase  of  five- 
pennyworth  of  them  will  make  the 
damsels  very  happy  and  the  purchaser 
a  liberal  man  in  their  eyes.  Erman 
states  that  "  the  antiquity  in  Russia  of 
the  custom  of  giving  bread  particular 
shapes  and  names  is  proved  by  Her- 
berstein's  narrative ;  for  he  tells  us 
that,  at  the  Court  of  the  Tzar  at  Mos- 
cow, there  were  distributed  among  the 
people  cakes  shaped  like  a  yoke,  in 
order  to  remind  those  who  ate  them  of 
their  servility ;  these  cakes  are  called 
lambs,  probably  in  reference  to  the 
Easter  cake,  which  is  called  the  Paschal 
lamb ;  and,  when  a  purchase  is  effected, 
it  is  not  unusual  for  the  buyer  to  kiss 
the  vendor."  The  beauty  of  the  la- 
dies of  Valdai  is,  however,  not  to  be 
compared  with  that  of  England's 
daughters  of  the  same  class;  they  cer- 
tainly, however,  deserve  to  be  men- 
tioned as  superior  in  personal  attraction 
to  the  generality  of  their  sex  in  Russia. 
The  dress  of  the  Valdai  peasant  is  also 
somewhat  neater  than  that  of  their 
countrywomen  at  St.  Petersburgh. 
Here  they  all  wear  a  kind  of  short 
cloak  trimmed,  and  in  some  instances 
lined  with  fur,  and  reaching  a  little 
below  the  waist ;  this  is  called  a 
"  schooha"  the  name  given  to  all  cloaks 
and  coats  lined  with  fur ;  under  this  is 
a  boddice  of  red  cotton,  fitting  quite 
tight  round  the  neck,  and  fastened  with 
a  band  almost  close  under  the  arms, 
while  another  similar  band,  confining 
the  loose  folds  of  their  garments  below, 
gives  them  the  appearance  of  having 
two  waists.  This  loose  gown  is  called 
a  Saraphdn,  and  is  the  national  female 
dress  of  the  Russian  peasantry ;  red  is 
the  colour  generally  preferred,  with  a 
row  of  large  red  or  yellow  buttons 
down  the  front :  the  hair  is  plaited 
one  into  or  two  long  tails,  which  hang 
as  low  as  the  second  waist  and  tempt 
the    traveller's    finger   to    pull   them. 


534 


EOUTE    94. — ST.    PETEESBUKGH    TO    MOSCOW.         Sect.  V. 


The  cause  of  this  apparent  anomaly  of 
figure  is  a  broad  strap  passed  very  tight 
over  each  shoulder  and  fastened  behind, 
to  which  the  said  boddice  exactly  cor- 
responds, and  thus  the  whole  fulness 
of  the  figure,  in  some  cases  by  no 
means  trifling,  is  forced  down  into  this 
middle  region,  between  the  natural 
and  artificial  contractions.  When 
speaking  of  waists,  let  it  not  be  under- 
stood as  designating  anything  aerial  or 
sylph-like,  none  of  those  forms  which 
the  "  fancy  sighs  but  only  to  have 
dreamed,"  but  a  regular  thick  stimipy 
figure,  about  five  feet  and  an  inch  high, 
with  a  waist  bearing  a  fearfully  large 
proportion  in  its  dimensions.  Wander 
not  to  this  cold  clime,  ye  who  traverse 
land  and  sea  in  search  of  female  models 
of  the  "  human  form  divine;"  be  as- 
sured that  this  is  not  the  land  where 
"  beauty  hath  long  been  matchless 
deemed;"  this  place  would  infallibly 
terminate  at  once  your  hopes  and  your 
pilgrimage.  If  this  be  the  chosen  seat 
of  Russia's  fairest  daughters  (and  in 
our  further  wanderings  we  never  saw 
any  Russian  women  Avho  could  boast 
superior  charms),  whatever  favours  her 
sons  may  have  received  at  the  hands 
of  Mars,  the  softer  sex  have  little  cause 
to  be  grateful  to  Venus.  We  have  re- 
marked that  the  bands  which  confine 
their  garments  give  the  Russian  pea- 
sants the  unfortunate  appearance  of 
having  two  waists;  a  fellow  tourist  ob- 
serves that  their  waists  are  above  their 
bosoms,  but  where  the  rest  of  their 
bodies  were  he  could  not  tell,  as  the 
gown  hangs  perpendicularly  down  from 
this  unaccountable  waist  to  the  heels. 
Some  of  the  largest  rivers  in  Russia 
take  their  rise  in  the  Valdai  hills ; 
amongst  these  are  the  Dwina,  the 
Volga,  and  the  Volkofl";  the  Volga 
and  the  Neva  are  united  by  the  canal 
of  Vishni  Volotchok.  Valdai  is  famed 
throughout  Russia  for  the  brass  bells 
made  there,  which  are  fastened  to  the 
pole  of  the  post-cart  or  carriage ;  those 
which   have    silver    mixed   with   the 


former  metal  have  a  very  agreeable 
tone.  This  is  not  a  special  branch  of 
industry  ;  but  every  third  person  who 
can  afford  to  build  a  furnace  and  work- 
shop behind  his  house  casts  bells  after 
his  own  fashion.  A  love  for  bells  is  a 
national  peculiarity  in  Russia. 

Yedrovo,  20. 

Makarovo,  IGj. 

Katilovo,  16 5.  On  the  roadside, 
near  this  place,  may  be  seen  the  boun- 
dary stones  which  separate  the  govern- 
ments of  Novgorod  and  Tver. 

Bachmari,  16. 

Vishni  Volotchok,  13^.  A  small 
town.  Here  the  great  canal  commences 
which  unites  the  Volga  with  a  series  of 
rivers  and  lakes  leading  to  the  Ladoga 
and  Neva,  whereby  the  Caspian  Sea  is 
joined  to  the  Baltic.  A  vast  number 
of  large  flat-bottomed  barges,  peculiar 
to  Russia,  may  be  seen  lying  here ; 
these  are  sometimes  a  hundred  yards 
long,  built  of  long  planks  very  loosely 
put  together.  Such  boats  serve  only 
for  one  voyage,  and,  when  they  arrive 
at  their  destination,  are  broken  up  for 
fire-wood,  timber  being  so  plentiful  in 
the  interior  that  the  trajet  home  would 
be  much  more  expensive  than  the  first 
cost  of  the  vessel.  In  this  way  large 
supplies  of  timber  for  ship-building  are 
floated  from  the  forests  of  Kazan  to 
the  Baltic.  The  barges  on  the  lakes 
are  propelled  by  a  large  sail  and  a 
bank  of  oars  of  most  primitive  con- 
struction, while  one  huge  fir-tree, 
scooped  into  the  shape  of  an  enormous 
oar,  forms  the  rudder  of  one  of  these 
lively-looking  crafts  :  on  the  canals 
and  rivers  they  are  dragged  by  horses, 
and  so  slow  is  the  progress  made,  that 
they  take  a  whole  summer  to  come 
from  the  Caspian  to  St.  Petersburgh, 
and  sometimes  the  frost  stops  them 
before  they  reach  "  the  haven  where 
they  would  be,"  when  their  captain 
and  his  crew  have  the  misery  of  bi- 
vouacking during  the  winter  in  some 
frozen  swamp.  The  appearance  of  these 
floating  habitations  is   at  times  very 


Hussia. 


ROUTE    94. ST.    PETERSBURGH    TO    MOSCOW. 


535 


grotesque,  particularly  those  employed 
in  carrying  hay  to  towns  in  the  in- 
terior ;  these  resemble  a  large  rick 
moving  along,  and,  when  seen  at  a 
lower  elevation  than  the  surface  of  the 
river,  might  fairly  be  taken  for  the 
celebrated  flying  haystack  so  frequently 
alluded  to  by  young  sportsmen.  No 
boat  drawing  more  than  two  feet  and 
a  half  of  water  can  be  certain  of  ascend- 
ing the  Volga  in  summer. 

Kolokolenka,  17. 

Vidropush,  13g-. 

Budova,  12|. 

ToRJOK,  22j.  A  large  town,  famous 
for  its  chicken  cutlets,  and  embroidery 
on  leather  of  silk,  and  gold  and  silver 
thread.  The  chief  articles  are  reticules, 
slippers,  belts,  and  caps  of  various 
colours ;  they  may  be  had  much  cheaper 
at  St.  Petersburgh;  the  leather  of  which 
they  ought  to  be  made  is  called  Saffian, 
but  many  of  them  are  nothing  but 
sheep-skin.  The  Torjok  slippers  can 
now  scarcely  be  denominated  a  curio- 
sity, for  they  may  be  seen  in  most  of 
the  fashionable  shoe-shops  in  London, 
and  can  only  be  attractive  to  the 
traveller  who  is  so  unfortunate  as  to 
have  no  sister  at  home  to  work  him  a 
pair.  There  is  a  good  shop  at  the 
post  house  for  the  sale  of  these  embroi- 
dered goods  ;  the  shoes  embroidered  in 
different-coloured  leather  and  silk  are 
about  one  shilling  and  eightpence  a 
pair ;  those  worked  in  gold  and  silver 
thread  become  shabby  much  sooner, 
and  not  unfrequently  tarnish  from  ex- 
posure to  the  air,  and  there  is  far  more 
to  catch  and  dazzle  the  ej^e  in  these 
pretty  trifles  than  to  be  of  any  actual 
use.  The  Russians  learned  this  art 
from  the  Tartars,  whom  they  soon  sur- 
passed, and  the  name  of  "  Kazan  boots," 
now  usually  given  to  the  boots  and 
shoes  made  in  Torjok,  points  to  a  Tartar 
origin ;  for  Kazan  was  originally  the 
land  of  the  Tartars ;  the  learned  men 
of  Western  Europe,  too,  often  give,  and 
erroneously,  that  name  to  tribes  who 
had  no  connection  with  Kazan.  The 
leather  used  in  the  manufacture  here 


is  brought  from  St.  Petersburgh. 
Torjok  is  the  furthest  point  reached  by 
any  portion  of  the  French  armies  in 
1812  :  its  streets  are  wide,  the  houses 
principally  built  of  wood,  but  the  pub- 
lic edifices  are  of  stone. 

3Iiro)iescM,  15|. 

Miednoi,  1&\.  Or  Copper  Yillage, 
so  called  from  the  copper  roof  of  its 
church. 

KaliJcnia,  14|. 

Tver,  12.  Pine  forests,  interspersed 
with  plains  stretching  away  to  the  ho- 
rizon, scanty  vegetation,  and  an  occa- 
sional village  of  log  huts,  will  usher 
the  traveller  into  the  government  town 
of  this  name,  on  the  banks  of  the 
mighty  Volga,  here  crossed  by  a  long 
wooden  bridge  of  boats.  This  noble 
river,  a  good  deal  wider  here  than  the 
Thames  at  London  Bridge,  and  the 
longest  in  Europe,  is  navigable  almost 
from  its  source  to  its  embouchure,  a 
distance  of  3000  miles ;  in  its  course  it 
divides  a  great  portion  of  Europe  and 
Asia,  bathing  the  walls  of  Astrakhan, 
until  at  length  it  discharges  its  waters 
into  the  Caspian.  As  we  have  before 
remarked,  the  Volga  is  now  navigated 
by  steam-boats,  which  ply  between 
Tver  and  that  sea. 

Tver  has  20,000  inhabitants  and 
some  commerce,  in  consequence  of  its 
position  on  the  Volga ;  but  the  appear- 
ance of  the  streets  does  not  denote  this, 
for  they  look  desolate  and  without  in- 
habitants ;  churches  there  are,  as  in 
most  Russian  towns,  with  towers  open  at 
the  side  so  as  to  exhibit  their  numerous 
and  massive  bells,  the  noise  of  which 
the  Russians  are  immoderately  fond. 

Emmaus,  15j. 

Horodnia,  13^.     Post  house  good. 

Zavidovo,  2d^. 

Klin,  23.  A  small  town.  Post 
house  good ;  situated  on  the  river  Ses- 
trya. 

Podsolnetchnaia  Hora,  21.  Post 
house  good. 

Dourotino,  VI  \. 

Tzchernaia  Griaz,  12|.  Meaning 
literally  black  mud.     Post  house  good. 


536 


EOUTE    94. ST.    PETERSBURGH    TO    MOSCOW.        Sect.  V. 


Himki,  14. 

On  leaving  Himki  the  traveller, 
after  three  days  and  nights  of  incessant 
locomotion,  will  be  on  the  alert  for  the 
first  sight  of  the  ancient  capital  of 
Russia ;  every  little  undulation  in  the 
ground  will  be  a  point  of  hope,  and  in 
due  time  the  park  and  palace  of  Pe- 
terskoi,  on  the  left  of  the  road,  will 
be  the  signal  that  he  is  drawing  near 
to  this  remarkable  city :  shortly  after, 
a  forest  of  gilded  and  painted  domes 
will  appear  on  the  horizon.  Finally, 
the  fishing-rod  is  gained,  the  passports 
are  examined  at  the  barrier,  and,  the 
postilion  crossing  himself  three  times, 
the  traveller  will  have  entered  Moscow, 
and  completed  his  long  journey  of  667 
versts,  or  452  English  miles.  Near 
the  police  station  is  the  gateway  that 
adorns  the  northern  entrance  to  the 
city.  The  appearance  of  this  is  pleas- 
ing, and  the  design  simple  and  well 
executed  ;  it  consists  of  three  arches,  a 
centre  one  over  the  carriage  road  of 
most  ample  dimensions,  and  two  side 
arches  of  smaller  proportions  over  the 
footway  on  either  side.  The  body  of 
the  structure  has  no  other  ornament 
than  a  few  bas-reliefs  of  imperial  eagles 
and  warlike  trophies  of  various  kinds ; 
while  on  the  summit  is  placed  a  colos- 
sal figure  of  Victory,  driving  her  car, 
with  eight  plunging  and  prancing 
steeds — an  equipage  certainly  beyond 
any  mortal's  control.  This  is  an  erec- 
tion of  quite  a  recent  date,  built  in 
close  resemblance  to  the  triumphal 
arch  at  the  western  or  Riga  Gate  of  St. 
Petersburgh.  The  suburbs  gained,  the 
traveller  will  not  fail  to  be  enlivened 
by  the  cheerful  contrast  between  the 
silent  road  he  has  come  and  the 
crowded  thoroughfare  of  peasants, 
merchants,  and  Jews,  in  this  part  of 
the  city.  The  first  object  likely  to 
attract  attention  is  a  massive  octago- 
nal tower  dedicated  to  Soukhareff, 
who,  during  the  dreadful  revolt  of  the 
Strelitzes  instigated  by  Sophia,  sister 
of  Peter  the  Great,  remained  faithful 
to  the  two  young  Tzars.     On  the  way 


to  his  hotel,  the  traveller  will  pass 
along  Garden  Street,  not  inappro- 
priately named,  for  surrounding  the 
houses  are  great  varieties  of  shrubs, 
fruit-trees  and  parterres  and  balco- 
nies loaded  with  flowers,  a  refreshing- 
sight  to  one  whose  very  eyes  feel 
parched  and  stiffened  by  staring  at 
450  miles  of  nothing  for  the  last  three 
days. 

Moscow, — For  information  relating 
to  the  boarding  houses  and  hotels  of 
Moscow,  see  page  399. 

The  history  of  the  Russian  provinces 
through  which  the  traveller  has  passed 
on  his  way  to  Moscow  has  reference 
to  that  of  this  ancient  capital ;  for, 
though  the  government  of  Novgorod 
and  Tver  were  at  one  period  indepen- 
dent, each  in  its  turn,  whether  republic 
or  principality,  was  subjugated  by  this 
their  more  powerful  neighbour,  and  in 
the  fourteenth  century  Moscow  became 
the  capital  of  Muscovy ;  Kief,  and 
afterwards  Vladimir,  having  till  then 
enjoyed  that  distinction.  The  fear- 
ful calamities  with  which  Moscow 
was  visited  in  the  early  part  of  its  his- 
tory were  of  the  same  character  as 
those  which  have  befallen  almost  any 
other  capital,  though  fiir  more  intense. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of 
Basil  II.,  it  was  taken  and  ravished 
by  the  Eastern  destroyer,  Tamerlane  ; 
and,  on  a  subsequent  occasion,  it  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Tartars,  who 
sacked  it,  and  put  many  of  the  in- 
habitants to  the  sword.  In  1536  the 
town  was  nearly  consumed  by  fire, 
and  2000  of  the  inhabitants  perished 
in  the  flames;  and  in  1571  the  Tartars 
fired  the  suburbs,  and,  a  furious  wind 
driving  the  flames  into  the  city,  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  it  was  reduced  to 
ashes,  and  not  less  than  100,000  per- 
sons perished  in  the  flames  or  by  the 
less  lingering  death  of  the  sword.  In 
1611  a  great  portion  of  the  city  was 
again  destroyed  by  fire,  when  the  Poles 
had  taken  possession  of  it,  under  the 
pretence  of  defending  the  inhabitants 
from  the  adherents  of  Andrew  Nagui, 


i!^m^ 


^'^Z. 


^.;. 


S.JLdd. 


S.l-  r  lP?i7Jar.r/yjjT). 


Map        to        tke       Haadbook        for       Nortkenx        Europe 


Fublished  by  JohnMumiu.Albsmarle  StreetJB4g. 


J.l-C.WaVxrSadp. 


Russia. 


ROUTE    94. MOSCOW. 


537 


a  pretender  to  the  crown.  And,  lastly, 
in  1812,  the  indomitable  population 
of  Moscow,  seeing  that  they  were  for 
the  moment  unable'  to  withstand  the 
invading  hordes  of  the  Emperor  of  the 
modern  Huns,  gave  up  their  ancient, 
holy,  and  beautiful  city  to  this  devour- 
ing element — the  grandest  sacrifice  ever 
made  to  national  feeling.  The  city  was 
the  idol  of  every  Russian's  heart,  her 
shrines  were  to  him  the  holiest  in  the 
empire — hallowed  by  seven  centuries 
of  historical  associations,  it  was  for  Rus- 
sia's safety  given  up  to  destruction  with 
ready  and  cheerful  submission,  and 
this  sacrifice  was  tlie  means  of  enabling 
her  to  take  that  deep  and  just  revenge 
on  the  banks  of  the  Beresina  which 
led  to  the  annihilation  of  her  foe,  and 
allowed  the  rest  of  Europe  to  rise,  and, 
with  her,  pursue  him  to  his  utter  dis- 
comfiture and  ruin. 

But  we  have  to  describe  the  city  as 
it  is,  the  hospitals,  churches,  and  gos- 
tinnoi  dvors,  rather  than  revert  to 
Russian  history.  The  assertion  some- 
times made,  that  no  city  is  so  irregu- 
larly built  as  Moscow,  is  in  some  re- 
spects true ;  none  of  the  streets  are 
straight;  houses  large  and  small,  public 
buildings,  churches,  and  other  edifices 
are  mingled  confusedly  together,  but 
it  gains  by  this  the  advantage  of  being 
more  picturesque.  The  streets  undu- 
late continually,  and  thus  offer  from 
time  to  time  points  of  view  whence  the 
eye  is  able  to  range  over  the  vast 
ocean  of  house-tops,  trees,  and  gilded 
and  coloured  domes.  But  the  archi- 
tecture of  Moscow,  since  the  conflagra- 
tion of  1812,  is  not  quite  so  bizarre  as, 
according  to  the  accounts  of  travellers,  it 
was  before  that  event;  nevertheless  it  is 
still  singular  enough.  In  1813  the  point 
chiefly  in  view  was  to  build,  and  build 
quickly,  rather  than  to  carry  any  cer- 
tain plan  into  execution;  the  houses 
were  replaced  with  nearly  the  same 
irregularity  with  respect  to  each  other, 
and  the  streets  became  as  crooked  and 
tortuous  as  before.  The  whole  gained, 
therefore,  little  in  regularity  from  the 


fire,  but   each   individual   house    was 
built  in  much  better  taste,  gardens  be- 
came more  frequent,  the   majority   of 
roofs  were  made  of  iron,  painted  green, 
a  lavish  use  was  made  of  pillars,  and 
even  those  who  could  not  be  profuse 
erected  more  elegant  cottages.      Hence 
Moscow  has  all  the  charms  of  a  new 
city,  with  the  pleasing  negligence  and 
picturesque  irregularity  of  an  old  one. 
In  the  streets,  we  come  now  to  a  large 
magnificent  palace,  with  all  the  pomp  of 
Corinthian  pillars,  wrought-iron  trellis- 
work,  and  magnificent  approaches  and 
gateways;  and  now  to  a  simple  white- 
washed house,  the  abode  of  a  modest 
citizen's  family.     Near  them  stands  a 
small  church,  with  green  cupolas  and 
golden  stars.       Then  comes  a  row  of 
little  yellow  wooden  houses,  that  re- 
mind one  of  old  Moscow;  and  these 
are  succeeded  by  one  of  the  new  co- 
lossal erections  for  some  public  institu- 
tion.      Sometimes     the     road    winds 
through  a  number  of  little  streets,  and 
the  traveller  might  fancy  himself  in  a 
country  town ;  suddenly  it  rises,  and 
he  is  in  a  wide  "place,"  from  Avhich 
streets  branch  off  to  all  quarters  of  the 
world,  while  the  eye  wanders  over  the 
forest  of  houses  of  the  great  capital ; 
descending   again,    he    conies   in    the 
middle  of  the  town  to  the  banks  of 
a  river  planted  thickly  with  gardens 
and    woods.       The    exterior    wall    of 
the  city  is  upwards  of  twenty  English 
miles  in  extent,  of  a  most  irregular  form, 
more  resembling  a  trapezium  than  any 
other  figure;  within  this  are  two  nearly 
concentric  circular  lines  of  boulevard, 
the  one  at  a  distance  of  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  from    the    Kremlin,    com- 
pleted on  both  sides  of  the  Moskva; 
the  internal  one  with  a  radius  of  about 
a  mile,  spreading  only  on  the  north  of 
the   river,   and    terminating   near  the 
stone  bridge  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
foundling  hospital  on  the  other.     The 
river  enters  the  barrier  of  the  vast  city 
to  which  it  has   given  a  name   about 
the  central  point  of  the  western  side, 
and  after  winding  round  the  Devitchei 


138 


ROUTE    94. MOSCOW. 


Sect.  V. 


convent  like  a  huge  serpent,  and  from 
thence  flowing  beneath  the  Tartar  bat- 
tlements of  the  Kremlin,  and  receiving 
the  scanty  stream  of  the  Jaousa,  issues 
again  into  the  vast  plain,  till  it  meets 
the  Oka,  a  tributary  of  the  mighty 
Volga,  which  join?  the  king  of  the 
northern  rivers  at  Nijni  Novgorod. 

On  the  north  of  the  Moskva,  streets 
and  houses,  in  regular  succession, 
reach  to  the  very  barrier;  and  though 
a  vast  proportion  of  ground  is  left 
unoccupied,  owing  to  the  enormous 
width  of  the  streets  and  boulevards, 
the  earthen  rampart  may  truly  be  said 
to  gird  in  the  city.  But  in  the  other 
quarters,  and  particularly  to  the  south, 
the  city  can  hardly  be  said  to  extend 
further  than  the  outward  boulevard. 
Beyond  this  there  are  vast  convents, 
the  Devitchei,  Donskoi,  and  the  Semi- 
nofskoi;  huge  hospitals,  the  Gralitzin, 
the  St.  Paul,  and  the  Cheremetietf, 
the  largest  of  all;  the  Eace  Course, 
and  the  beautiful  gardens  of  the  Prin- 
cess Galitzin  along  the  banks  of  the 
Moskva ;  fields,  and  lakes,  and  marshes; 
but  all  these  are  within  the  outer  in- 
closure  of  the  outer  wall.  This  will 
account  for  its  seemingly  scanty  popu- 
lation of  330,000  souls. 

The  centre  of  this  vast  collection  of 
buildings  is  the  Kremlin,  which,  with 
its  beautiful  gardens,  forms  nearly  a 
triangle  of  somewhat  more  than  an 
English  mile  in  circumference.  The 
original  founder  of  the  city  settled, 
without  doubt,  on  the  Kremlin  hill, 
which  naturally  remained  the  nucleus 
of  the  city  at  a  later  period.  Adjoin- 
ing this  to  the  east  comes  the  Kitai 
Gorod  (Chinese  city),  which  still  pre- 
serves its  ancient  fence  of  towers  and 
buttresses.  Encircling  these  two  divi- 
sions, and  itself  bounded  by  the  river 
and  inner  boulevard,  lies  the  Beloi 
Gorod  (white  city).  The  space  in- 
closed between  the  two  circles  to  the 
north  of  the  Moskva,  and  between  the 
river  and  the  outward  boulevard  on  the 
south,  is  called  the  Zmelnoi  Gorod. 
Beyond  the  boulevards  are  the  suburbs.  , 


Previous    to    the    conflagration    of 
1812,  each  of  the   four  quarters  was 
surrounded  by  a  wall   and  bastions : 
but  all  perished  in  that  mighty  blaze 
except  the  embattled  inclosure  of  the 
Kitai  Gorod,  which  escaped  almost  un- 
scathed;  and  the  pious  veneration  of 
the  worshippers  of  St.  Nicholas  soon 
restored  the  broken  walls  and  crumb- 
ling  turrets   of  the  Kremlin,  "black 
with  the  miner's  blast,"  to  their  pre- 
sent perfect  state.      The  defences   of 
the   remaining   districts    have    wisely 
been  dispensed  with,  and  a  style  some- 
what resembling  that  of  its  previous 
architecture  was  observed  in  repairing 
the   destruction   caused    by    the    fire. 
But  this  remark  does  not  apply  to  the 
interior   of  the    Kremlin,    where   the 
Arsenal  and  the  new  Imperial  Palace 
are  in  modern  taste,  and  quite  out  of 
character  with   the   ancient  buildings 
within  the  walls.     Before  entering  the 
Kremlin,  it  will  be    well   to  -view  it 
from  one  or  two  points  on  the  outside, 
and  the  most  favourable  spot  for  this 
purpose,  on  the  south  side,  is  the  bridge 
of  Moskva  Rekoi ;  from  the  river  that 
bathes  its  base,  the  hill  of  the  Kremlin 
rises,  picturesquely  adorned  with  turf 
and  shrubs.     The  buildings  appear  set 
in  a  rich  frame  of  water,  verdant  foli- 
age   and    snowy   wall,    the    majestic 
column  of  Ivan  Veliki  rearing  itself 
high   above   all,  like  the   axis   round 
which  the  whole  moves.     The  colours 
are    everywhere    most    lively  —  red, 
white,  green,  gold,  and  silver.    Amidst 
the  confusion  of   the  numerous  small 
antique  edifices,  the  Bolshoi  Dvoretz 
(the  large  palace  built  b}""  Alexander) 
has  an  imposing  aspect.     The  churches 
and  palaces   stand  on  the   plateau  of 
tlie  Kremlin  as  on  a  mighty  salver ; 
the  little  red  and  gold  church  of  the 
Tzars,  coquetting  near  the  border  like 
some   pretty   little   maiden,    and   the 
paler  coloured  cupolas  of  the  Michaelis 
and    Uspenski   churches   representing 
the  broad  corpulence  of  a  merchant's 
wife.    The  Maloi  Dvoretz  (little  palace), 
and  the  convent  of  the  Miracle,  draw 


Hussia. 


.ROUTE    94. — MOSCOW. 


539 


modestly  back,  as  beseems  hermits  and 
little  people.  All  these  buildings  stand 
on  the  summit  of  the  Kremlin,  like  its 
crown,  themselves  again  crowned  with 
a  multitude  of  cupolas,  of  which  every 
church  has  at  least  five,  and  one  has 
sixteen,  glittering  in  gold  and  silver. 
The  appearance  of  the  whole  is  most 
picturesque  and  interesting,  and  it  is 
certainly  one  of  the  most  striking  city 
views  in  Europe. 

The  northern  side  of  the  Kremlin  is 
the  least  attractive;  a  plain  high  wall 
with  two  gates  separates  it  from  the 
Krasnoi  Ploschad  (the  red  place). 
The  most  adorned  is  the  north-west 
side.  Here,  in  former  times,  was  the 
Swan  Lake.  It  is  now  drained,  and 
its  bed  forms  the  site  of  the  Alexander 
Garden,  which  stretches  from  the 
Moskva  to  the  giant  wall  of  the 
Kremlin. 

Though  assisted  in  his  wanderings 
by  a  good  lacquey-de-place,  the  tra- 
veller will  not  be  able  to  see  the  sights 
of  Moscow  in  less  than  a  week,  indeed 
a  fortnight  may  be  passed  very  plea- 
santly here.  Judging  from  our  own 
experience,  that  period  is  not  too  long 
to  see  in  comfort  everything  there  is 
to  be  seen ;  for  though  furnished  with 
tickets  and  orders  from  the  Governor, 
Prince  Galitzin,  which  acted  on  all  oc- 
casions like  the  sesame  of  Ali  Baba, 
and  taken  at  a  capital  pace  by  a  good 
pair  of  horses,  we  were  a  week  seeing 
the  sights  within  the  walls.  After  a 
general  survey  of  the  city,  in  a  droshky 
or  caleche,  the  traveller's  first  object 
will  naturally  be  the  Kremlin,  and 
traversing  the  wide  square  in  front  of 
the  theatre,  the  white  walls  of  the 
Kitai  Gorod,  with  their  massive  but- 
tresses and  odd-shaped  battlements, 
will  give  the  stranger  the  first  indica- 
tion that  he  is  in  front  of  the  ancient 
Tartar  city. 

What  the  Acropolis  was  to  Athens 
and  the  Capitol  to  Eome,  the  Kremlin 
is  to  Moscow.  It  is  surrounded  hj  a 
strong  and  lofty  wall,  embattled  with 
many  towers  and  turrets,  and  several 


gates.  The  most  important  of  these 
is  beyond  doubt,  the  "  Spass  Vorota" 
(the  gate  of  the  Redeemer).  It  is  the 
joorta  sacra  and  porta  triumphalis  of 
Moscow.  Through  it  entered  the  tri- 
umphant warriors  of  Ivan  Vassilievitch, 
after  the  conquest  of  Kazan  and  Astra- 
khan, and  those  of  Michselis  and  Alexis, 
after  the  victories  obtained  in  the 
Ukraine.  Over  this  gate  is  a  picture 
of  the  Saviour,  under  a  glass,  and  before 
it  hangs  a  large  ill-formed  lamp,  in  a 
massive  metal  frame ;  this  is  suspended 
by  a  heavy  chain,  and  under  it,  to 
wind  it  up,  stands  a  complicated  old 
machine,  that  jarred  and  rattled  here 
in  the  time  of  the  Tzar  Michael.  A 
man,  whose  sole  business  it  is  to  wind 
it  up,  has  a  table  beside  him  with  wax 
tapers,  which  he  sells  to  be  lighted  be- 
fore the  picture.  This  shrine  is  an  object 
'of  the  greatest  reverence  with  the  Rus- 
sians, although  few  know  what  it  re- 
presents, it  hangs  so  high  and  the 
colours  are  so  faded. 

This  gate  forms  a  passage  through 
the  tower,  of  about  twenty  paces  long, 
and  every  one,  be  he  what  he  may,  Mo- 
hammedan, Heathen,  or  Christian,  must 
take  off  his  hat,  and  keep  it  off  till  he  has 
passed  through  to  the  other  side.  It  is  a 
singular  sight,  to  watch  the  carriages- 
and-four,  coming  along  at  full  speed,  and 
slackening  their  pace  as  they  approach 
the  sacred  gate,  while  lord  and  lacquey 
cross  themselves  reverently,  and  drive 
through  hat  in  hand.  Anyone  passing 
through,  and  forgetting  to  uncover,  is 
immediately  reminded  of  the  fact,  nor 
would  it  be  safe  to  neglect  the  hint ; 
we  once  forgot  the  salute,  and  were 
reminded  of  it  merely  by  a  gently 
murmured  warning,  *'  Shlapa,  shlapa 
batiushka"  (The  hat,  the  hat,  father). 

This  gate  obtained  its  sacred  repu- 
tation in  the  course  of  centuries, 
through  many  miracles  wrought  by  its 
means.  Often,  as  the  people  relate, 
the  Tartars  have  been  driven  back 
from  it ;  miraculous  clouds  have  veiled 
the  defenders  of  the  Kremlin,  who 
sought  its  shelter,  while  the  pursuing 


540 


KOUTE    94. MOSCOW. 


Sect.  V. 


Tartars  were  unable  to  find  the  en- 
trance. Even  the  presence  of  the  tem- 
pi e-plnndering  Grauls,  according  to  the 
Russians,  only  served  to  increase  the 
renown  of  this  gate.  They  thought  the 
frame  of  the  picture  was  of  gold,  and  en- 
deavoured to  remove  it.  But  every  ladder 
they  planted  broke  in  the  middle.  This 
enraged  the  French,  who  then  brought 
a  cannon  to  batter  down  door  and  pic- 
ture together;  but,  do  what  they  would, 
the  dry  powder  was  possessed  by  the 
devil  of  water,  who  was  too  much  for 
the  devil  of  fire,  and  would  not  ex- 
plode. At  last  they  made  a  great  fire 
with  coals  over  the  touch-hole.  The 
powder  was  now  subdued,  but  it  ex- 
ploded the  wrong  way,  blowing  the 
cannon  into  a  thousand  pieces,  and 
some  of  the  French  artillerymen  into 
the  bargain,  while  gate  and  picture 
remained  unharmed.  The  spoilers,  now 
over-mastered  by  dread,  withdrew,  ac- 
knowledging the  miraculous  power. 
Such  was  the  story  we  heard  from 
the  taper-seller  at  the  gate.  The  ori- 
gin of  the  custom  of  uncapping  at  the 
Holy  Gate  is  unknown;  and,  though 
several  traditions  are  extant,  the  au- 
thenticity of  any  fact  is  lost  in  the 
darkness  of  ages ;  but  the  feelings  of 
devotion  are  still  fresh  and  powerful, 
and  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  any 
bribe  would  be  sufficient  to  induce  a 
Russian  to  pass  this  archway  either  by 
day  or  night  without  uncovering  his 
head.  The  Emperor  himself  bares  his 
imperial  brow  as  he  approaches  the 
Spaskoi ;  the  officer  and  soldier  in  all 
the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war  do 
the  same ;  and  thus  tradition  says  it 
has  been  since  the  wooden  walls  of  the 
first  Kremlin  were  raised.  And  we 
would  strongly  recommend  the  tra- 
veller to  do  at  Moscow  as  they  at 
Moscow  do,  or  he  will  either  be  bon- 
netted  by  the  sentry  or  some  passing 
mujik,  and  thus  sacrifice  his  best  Andre 
where  it  cannot  be  replaced,  or  per- 
haps have  the  pleasure  of  being  shown 
the  interior  of  a  Russian  guard  house 
instead  of  the  Kremlin. 


The  greatest  care  is  taken  not  to 
allow  dogs  to  enter  by  the  Saviour's 
Gate,  a  proof  that  in  a  religious  point 
of  view  the  Russians  look  upon  this 
animal  as  unclean. 

The  Nicholas  Gate,  although  not  so 
privileged  as  the  Spass  Vorota,  has 
also  a  wonder-working  picture,  that 
of  St.  Nicholas,  over  it.  It  was 
near  the  entrance  of  this  gate  that 
Napoleon's  powder  waggons  exploded 
and  destroyed  a  large  part  of  the  ar- 
senal and  other  buildings.  The  gate 
escaped  with  a  rent,  which  split  the 
tovver  in  the  middle  as  far  as  the  frame 
of  the  picture,  which  stopped  its  far- 
ther progress.  Not  even  the  glass  of 
the  picture,  or  that  of  the  lamp  sus- 
pended before  it,  was  injured.  So 
says  the  inscription  on  the  gate,  and 
the  remarkable  rent  is  eternalized  by 
a  stone  differing  from  the  rest  in  colour. 

All  the  gates  of  the  Kremlin  are 
connected  by  a  strong  and  lofty  wall, 
which  incloses  it  in  the  form  of  a  vast 
triangle  with  many  towers.  Within 
this  wall  are  contained  all  the  most 
interesting  and  historically  important 
buildings  of  Moscow ;  the  holiest 
churches  with  the  tombs  of  the  ancient 
Tzars,  patriarchs,  and  metropolitans ; 
the  remains  of  the  ancient  palace  of  the 
Tzars,  the  new  one  of  the  present  Em- 
peror, the  arsenal,  senate  house,  &c., 
and  architectural  memorials  of  every 
period  of  Russian  history — for  every 
Russian  monarch  has  held  it  his  duty 
to  adorn  the  Kremlin  with  some  monu- 
ment. 

The  two  most  important  remains  of 
the  old  palace  of  the  Tzars  are  the  Te- 
rema  and  the  Granovitaya  Palata,  the 
former  containing  the  Gymnaceum, 
the  latter  the  coronation  hall  of  the 
Tzars;  the  main  body  of  the  palace 
was  so  much  injured  by  the  French, 
that  no  restoration  was  possible.  In 
its  place  a  new  palace  was  erected, 
called  the  Bolshoi  Dvoretz  (great  pa- 
lace), or,  from  its  builder,  the  Alex- 
anderski  Dvoretz.  The  ruins  of  both 
the  others  are  by  the  side  of  it,  and 


Russia. 


ROUTE    94=. THE    GEAXOYITAYA    PALATA. 


541 


connected  with  it  by  stairs  and  galle- 
ries. They  were,  as  our  guide  told  us, 
"  so  desolated  by  the  French,  that  door 
and  window  stood  open  to  wind  and 
tempest;"  the  coronation  hall  was  re- 
stored long  ago,  and  the  Emperor  Ni- 
cholas has  repaired  the  Terema. 

THE    TEREMA. 

Terema,  or  terem,  is  the  name  given 
in  every  Russian  peasant's  house  to  the 
upper  part  of  the  building,  round  which, 
sheltered  by  the  projecting  roof,  a  bal- 
cony runs,  and  where  the  daughters 
and  children  of  the  house  are  lodged; 
it  may  be  easily  imagined  that  the 
Terema  plays  no  insignificant  part  in 
the  love  songs  of  the  people ;  this  part 
of  the  old  palace  of  the  Tzars  is  called 
pre-eminently  the  Terema.  This  build- 
ing consists  of  four  stories,  of  which  the 
lowest  is  the  largest,  gradually  diminish- 
ing, till  the  upper  floor  is  so  small  as 
only  to  contain  one  room.  On  the  space 
thus  left  by  the  retreat  of  the  upper  story 
from  the  ceiling  of  the  under,  a  balcony 
is  formed,  with  steps  both  within  and 
without,  ascending  from  one  terrace  to 
the  other.  In  the  lowest  floor,  the 
throne  and  audience  chambers  of  the 
old  Tzars  are  shown ;  the  upper  one 
was  the  dwelling  of  the^  Tzarovnas 
(princesses)  and  the  children.  All 
these  rooms  have  been  repaired  in  the 
old  Russian  taste.  The  stoves  are  very 
peculiar  in  form,  and  all  the  plates  of 
which  they  are  composed  ornamented 
with  paintings.  The  walls  are  covered 
with  decorations,  that  remind  one  ol 
the  gorgeous  glories  of  the  Alhambr.T. 
They  display  an  extraordinary  confu- 
sion of  foliage,  vine  trellises,  singularly 
imagined  flowers,  woven  in  arabesques, 
and  painted  with  the  gayest  colours. 
On  the  painted  branches  are  perched 
birds,  yellow,  blue,  gold,  and  silver ; 
squirrels,  mice,  and  other  small  ani- 
mals ;  on  every  bough  hangs  a  load  of 
costly  fruit,  and  all  sorts  of  knots  and 
figures  in  gold  are  entwined  among 
them.  Here  and  there  are  portraits  of 
the  Tzars,  armorial  bearings,  houses  in 


miniature,  and  what  not.  Originals 
for  these  fancies  were  found  in  old 
churches,  but  of  course  the  work  of 
the  modern  artist  is  much  more  ele- 
gant, richer,  and  better  executed.  From 
one  of  the  terraces  of  the  Terema  there 
is  an  entrance  into  the  little  church  of 
the  Redeemer,  which  was  also  plun- 
dered by  the  French,  but  re-endowed 
most  magnificently  with  gold  and  silver 
vessels,  by  the  Emperors  Alexander  and 
Nicholas.  This  is  ornamented  by  twelve 
gilded  cupolas,  the  size  of  chimneys,  the 
sight  of  which,  no  doubt,  in  the  days  of 
childhood,  delighted  many  a  Tzar. 

It  was  on  the  terrace  roof  of  the 
Terema,  from  whence  there  is  a  splen- 
did view  of  the  city  and  its  environs, 
that  Napoleon  placed  himself  on  the  first 
day  of  his  very  short  stay  at  Moscow, 
to  behold  the  beauties  of  his  selfish 
conquest. 

THE    Gr.ANOVITAYA    PALATA. 

Connected  also  with  the  Bolshoi 
Dvoretz  is  this  singular  building  of 
quadrangular  or  cubical  form.  On  the 
second  story  is  the  coronation  hall  of 
the  Tzars;  a  low  and  vaulted  apart- 
ment, the  arches  uniting  in  the  centre, 
where  they  rest  upon  a  thick  square 
column.  The  crimson  velvet  hangings 
used  at  the  present  Emperor's  corona- 
tion still  ornament  the  walls;  they  are 
embroidered  in  gold,  with  eagles  bear- 
ing thunderbolts,  and  with  the  initials 
of  the  Emperor:  a  golden  candelabrum 
is  worked  betv/een  each  of  these.  The 
throne,  under  a  velvet  canopy,  is  oppo- 
site the  entrance,  and  over  the  win- 
dows are  the  armorial  bearings  of  the 
different  governments  of  Russia.  The 
pillar  in  the  centre  is  divided  by  cir- 
cular shelves,  on  which  the  regalia  are 
displayed  on  the  day  of  the  coronation. 
Here  the  Emperor -sits  enthroned,  after 
the  ceremony  in  the  cathedral,  adorned 
for  the  first  time  with  all  the  imperial 
insignia,  and  dines  amidst  his  nobles. 
After  that  royal  feast  the  room  is  un- 
trodden, save  by  the  curious  stranger, 
until  death  calls  the  reigning  Tzar  to 

B   B 


642        ROUTE    94. — THE    BOLSHOI   AND    MALOI   DVORETZ.     Sect.  V. 


the  sepulchre  of  his  fathers,  and  the 
gorgeous  banquet  is  spread  anew  for 
his  successor.  The  arrangement  of  the 
room  is  by  no  means  convenient,  as  the 
Emperor  can  neither  see  nor  be  seen 
by  a  large  proportion  of  his  guests, 
owing  to  the  massive  column  rising 
immediately  before  him. 

A  long  low  passage  the  walls  of  which 
were  richly  painted  and  gilded  with  bar- 
barous devices,  led  to  the  room  of  state 
of  the  rulers  of  the  olden  time.  They 
knew  not  of  seat  or  throne,  save  the 
deep  niches  cut  in  the  painted  walls, 
and  where,  unless  they  far  out-topped 
in  stature  the  degenerate  mortals  of 
later  times,  they  must  have  sat  with 
their  royal  legs  dangling  most  un- 
comfortably in  mid  air,  as  the  niches 
are  between  three  and  four  feet  from 
the  ground. 

THE     BOLSHOI      DVORETZ,     OR      LARGE 
PALACE. 

It  has  been  remarked,  that  on  the 
spot  where  the  main  body  of  the  old 
Tartar  palace  stood  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander erected  this  palace;  it  is  very 
lofty  compared  with  its  faqade,  but  the 
whole  effect  is  good  when  viewed  from 
the  base  upwards.  The  interior  is  not 
striking  either  for  its  decorations  or  fur- 
niture ;  nevertheless,  the  palace,  though 
of  such  recent  erection,  is  not  without 
interest.  The  rooms,  which  have  been 
at  various  times  inhabited  by  members 
of  the  Imperial  family,  are  in  exactly 
the  same  state  as  when  they  left  them ; 
and  the  servants  who  show  the  building 
announce  the  history  of  each  room,  as  the 
throne  room  of  the  Emperor  Alexander, 
the  bath  room  of  the  Empress  Maria 
Feodorovna;  this  is  somewhat  mo- 
notonous, particularly  as  the  informa- 
tion is  not  even  relieved  by  a  few  per- 
sonal anecdotes.  Almost  every  room 
is,  however,  illustrated  by  silent  me- 
morials of  those  who  once  occupied  the 
apartments;  for  instance,  in  the  bou- 
doir of  Maria  Feodorovna,  a  box  con- 
taining some  "pastilles  de  Gruimauve" 
has  been  preserved  as  something  valu- 


able, because  it  belonged  to  the  Em- 
press. The  sepia  drawings  in  this 
room  breathe  a  gentle  spirit  of  love 
and  humanity,  and  make  a  favour- 
able impression  on  the  spectator.  They 
are  copies  of  pictures  which  betray  not 
only  a  pure  taste,  but  a  feeling  heart. 
Amongst  them  are  two  "  St.  Cecilias," 
after  Guido  Reni;  a  "Penitent  Mag- 
dalen," and  "  Transfiguration,"  after 
Raphael ;  the  "  Night"  of  Corregio ; 
and  others  in  the  same  spirit. 

In  the  apartment  of  the  Emperor 
Alexander  is  a  pocket-handkerchief 
which  he  left  here  before  he  set  out 
for  Taganrog ;  there  are  also  some  in- 
struments which  indicate  what  his  oc- 
cupations were — as  a  rule,  quadrant, 
black-lead  pencil,  Indian  rubber,  &c. 
His  bed  room  is  as  simple  as  it  can 
well  be ;  a  bed  with  a  straw  mattress, 
half-a-dozen  leather-covered  chairs,  and 
a  small  looking-glass,  make  up  the 
whole  furniture.  A  fee  is  not  usually 
taken  here. 

THE  MALOI  DVORETZ,  OR  LITTLE  PALACE. 

This,  the  Little  Palace,  adjoining 
the  Granovitaya  Palata,  was  built  by 
the  Emperor  Nicholas,  and  nothing  like 
magnificence  has  been  displayed ;  on 
the  contrary,  the  furniture  and  general 
arrangements  are,  as  in  the  private 
palace  at  St.  Petersburgh,  of  the  sim- 
plest kind.  This  was  the  Emperor's 
residence  before  his  elevation  to  the 
throne,  and,  having  spent  the  first  years 
of  his  married  life  here,  he  is  much  at- 
tached to  it.  The  musket  of  a  common 
soldier  is  shown  in  one  of  the  rooms, 
as  a  favourite  piece  of  furniture,  and 
with  it  Nicholas  used  to  go  through 
the  manual  exercise,  while  giving  his 
little  sons  their  first  lessons  in  the  art 
of  war.  Some  Polish  eagles  are  to  be 
seen  here.  From  the  windows  of  this 
palace,  the  Emperor,  when  residing  at 
Moscow,  shows  himself  to  his  admiring 
subjects,  who  assemble  to  see  him  on 
the  parade  ground  below. 

There  are  some  interesting  pictures 
here,  by  Bernado  Belotto  de  Canaletto, 


Russia.    ROUTE    94.— THE    CATHEDRAL    OF   THE    ASSUMPTION.      543 


representing  scenes  in  Polish  history; 
one  is  particularly  interesting  and  beau- 
tifully executed,  pourtraying  very  faith- 
fully the  "  Election  of  Stanislas  Au- 
gustus by  the  Diet  of  Warsaw,  in  1764." 
The  king  is  represented  as  crowned  in 
the  open  air,  on  the  field  of  Vola,  and 
round  his  throne  sit  the  nobility  and 
clergy,  the  former  with  their  swords 
drawn.  There  is  also  a  picture  of  some 
merit  by  a  self-taught  Russian  subal- 
tern officer,  representing  "  Minim  and 
Pojarski  taking  the  field  against  the 
Poles."  A  monument  to  these  heroes 
adorns  the  Krasnoi  Ploschad,  or  Red 
Place.  {See  Eist.  Notice,  ^.i26.)  If  the 
Emperor  Alexander's  bed  has  surprised 
the  traveller,  his  astonishment  will  be 
increased  when  he  sees  that  of  his  suc- 
cessor, which  is  in  one  of  these  rooms ; 
the  former  slept  on  straw  covered  with 
leather,  but  it  was  loosely  stuffed ;  the 
mattress  of  the  present  Emperor,  on 
which  he  lies  without  any  other  bed  be- 
tween, is  stuffed  so  hard  and  light,  that 
a  shutter  in  the  absence  of  it  would,  we 
think,  scarcely  inconvenience  his  Im- 
perial Majesty.  The  library  in  the  Em- 
peror's cabinet  contains  all  the  works 
that  have  been  written  concerning  Mos- 
cow, in  French,  Russian,  and  German. 
In  one  of  the  apartments  and  under 
a  glass  case,  are  a  number  of  loaves, 
which  have  been  presented  to  the  Em- 
peror on  his  various  visits  to  Moscow. 
When  the  sovereign  arrives,  it  is  cus- 
tomary for  the  Golova,  or  chief  per- 
son, attended  by  some  of  the  princi- 
pal citizens,  to  wait  on  him,  and  pre- 
sent on  a  silver  salver  and  in  a  gold 
salt-cellar,  bread  and  salt,  requesting 
him  to  taste  the  bread  of  Moscow.  The 
Emperor  thanks  him,  breaks  off  a  piece 
of  the  roll,  eats  it,  and  then  invites  the 
Golova  to  eat  his  bread,  that  is,  to 
partake  of  a  splendid  dinner,  at  which 
he  is  presented  to  the  Empress  and  the 
Imperial  family. 

rSPENSKI   SABOK    THE    CATHEDRAL    OF 
THE   ASSUMPTION. 

It   is  -  difficult    to    say   how  many 


churches  there  are  in  Moscow,  the 
several  accounts  differ  so  widely.  Some 
speak  of  1500,  others  500,  and  one 
writer  places  their  number  as  low  as 
260.  Some  include  chapels,  public  and 
private,  and  those  in  convents  in  the 
category,  also  the  winter  and  summer 
churches,  separately,  for  there  is  one 
for  each  season,  as  well  as  those 
which  are  joined  together,  and  this 
mode  of  calculation  would  soon  swell 
their  numbers  to  thousands.  There 
is  exaggeration  in  this,  but  there  are 
some  churches  in  the  old  capital  which 
do  in  fact  consist  of  several  joined  to- 
gether, of  which  each  has  its  own 
name,  and  is  quite  separate  from  the 
rest ;  in  this  manner  the  Church  of 
the  Protection  of  the  Holy  Virgin  might 
be  set  down  as  twelve. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say,  therefore,  that 
the  buildings  in  Moscow,  destined  for 
divine  service,  are  countless,  but  the 
quintessence  and  holiest  of  them  all  is  on 
the  height  of  the  Kremlin.  This  con- 
secrated spot,  the  Sabornoi  Ploschad 
(Cathedral  Place),  has  been  surrounded 
by  the  Emperor  Nicholas  with  a  lofty 
and  magnificent  iron  grating,  and  con- 
tains the  Cathedral  above  mentioned, 
the  Angelskoi  Sabor  (Church  of  the 
Archangel  Michael),  and  our  Lady  of 
the  Cave.  It  is  hard  to  say  which  of 
these  three  is  the  most  important,  but 
perhaps  the  preference  belongs  to  the 
Uspenski  Sabor,  as  the  emperors  are 
crowned  in  it,  and  the  Patriarch  for- 
merly officiated  here. 

"  The  name  of  a  cathedral,  leads  a 
Western  European  to  expect  great 
space  and  lofty  arches,  in  which  the 
voice  returns  in  echo,  and  the  eye  loses 
itself  in  distance;  but  these -expecta^-. 
tions  will  not  be  fulfilled  in  a  jR««55ta«; 
one.  According  to  the  national  taste, ' 
a  church  must  be  crowded  with  pic- 
tures and  shrines,  and  thu'ij  in  this 
cathedral,  eye  and  spirit  are  l)ewUdered 
with  the  glitter  of  gold  and  the  glare 
of  colour.  The  whole  church  is  gilt 
within;  even  the  heavy  pillars  that 
support  the  five  cupolas  are  covered 
B   BSf 


544 


ROUTE    94. — THE    STNODALNI    DOM. 


Sect.  V. 


with  this  material  from  top  to  bot- 
tom, and  the  walls  the  same  ;  and  on 
til  is  golden  ground  large  fresco  paint- 
ings have  been  executed,  the  subjects 
taken  from  the  Bible.  The  figures 
are  gigantic,  and  distinguished  by  asto- 
nishing strength  of  grimace  ;  they  are 
said  to  have  been  painted  by  foreign 
artists  at  the  command  of  the  Tzar 
Vassili  Ivanovitch,  but  they  are  right 
Russian  as  well  as  the  church,  and  the 
artist  must  have  yielded  to  the  national 
spirit.  There  is  more  gilding  than  gold 
in  this  church,  for  the  French  seem  to 
have  distinguished  the  true  metal  from 
the  false  better  here  than  in  the  cast]e 
chapel,  where  they  left  a  quantity  of 
gold,  mistaking  it  for  copper. 

"  The  priests  contrived,  however,  to 
have  a  pretty  little  salvage  out  of  the 
shipwreck  of  1 81 2  ;  amon^-  other  things 
a  Mount  Sinai  of  pure  ducat  gold,  a 
present  from  Prince  Potemkin.  On  the 
summit  stands  a  golden  Moses,  with  a 
golden  table  of  the  law ;  and  within 
the  mountain  is  a  golden  coffin  to  con- 
tain the  host ;  it  is  said  to  weigh 
120,000  ducats.  A  Bible,  the  gift  of 
Natalia  Narishkin,  the  mother  of  Peter 
the  Great,  is  so  large,  and  the  cover  so 
laden  with  gold  and  jewels,  that  it  re- 
quires two  strong  men  to  carry  it  into 
the  church;  it  is  said  to  weigh  120 
lbs.  There  was,  and  perhaps  is,  a  gi- 
gantic deacon  of  this  church,  who  some- 
times displays  his  strength  by  taking 
the  Avhole  burden,  like  a  second  St. 
Christopher,  on  his  own  pious  and 
enormous  shoulders.  The  emeralds  on 
the  cover  are  an  inch  long,  and  the 
v/hole  binding  cost  1,200.000  rubles,  a 
sum  for  which  all  the  books  in  Moscow 
might  be  handsomely  bound.  The 
other  remarkable  objects  in  this  church 
is  the  great  chestnut-coloured  wooden 
throne-seat  of  Vladimir  the  Great, 
within  a  house  of  brass-woik,  which 
they  say  is  an  imitation  of  the  tomb  of 
Christ ;  and  also  a  miraculous  picture  of 
the  Saviour.  '  Within  this  month,'  said 
the  priest  who  showed  us  the  picture, 
'  a  merchant  lame  in  both  hands  and 


feet  was  brought  hither,  and,  after  he 
had  prayed  fervently  before  this  pic- 
ture, he  rose  up  healed,  and  walked 
out  of  the  door  which  he  had  been 
carried  through  on  his  bed." 

Here  too  is  to  be  seen  a  nail,  said  to 
be  of  the  true  cross,  a  robe  of  our  Sa- 
viour's, and  part  of  one  of  the  Virgin 
Mary's.  There  is  likewise  a  picture  of 
her,  which,  it  is  said,was  painted  by  St. 
Luke,  and  brought  from  Constantinople 
by  one  of  the  early  Tzars.  (See  Hist. 
Notice,  p.  423.)  The  face  is  dark,  almost 
black,  the  head  encircled  with  a  glory 
of  precious  stones,  and  the  hands  and 
body  gilded.  From  the  centre  of  the 
roof  is  suspended  a  crown  of  massive 
silver,  with  forty-eight  chandeliers,  all 
in  a  single  piece,  and  weighing  nearly 
3000  lbs.  The  pictures  of  the  saints 
on  the  walls  are  2300  in  number,  and 
besides  these  there  are  portraits  of  the 
old  historians,  whose  names,  to  pre- 
vent confusion,  are  attached  to  their 
resemblance,  as  Anacharsis,  Thucydi- 
des,  Plutarch,  &c.  The  Cathedral  of 
the  Assumption  was  founded  in  1325, 
and  rebuilt  in  1472.  Here  are  the 
tombs  of  the  Patriarchs  of  the  Greek 
Church,  one  of  whom,  St.  Philip,  and 
honoured  by  a  silver  monument,  dared 
to  say  to  Ivan  "  the  Terrible," — "  We 
respect  3' ou  as  an  image  of  the  Divinity, 
but  as  a  man  you  partake  of  the  dust 
of  the  earth."  The  great  gun,  how- 
ever, of  the  collection  is  the  golden 
shrine  of  the  Patriarch  Nicon,  in  the 
sacristy,  whose  mouldering  skeleton  is 
here  preserved,  together  with  his 
wooden  spoon.  When  he  held  the  cro- 
sier, it  was  mightier  than  the  sceptre  in 
Russia,  for  he  governed  the  indolent 
Prince  Alexis  Michaelovitch ;  but  a 
conspiracy  of  the  nobles  drove  him  from 
power  to  the  Bielosersk  Convent,  where 
he  had  begun  his  career  as  a  priest. 
A  fee  will  be  expected  here  by  the  cle- 
rical guide. 

STNODALNI  DOM,  OR  THE  HOUSE  OP 
THE  HOLY  SYKOD. 

Behind  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assump- 


Russia.    ROUTE  94. — cathedral  of  archangel  michael.  545 


tion  stands  the  house  which  formerly 
belonged  to  the  patriarchs  of  Moscow, 
now  called  the  Synodalni  Dom  because 
a  section  of  the  Holy  Synod  has  its  of- 
fices here:  ''it  contains  the  library  of 
the  patriarchs,  their  treasury,  and  their 
wardrobe  ;  and  in  the  church  attached 
to  it  is  preserved  the  mir,  the  holy  oil 
that  is  used  in  baptizing  all  the  chil- 
dren in  Kussia. 

The  books  are  kept  in  glass  presses 
in  the  church  itself  j  and  in  the  middle, 
round  the  pillar  that  sustains  the  vaulted 
roof,  the  vessels'used  in  preparing  and 
preserving  the  oil  are  ranged  on  semi- 
circular shelves.  At  the  baptism  of 
the  child  the  priest  crosses,  with  a 
small  camel-hair  pencil  dipped  in  the 
oil,  the  mouth,  eyes,  ears,  hands,  and 
feet;  the  eyes,  that  the  child  may  only 
see  good  ;  the  ears,  that  they  may  ad- 
mit only  what  is  good ;  the  mouth,  that 
he  may  speak  as  beseems  a  Christian  ; 
the  hands,  that  he  may  do  no  wrong; 
the  feet,  that  they  may  tread  in  the 
path  of  the  just. 

The  holy  oil,  the  onir,  which  is  to 
effect  all  this,  is  of  course  no  common 
oil.  The  finest  Florence  is  used, 
mingled  with  a  number  of  essences,  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  which  are 
strictly  defined ;  but  the  soul  of  the 
niixture  are  some  drops  from  the  oil- 
flask  of  the  Magdalen  who  washed  the 
feet  of  our  Saviour. 

Two  great  silver  kettles,  the  gift  of 
Catherine  II.,  are  used  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  sacred  oils ;  four  weeks 
elapse  before  the  mass  is  perfectly 
mingled,  before  the  due  number  of 
prayers  have  been  made,  and  before, 
amid  pious  psalmody,  every  drop  has 
been  refined  and  signed  with  the  cross. 
From  the  kettles  the  oil  is  poured  into 
silver  jars,  thirty  in  number,  the  gift  of 
the  Emperor  Paul,  and  these  are  sealed 
with  the  seal  of  the  Synod,  and  placed 
on  stages  round  the  central  pillar  of 
the  church.  The  quantity  made  at 
once,  about  three  gallons  and  a  half, 
supplies  all  Kussia  for  a  year  and  a  half 
or   two   years.     Every   bishop   either 


comes  himself  or  sends  a  confidential 
person  to  Moscow,  to  fetch  a  supply 
for  his  diocese,  who  receives  it  from 
the  metropolitan.  The  cost  of  the 
whole  is  about  5000  rubles.  Every- 
thing employed  in  the  operation  is 
silver,  as  well  as  the  kettles  and  the 
jars  to  keep  it  in,  the  sieve  for  strain- 
ing, the  spoons  for  stirring,"  &c.,  &c. 

Among  the  patriarchs'  books  there 
are  a  number  of  rare  Bibles  in  different 
languages,  so  inestimably  precious,  that 
they  are  always  kept  under  lock  and 
key,  and  shown  to  no  one.  Thus,  in 
time,  they  will  be  eaten  by  the  worms 
without  any  person  being  the  wiser. 
The  four  gospels,  transcribed  by  the 
daughter  of  Michael  Romanoff,  sister 
of  Alexis,  are  shown  here.  Every 
letter  is  carefully  and  beautifullypainted. 
We  shall  hardly  find  anywhere  such  a 
monument  of  pious  industry  of  so  re- 
cent a  date. 

THE     ARKHANGELSK!      SABOR,       CATHE- 
DRAL   OP    THE    ARCHANGEL    MICHAEL. 

The  Arkhangelski  Sabor,  also  in  the 
Kremlin,  although  dedicated  to  the 
angel  of  the  flaming  sword,  has  such 
very  diminutive  windows  that  all  the 
light  of  its  jev/els,  and  all  the  glitter 
of  its  gold,  are  barely  sufficient  to  en- 
lighten its  blackened  walls.  The 
shrine  that  shines  the  brightest  in  the 
night  of  this  church  is  that  of  a  little 
boy,  in  whose  name  more  blood  has 
been  shed  than  in  that  of  any  child  in 
the  world,  and  whose  memory  is  now 
worshipped  here. 

It  is  the  last  false  Dmitri,  who  has 
long  rested  here,  and  enjoyed  the  ho- 
mage of  all  Russia;  and,  as  he  now 
makes  no  claim  to  an  earthly  kingdom, 
he  enjoys  his  share  in  the  heavenly 
kingdom  uncontested.  Of  course  the 
Russians  do  not  esteem  him  the  false 
but  the  real  Dmitri.  The  fact  they 
adduce  in  proof  of  this  is  exactly  what 
raises  in  others  the  greatest  doubt. 
They  say  that,  after  the  body  of  the 
royal  child  had  been  in  vain  sought  for 
in  Uglitsh,  where  he  was  murdered  by 


546      ROUTE    94.  — THE    CHURCH    OF    THE    ANNUNCIATION.    Sect.  V. 


the  emissaries  of  Boris  GodunofF,  it 
arose,  coffin  and  all,  from  the  ground, 
at  Grod's  command,  and  presented  it- 
self to  the  longing  people,  whereby  its 
genuineness  was  palpably  manifested. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  mummy  of 
a  boy  of  five  or  six  years  of  age,  mag- 
nificently clad,  is  exposed  on  festivals 
in  an  open  coffin.  Every  part  is  veiled 
but  the  forehead,  which  is  kissed  by 
his  adorers.  Above  the  coffin  is  the 
portrait  of  the  little  canonized  prince, 
attached  to  a  pillar  and  set  in  a  raised 
frame  of  the  finest  gold.  Being  well 
concealed,  it  escaped  the  French  in  1812. 

How  strong  is  the  affection  the  Rus- 
sians still  feel  for  this  last  offshoot  of 
the  old  Rurik  dynasty  was  lately  testi- 
fied by  a  gift  made  to  the  young 
martyr,  by  the  inhabitants  of  Uglitsh, 
of  a  new  silver  candlestick  as  tall  as 
an  ordinary  man,  with  a  profusely  de- 
corated pedestal  and  a  large  flat  top. 
On  this  top  is  a  cavity  in  the  centre 
for  the  reception  of  a  thick  wax-candle, 
with  a  number  of  smaller  cavities 
around,  for  candles  of  different  dimen- 
sions. 

A  whole  body  must  necessarily  take 
precedence  of  a  few  drops  of  blood. 
Hence,  a  few  drops  of  the  veritable 
blood  of  John  the  Baptist  after  he  was 
beheaded  are  little  regarded,  although 
set  in  gold,  with  diamond  rays  like  the 
centre  of  a  star.  One  would  think 
that  the  blood  of  John  the  Baptist  was 
immeasurably  dearer  to  Christendom 
than  that  of  this  royal  child ;  but  in 
Russia  the  Christian  religion  is  every- 
where overshadowed  by  the  Russian. 
The  pictures  of  Paul,  Peter,  and  the  other 
apostles  are  seldom  seen,  either  in  the 
churches  or  private  houses ;  whereas, 
St.  Vladimirs,  Dmitries,  Nicholases, 
and  Gregories  are  met  with  at  every 
turn.  Even  the  Saviour  and  Mary  his 
mother  must  take  a  Greek  or  Russian 
title  before  they  enjoy  meet  reverence. 
The  Iberian  Boshia  Mater,  and  she  of 
Kazan,  are  quite  other  godheads  from 
the  suffering  Virgin. 

The  Tzais  down  to  Peter  the  Great 


(since  whom  the  sovereigns  have  been 
buried  in  the  fortress  of  Peter  and 
Paul,  at  St.  Petersburgh)  lie  in  the 
church  of  the  Archangel  Michael. 
Their  portraits,  as  large  as  life,  are 
painted  in  fresco  round  the  walls,  each 
wrapped  in  a  white  mantle,  by  his  own 
tomb,  as  if  watching  it.  They  are  all 
evidently  made  after  one  pattern,  and 
that  no  very  choice  one.  The  tombs 
are  nothing  better  than  heaps  of  brick 
whitened  over.  On  the  walls  and  cover 
of  the  sarcophagi  are  inscribed  the 
names  and  paternal  names  of  the  Tzars, 
the  years  of  their  birth  and  death,  in 
the  following  style  : — "  In  the  year  of 
the  world  7092,  and  in  the  year  after 
Christ  1584,  in  the  month  of  March, 
on  the  19th  day,  departed  the  orthodox 
and  Christ-loving  Lord,  the  Lord  Tzar 
and  Grand-Duke  Feodor,  the  son  of 
John,  Ruler  and  General  of  all  the 
Russians."  The  tomb  of  Ivan  the 
Terrible  and  his  ill-fated  son  are  here. 
A  portion  of  the  screen  in  this  church 
is  one  sheet  of  pure  gold.  At  the  en- 
trance of  this  and  the  other  churches 
in  the  Kremlin  the  traveller  will  be 
beset  by  beggars  as  importunate  as 
those  of  Abbeville  or  any  village  on 
the  Paris  road.  Close  to  this  cathe- 
dral is  an  odd-looking  church  which  is 
constantly  thronged  with  devotees,  it  is 
said  to  be  the  most  ancient  in  Moscow. 
The  walls  are  of  immense  strength. 

CHURCH   OP   THE   ANNUNCIATION. 

The  floor  of  this  church  is  paved 
with  stones  of  all  sizes  and  shapes, 
jasper,  agate,  and  cornelian.  Here  is 
the  royal  seat  of  the  Tzars,  made  of 
wood,  covered  with  silver  gilt,  and 
shaped  like  a  sugar  basin  with  a  cover 
to  match.  This  church  is  rich  in  relics 
of  all  the  saints  in  the  calendar,  not  a 
few  in  number ;  but  the  most  remark- 
able object  is  a  fresco  painting  on  the 
wall,  representing  an  assembly  of  good 
and  evil  spirits,  the  latter  headed  by 
the  evil  one  himself,  breathing  flame 
and  smoke,  and  horned,  hoofed,  and 
tailed.      "  The   French,"   says   Kohl, 


Russia, 


ROUTE    94. — THE    TREASURY. 


54T 


"left  a  large  ham  in  pickle  on  the 
Kremlin.  The  priests  repeated  with 
deep  emotion  the  story  of  the  French 
stabbing  their  horses  in  this  church, 
and  people  from  the  provinces  never 
hear  this  without  shuddering,  and 
swearing  eternal  hatred  to  that  nation." 

THE    TREASURY. 

In  addition  to  the  churches  and 
palaces  already  enuiperated,  there  is  in 
the  Kremlin  an  immense  pile  of  build- 
ing called  the  Senate,  within  the 
walls  of  which  are  the  offices  of  all 
the  various  departments  of  the  local 
government.  This  building  forms  one 
side  of  a  triangle,  the  remaining  two 
being  composed  of  the  Treasury  and 
Arsenal.  In  the  vestibule  of  the  Trea- 
sury, or  Orovjie  Pallast,  is  a  collection 
of  busts  of  noble  Poles,  the  quiet  memo- 
rials of  very  unquiet  gentlemen,  mostly 
of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies, finely  executed,  and  evident 
likenesses ;  and  on  this,  the  ground 
floor,  there  is  also  a  very  curious  and 
large  collection  of  the  state  carriages  of 
former  sovereigns ;  amongst  them  is 
that  of  a  Russian  Patriarch,  which  has 
talc  windows ;  likewise  a  very  small 
one  that  belonged  to  Peter  the  Grreat 
when  a  child,  and  a  sledge  fitted  up 
like  a  drawing-room,  in  which  the  Em- 
press Elizabeth  and  twelve  of  her  suite 
used  to  dine,  when  on  her  journeys 
between  the  two  capitals ;  it  is  not 
unlike  the  cabin  of  a  ship  with  a  table 
in  the  centre ;  the  interior  is  well  but 
not  luxuriously  fitted  up.  For  the 
comfort  of  the  Imperial  family,  one  feels 
rejoiced  that  these  primitive  carriages 
have  come  to  a  stand-still,  for  most 
fearful  and  dislocating  must  they  have 
been  over  a  corduroy  road.  Some  of 
these  ancient  equipages  have  whole  fir 
trees  for  their  axles;  one  of  them 
is  said  to  have  been  built  in  England. 
Here  also  is  a  model  of  an  ill-con- 
ceived and  extravagant  design  for  a 
palace,  which  Catherine  II.  is  said 
to  have  contemplated  erecting  on  the 
Kremlin  Hill.     Everything,  with  the 


exception  of  the  old  churches  and  tower, 
was  to  have  been  levelled  with  the 
ground,  and  this  giant  palace,  forming  a 
screen  round  the  whole,  was  intended 
to  replace  them ;  the  circumference  of  the 
walls  of  this  building  would  have  been 
two  miles ;  the  model  is  said  to  have 
cost  ^2500.  Luckily  some  new  freak 
of  fancy  interfered  to  save  the  Kremlin 
from  this  threatened  desecration;  and 
the  model,  beautifully  executed,  and 
capable  of  being  taken  entirely  to  pieces 
by  means  of  numerous  sliding  panels, 
remains  a  memorial  of  the  skill  and 
dexterity  of  the  artist.  There  is  like- 
wise a  model  of  the  Grreat  Moscow 
Riding  School,  which  affords  a  better 
opportunity  of  obtaining  information 
as  to  the  construction  of  its  roof  than 
the  traveller  can  have  by  going  over 
the  building  itself.  Here,  too,  is  pre- 
served the  alarm  bell  of  "  the  Mighty 
Novgorod,"  which,  in  the  days  of  its 
power  and  celebrity,  was  looked  upon 
as  the  palladium  of  that  proud  city, 
and  the  removal  of  which  to  Moscow 
was  considered  by  the  citizens  as  the 
final  blow  to  its  prosperity.  Its  size, 
though  considerable,  is  here  scarcely 
appreciated,  from  the  immediate  con- 
trast with  the  "  Monarch  bell,"  in  the 
adjoining  square. 

The  chief  attraction,  however,  is  in 
the  upper  story  of  the  Treasury,  where, 
in  a  suite  of  rooms,  are  collected  and  ar- 
ranged the  crowns  of  the  early  Tzars, 
warlike  trophies  and  trappings,  and  a 
host  of  historical  knick-knacks  too 
numerous  to  mention.  A  ticket  is  ab- 
solutely necessary  from  the  governor 
to  enable  a  stranger  to  see  these,  or  he 
must  wait  for  a  public  day,  when  it  is 
sometimes  inconveniently  crowded. 
The  ceremony  of  opening  this  treasure- 
house  is  one  of  no  small  state  and  im- 
portance, and  the  officer,  a  general,  in 
whose  immediate  charge  it  is,  breaks 
with  his  own  hands  the  official  seal, 
which  is  placed  on  the  folding  doors 
after  its  very  interesting  contents  have 
been  displayed  to  visitors.  Ascending 
by  a  handsome  flight  of  stairs,  the  tra- 


54(S 


BOUTE    94. THE    TEEASURY. 


Sect.  V. 


veller  enters  a  circular  room  of  moderate 
dimensions,  with  a  lofty  vaiilted  roof  ; 
on  advancing  to  the  centre,  he  perceives 
a  long  gallery  on  either  side  of  him  ;  at 
the  extremity  of  one  is  a  miserably  ex- 
ecuted picture  of  the  present  Emperor ; 
and,  at  the  extremity  of  the  opposite  one, 
a  throne  covered  with  crimson  velvet, 
and  blazing  with  diamonds.  Immedi- 
ately around  the  spectator  are  figures  on 
horseback,  in  arms  and  accoutrements  of 
various  ages  and  nations,  with  huge  piles 
of  pistols  and  swords,  and  coats  of  mail, 
fancifully  heaped  up;  near  this  armour, 
and  under  the  portrait  of  Peter  the  Great, 
is  apair  of  kettle-drums,  and  the  chair,  in- 
accurately called  alitter,  of  Charles  XII., 
said  to  have  been  taken  at  the  battle  of 
Pultava,  which,  considering  its  age,  is 
in  good  order,  and  does  not  bear,  as 
far  as  we  could  discern,  any  signs  of 
having  been  in  that  bloody  fray.  It  is 
made  of  ebony  or  stained  wood,  and 
neatly  turned  in  a  pattern  not  unusual 
in  arm-chairs  of  the  present  day.  The 
worn  and  faded  blue  and  embroidered 
cushion  looks  as  if  it  had  once  been  ex- 
ceedingly smart ;  and,  considering  the 
character  and  habits  of  the  gallant 
King,  it  is  not  easy  to  account  for  his 
having  such  an  elegant  piece  of  fur- 
niture in  his  camp.  In  reading  his 
history  we  see  him  bereft,  not  only 
of  luxuries  but  of  the  necessaries  of 
life,  and  obliged  to  put  up  with  the 
rough  contrivances  that  the  best  care 
and  ingenuity  of  his  followers  could,  in 
their  disastrous  position,  make  for  him  ; 
but,  badly  as  they  were  off,  they  would 
certain'y  have  constructed  something 
on  which  he  could  have  laid  his  leg  up, 
for  it  was  in  that  limb  that  he  was 
wounded,  and  Voltaire  states  that  the 
litter  was  shattered  by  a  ball ;  if  this, 
therefore,  was  the  case,  it  has  been  un- 
commonly well  repaired. 

In  the  same  room  is  a  portrait  of  Ca- 
therine II.  in  man's  attire,  a  poor  affair 
as  a  picture,  but  said  to  be  very  like  her  ; 
it  bears  the  same  stamp  of  countenance 
and  features  usually  ascribed  to  her. 
Under  that  of  Alexander  are  suspended 


the  keys  of  Zamosk  and  Warsaw ; 
and  in  a  box  covered  with  crimson 
velvet  and  gold,  at  the  Emperor's  feet, 
is  the  Constitution  of  Poland.  On 
either  side  of  this  portrait  are  the  stand- 
ards and  eagles  of  that  couutr}'-,  scathed 
and  torn  by  shot  and  shell.  The  two 
long  galleries  which  open  out  of  this 
room  contain  innumerable  treasures, 
amongst  them  the  captured  crowns  of 
the  various  countries  now  forming  onl}'- 
provinces  of  this  vast  empire,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  Muscovite  Tzars.  Some 
of  these  are  said  to  have  been  presented 
by  the  Greek  Emperor  Comnenus  to 
Vladimir  the  Great.  The  crowns  of 
Siberia,  Novgorod,  Kazan,  Moscow, 
Poland,  and  the  Crimea  are  very  ad- 
vantageously placed,  each  on  an  ele- 
gant tripod  about  four  or  five  feet 
high,  cushioned  and  embroidered  in 
velvet  and  gold.  The  crown  of  Kazan 
was  brought  to  Moscow  by  the  victo- 
rious Ivan  Vassilievitch ;  these  regal 
curiosities  are  interesting,  but  the 
greater  portion  of  them  are  not  remark- 
able for  their  workmanship.  There 
are  several  other  diadems  similarly  ar- 
ranged, consisting  of  the  regalia  worn 
by  successive  Tzars  and  Tzarinas  at 
their  coronations,  and  several  models 
of  others  presented  at  various  times  to 
different  members  of  the  Imperial  fa- 
mily. The  crown  of  Vladimir  II., 
surnamed  Monomachus,  is  well  exe- 
cuted in  a  kind  of  fillagree  gold,  sur- 
mounted by  a  golden  cross,  and  orna- 
mented with  pearls  and  precious  stones, 
and  until  the  reign  of  Peter  the  Great 
was  used  at  the  coronation  of  the 
Tzars ;  the  jewels,  though  in  great 
profusion,  including  diamonds  uncut, 
are,  many  of  them,  wretchedly  set. 
The  crown  of  Alexivitch  has  881  dia- 
monds in  it,  and  under  the  cross  that 
surmounts  it  is  an  immense  ruby. 
There  is  also  the  crown  of  Peter  the 
Great  containing  847,  and  that  of  Ca- 
therine I.,  his  widow,  enriched  by  2536 
fine  diamonds,  to  which  the  Empress 
Anne  added  a  ruby  of  enormous  size, 
bought  b}''  the  Russian  ambassador  at 


Bussia. 


EOUTE    94. THE    TREASURY. 


549 


Pekin,  and,  lastly,  the  crown  of  Po- 
land, which  is  of  polished  gold,  sur- 
mounted by  a  cross,  but  without  any 
other  ornament.  Many  thrones  are 
also  to  be  seen  in  these  rooms  ;  amongst 
them  may  be  mentioned  that  of  Ivan  Vas- 
sillievitch,  of  carved  ivory  and  Greek 
workmanship,  presented  to  him  by  the 
ambassadors  who  accompanied  from 
Rome  to  Moscow  the  Princess  Sophia, 
whom  he  had  demanded  in  marriage. 
This  lady  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas 
Paleologus  Porphrygenitus,  brother  to 
Constantine  Paleologus,  who  died  in 
1453,  after  seeing  his  empire  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  Turks.  By  this  mar- 
riage Ivan  III.  considered  himself  the 
heir  of  Constantine,  and  took  the  title 
of  Tzar,  the  meaning  of  which  is  Caesar ; 
and  thus  it  is,  perhaps,  that  subsequent 
emperors,  down  to  the  present  time, 
have  shown  a  feeling  of  acquisitiveness 
towards  that  paradise  upon  earth, 
Stamboul.  The  throne  of  Boris  Godu- 
noff,  who  was  Tzar  in  1604,  is  of  wood 
plated  with  gold,  so  that  it  has  the 
appearance  of  massive  metal  :  it  is 
adorned  with  2760  turquoises  and 
other  precious  stones ;  that  of  Michael 
Romanoff,  the  first  of  the  reigning 
family,  is  enriched  with  8824,  and  the 
throne  of  Alexis,  his  son,  contains  876, 
and  1220  other  jewels,  and  many 
pearls.  The  throne  of  Peter  the  Great 
and  his  brother  Ivan  is  the  largest  and 
ugliest  of  all ;  it  is  of  massive  silver, 
separated  in  the  middle  ;  and  behind 
the  curtain,  at  the  back,  under  the 
canopy,  is  an  opening  through  which 
the  Tzarina  Sophia,  their  sister,  was 
wont  to  dictate  their  answers  to  the 
foreign  ambassadors.  Here  is  also  to 
be  seen  the  throne  used  by  the  present 
Emperor  at  Warsaw.  But  perhaps  the 
greatest  curiosity  is  a  pair  of  old  wooden 
chairs  used  at  the  coronation  of  the  Em- 
perors. That  in  which  the  Tzar  sits  to 
receive  the  homage  of  his  vassals  is  of 
the  coarsest  workmanship — plain,  rough 
wood ;  but  every  part,  the  legs,  arms, 
and  back,  studded  with  diamonds, 
many  of  laige  size,  but  almost  all  im- 


perfectly polished.  The  Empress's 
chair  is  likewise  of  coarse  wood,  some- 
what less  profusely  adorned  with  dia- 
monds. The  entire  number  of  precious 
stones  cannot  be  less  than  1000;  but, 
were  they  not  preserved  among  the 
imperial  regalia,  no  one  would  for  a 
moment  believe  them  to  be  anything 
but  glass.  Sceptres,  balls,  rings,  gold 
plate,  vases,  plateaux,  and  epergnes  are 
to  be  seen  in  abundance.  The  sceptre 
of  Poland,  a  long  greenish  stone,  set  in 
gold  at  the  two  extremities,  is  broken 
in  the  middle,  the  two  pieces  lying  side 
by  side.  "  I  asked,"  says  Kohl,  "  the 
curator  of  the  collection  about  this 
fracture,  but  he  knew  nothing  respect- 
ing it ;  a  looker  on  said,  '  C'est  un 
hazard  bien  drole.'"  The  wands  of 
state  borne  by  the  two  senior  Russian 
field  marshals  at  the  coronation  are 
also  remarkable  for  the  two  immense 
emeralds,  one  of  which  is  set  in  the  top 
of  each.  In  another  room  is  a  man's 
saddle  and  trappings  belonging  to  Ca- 
therine II.,  on  which  she  used  to  ex- 
hibit herself  to  her  loving  subjects  in  the 
uniform  of  her  guards — a  very  fiivoui  ite 
amusement  of  that  Empress ;  and  cer- 
tainly, to  judge  from  the  full-length  pic- 
ture, the  costume  became  her  bravely. 
The  bridle-head  and  reins,  as  well  as  the 
stirrups  and  saddle  cloth,  are  most 
lavishly  strewn  with  diamonds,  ame- 
thysts, and  large  turquoises ;  dazzling 
indeed  to  look  on,  even  now  ;  and 
what  indeed  must  have  been  the  eftect 
when  the  lady  and  her  saddle  were 
seen  together  on  her  charger  1  A  large 
boss  adorned  the  horse's  chest,  in  the 
centre  of  which  was  an  immense  dia- 
mond, of  the  most  surpassing  brilliancy : 
around  this,  showing  to  perfection  its 
size  and  brightness,  was  a  circle  of 
pink  topazes,  inclosed  in  its  turn  by 
pearls,  and  these  again  by  diamonds, 
the  whole  encircled  by  a  broad  goldl 
band. 

Nor  are  memorials  of  the  great  Peter 
wanting.  Amongst  them  are  his  huge 
pocket-book,  of  coarse  leather,  his  im- 
mense drinking  cup,  also  a  glass  cup, 

B    B    3 


550 


BOUTE    94. — THE    AESENAL. 


Sect.  V. 


with  a  ducat  inclosed  in  it,  blown  by 
tbe  Tzar  himself,  and  numerous  speci- 
mens of  his  mechanical  skill  and  un- 
wearied industry, 

A  curious  model  of  a  ship,  of  silver 
gilt,  sent  to  him  from  Holland,  is 
worthy  of  notice. 

A  large  recess  is  occupied  with  a 
most  miscellaneous  assortment  of 
clothes,  belonging  to  five  or  six  suc- 
cessive occupants  of  the  Russian  throne : 
the  coarse  brown  frock  of  Peter  the 
Great  is  ranged  beside  the  splendidly 
embroidered  robes  of  his  consort,  and 
the  still  more  gorgeous  apparel  of  the 
second  Catherine.  Here,  too,  is  the 
canopy  of  state  beneath  which,  at  the 
coronation,  the  Emperor  walks  from 
his  palace  to  the  Cathedral  of  the  As- 
sumption ;  while  the  whole  extent  of 
one  long  wall  is  occupied  by  an  array 
of  boots,  from  the  massive  and  iron- 
bound  jack  boots  of  Peter,  to  the  deli- 
cate beaver-skin  of  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander, apparently  but  little  fitted  for  a 
Russian  winter.  Presume  not  to  touch 
these  honoured  relics.  We  were  about 
to  lay  our  profane  hand  upon  the  huge 
spur  that  decked  one  of  the  patriarchs  of 
this  family  of  boots,  but  a  servant  in  the 
royal  livery  sprang  before  us,  and  with 
no  very  friendly  gesture,  and  a  quick 
expression  of  "  not  permitted"  (Ne 
pozvoleno),  prevented  such  a  desecra- 
tion. 

The  arms  suspended  from  the  walls, 
and  piled  up  as  trophies,  comprise 
some  beautiful  Damascus  scimitars, 
with  the  mystic  characters  of  the 
Koran  on  their  bright  blades,  and  some 
very  curious  Chinese  sabres,  with  long 
straight  blades,  bearing  the  highest 
polish,  and,  apparently,  of  surpassing 
temper. 

THE    ARSENAL   AND    FRENCH    CANNON. 

In  a  court  near  the  Treasury,  or,  as 
it  is  sometimes  termed,  the  Orushei- 
naya  Palata  (Palace  of  Arms),  are 
arranged  the  cannon  taken  by  the 
Russians  during  the  disastrous  retreat 
of  the    French   in  1812.      A  trophy 


composed  of  them,  erected  in  the  most 
conspicuous  spot  in  the  Kremlin,  would 
make  an  excellent  pendant  to  the  co- 
lumn in  the  Place  Vendome.  Most  of 
these  guns,  and  others,  are  ranged  in 
long  rows,  with  small  shields  erected 
on  staves,  to  indicate  to  which  nation 
they  originally  belonged,  and  their 
numbers,  thus — Polish  cannon,  so 
many  ;  Westphalian,  so  many ;  the 
sight  of  the  latter  will  shock  no  one's 
feelings,  as  that  state  has  ceased  to 
exist,  and  the  country  is  preserved 
from  entire  oblivion  only  by  its  hams. 
Of  Dutch  cannon  there  are  some,  but 
few  Mynheers  wander  as  far  as  Moscow 
to  be  pained  at  the  view.  The  Bava- 
rian cannon  are  handsome,  new,  and 
bright ;  nor  are  Prussian  wanting,  but 
of  French  there  are  enough  to  stock  an 
arsenal.  The  entire  number  of  Eu- 
ropean cannon  is  said  to  be  nearly  900, 
whose  united  weight  is  estimated  at 
nearly  400  tons.  In  addition  to  the 
nations  we  have  already  mentioned, 
there  are  in  the  collection  guns  of  the 
Austrians,  Spaniards,  and  Swedes ; 
also  of  Turks,  Persians,  and  other  infi- 
dels. Some  specimens  of  the  latter 
claim  attention  by  their  elegant  work- 
manship. "  The  only  nation,"  remarks 
a  writer  on  Russia,  "  of  which  no  re- 
presentative is  to  be  found  here  is  the 
English.  I  know  not  that  Russia  pos- 
sesses anywhere  a  warlike  trophy  of 
that  nation."  An  anecdote  is,  how- 
ever, current,  that  one  of  our  country- 
men, while  looking  over  this  arsenal, 
descried  an  English  piece  of  ordnance, 
and,  the  circumstance  having  been 
mentioned  by  him  to  the  English  am- 
bassador at  St.  Petersburgh,  inquiry 
was  made,  and,  on  examination,  the 
gun  was  found  to  have  belonged  to 
some  English  merchant  vessel  that  had 
been  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Finland, 
and  not  a  fair  "  prise  de  guerre."  The 
Russian  government  having  been  in- 
formed of  this,  the  gun  was  immediately 
withdrawn.  The  arsenal,  to  the  right 
of  the  senate,  contains  a  magazine  of 
weapons    sufficient    to    arm    100,000 


Russia. 


EOUTE    94. — THE   TZAE   KOLOKOL. 


551 


men,  and  a  collection  of  standards  of 
Russia's  enemies;  the  spoils  of  Pu- 
gatsheff  are  the  only  objects  of  in- 
terest. This  rebellious  Cossack  once 
terrified  the  Russian  empire  with  can- 
non at  which  Russian  children  would 
now  laugh.  They  are  nothing  more 
than  clumsy  iron  tubes,  and  the  coarse 
seam  of  the  joining  is  visible.  The 
flag  carried  before  this  plunderer  is 
worthy  of  the  ordnance,  being  of  coarse 
sackcloth,  with  a  Madonna  painted  on  it. 
This  rag  was  fastened  to  a  staff,  which 
looks  as  if  it  had  been  fashioned  by  a 
bill-hook.  The  standard,  however, 
possessed,  in  all  probability,  a  kind  of 
sanctity,  for  a  breach  in  the  centre  is 
carefully  repaired  with  an  iron  ring. 
The  muskets  are  principally  of  Tula 
manufacture,  and  in  a  press  are  kept 
specimens  of  the  muskets  of  other 
nations. 

THE  TZAR  KOLOKOL,  KING  OF  BELLS. 

Close  to  the  tower  of  Ivan  Veliki, 
and  reared  on  a  massive  pedestal  of 
granite,  stands  the  mighty  bell,  most 
justly  named  the  Monarch  (Tzar  Kolo- 
kol),  for  no  other  may  dispute  its 
sovereignty.  It  was  cast  by  the  com- 
mand of  the  Empress  Anne  in  1730, 
and  bears  her  figure  in  flowing  robes 
upon  its  surface,  beneath  which  is  a 
deep  border  of  flowers.  It  is  said  that 
the  tower  in  which  it  originally  hung 
was  burnt  in  1737,  and  its  fall  buried 
the  enormous  mass  deep  in  the  earth, 
and  broke  a  huge  fragment  from  it. 
There  it  lay  for  many  years,  visited  in 
its  subterraneous  abode  by  the  enter- 
prising traveller  only,  and  carefully 
guarded  by  a  Russian  sentinel.  In 
the  spring  of  1837,  exactly  a  century 
after  it  fell,  the  present  Emperor  caused 
it  to  be  removed,  and,  rightly  deeming 
it  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  wonders  of 
this  wondrous  city,  placed  it  upon  its 
present  pedestal,  with  the  broken  frag- 
ment beside  it.  The  fracture  took 
place  just  above  the  bordering  of 
flowers  that  runs  round  the  bell,  and 
this  piece  is  about  jS'  feet  high  and  d/' 


7 


feet  thick.     The  height  of  the  whole 
bell    is    21-3    feet,     and    22*5    feet 
in    diameter,    and    it    is   in   no    part 
less  than  3  inches  in  thickness.     Seen 
from  even  a  short  distance,  surrounded 
as  it  is  on  all  sides  by  objects  on  such 
an  immense  scale,  with  the  lofty  Ivan 
Veliki  towering  immediately  behind  it, 
the  impression  of  its  magnitude  is  by 
no  means  striking ;  it  is  only  when  the 
spectator  comes  near  to  it  and  stands 
beside   the   broken   fragment   of    this 
metal  mountain,  or  descends  the  stairs 
that  lead  beneath  it  and  looks  up  into 
its  capacious  cavern,  that  he  becomes 
sensible  of  its  enormous  bulk.     This 
giant    communicator   has   been   conse- 
crated as  a  chapel,  and  the  entrance  to 
it  is  by  an  iron  gate,  and  down  a  few 
steps  that  descend  into  a  cavity  formed 
by  the  wall  and  the  excavation  under 
it.     The  Tzar  Kolokol  is  highly  vene- 
rated, for  the  religious  feelings  of  the 
people  were  called  into  action  when  it 
was   cast,  and  every  one  who  had  a 
fraction  of  the  precious  metals  threw 
into   the  melting  mass   some   offering 
either  of  silver  or  gold  ;  the  decorative 
parts  of  it  are  in  low  relief  and  badly 
executed  ;  the  traveller  should  try  the 
effect  of  a  shout  in  loud  tones  within  it. 
"  As_  this    is  probably  the    largest 
metal  casting  in  existence,"  observes 
Erman,   "it  seems  worthy  of  remark 
that  Herodotus   (460  B.C.)   saw  with 
the  Scythians,   between   the    Dnieper 
and  Kouban,  what  was  at  that  time 
no  less  wonderful  as  a  work  of  art.    It 
was  a  metal  vessel,  which,  from  the 
thickness  and  the  cubic  contents   as- 
signed to  it  by  the  historian,  who  says 
nothing  of  its  shape,  may  be  computed 
at  a  medium  to  have  weighed  41,000 
French  pounds,   supposing  it  to  have 
been   bronze.      This    Scythian  vessel, 
Herodotus  adds,  was  six  times  as  large 
as  the  largest  similar  vessel  in  Greece. 
Even  at  the  present  day  such  a  work 
would  be  thought  remarkable,  for  the 
largest  bell  in  France,  that  of  Rouen, 
weighs   but    36,000  lbs.,   the   famous 
Tom  of  Lincoln  was  only  9894  lbs. ; 


^  U€li»^  frv^  ^  Aj^istclLi^ 


fc«ro 


Jlo^  ^m^'  ^jr^Y* 


552 


ROUTE    9-4. THE    TOWER    OF    IVAN    VELIKI. 


Sect.  V. 


it  is  only  in  comparison  witli  the  bell 
of  the  Kremlin  that  the  vessel  of  Ex- 
ampe  appears  insignificant,  for  the 
former  weighs  between^  |OP^QOQL  and 
400, OOQ  Iha-  or  about  ten  times  the 
weight  of  the  Scythian  vessel. 

"  Herodotus  informs  us,  that  Arian- 
tas,  king  of  the  Scythians,  collected 
the  metal  for  the  vessel  at  Exampe  by 
a  tax  imposed  on  the  whole  nation, 
every  man  being  obliged,  on  pain  of 
death,  to  bring  in  a  spear  head,  and  he 
adds  that  the  object  of  this  was  to 
learn  the  numbers  of  the  people.  Now 
it  is  remarkable  that  similar  contribu- 
tions for  public  purposes  are  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  history  of  Russia ; 
in  the  case  of  this  bell  the  offerings 
were  numerous,  and  there  exists,  more- 
over, a  tradition,  that  to  cast  the  Tzar 
Kolokol,  vessels,  arms,  and  imple- 
ments of  various  kinds  were  collected 
throughout  the  empire. 

"  Bells  as  well  as  everything  else 
connected  in  the  remotest  degree  with 
ecclesiastical  purposes,  are  held  in  just 
respect  by  the  Russian  people,  but  that 
of  the  Kremlin  is  recommended  to  espe- 
cial veneration  by  the  name  of  the 
'  Eternal  Bell.' 

"  Calculated  from  the  present  price 
of  copper,  this  mass  of  metal  must  be 
worth  350,000/." 

the  tower  of  john  the  great, 
"ivan'veliki. 

Judging  by  our  own  experience  of 
Moscow  sight-seeing,  the  visitor  will, 
when  he  has  seen  the  Treasury  and  the 
churches  of  the  Kremlin,  have  done 
quite  sufficient  for  one  day  ;  but  if  his 
physical  powers  are  above  the  aver- 
age, or  he  is  fresh  from  college,  he 
may  as  well  ascend  the  tower  of  Ivan 
Veliki,  and  then  walk  home  to  his 
hotel  with  the  pleasing  consciousness 
that  he  has  lionized  everything  worth 
seeing  within  the  Kremlin  walls.  This 
tower  is  a  most  singular  building ; 
rising  without  ornament  of  any  kind  to 
the  height  of  more  than  two  hundred 
feet,  surmounted  by  a  gilded  dome  upon 


which,  as  on  all  the  other  gilded  domes 
within  the  Kremlin  (about  sixty  in 
number)  the  cross  is  displayed  above 
the  crescent. 

This  tower,  the  loftiest  and  most  re- 
markable in  Moscow,  is  the  campanile 
to  the  church  of  St.  Nicholas  the  Ma- 
gician. The  summit  is  gained  by  a 
good  staircase,  and  the  view  from  each 
story,  which  serves  as  a  belfry,  stimu- 
lates the  visitor  to  renew  his  exertions 
to  reach  the  top.  In  the  first  of  these 
stories  hangs,  in  solitary  grandeur,  a  bell, 
which,  but  for  the  mightier  one  below, 
would  appear  stupendous.  To  ring  it 
is  of  course  impossible  :  even  to  toll  it 
requires  the  united  strength  of  three 
men,  who,  pulling  with  separate  ropes, 
swing  the  vast  clapper  round,  making 
it  strike  the  bell  in  three  different 
places.  Standing  under  it,  and  with 
his  arm  stretched  out  above  his  head, 
the  traveller,  even  if  a  tall  man,  will 
fail  to  touch  the  top.  In  the  belfry 
above  that  in  which  this  is  suspended 
are  two  other  bells  of  far  smaller  but 
still  of  immense  proportions,  and  above 
these  are  forty  or  fifty  more,  which  di- 
minish in  size  in  each  tier  successively. 
The  traveller  should  touch  these  bells 
with  his  umbrella  or  stick,  the  tones 
are  very  beautiful. 

A  superior  dexterity  in  casting 
metals,  traditionally  preserved  in  this 
part  of  the  earth  from  the  earliest 
times,  is  proved  by  the  bells  now 
hanging  in  this  tower,  which  were 
cast  soon  after  the  erection  of  the 
church  in  1600.  The  largest  of  these 
bells  weighs  64  tons ;  it  is  con- 
sequently five  times  as  heavy  as  the 
famous  bell  of  Erfurt,  and  four  times 
that  of  Rouen.  It  is  held  so  sacred, 
that  it  is  sounded  only  three  times  a 
year,  and  then  alone  ;  the  others  are 
rung  altogether,  and  an  extraordinary 
noise  they  must  make ;  but  this  din 
and  jumble  of  sounds  is  that  which  is 
most  pleasing  to  Russian  ears.  On 
Easter  eve  a  death-like  silence  reigns 
in  all  the  streets,  till  on  a  sudden,  at 
midnight,  the  thunders  of  the  guns  of 


■•nL  Russia. 


KOUTE    94.  — THE    TOWEE    OF   IVAN    VELIKI. 


553 


the  Kremlin,  and  the  uproar  of  its  bells, 
supported  by  those  of  250  other 
churches,  are  heard.  The  streets  and 
church  towers  are  illuminated,  and  a 
dense  throng  of  400,000  people  seems 
inspired  with  but  one  thought  and  feel- 
ing ;  with  mutual  felicitations  and  em- 
braces, all  repeat  the  words  "  Christ  is 
risen,"  and  all  evince  joy  at  the  glad 
tidings.  Should  the  cmtode  ascend 
the  campanile  of  Ivan  Veliki,  he  will 
expect  a  fee. 

The  view  from  the  summit  of  this 
tower  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in 
Europe.  Clustered  round  it  are  the 
numerous  gilt  domes  of  the  churches 
within  the  Kremlin,  and  those  of  the 
ancient  and  peculiar  building  called 
the  Tower  of  the  Kremlin  ;  amongst 
these  are  grouped  the  Treasury,  the 
Bishop's  Palace,  and  other  modern 
edifices,  strangely  out  of  keeping  with 
the  Eastern  architecture  of  the  place,  all 
of  which  are  inclosed  by  the  lofty  em- 
battled walls  and  fantastic  towers  of 
the  fortress. 

Near  the  Holy  Gate,  the  green  towers 
of  which  are  surmounted  by  golden 
eagles,  is  the  cathedral  of  St.  Basil, 
grotesque  in  form  and  colour,  and  wind- 
ing under  the  terrace  of  the  Kremlin 
gardens  is  the  Moskva,  the  silvery 
though  narrow  line  of  which  may  be 
traced  far  into  the  country.  Round 
this  brilliant  centre  stretches  on  every 
side  the  city  and  its  suburbs,  radiant 
in  all  the  colours  of  the  rainbow,  which 
are  used  in  the  decoration  of  the  roofs 
and  walls  of  the  churches  and  houses  ; 
the  effect  of  this  mosaic  is  heightened 
by  the  foliage  of  the  trees  which  grow 
in  many  parts  of  the  town  as  well  as 
on  the  banks  of  the  river.  The  Greek 
faqade  of  the  Foundling  Hospital  at- 
tracts attention  from  its  extreme  length 
and  the  style  of  its  architecture,  in 
such  striking  contrast  with  that  of  the 
town  generally.  The  old  monasteries 
with  their  bright  blue  domes  spangled 
with  golden  stars,  and  minarets  gilt  or 
coloured,  particularly  of  the  Seminoff 
and  Donskoi,  surrounded  by  groves  ol 


treeSj  lie  scattered  on  the  skirts  of  the 
town.  Beyond  these  are  the  Sparrow 
Hills,  on  which  Napoleon  paused  ere 
he  descended  to  take  possession  of  the 
devoted  city.  No  view  of  any  capital 
in  Europe  can  be  compared  with  that 
of  Moscow  from  this  tower,  except  that 
of  Constantinople  from  the  Galata  or 
Seraskier's,  which  certainly  surpasses  it 
in  beauty,  for  the  horizon  here  is  one 
unbroken  line  of  dreary  steppe,  while 
at  Stamboul  the  distance  is  formed  by 
the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the  snowy 
summits  of  Olympus.  Blue  and  green, 
or  flashing  with  gold,  the  countless 
domes  and  minarets  of  Moscow  at  first 
confuse  the  eye  ;  but  this  effect  soon 
wears  off,  and  the  traveller  Avho  mounts 
the  tower  of  the  Veliki  for  the  second 
time  will  readily  admit  that  the  scene 
outspread  before  him  is  perhaps  the 
most  characteristic  he  has  ever  witnessed 
in  his  wanderings  ;  attachment  to  it  in- 
creases, and  when  the  hour  of  depar- 
ture arrives  he  will  do  well  to  take 
another  glance  at  it  from  the  terrace  of 
the  Kremlin,  so  as  to  have  it  as  much 
as  possible  impressed  upon  his  memory. 
We  never  tired  of  it,  and  often  re- 
mained here  in  the  evening  to  see  the 
setting  sun  reflected  upon  the  distant 
dome  of  the  Seminoff,  and  sometimes 
even  lingered  on  to  see  the  old  capital 
sleeping  still  and  silent  in  the  pale 
moonlight.  In  St.  Petersburgh  all  is 
whitewash,  and  stiff  and  stately,  but 
in  her  ancient  rival  all  is  picturesque  ; 
the  city  seems  to  work  gradually  upon 
the  feelings  as  by  a  spell,  her  wild 
Tartar  invaders  and  boyard  chiefs  of 
the  olden  time  rise  up  in  the  imagina- 
tion and  people  again  in  fantastic  array 
the  wide  terrace  of  the  old  fortress, 
while  the  deeds  of  the  foreign  invaders 
of  our  own  times  impart  a  thrilling  in- 
terest to  the  scene — the  northern  limit 
of  the  long  career  of  Napoleon's  aggres- 
sions. 

Descending  from  the  tower  of  Ivan 
Veliki,  the  traveller  may  pass  by  the 
Emperor's  palace  to  the  western  gate 
of  the   Kremlin,  which,  like  the  other 


654 


EOUTE    94. — THE    CATHEDKAL   OF    ST.    BASIL.        SeCt.  V. 


three  entrances,  has  a  lofty  tapering 
tower  of  green  and  white,  and  a  gilt 
eagle  for  its  vane.  Here  a  flight  of 
steps  lead  into  the  Kremlin  gardens, 
which  bound  the  whole  western  part  of 
the  fortress  ;  these  are  beautifully  laid 
out,  and  on  this  spot  fireworks  are  let 
off  on  the  eve  of  every  festival. 

THE  CATHEDRAL  OP  ST.  BASIL,  ALSO 
CALLED  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  PRO- 
TECTION  OP    MARY. 

This  church  is  situated  on  the 
Krasnoi  Ploschad  (Red  Place),  be- 
tween the  walls  of  the  Kremlin  and 
those  of  the  Kitai  Grorod,  and  an 
edifice  more  bizarre  both  in  point  of 
form  and  colour  cannot  well  be  ima- 
gined. Standing  alone  at  the  extre- 
mity of  this  wide  aren,  the  Vassili 
Blagennoi  seems  erected  in  this  con- 
spicuous situation  as  if  to  show  how 
grotesque  a  building  the  ingenuity  of 
man  could  devote  to  the  service  of  his 
Maker.  There  are  no  less  than  twenty 
towers  and  domes,  all  of  different 
shapes  and  sizes,  and  painted  in  every 
possible  colour  ;  some  are  covered  with 
a  net- work  of  green  over  a  surface  of 
yellow,  another  dome  is  a  bright  red 
with  broad  white  stripes,  and  a  third 
is  gilded.  Some  historians  affirm  that 
it  was  built  to  commemorate  the  cap- 
ture of  Kazan,  others  that  it  was  a 
whim  of  Ivan  the  Terrible  to  try  how 
many  distinct  chapels  could  be  erected 
under  one  roof,  on  a  given  extent  of 
ground,  in  such  a  manner  that  divine 
service  could  be  performed  in  all  simul- 
taneously without  any  interference  one 
with  another.  It  is  also  said  that  the 
Tzar  was  so  delighted  with  the  archi- 
tect, an  Italian,  who  had  thus  admirably 
gratified  his  wishes,  that  when  the  edi- 
fice was  finished  he  sent  for  him,  pro- 
nounced a  wann  panegyric  on  his  work, 
and  then  had  his  eyes  put  out,  in 
order  that  he  might  never  build  such 
another.  A  strange  caprice  of  cruelty, 
if  true,  punishing  the  man,  not  for  fail- 
ing, but  succeeding,  in  gratifying  his 
employer. 


"  The  whole  is  far  from  forming  a 
whole,  for  no  main  building  is  discover- 
able in  this  architectural  maze  ;  in  every 
one  of  the  towers  or  domes  lurks  a 
separate  church,  in  every  excrescence  a 
chapel ;  or  they  may  be  likened  to 
chimneys  expanded  to  temples.  One 
tower  stands  forth  prominently  amid 
the  confusion,  yet  it  is  not  in  the  cen- 
tre, for  there  is  in  fact  neither  centre 
nor  side,  neither  beginning  nor  end  ; 
it  is  all  here,  and  there.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, this  tower  is  no  tower  at  all,  but  a 
church,  and  the  chief  one  in  the  knot  of 
churches,  the  Church  of  the  Protec- 
tion of  Holy  Mary.  This  tower,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height,  is 
quite  hollow  within,  having  no  division 
of  any  kind,  and  lessening  by  degrees 
to  the  summit,  and  from  its  small 
cupola  the  portrait  of  the  ^protect- 
ing Mother'  looks  down  as  if  from 
heaven.  This  church  is  placed  as  it 
were  upon  the  neck  of  another,  from 
the  sides  of  which  a  number  of  chapels 
proceed,  Palm  Sunday  Chapel,  the 
Chapel  of  the  three  Patriarchs,  of 
Alexander  Svirskoi,  and  others.  Ser- 
vice is  performed  in  these  on  one  day 
in  the  year  only.  The  greater  part  are 
so  filled  up  with  sacred  utensils  and 
objects  of  adoration  that  there  is  hardly 
any  room  left  for  the  pious  who  come 
to  pray.  Some  of  the  chapels  have 
a  kind  of  cupola  like  a  turban,  as  if 
they  were  so  many  Turks'  heads  from 
which  Ivan  had  scooped  the  Mahom- 
medan  brains  and  supplied  their  place 
with  Christian  furniture.  Some  of 
the  stones  of  the  cupolas  are  cut  on 
the  sides,  others  not ;  some  are  three- 
sided,  some  four-sided ;  some  are 
ribbed,  or  fluted  ;  some  of  the  flutes 
are  perpendicular,  and  some  wind 
in  spiral  lines  round  the  cupola.  To 
render  the  kaleidoscope  appearance  yet 
more  perfect,  every  rib  and  every  side 
is  painted  of  a  different  colour.  Those 
neither  cut  in  sides  nor  ribbed  are 
scaled  with  little  smooth,  glazed,  and 
painted  bricks  ;  and,  when  these  scales 
are  closely   examined,  they  even  are 


Russia.   ROUTE  94. — the  chapel  of  the  iberian  mother.     555 


seen  to  differ  from  one  another ;  some 
are  oval,  others  cut  like  leaves.  The 
greater  part  of  the  cupola-crowned 
towers  have  a  round  body,  but  not  all ; 
there  are  six-sided  and  eight- sided 
towers. 

From  remote  times  wax-taper  sellers 
have  established  themselves  between 
the  entrances,  and  there  they  dis- 
play their  gilded  and  many-coloured 
w^ares.  From  one  corner  the  upper 
churches  are  gained  by  a  broad  covered 
flight  of  steps,  which  is  beset  day  and 
night  by  hungry  beggars  who  look  to 
be  fed  by  the  devout.  These  steps 
lead  to  a  gallery  or  landing-place  which 
branches  off  right  and  left  to  a  laby- 
rinth of  passages  leading  to  the  sepa- 
rate doors  of  the  temple  on  the  roof,  so 
narrow  and  winding  that  it  costs  many 
a  painful  effort  to  work  one's  way 
through.  In  some  parts  they  are  con- 
venient enough,  and  even  expand  into 
spacious  terraces.  Where  they  lead 
outwards  they  are  of  course  covered, 
and  their  roofs  are  supported  by  pillars 
of  different  forms  and  sizes.  Whole 
flocks  of  half-wild  pigeons  that  build 
their  nests  here  are  constantly  flying 
in  and  out.  Imagine  then  all  these 
points  and  pinnacles  surmounted  by 
crescents,  and  by  very  profusely 
carved  crosses,  fancifully  wreathed 
with  gilded  chains ;  imagine,  further, 
with  how  many  various  patterns  of 
arabesques  every  wall  and  passage  is 
painted ;  how  from  painted  flower- 
pots gigantic  thistles,  fljwers,  and 
shrubs  spring  forth,  vary  into  vine- 
wreaths,  wind  and  twist  further  till 
they  end  in  simple  lines  and  knots  ; 
imagine  the  now  somewhat  faded 
colours,  red,  blue,  green,  gold,  silver, 
all  fresh  and  gaudy,  and  the  traveller 
may  in  some  degree  comprehend  how 
these  buildings  must  have  delighted 
the  eye  of  Ivan." 

THE  CHAPEL   OF   THE  IBERIAN  MOTHER 

OF  aoD. 

This  chapel,  called  in  Russian  the 
"  Iverskaya  Boshia  Mater,"  stands  at 


the  foot  of  the  hill  by  which  the  Kras- 
noi  Ploschad  is  reached,  and  close  to 
the  Sunday  Gate  (Voskressenskaia 
Vorota),  the  most  frequented  entrance 
to  Moscow.  The  Red  Place  is  here 
entered  by  a  double  archway  in  the 
barrier  wall  of  the  old  Tartar  division 
of  the  city,  and  between  the  two  gate- 
ways, in  a  space  about  twenty  feet 
wide,  is  the  oratory  in  question.  Greor- 
gia  gave  birth  to  the  miraculous  pic- 
ture of  the  Iberian  Mother,  from  thence 
it  passed  to  a  monastery  on  Mount 
Athos,  and  some  centuries  after  her 
reputation  for  miraculous  powers  spread 
to  Russia,  when  the  Tzar  Alexis  Mi- 
chaelovitch,  who  flourished  in  1650, 
invited  her  to  Moscow,  and  fixed  her 
abode  at  the  Voskressensk  Gate. 

Striking  as  the  devotion  of  the  Rus- 
sian appears  to  be  at  St.  Petersburg 
and  elsewhere,  it  is  not  for  a  moment 
to  be  compared  with  what  one  witnesses 
daily  in  Moscow,  not  only  in  the 
churches,  but  also  before  the  shrines 
and  chapels  in  the  streets,  and  no  Rus- 
sian leaves  or  arrives  at  Moscow  on  or 
from  a  journey  without  invoking  the 
Iberian  Mother's  blessing.  Pass  when 
he  pleases,  the  traveller  will  remark 
that  this  chapel  is  beset  by  worshippers  ; 
the  first  step  is  always  fully  occupied, 
while  others  unable  to  reach  that  more 
favourite  spot  kneel  on  various  parts  of 
the  pavement ;  and  a  greater  degree  of 
earnestness  will  be  observed  in  the  de- 
votions of  those  who  pray  here  than  in 
any  other  church  of  Moscow. 

"  Her  chapel,"  writes  Kohl,  ''con- 
sists of  one  undivided  area,  the  saint 
herself  being  in  a  kind  of  sanctuary 
hollowed  out  at  the  farther  end  ;  here, 
in  the  half-darkened  back-ground,  she 
may  be  indistinctly  discerned,  resplen- 
dent, however,  in  gold  and  precious 
stones.  Her  complexion,  like  that  of 
all  Russian  saints,  is  dark  brown,  not 
to  say  black.  Round  her  head  is  a  net 
of  real  pearls  ;  on  one  shoulder  a  large 
jewel  is  fastened,  and  another  of  equal 
brilliancy  rests  on  her  brow,  above 
which  glitters  a  brilliant  crown.     In 


^56 


EOUTE  94. — THE  DONSKOI  MONASTERY. 


Sect.  V. 


one  corner  of  the  picture,  on  a  silver 
plate,  is  inscribed,  «  (U^jrjj^  &iou  luv 
*l(iipMv.  Around  the  picture  are  gold 
brocaded  hangings,  to  which  angels' 
heads,  painted  on  porcelain  with  silver 
wings,  are  sewn  :  the  whole  is  lighted 
up  by  thirteen  silver  lamps.  Beside 
the  picture  there  are  a  number  of  draw- 
ers containing  wax  tapers,  and  books 
having  reference  to  her  history.  Her 
hand  and  the  foot  of  the  child  are  co- 
vered with  dirt  from  the  abundant 
kissing ;  it  sits  like  a  crust  in  little 
raised  points,  so  that  long  since  it  has 
not  been  hand  and  foot  that  have  been 
kissed,  but  the  concrete  breath  of  pious 
lips.  The  doors  of  the  chapel  stand 
open  the  whole  day,  and  all  are  ad- 
mitted who  are  in  sorrow,  and  heavy 
laden  ;  and  this  includes  here,  as  every- 
where else,  a  considerable  number,  and 
the  multitudes  that  stream  in  testify 
the  power  which  this  picture  exercises 
ever  their  minds.  None  ever  pass, 
however  pressing  their  business,  with- 
out bowing  and  crossing  themselves  ; 
the  greater  part  enter,  kneel  devoutly 
down  before  '  the  Mother,'  and  pray 
with  fervent  sighs.  Here  come  the 
peasants  early  in  the  morning  before 
going  market,  who  lay  aside  their  bur- 
dens, pray  awhile,  and  then  go  their 
way  ;  hither  comes  the  merchant  on 
the  eve  of  a  new  speculation,  to  ask 
the  assistance  of  '  the  Mother  ;'  hither 
come  the  healthy  and  the  sick,  the 
Wealthy,  and  those  who  would  become 
so ;  the  arriving  and  the  departing 
traveller,  the  fortunate  and  the  unfor- 
tunate, the  noble  and  the  beggar — all 
pray,  thank,  supplicate,  sigh,  laud,  and 
pour  out  their  hearts.  Fashionable  la- 
dies leave  their  splendid  equipages  and 
gallant  attendants,  and  prostrate  them- 
selves in  the  dust  with  the  beggars. 
On  a  holiday  two  or  three  hundred 
passing  pilgrims  may  be  seen  kneeling 
before  '  the  Iberian  Mother.'  Since 
Alexis,  the  Tzars  have  never  failed  to 
visit  it  frequently ;  the  present  em- 
peror never  omits  to  do  so  when  he 
comes  to  Moscow,  and  it  is  said  that  he 


has  more  than  once  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  wakened  the  monks,  in  order 
that  he  might  perform  his  devotions," 

The  picture  is  also,  if  desired,  car- 
ried to  the  houses  of  sick  persons,  and 
a  carriage  with  four  horses  is  kept  con- 
stantly leady,  in  which  it  is  trans- 
ported with  pomp  to  the  bed  of  the 
dying.  The  visit  costs  five  rubles,  and 
a  present  is  usually  made  to  the 
monks. 

We  had  almost  forgotten  to  mention 
the  principal  thing  :  viz.,  there  is  a 
little  scratch  on  the  right  cheek  which 
distils  blood.  This  wound  was  in- 
flicted, nobody  knows  when  or  how,  by 
Turks  or  Circassians ;  and  this  is  ex- 
actly how  the  miraculous  powers  of  the 
picture  were  proved,  for  scarcel}'^  had 
the  infidel  steel  pierced  the  canvas 
than  the  blood  trickled  down  the 
painted  cheek.  This  is  represented  m 
all  the  copies  of  the  picture. 

MONASTERY  OF  THE  DONSKOI. 

We  have  already  stated  that  the 
churches  in  Moscow  are  countless, 
scarcely  a  street  can  be  traversed  with- 
out a  cluster  of  green  or  red  domes  and 
minarets  meeting  the  traveller's  eye. 
The  convents  and  monasteries  are  also 
numerous,  and  situated,  some  in  the 
interior  and  oldest  parts  of  the  city, 
others  in  the  meadows  and  gardens  of 
the  suburbs,  their  walls  embracing  so 
many  churches,  buildings,  gardens,  and 
fields,  and  crowned  Avith  such  numerous 
towers,  tliat  each  looks  like  a  little 
town.  The  largest  of  these  religious 
establishments  are  the  Donskoi  and 
Seminoff  nion;isteries,  to  both  of  which 
in  the  summer  we  would  recommend 
the  traveller  to  drive  in  the  cool  of  the 
evening,  to  hear  the  singing,  which  is 
very  good,  and  stroll  or  sit  under  the 
trees  in  the  churchyard,  at  this  sea- 
son the  favourite  resort  of  the  in- 
habitants. Many  of  the  monasteries 
in  Russia  were  originally  intended,  not 
only  as  places  of  religious  retirement, 
but  as  a  safe  retreat  in  the  turbulent 
times  of  the  early  Tzars ;  that  of  the 


Buss  la. 


EOUTE    94. THE    DONSKOI    MONASTEEY. 


557 


celebrated  Troitzka  (or  Trinity)  fre- 
quently sheltered  members  of  the  Im- 
perial family^  in  times  of  intrigue  and 
civil  strife,  and  the  Donskoi,  with  its 
numerous  turrets,  would  hare  baffled 
its  assailants  before  the  days  when  the 
"  villanous  salt-petre  was  digged  out  of 
the  bowels  of  the  harmless  earth." 

Within  its  walls,  which  are  of  ancient 
aspect,  painted  in  broad  streaks  of  white 
and  red;  and  surmounted  by  the  same 
Eastern-looking  battlements  as  those 
of  the  Kremlin,  are  six  churches  and 
chapels,  a  birch  wood,  severrJ  courts, 
and  the  dwellings  for  the  Archimandrite 
and  the  monks.  These  lie  in  the  usual 
order  of  Russian  monasteries,  to  the 
right  and  left  of  the  entrance  near  the 
wall.  The  principal  path  on  entering 
leads  directly  to  the  chief  church  of 
the  cloister,  the  other  churches  stand- 
ing on  either  side,  surrounded  like  it 
with  trees.  The  principal  church  is 
of  red  brick,  large  and  spacious,  the 
walls  and  ceiling  are  coyered  with 
paintings,  the  ground  in  all  of  them 
being  gilded  ;  they  are,  without  excep- 
tion, miserable  productions.  The  screen 
is  likewise  one  mass  of  gaudy  colours 
and  gold,  under  which  are  concealed 
several  massive  pieces  of  silver.  The 
most  conspicuous  figure  is  the  Donskoi 
Virgin,  or  Virgin  of  the  Cossacks  of  the 
Don,  to  whom  the  monastery  is  dedi- 
cated. Like  all  similar  figures  in  Grreek 
churches,  the  face  alone  is  exposed, 
while  the  body  is  covered  with  plates 
of  silver,  carved  to  represent  the  dress 
of  a  female.  The  head-dress  is  of  gold,, 
in  which  are  set  several  very  large 
and  sparkling  diamonds.  Two  or  three 
mouldering  relics  of  humanity  are  pre- 
served here  in  gorgeous  cases.  But  the 
great  object  of  interest  is  the  burial- 
ground  of  the  nobility,  and,  it  being  a 
spot  of  extreme  sanctity,  large  sums  of 
money  are  frequently  paid  for  permis- 
sion to  be  buried  within  the  holy  pre- 
cincts. The  monuments,  chiefly  of  red 
granite,  are  consequently  very  nume- 
rous^ and  greatly  crowded;  some  of 
them  are  of  rare  marbles  and  richly  ' 


ornamented,  but  little  taste  is  dis- 
played. The  only  inscription  which 
we  remember  to  have  seen,  not  in 
Russ,  was  that  on  the  tomb  cf  the 
late  Count  WoronzofF,  many  years  am- 
bassador in  England. 

The  rules  of  this  monastery  are 
somewhat  severe,  the  monks  rise  at 
three,  and  their  time,  to  judge  by 
their  own  account,  is  fully  occupied. 
It  is  possible,  but  difficult,  to  quit 
the  monastic  life.  If  a  monk  desires 
to  return  to  the  world,  he  must,  in 
the  first  instance,  submit  his  motives 
to  the  Archimandrite  or  superior,  who 
should  for  six  months  seek  to  combat 
them,  and  if  he  cannot  succeed  in  con- 
vincing the  discontented  brother,  or  if 
his  motives  are  well  founded,  such,  for 
example,  as  having  a  mother  to  support, 
they  are  laid  before  the  Emperor  and 
the  Synod,  who  alone  can  decide  whe- 
ther they  are  important  enough  to  pro- 
cure him  a  release  from  a  conventual 
life.  Kohl  states  that  the  Russian 
monasteries  are  not  very  strict,  and 
that,  at  the  tea  parties  given  by  the 
monks,  women  were  present ;  he  adds, 
however,  that  this  freedom  of  inter- 
course does  net  lead  practically  to  a 
greater  laxity  of  morals  than  in  the 
monasteries  of  other  Catholic  countries. 

The  Seminoff  monastery  has,  like  the 
Donskoi,  all  the  outward  appearance  of  a 
fortress,  and  to  complete  the  picture 
the  inmates  have  furnished  their  ram- 
parts with  a  few  pieces  of  ordnance,  not, 
however,  of  very  large  calibre,  but  cer- 
tainly to  our  ideas  strangely  out  of  keep- 
ing with  the  place.  The  prospect  from 
the  tower  of  the  Seminoff,  or  from  the 
terrace  of  the  principal  church,  is  pre- 
ferred by  many  to  that  from  the  Sparrow 
Hills,  as  affording  a  finer  and  fuller  view 
of  the  towers  of  the  Kremlin.  The  eye 
follows  the  course  of  the  river  through 
the  whole  intervening  space,  and  there 
is  scarcel}'^  a  building  of  sufficient  ele- 
vation to  conceal  any  portion  of  that 
matchless  combination  of  tower,  dome, 
arid  cupola,  above  which  the  Veliki 
rears  his  golden  head. 


558 


KOUTE    94. THE    SEMINOFF    MONASTERY.  Sect.  V. 


The  singing  at  these  monasteries  is 
very  remarkable,  and  the  traveller 
should  not  leave  Moscow  without  hav- 
ing heard  the  soft  and  solemn  chant 
of  the  Seminoff ;  the  service  at  vespers 
is  very  striking.  Strangers  are  ad- 
mitted only  on  Sundays,  or  on  the  eve 
of  a  festival.  The  singing  is  the  most 
attractive  part  of  the  Russian  Church 
Service,  though  it  requires  one  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  it  before  it  can 
be  appreciated,  for  it  is  completely  dif- 
ferent from  the  church  music  of  Western 
Europe.  Boys,  as  in  our  cathedrals, 
take  the  soprano  parts,  but  the  great 
point  in  a  Russian  church  is  to  have  a 
few  good  basses  ;  considerable  expense 
is  incurred  on  their  account,  the  best 
voices  being  everywhere  sought  for 
and  liberally  remunerated.  They  are 
not  exactly  for  the  choir,  but  for  cer- 
tain half  recitative  solos,  occasionally 
required  in  the  service,  and  which  must 
always  be  delivered  by  amazingly  strong 
and  deep  bass  voices,  such  as  "  Gospodi 
pomilui : "  the  Lord  have  mercy  !  or. 
Lord  we  pray  thee ;  Grrant  this,  0  Lord, 
&c.  These  solo  parts  include  the  open- 
ing of  divine  service,  the  prayer  for  the 
Emperor,  the  warning  to  the  unbe- 
lievers to  depart,  the  cursing  of  the 
heretics,  and  so  forth.  In  the  ordinary 
churches,  the  harmony  of  the  voices  is 
less  considered  than  their  strength,  and 
in  some,  such  may  be  heard,  fit  only  to 
frighten  children  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world.  The  Russians  have  in  ge- 
neral very  deep  and  rough  voices ;  it 
may,  therefore,  be  imagined  what 
gigantic  organs  are  sometimes  brought 
forward,  where  the  priests  give  them- 
selves all  possible  trouble  to  strengthen 
and  cultivate  the  depth  and  roughness 
of  the  singers. 

The  Russian  journals  once  gave  a 
sketch  of  the  most  distinguished  bass 
voices  in  the  empire,  and  the  compass 
of  each  was  mentioned.  The  Kazan 
church  had  the  finest  bass;  the  church 
of  the  Archangel  Michael,  the  second ; 
Nijni  Novgorod,  the  third  ;  and  Khar; 
koflf,  the  fourth   in   excellence.      The 


above-mentioned  distinguished  bass  of 
St.  Petersburgh  was  formerly  a  mer- 
chant in  Tobolsk,  where  he  remained 
till  the  stories  told  of  the  power  of  his 
voice  procured  him  a  call  to  the  Kazan 
church,  which,  allured  by  a  large 
salary,  he  accepted ;  but  the  first  time 
he  officiated  in  the  church,  and  thun- 
dered out  the  anathema  against  here- 
tics, several  ladies  were  carried  away 
fainting.  It  is  said  that,  when  this 
man  meets  a  friend  in  the  street  to 
whom  he  has  something  to  say,  he 
need  only  utter  a  stifled  "  He  Ivan," 
to  bring  his  friend  trembling  to  a 
stand.  To  open  the  doors  through 
which  he  has  to  pass,  he  never  uses 
his  hands,  he  hems  only,  and  the  doors 
spring  open  of  themselves;  and  it  is 
seriously  asserted  that  his  voice  once 
saved  his  life,  and  put  a  party  of  rob- 
bers to  flight.  He  was  travelling  from 
Tobolsk  to  Orenburg,  when,  having 
lingered  behind  his  companions,  he 
was  attacked  by  a  party  of  marauding 
Kirguises,  and  thrown  to  the  ground. 
They  were  about  to  murder  him,  when 
he  uttered  so  tremendous  a  sound 
in  calling  for  the  Cossacks  who  had 
rode  on  before  him,  that  the  Kirguises, 
never  doubting  they  had  something 
more  than  a  man  under  their  knives, 
galloped  off  with  as  much  speed  as  if 
a  whole  infernal  legion  had  been  in 
pursuit  of  them.  Thus  the  voice  pre- 
served itself  for  the  musical  world; 
and  now,  the  better  to  cherish  it,  the 
owner  feeds  it  half  the  year  upon  the 
yolks  of  eggs. 

Besides  those  of  the  Donskoi  and 
Seminofl^,  there  are  in  Moscow  up- 
wards of  twenty  convents  and  monaste- 
ries ;  amongst  them  is  the  convent  of  the 
Devitchei,  at  the  end  of  the  Devitchei- 
foll,  or  Maidens'  Field ;  a  grass-grown 
waste,  without  the  Semlanoi  Govod ;  it 
is  on  this  field  that  the  Russian  Em- 
perors entertain  their  subjects  on  the 
occasion  of  their  coronation  ;  in  1826 
the  present  Emperor  invited  50,000 
persons  to  dine  here.  In  this  convent 
is  the  miraculous  Virgin  of  Smolensk. 


Russia. 


KOUTE    94. THE    FOUNDLING   HOSPITAL. 


559 


The  church  contains  the  tombs  of  seve- 
ral Tzarinas  and  princesses ;  amongst 
them  that  of  Sophia,  the  ambitious 
sister  of  Peter  the  Great.  On  the  walls 
that  surround  the  Devitchei  there  are 
sixteen  towers ;  the  principal  church 
has,  as  usual,  five  smaller  ones  near  it, 
besides  suplementary  chapels,  and  a 
great  tower  for  the  bells  is  not  wanting. 
The  churchyard  in  the  inner  court 
of  the  cloister  is  beautifully  laid  out 
with  shrubs  and  flowers;  the  monu- 
ments are  very  numerous ;  the  view 
from  the  campanile  is  fine,  but  not  so 
picturesque  as  that  from  the  towers  of 
the  Androniefskoi  Monastery,  around 
which  is  the  valley  of  the  Yausa,  rich 
in  gardens,  trees  and  magnificent 
houses. 

Then  there  is  the  Tshudoff  Monas- 
tery, on  the  Kremlin,  the  Sa-Ikono 
Spasskoi,  to  which  is  attached  a  school 
for  young  people  destined  for  the 
church,  and  the  Greek  convent.  In  the 
Sa-Ikono  Spasskoi  the  public  library 
is  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best  in 
Moscow. 

THE   FOUNDLING   HOSPITAL. 

One  morning  will  be  fully  occupied 
in  a  visit  to  this  institution,  to  see 
which  it  is  necessary  to  procure  an 
order,  and  give  twenty-four  hours'  no- 
tice. The  establishment  is  on  as 
large  a  scale  as  that  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  and  its  expenses  are  defrayed  by 
a  tax  of  ten  per  cent,  on  all  places 
of  public  amusement,  and  the  interest  of 
sums  borrowed  from  a  Lombard  Bank 
attached  to  the  hospital.  One  of  the 
Demidoif  family  contributed  largely 
to  its  support,  and  made  great  addi- 
tions to  the  building.  Several  thou- 
sand children  are  admitted  annually, 
and  the  entire  number,  either  in  the 
house  or  participating  in  some  way 
or  other  from  this  institution,  is  up- 
wards of  25,000 ;  the  proportion  of  boys 
to  girls  is  slightly  in  favour  of  the 
former. 

The  upper  part  of  this  immense  build- 


ing is  appropriated  to  the  infants  and 
wet-nurses,  of  which  there  are  always 
600  of  each.  "  The  latter,"  says  a 
recent  traveller  in  his  description  of 
this  hospital,  "  drawn  up  in  a  line  at 
the  foot  of  their  beds,  had  each  a  young 
Muscovite  in  her  arms.  They  were 
all  in  uniform ;  not,  it  is  true,  in  shakos 
and  trowsers,  but  dark  cotton  gowns 
and  white  aprons,  and  the  peculiar 
caps  worn  by  nurses  in  Russia,  which 
I  have  endeavoured  to  describe  else- 
where. At  the  head  of  each  bed  was 
a  little  cot  for  the  child.  Everything 
was  perfectly  clean,  and  the  rooms  well 
ventilated;  all  bowed  as  we  went  down 
the  line,  and,  singular  to  relate,  only 
one  child  cried  during  our  stay  !  The 
next  suite  of  rooms  was  occupied  by 
children  from  four  to  seven  years  of 
age  ;  the  elder  ones  were  in  the  school- 
rooms. The  girls  were  all  in  the  coun- 
try for  change  of  air  :  they  are  en- 
tirely separated  from  the  boys.  After 
having  visited  a  wilderness  of  rooms, 
the  chapel,  kitchen,  and  school-rooms, 
we  proceeded  to  a  long  low  dining 
hall,  and  saw  five  hundred  boys  at 
their  dinner.  Before  sitting  down,  they 
sung  a  grace  in  very  good  style,  and 
the  same  afterwards :  so  many  young 
voices  had  a  very  fine  effect.  The  diet 
was  plain,  but  wholesome,  as  the  healthy 
appearance  of  the  children  attested.  I 
asked  the  governor  if  he  had  not  some 
trouble  in  keeping  so  many  young  ur- 
chins in  order — whether  they  ever 
fought  1  He  looked  perfectly  shocked 
at  the  question ;  i;he  idea  of  such  a 
breach  of  military  discipline  had  appa- 
rently never  presented  itself  to  his 
mind,  and  he  very  gravely  assured 
me,  '  Never !  and  that,  if  unfortu- 
nately anything  of  the  kind  should 
take  place,  it  would  be  visited  by  an 
extreme  punishment.' 

"  After  the  children  had  dined  and 
dispersed,  we  were  ushered  into  a  room 
where  more  than  three  hundred  pea- 
sants, each  with  a  child  in  her  arms, 
which  she  had  come  in  from  the  country 
to  fetch,  were  waiting  for  the  order  to 


560 


EOUTE    94. — THE    FOUNDLING    HOSPITAL. 


Sect.  V. 


return  to  their  villages.  These  women 
have  five  rubles  a  week  for  suckling 
and  taking  care  of  a  child ;  and  it  is 
very  common  for  them  to  take  one 
with  one  of  their  own  still  unweaned. 
Official  persons  appointed  by  the  esta- 
blishment go  from  time  to  time  to  look 
after  the  children.  At  the  period  of 
our  visit,  they  told  us  there  were  about 
5000  in  the  villages  in  the  environs. 

"  Having  seen  the  establishment  in 
all  its  details,  we  were  shown  into 
the  office  where  the  infants  are  first 
received ;  it  happened  that  one,  the 
colour  of  mahogany,  and  only  twenty- 
four  hours  old,  was  brought  in  while 
we  were  looking  at  the  books.  These 
were  kept  in  excellent  order,  and  the 
nu.nber  of  clerks  employed  pi'oved  that 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  business  to  be 
done.  When  the  woman  came  in  with 
the  youngster,  the  only  question  asked 
Avas,  '  Is  he  baptized  1'  He  was  not ; 
and,  the  chaplain  having  been  called, 
the  child  was  taken  into  the  adjoining 
room,  where  there  was  a  small  oratory 
and  font.  One  of  the  old  nurses,  richer 
perhaps  in  god-children  than  any  one 
else  in  the  world,  stood  for  him.  He 
was  then  taken  back  to  the  officer,  and 
his  name  and  number,  3560,  with  the 
date  of  his  admission  into  the  establish- 
ment, were  entered  in  the  books.  A 
corresponding  ticket  was  tied  round  his 
neck,  and  a  duplicate  given  to  the 
woman  who  had  brought  him,  who  left 
perfectly  unconcerned.  By  the  pre- 
sentation of  this  ticket  the  child  might 
be  claimed  at  any  future  time.  He 
was  then  carried  into  another  room, 
well  washed,  dressed  in  his  little  uni- 
form, and,  a  nurse  having  been  fetched 
from  the  upper  story,  his  cries,  which 
had  been  unceasing  ever  since  his  ar- 
rival, quickly  subsided." 

Though  this  is  called  a  foundling 
hospital,  it  is  in  reality  a  general  re- 
ceptacle for  all  children  who  are  re- 
ceived up  to  a  certain  age  without  ex- 
ception, it  being  left  entirely  to  the 
option  of  the  parents  to  state  their 
names  and  conditions,  and  to  contribute 


or  not  to  the  future  support  of  tlie 
child.  Parents  paying  about  M.  IO5. 
have,  on  entering  an  infant,  the  right 
to  see  that  their  child  is  brought  up  in 
the  house,  the  inmates  of  which  are, 
as  may  readily  be  imagined,  better 
cared  for  than  those  sent  out  to  nurse. 
The  allowance  to  the  wet-nurses  in 
the  country  is  about  4^.  Id.  a  month. 
If  a  boy  be  left  by  his  parents  without 
any  accompanying  deposit,  he  is  brought 
up  for  the  army,  and,  unless  he  displays 
very  unusual  mental  powers,  is  de- 
stined for  life  to  serve  as  a  common 
soldier ;  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  sum 
of  250  rubles  is  left  with  him,  he  will 
become  an  officer.  Thus,  the  boys  edu- 
cated in  this  institution  "become  in  all 
cases  the  property  of  the  state,  and 
furnish  a  constant,  though  not  very  nu- 
merous, supply  of  recruits  for  the  va- 
rious gradations  of  military  service. 
As  a  school  for  engineer  officers,  it  is 
particularly  valuable,  many  of  the  best 
Russian  engineers  having  been  educated 
here.  All  who  show  ability  are  sent 
to  the  university,  and  some  of  these 
enter  the  medical  profession. 

The  superintendant  of  the  girls  is  a 
most  agreeable  and  intelligent  woman 
and  an  admirable  linguist.  Under 
her  guidance  the  traveller  will  see  the 
various  rooms  appropriated  to  the  in- 
struction of  the  girls  in  ditferent  sub- 
jects, together  with  some  exquisite 
specimens  of  their  work  of  various 
kinds.  The  embroidery  in  gold  and 
silver,  particularly  that  of  some  altar- 
pieces  worked  on  velvet,  is  very  beau- 
tiful. 

As  soon  as  the  girls  are  come  to  such 
an  age  as  to  enable  the  superintendant 
to  form  any  definite  opinion  of  their 
capacity,  such  as  give  promise  of  genius 
of  any  kind  are  removed  from  their 
companions,  and  assume  a  different 
dress, — the  general  colour  being  dark 
blue,  while  the  clothes  worn  by  these 
more  favoured  ones,  who  are  called 
"  class  children,"  are  green.  As  their 
intellect  is  gradually  developed,  the 
peculiar  bent  of  their  minds  is  care- 


Russia. 


EOUTE  94. THE  PALACE  OF  PETERSKOI. 


561 


fully  and  anxiously  watched,  and  such 
studies  alone  are  persevered  in  as  are 
congenial  to  them ;  while,  for  those 
who  have  alike  a  desire  to  improve 
and  faculties  of  a  high  degree,  no  limit 
whatever  is  prescribed  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  their  talents.  Many  girls  who 
evince  a  strong  natural  genius  for  mu- 
sic are  allowed,  if  thoy  wish  it,  to  de- 
vote their  whole  time  and  attention  to 
this  single  pursuit,  and  many  of  them 
become  first  rate  musicians;  others  are 
brought  up  as  governesses,  and  fre- 
quently obtain  high  salaries  in  that 
capacity.  In  the  same  way  a  few 
pursue  various  studies,  as  chemistry, 
painting,  &c.,  either  solely  and  exclu- 
sively^ or  combining  several  at  a  time  : 
all  are  taught,  if  possible,  to  speak 
French  and  German,  Avhile  many  who 
have  a  faculty  for  languages  extend 
their  studies  to  English  and  Italian; 
others  go  upon  the  stage. 

The  majority  of  the  girls,  beyond  a 
common  and  useful  education  in  their 
own  language,  are  employed  solely  in 
manual  labour,  the  produce  of  which 
goes  partly  to  the  funds  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  is  partly  put  by  for  them  to 
form  their  marriage  portion.  All,  with- 
out distinction  of  age  or  sex,  can  re- 
turn to  the  hospital  should  they,  from 
misfortune,  fall  into  distress  in  after- 
life. The  fate  of  illegitimate  children, 
and  the  responsibilities  of  their  parents, 
have  been,  and  in  all  probability  will 
remain,  one  of  the  difficult  subjects  for 
legislation  in  most  countries.  But, 
though  some  laws  regarding  it  are  ne- 
cessary, there  can  be  no  question  that 
natural  affection,  nay,  even  common 
humanity,  should  inculcate  upon  those 
who  can  possibly  raise  the  means  the 
duty  of  bringing  them  up  at  their  ovs^n 
expense  :  the  facilities  afforded  by  this 
hospital  militate,  we  think,  against  this 
principle.  The  annual  expenses  of  the 
establishment  amount,  it  is  said,  to 
nearly  a  million  sterling,  A  donation 
is  expected  here,  but  the  fee  will  be 
proportionably  smaller  if  the  traveller 
is  one  of  a  party. 


THE   PALACE   AND   OAKDENS   OP    PETER- 
SKOI. 

One  of  the  sights  of  Moscow  is  the 
Palace  of  Peterskoi,  situated  about 
three  versts  from  the  Petersburgh  Grate. 
It  was  a  creation  of  the  Empress  Eliza- 
beth's, and  has  little  to  recommend  it, 
being  fantastically  built  and  glaring 
in  colour ;  the  walls  of  red  and  white, 
and  embattled  like  those  of  the  Krem- 
lin, inclose  a  large  court-yard,  at  the 
end  of  which  is  the  palace.  The  in- 
terior has  as  little  to  recommend  it  to 
the  traveller's  notice  as  the  exterior. 
The  only  interest,  in  fact,  which  is  at- 
tached to  this  chateau  is,  that  Napo- 
leon, when  Moscow  was  in  flames,  fled 
to  it  for  refuge,  and  an  apartment 
is  shown  where  by  the  lurid  light 
of  the  blazing  city  he  dictated  the  des- 
patch that  was  to  convey  this  intelli- 
gence to  France. 

The  extensive  grounds  around  the 
palace  are  handsomely  disposed  and  or- 
namented with  trees,  and  the  great  car- 
riage road,  more  than  a  mile  in  length, 
through  a  thick  forest,  is  one  of  the 
finest  public  drives  in  existence.  This 
is  the  great  rendezvous  of  the  nobility, 
and  every  afternoon  all  the  fashionables 
of  Moscow  may  be  seen  here,  driving 
up  and  down  as  in  Hyde  Park,  with 
some  difference,  however,  both  as  to 
horses  and  vehicles.  On  either  side  of  the 
great  promenade  is  a  walk  for  foot  pas- 
sengers, and  beyond  this,  almost  hidden 
from  view  by  the  thick  shade  of  the 
trees,  are  little  cottages,  arbours,  and 
tents,  in  which  ices  and  all  kinds  of  re- 
freshments suited  to  the  season  are 
sold. 

The  tradespeople  also  come  here  on 
fete  days,  and  in  the  evening,  and  fiU 
the  confectioners'  shops,  which,  with  a 
kind  of  guingxiette,  in  the  shape  of  a 
tea-garden,  are  in  great  request.  The 
lower  orders  bring  their  samovars,  and 
sitting  under  the  trees  imbibe  gallons  of 
tchai,  their  favourite  beverage ;  the  sugar 
is  not  put  into  the  cup,  but  a  large  lump 
is  held  in  the  hand,  and  sucked  at  in- 


562 


BOUTE    94. THE    GREAT   EIDING    SCHOOL.,  Sect.  V. 


tervals,  as  the  tea  is  drunk.  Some- 
times persons  in  good  society  may  be 
met  with  who  adhere  to  this  practice. 
It  is  a  striking  feature  in  the  gardens 
of  Peterskoi  to  see  the  family  groups 
distributed  all  over  the  grounds,  with 
their  large  brass  urn  hissing  before 
them,  and  taking  their  tea  under  the 
gaze  of  thousands,  with  as  much  un- 
concern as  if  they  were  in  their  own 
houses. 

The  summer  theatre  is  in  these  gar- 
dens, and  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
end  of  the  great  promenade ;  it  is  built 
entirely  of  wood,  and  is  by  no  means 
inelegant ;  the  boxes  are  open,  and  the 
French  troop,  who  always  perform  here, 
is  composed  of  very  good  actors.  There 
is  also  a  ballet.  The  only  objection  is 
its  distance  from  the  city,  which  should 
not,  however,  prevent  a  tra\eller  from 
visiting  it.  The  box-keepers  are  in 
Imperial  liveries,  the  whole  theatrical 
department  being,  as  at  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  in  the  hands  of  government. 
The  price  of  admittance  is  high,  but  the 
receipts  go  a  very  short  way  towards 
paying  the  expenses,  which  are  enor- 
mous. The  house  is,  generally  speak- 
ing, thinly  attended,  as  most  families  of 
distinction  leave  the  city  in  summer. 
The  ball  room  in  the  gardens  is  of  very 
beautiful  proportions. 

THEATRES. 

Moscow  possesses  two  theatres  al- 
most adjoining  each  other,  andnn  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  old  Tartar 
town.  The  French  Theatre  is  a  poor 
house,  totallj'^  devoid  of  decoration,  and 
inconveniently  built  for  hearing,  owing 
to  the  narrow  front  of  the  stage  and  the 
unusual  depth  of  the  pit ;  its  conver- 
sion to  its  present  us?  was  only  an  after- 
thought, it  having  been  originally  in- 
tended for  a  private  dwelling.  The 
actors  are,  generally  speaking,  very 
good,  so  much  so  indeed,  that  a  French 
traveller  observes  that  the  troop  he 
saw  here  made  him  forget  the  Grym- 
nase. 

The  Alexander  Theatre,  for  Russian 


operas  and  dramas,  is  a  showy  build- 
ing, standing  in  a  large  open  space> 
which  displays  its  fair  proportions  to 
the  best  advantage,  as  well  as  the  figure 
of  Victory  in  her  triumphal  car  over 
the  main  entrance.  The  inside  of  the 
house  is  very  large  ;  in  fact,  it  appeared 
to  us  to  exceed  in  magnitude  the 
theatres  of  the  modern  Russian  capital, 
though  certainly  it  is  not  to  be  compared 
to  the  immense  theatres  of  Italy.  The 
royal  box  struck  us  as  being  particu- 
larly elegant  in  its  shape  and  decora- 
tions, but  the  body  of  the  house  wanted 
light;  the  orchestra  numbers  eighty  per- 
formers, and  the  pit  is  filled  with  arm- 
chairs. The  greater  portion  of  the  au- 
dience consists,  as  at  St.  Petersburgh, 
of  officers  in  every  variety  of  uniform. 
The  scanty  sprinklings  of  females  in  the 
boxes  generally  exhibit  much  greater 
personal  attractions  than  their  country- 
women at  St.  Petersburgh. 

THE^GREAT   RIDING   SCHOOL. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  build- 
ings in  this  city  is  the  celebrated  riding 
school,  supposed  to  be  the  largest  room 
in  the  world,  unsupported  by  pillar  or 
prop  of  any  kind.  Writers  differ  as  to 
its  dimensions,  but  we  believe  we  are 
nearly  accurate  when  we  place  its 
length  at  560  feet,  breadth  158  feet, 
and  height  42.  The  great  town-hall 
of  Padua  is  only  240  feet  long  and  80 
feet  broad  ;  Westminster  Hall  is  275 
feet  by  75 ;  and  King's  College,  Cam- 
bridge, 291  feet  by  45.^;  but  that  is 
an  area  small  indeed  in  comparison, 
though  great  is  the  difference  between 
the  two  roofs.  The  only  public  work 
that  we  know  of  in  England  that  will 
give  a  good  idea  of  the  length  of  this 
riding  school,  is  the  Menai  Bridge.  The 
ceiling  is  flat,  and  the  exterior  of  the 
roof  very  slightly  elevated.  The  in- 
terior is  adorned  with  numerous  bas- 
reliefs  of  men  in  armour,  and  ancient 
trophies ;  and  the  stoves  which  can- 
not be  fewer  than  twenty,  made  of 
white  shining  earthenware,  and  rising 
to  the  ceiling,  have  a  very  good  effect. 


Russia. 


ROUTE    94. THE    EMPRESS's   VILLA. 


563 


There  are  small  windows  at  a  consider- 
able height  from  the  ground,  but  owing 
to  its  enormous  width  the  interior  of 
the  building  looks,  even  when  the  sun 
shines,  dull  and  sombre.  Here,  in  the 
most  intense  cold,  when  even  the  Rus- 
sian soldier  can  scarce  stand  in  his 
sentry-box,  the  troops  can  perform 
their  exercise  unobstructed  by  the 
severity  of  the  weather ;  and  this  vast 
inclosure.  gives  ample  room  for  two 
regiments  of  cavalry  to  go  through  all 
their  various  evolutions  and  manoeuvres. 
The  traveller  will  naturally  be 
anxious  to  examine  the  peculiar  struc- 
ture of  the  roof,  and  ascertain  by  what 
unseen  support  its  massive  beams  are 
sustained;  and  this  he  can  do  by  as- 
cending the  winding  stairs  in  the  comer 
of  the  riding  school,  when  he  will  find 
himself  amidst  a  forest  of  beams, 
stays,  and  rafters,  of  all  forms  and  di- 
mensions. The  construction  is  very 
simple,  the  principle  adopted  to  support 
the  roof  being  to  make,  by  crossing 
beams  in  all  directions,  a  light  solid, 
which  shall  not  spur  in  any  direction, 
but  rest  like  the  lid  of  a  box  upon  the 
walls.  The  riding  schools  in  St.  Pe- 
tersbnrgh,  at  the  opposite  extremities 
of  the  Admiralty  Ploschad,  are  vast, 
but  their  dimensions  fade  into  insignifi- 
cance when  compared  with  this  gigantic 
building. 

the  sparrow  hills  and  the 
empress's  villa. 

Amongst  the  various  drives  which 
every  stranger  takes  in  the  environs  of 
Moscow,  that  to  the  Sparrow  Hills  is 
one  of  the  most  interesting,  for  from 
them  there  is  a  fine  view  of  the  city, 
and  it  is  the  spot  from  whence  Napo- 
leon threw  his  first  glance  over  it.  As 
the  circuit  is  considerable,  the  job- 
master will  not  fail  to  put  three  or  per- 
haps four  horses  to  the  vehicle,  and  not 
without  good  reason,  for  if  there  has 
been  any  rain,  two  horses  will  scarcely 
draw  the  carriage  through  the  mire. 

The  Moskva  crossed,  the  first  part 


of  the  road  skirts  the  Kremlin  gardens 
on  the  left,  the  great  riding  school 
being  on  the  right,  and  beyond  this  the 
Kammenoi  bridge  is  reached  ;  here  the 
traveller  will  do  well  to  look  back  in 
the  direction  of  the  Kremlin.  From 
hence  there  is  an  endless  succession  of 
wide  streets,  until  the  Boulevard  is 
passed  ;  here  the  suburb  is  as  spacious 
as  the  portion  of  the  city  which  has 
been  left  behind,  and  at  length  the 
Kalouga  gate  is  gained.  Beyond  the 
barrier  vast  buildings  line  the  road  on 
each  side  for  nearly  a  verst,  palaces, 
hospitals,  and  barracks,  all  colossal, 
while  numerous  convents  rear  their 
embattled  walls  and  tapering  towers  at 
a  little  distance.  One  very  large  hos- 
pital, the  Galitzin,  is  worthy  a  visit. 

The  gardens  belonging  to  this  family 
are  prettily  situated  on  the  sloping 
banks  of  the  Moskva,  which  flows  in 
gentle  windings  beneath  them.  Near 
here  is  the  villa  of  the  present  Em- 
press, formerly  the  property  of  Count 
Orloif,  and  presented  by  him  to  her 
Imperial  Majesty.  This  villa,  a  much 
more  appropriate  term  for  it  than 
palace,  which  it  is  sometimes  called,  is 
very  handsomely  furnished,  and  com- 
fort, in  the  English  sense  of  the  word, 
is  quite  realized ;  the  Empress's  bed- 
room and  boudoir  are  particularly 
worth}^  of  attention ;  the  walls  are  not 
papered,  but  hung  with  white  muslin 
lined  with  pink,  and  fluted  with  as 
much  care  as  a  goffered  collar.  Amidst 
so  much  good  taste  displayed  here  we 
were  not  a  little  surprised  to  see,  in 
some  of  the  apartments,  an  article  of 
furniture  which  induced  the  belief  that 
the  aroma  of  an  Havannah  was  not 
objected  to  within  the  walls.  The 
view  from  the  balcony  at  the  back  of 
the  villa  looking  towards  the  river  is 
very  pretty. 

The  gardens  and  shrubberies  are 
exceedingly  well  laid  out,  and  the  col- 
lection of  hot-house  plants  very  choice. 
The  gardener,  an  intelligent  German, 
is  remarkably  attentive  to  visitors. 
The  Gruelder  rose,  one  of  our  hardiest 


564 


ROUTE  9-1. THE  SPAEROW  HILLS. 


Sect.  V. 


shrubs,  we  found  here  in  a  pot ;  this/ 
with  the  holly,  hawthorn,  and  ivy,  is 
unable  to  stand  the  severe  winter,  and 
they  are  considered  greenhouse  plants. 
A  ticket  of  admission  is  required  to  see 
this  villa,  which  must  be  procured  from 
the  chancellerie  of  the  Grovernor  of 
Moscow.  It  should  be  visited  rather 
early  in  the  aftefuoon,  so  as  to  give 
the  traveller  time  to  have  a  good  view 
from  the  Sparrow  Hills,  the  proper 
hour  for  which  is  towards  sunset,  when 
every  gilded  dome  and  smaller  cupola 
reflects  back  the  bright  beams  of  that 
luminary,  which  in  some  parts  of  the 
empire  is  seen  only  for  a  few  weeks  : 
the  Kremlin  faces  these  hills,  and  as 
the  traveller  gazes  on  it  he  will  picture 
to  himself  what  must  have  been  the 
feelings  of  the  French  army  when  they 
caught  the  first  view  of  its  golden  mi- 
narets and  starry  domes.  After  tra- 
versing the  dreary  plains  of  Lithuania, 
and  fighting,  with  fearful  loss,  their 
way  up  to  this  spot,  the  limit  of  their 
long  career,  no  wonder  that  those 
weary  legions,  xniable  to  suppress  their 
jo}',  shouted,  with  one  voice,  "  Moscow." 
Their  toils  and  sufferings  they  hoped 
were  now  to  end,  and,  like  their  bre- 
thren in  arms  on  the  burning  sands  of 
Egypt,  when  they  beheld  from  a  dis- 
tance the  ruins  of  the  mighty  Thebes, 
they  grounded  their  weapons  unbidden 
by  their  chiefs,  and  stood  motionless, 
as  if  the  end  and  object  of  their  enter- 
prise were  at  length  accomplished. 

At  the  foot  of  these  hills  flows  the 
river  Moskva,  its  stream  winding 
through  a  meadow  of  the  freshest 
green,  and  bearing  on  its  surface  large 
rafts  of  timber.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  and  at  a  short  distance, 
stands  the  Dentchei,  surrounded  by 
a  lofty  wall^  with  battlements  and 
turrets,  and  a  broad  ditch  and  draw- 
bridge :  in  the  interior  appears  an 
immense  court,  around  which  are  the 
various  buildings  of  the  monastery, 
and  in  the  centre  a  large  church, 
with  a  lofty  and  slender  tower,  sur- 
mounted by  its  golden  dome. 


But  the  city  itself  is  the  great  at- 
traction :  stationed  at  this  distance, 
and  at  a  commanding  elevation,  the 
traveller  can  form  a  better  idea  of  its 
enormous  extent.  Almost  the  full 
outlines  of  its  rampart  on  the  south 
and  west  are  seen,  while  the  city  it- 
self presents  a  confusion  of  buildings, 
without  order  or  arrangement,  stretch- 
ing into  the  dim  and  shadowy  dis- 
tance. Distinct,  however,  amongst 
them  all  stands  the  Kremlin,  dis- 
playing, as  if  ranged  expressly  to  be 
viewed  from  this  chosen  spot,  all  its 
glories  at  once,  its  towers  and  walls 
white  as  the  driven  snow,  and  its  mul- 
titude of  golden  cupolas,  flashing  and 
dazzling,  even  at  this  distance ;  while 
the  mighty  Ivan  stands  forth,  like  the 
great  guardian  of  the  holy  place ;  a 
little  further  to  the  right  are  the  cluster- 
ing towers  of  St.  Basil,  with  their  fantas- 
tic forms  and  gaudy  colouring,  thrown 
into  bright  relief  by  the  long  unbroken 
lines  of  white  buildings  which  encircle 
them.  Below  these  are  the  terraces, 
stretching  far  away  along  the  banks  of 
the  Moskva,  and  the  immense  found- 
ling hospital,  in  strong  contrast,  by  its 
modern  simplicity  and  uniformity,  with 
the  strange  structures  which  the  caprice 
of  man  has  reared  around  it,  whose 
walls  of  green  and  red,  and  odd  and 
various  shapes  defy  description. 

Joyous,  however,  as  this  splendid 
view  appeared  to  us,  while  the  sun  shone 
bright,  and  all  around  looked  smiling, 
there  were  hearts  not  far  from  us  who 
felt  that  bitterness  of  spirit  which  tells 
them  that  hope  is  for  them  no  more. 
On  these  hills  is  the  great  depot  for 
prisoners  whose  sentence  is  Siberia; 
and  here,  if  the  traveller  is  desirous  of 
making  himself  acquainted  with  the 
prison  discipline  -of  Russia,  more  espe- 
cially in  connection  with  those  who 
are  condemned  to  exile,  he  will,  under 
the  auspices  of  Dr.  Haas,  have  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  of  doing  so. 

This  gentleman  has  earned  for  him- 
self the  appellation  of  the  Russian 
Howard,  and  we  may  truly  say  that 


Russia. 


EOUTE    94, — THE   RTADI. 


565 


we  have  never  seen  benevolence  car- 
ried so  far,  nor  gratitude  so  deeply  ex- 
pressed, as  with  reference  to  him ;  his 
whole  life  and  fortune  have,  after  the 
example  of  our  English  philanthropist, 
been  spent  in  attempting  to  mitigate 
the  horrors  of  a  prison  and  to  reform 
its  inmates.  At  his  own  cost,  and 
from  his  own  resources,  he  has  esta- 
blished and  maintains  an  excellent 
hospital  attached  to  the  prison ;  and,  in 
short,  his  self-sacrifice  is  so  great  that 
he  has  restricted  himself  almost  to 
poverty  to  carry  out  his  principles  of 
humanity.  His  appearance  in  the 
prison  is  the  signal  for  tumultuous  joy, 
and  the  prisoners  crowd  round  him 
and  load  him  with  blessings  for  his 
care  and  attention.  The  city  should 
be  re-entered  by  the  Warsaw  Grate. 

THE   MARKET-PLACES. 

In  Moscow  there  are  markets  in 
every  part  of  the  city,  but  its  chief 
commerce  is  centered  in  the  Kitai  Go- 
rod,  where  is  the  Gostinnoi  Dvor  and 
the  Riadi  (rows  of  shops).  The 
former,  after  that  of  Nijni,  is  the 
largest  in  Russia.  It  is  a  colossal 
building  of  three  stories,  and  three 
rows  of  pillars  and  shops  stand  one 
above  another,  connected  by  countless 
passages  and  steps.  In  these  courts 
and  galleries  there  is,  during  the  whole 
year,  a  continual  fair,  and  hither  the 
tide  of  commerce  flows  from  the  Baltic, 
the  Black  Sea,  the  Levant,  Western 
Europe,  Siberia,  China,  and  Tartary. 
The  mass  of  the  promenaders  and  pur- 
chasers are  Russian,  and  bearded ;  but 
the  black-robed  Persian,  with  his 
pointed  lambskin  cap,  and  the  silken- 
clad  Bokharian  may  be  distinguished 
in  the  crowd ;  the  most  considerable 
merchants,  who  trade  here  by  whole- 
sale, are  upwards  of  1000  in  number. 

THE   RIADI. 

This  is  an  open  space  of  ground 
occupied  by  narrow  streets  of  shops 
cutting  each   other    at  right    angles, 


and  covered  with  roofs  of  various 
heights,  those  forming  the  outward 
fronts  rising  to  the  elevation  of  two 
or  three  stories,  while  those  in  the 
interior  seldom  comprise  more  than 
the  shop  on  the  level  of  the  street 
itself.  The  various  traders  occupying 
this  city  of  booths  are  grouped  together 
according  to  their  respective  callings 
and  dealings, — a  practice  which  is  par- 
tially followed  even  in  the  present 
time  in  several  parts  of  Europe.  In 
rainy  weather  the  mud  in  the  streets  of 
the  Riadi  renders  walking  unpleasant ; 
but  the  stranger  will  scarcely  heed  the 
inconvenience,  in  the  bustle  and  eager 
chaffering  which  prevails. 

Notwithstanding  his  lust  for  gain, 
the  Russian  merchant  and  trader  can- 
not carry  on  his  business  with  the 
phlegm  almost  always  seen  in  the  Eng- 
lish banker  or  shopkeeper.  The 
merchants  of  the  Riadi  make  their 
bargains  in  the  midst  of  praying,  tea- 
drinking,  and  draughts,  laughing  and 
gossiping ;  and  foot-ball  is  their  favour- 
ite game  in  the  passages  between  the 
shops.  Their  appetites  are  also  won- 
derfully keen,  and  there  are  as  many 
sellers  of  edibles  here  as  there  are  cus- 
tomers, with  everything  necessary  for 
breakfast  ready  prepared,  including 
plates,  and  knives  and  forks.  The 
jewellers'  shops  are  amongst  the  most 
attractive,  though  they  fall  short  of 
those  in  England  and  France ;  the  chief 
articles  for  sale  are  the  vessels  used  in 
the  celebration  of  the  mass — saints  in- 
laid or  set  in  silver,  censors,  &c.  The 
Kazan-work,  gold,  figures,  inlaid  on 
silver  cups  and  vases,  is  well  executed. 
There  is  a  stone  sold  by  these  jewellers 
called  the  Siberian  diamond,  resembling 
rock  crystal,  but  taking  a  higher  polish. 
It  has  a  good  effect  when  set  in  gold. 
The  fur  shops  are  worthy  attention, 
but  the  articles  are  dear.  A  dark 
sable  pelisse  costs  from  125^.  to  170^. 

The  art  of  dressing  skins  in  Russia 
is  however  so  far  superior  to  that  of 
any  other  country,  that  Russians  who 
purchase  their  schoohas  abroad  invari» 

C  0 


566 


ROUTE    94. — THE    KIADI. 


Sect.  V. 


ably  have  them  re-dressed  on  their  re- 
turn. 

Here    may  be    seen    the    money- 
changer surrounded  by  heaps  of  coin ; 
he  is  generally  one  of  the  children  of 
Israel;  and  though  not  distinguished 
by  his  beard,  for  his  Russian  or  Tartar 
neighbours  can  boast  of  equally  curly 
and  flowing   decorations  of  the  chin, 
there  is  no  mistaking  the  delicate  fea- 
tures and  quick  anxious  eye  of  the  Jew. 
The  merchandise  is  arranged  here  as 
elsewhere  in  masses,  not  promiscuously  ; 
a  range  of  thirty  shops  for  paper,  an- 
other range  for  spices,  a  third  for  orna- 
mental articles,  a  fourth  for  pictures  of 
saints.     In  this  last  article,  as  may  be 
expected  in  Moscow  the  holy,  a  very 
large  trade  is  driven.     Here  are  to  be 
found    pictures    for   every   place    and 
occasion  ;      for     halls,      bedchambers, 
churches,  private  chapels,  coffee-houses, 
and  ships ;  big  ones  for  the  merchant 
who  likes  a  large  foundation  for  his 
faith ;  small  ones  for  the  palaces  of  the 
great,  where  they  are  half  hidden  be- 
hind the  curtains.      Among  these  pic- 
tures  may   be    seen   some    copies    of 
Roman  Catholic  saints ;  gloriously  cari- 
catured, it  is  true,  by  Russian  artists, 
but  honoured  by  the  Russian  traders. 
Besides  the  pictures,  all  sorts  of  sacred 
utensils    are    exposed   for   sale,    great 
silver  candlesticks,  lamps  of  all  sizes, 
crosses,  and  amulets.  "  The  most  strik- 
ing objects  to  foreigners  are  the  nuptial 
crowns  that  are  placed  on  the  heads  of 
the  enamoured  pair  when  they  are  be- 
trothed in  the  church.     These  crowns 
are  the   strangest-looking  things  that 
were  ever  seen,  consisting  of  a  multi- 
tude of  silver  leaves,  flowers,  ears  of 
corn,  &c.,  which  are  hung  with  every- 
thing that  can  be  thought  of  that  glit- 
ters at  little  cost — stars  of  gilt  foil,  cut 
glass,   false    stones,   and    a   thousand 
other  things." 

The  shops  of  the  dealers  in  wax- 
lights  also  occupy  a  great  space  in 
the  Riadi.  The  population  of  Moscow 
use  at  least  three  times  as  many  votive 
tapers  in  honour  of  their  saints  as  the 


inhabitants  of  St.  Petersburgh ;  and  in 
the  numerous  churches  of  the  former 
city  many  a  ton  of  wax  is  consumed 
for  pious  purposes.     The  bees  of  the 
Ukraine  and  Little  Russia  furnish  the 
greater  part  of  this  commodity.     The 
whole  range  of  shops  is  adorned  with 
pictures  of  saints  nailed  to  the  beams, 
with  lamps  burning  before  them,  sing- 
ing birds  in  cages,  and  whole  flights  of 
pigeons,  which  nestle  under  the  eaves 
of  the  shops,  and  are  fed  by  the  owners 
with  a  sacred  feeling  that  they  are  the 
emblems  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     No  lan- 
guage can  convey  an  adequate  idea  of 
the  noise  and  pertinacity  of  the  traders 
of  the  Riadi :  no  passer  by,  particularly 
a  foreigner,  is  spared ;  not  content  with 
calling  to  you,  they,  in  true  Monmouth 
Street  style,  follow  and  pull  you  by 
the    sleeve,    commending   their   wares 
with  their  mouths  close  to  the  travel- 
ler's very  ear,  and,  unless  on  his  guard, 
the  chances  are  that  he  will  be  ushered, 
almost   without    his    consent,   into    a 
magazine  redolent  with  no  very  choice 
odours,    and   find   himself  in    contact 
with   individuals  whose   proximity   is 
anything  but  agreeable.  But  the  whole 
scene  in  the  Riadi  is  so  novel,  and  so 
entirely  unlike   anything  in  Western 
Europe,  that,  despite  the  fatigue  and 
dirt,  we  strayed  from  street  to  street, 
until  we  had  visited  every  part  of  the 
bazaar,  and  not  a  day  elapsed  that  we 
did  not,  when  it  was  practicable,  ram- 
ble through  its  dim  and  thickly  crowded 
passages.       Some   time   before    sunset 
every  door  is  locked,  barred,  and  sealed, 
and  every  man's  goods  are  left  under 
the  care  of  the  saint  over  the  door,  till 
the  following  day.     The  patron  saint 
of  all  true  Russians  is   St.  Nicholas; 
and   never  was    saint   more   devoutly 
worshipped,  both  practically  and  devo- 
tionally,  than  he   is   by  his   bearded 
votaries.       His  picture,  blazing  in  red 
and  gold,  is  suspended  in  every  shop, 
and  in  almost  every  room.     A  myste- 
rious connection  subsists,  in  some  way 
or  other,   between  this  saint   and  all 
seals,  which  are  supposed  to  be  under 


Russia. 


ROUTE    94. — THE   WINTER   MARKET. 


567 


his  especial  protection ;  to  break  a  seal 
is  to  offend  the  saint,  hence  a  shop 
with  very  valuable  contents  is  in  per- 
fect safety  with  a  seal  on  the  door : 
nor  is  there,  it  is  affirmed,  a  single  ex- 
ample on  record  in  which  a  Russian 
has  dared  to  violate  the  protection  of 
the  tutelar  saint.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  the  law  which  makes  it  felony, 
with  Siberia  in  prospect,  to  break  open 
a  seal,  may  have  an  influence  equal  to 
that  of  the  saint.  The  Jew  and  the 
Tartar,  being  unbelievers,  have,  of 
course,  very  little  respect  for  the  invi- 
sible protection  of  St.  Nicholas,  and, 
accordingly,  bar  and  bolt,  as  elsewhere. 

THE   SECOND-HAND   MARKETS. 

These  are  numerous  in  Moscow ;  the 
largest  is  along  the  wall  of  the  Kitai 
Grorod,  extending  from  one  gate  to  the 
other.  The  booths  next  the  wall  in 
this  broad  street  are  devoted  to  anti- 
quities in  the  shape  of  old  clothes,  old 
gold  and  silver  thread,  and  old  books, 
black  with  age  and  use,  and  dog's- 
eared  at  every  page.  "  Opposite  these 
are  the  chandlers  and  picture-dealers  ; 
the  latter  drive  a  thriving  trade.  These 
pictures  are  all,  more  orless,  of  a  religious 
or  my  thological  nature,  and  represent  the 
most  celebrated  occurrences,  from  the 
creation  down  to  the  last  new  miracle 
of  recent  times,  all  so  palpably  depicted 
in  the  brightest  red,  green,  and  yellow, 
that  the  most  stiff-necked  infidel  in  the 
world  must  needs  believe.  The  histo- 
rical subjects  are  chiefly  taken  from 
the  Babylonian,  Macedonian,  and 
Greek  histories. 

In  the  choice  of  religious  ones,  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  artists  thought 
the  kingdom  of  the  devil  was  much 
larger  than  that  of  the  angels,  for  che- 
rubim and  seraphim  are  not  met  with 
half  so  often  as  death,  the  devil,  and 
his  adjutant  (Grospodin  Straptshik). 
Many  of  these  pictures  are  not  without 
wit,  and  will  raise  a  smile  on  the  coun- 
tenance of  the  most  sulky  traveller. 
Amongst  them  may  be  cited  the  De- 
neshnoi  diavol  (the  gold  devil).     This 


worthy,  painted  blue,  is  seen  hovering 
over  the  world,  and  from  hands,  feet, 
mouth,  and  nose,  gold  is  falling  in  abun- 
dance, and  golden  ducats  creeping  like 
vermin  from  under  his  hair ;  behind 
him  is  Grospodin  Straptshik,  mounted 
on  a  yellow  griffin,  which  he  is  flogging 
with  Mercury's  wand.  On  the  ground 
are  seen  men  sprawling  to  catch  the 
golden  shower ;  one  of  them  is  a  baker, 
who  has  tied  a  rope  round  the  enemy, 
and  is  pulling  the  fiend  to  him  ;  a  shoe- 
maker has  a  thread  round  his  great  toe ; 
an  hotel-keeper  has  piled  up  all  his  bar- 
rels about  him,  into  which  the  gold  runs 
at  one  end  and  the  wine  out  at  the  other, 
yet,  thirstier  than  his  guests,  he  holds 
up  a  glass  to  catch  the  gold  that  is 
falling  sideways.  A  priest  is  standing 
on  the  first  step  of  his  pulpit,  one  hand 
held  out  in  a  preaching  attitude,  while 
the  other,  holding  a  mitre,  is  extended 
to  catch  part  of  the  golden  shower  : 
near  him  is  a  church  chalice,  with  a 
mighty  ray  of  the  precious  metal 
streaming  into  it.  The  artist  stands 
afar  off,  where  none  of  the  shower 
reaches  him."  Such  pictorial  satires 
issue  in  abundance  from  every  humble 
workshop  in  Moscow — studios  we  can- 
not call  them.  In  the  middle  of  this 
street  are  tables  with  all  kinds  of  eat- 
ables, and,  on  either  side,  a  perambu- 
lating crowd  of  dirty, bearded,  caftaned 
or  sheepskinned  individuals,  who  bawl 
and  bargain  with  elephantine  lungs ; 
the  most  striking  amongst  these  are  the 
dealers  in  cast-off  female  attire,  who 
trail  about  with  them  the  wardrobes  of 
a  dozen  maid-servants — on  one  shoulder 
a  huge  bundle  of  lace  is  pinned,  on  the 
other  twenty  ells  of  ribbon,  and  round 
their  bodies  are  wrapped  a  series  of 
under  clothings,  while  shawls  and 
gowns,  tied  in  bundles,  hang  round 
their  necks,  and  swing  about  in  all 
directions,  the  crowning  feature  being 
a  pile  of  hats,  one  above  another,  on 
their  heads. 

THE    WINTER   MARKET. 

Should  the  traveller  be  at  Moscow 
0  0  2 


568 


EOUTE    94. TEA  HOUSES. 


Sect.  V. 


during  this  season,  he  should  visit  this 
market. 

Immediately  after  the  frost  has  fairly- 
set  in,  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  live 
stock  of  all  kinds  commences.  The  car- 
case is  exposed  at  once  to  the  cold  air, 
and  frozen,  without  being  previously 
allowed  to  become  cold  :  when  wanted 
for  use,  it  is  immersed  in  water  for  a 
few  minutes,  and  after  being  thus 
thawed  the  meat  may  be  used,  but  it 
has  not  the  freshness  and  flavour  as  if 
just  killed;  when  once  thawed,  it  must 
be  cooked  without  delay :  if  it  has 
been  allowed  to  cool  before  it  is  frozen, 
although  no  difference  is  perceptible 
while  in  its  frozen  state,  immediately 
on  being  thawed  the  meat  turns  black, 
and  is  totally  unfit  for  use :  and  the 
same  result  ensues  upon  the  frost  break- 
ing up  in  the  spring.  But  it  certainly 
is  a  good  expedient,  not  only  to  save 
the  expense  of  keeping  the  animals  so 
many  months,  but  to  have  their  flesh 
at  any  moment  fresh,  while  its  icy 
hardness  is  an  effectual  protection 
against  the  injuries  it  might  otherwise 
sustain,  in  being  conveyed  from  one  ex- 
tremity of  the  country  to  the  other. 
Early  in  the  winter  the  first  great 
frozen  market  is  held  in  all  the  large 
cities,  and  all  prudent  housekeepers  lay 
in  as  ample  a  supply  of  provisions  as 
their  means  will  enable  them.  Mer- 
chants and  provisions  then  crowd  to 
Moscow  from  all  quarters  of  the  em- 
pire. The  fish  of  the  White  Sea  and 
the  great  northern  lakes  are  piled  in 
huge  heaps  in  the  streets,  side  by  side 
with  the  frozen  oxen  from  the  steppes  of 
the  Crimea,  the  sheep  from  the  shores 
of  the  Caspian,  and  the  deer  from 
the  banks  of  the  Jenisei  and  Irtish. 
The  number  of  persons  employed  in 
this  traffic  is  enormous,  and  the  entire 
interruption  to  it,  caused  by  the  occu- 
pation of  Moscow  by  the  French  in 
1812,  just  at  the  time  of  the  great  mar 
ket,  contributed  not  a  little  to  increase 
the  miseries  of  war  in  that  devoted  city. 

On  one  or  two  occasions  a  sudden 
break  of  the  frost,  after  a  week  or  fort- 


night's continuance,  when  immense 
quaiitities  of  frozen  provisions  have 
been  thawed  on  their  way  to  the  mar- 
kets, has  caused  not  only  great  loss  to 
the  merchants,  but  serious  inconveni- 
ence to  the  inhabitants  of  the  large 
cities,  who,  relying  on  this  regular  sup- 
ply, make  no  other  preparation  for  their 
wants,  and  are  actually  in  danger  of 
starvation,  even  from  a  delay  of  a  week 
or  ten  days. 

TEA   HOUSES. 

No  traveller  should  quit  Moscow 
without  visiting  one  of  the  immense 
tea  houses.  The  largest  of  these  is 
situated  close  to  the  Kitai  Grorod, 
and  near  the  courts  of  justice.  Hither 
repair  the  traders  of  all  classes, 
creeds,  and  nations,  to  settle  their 
various  bargains  with  copious  libations 
of  tchai,  which  they  always  drink  out 
of  large  glass  goblets,  frequently  suck- 
ing it  in  through  a  lump  of  sugar 
which  they  hold  in  their  mouths.  At 
the  Troitzka  Traktir  about  14  lbs. 
of  tea  are  consumed  daily,  which  re- 
quires about  6  tons  of  water.  A  per- 
son who  enters  a  tea  house,  and  calls 
for  a  portion  of  tea,  is  entitled  to  have 
as  much  hot  water  as  he  pleases,  and  it 
is  quite  wonderful  how  many  cups  a 
Russian  will  drink.  Some  of  them  will 
remain  half  a  day  over  one  pot  of  tea, 
which  he  has  had  refilled  perhaps  a 
dozen  times  ;  others  again  drink  deep  of 
the  sparkling  champagne  of  the  Crimea ; 
while  kvass,  vodkee,  sbeteen,  and  beer 
have  each  their  respective  votaries. 
Smoking  is  by  no  means  so  common 
with  the  lower  classes  in  Russia  as  in 
the  more  southern  parts  of  Europe ;  but 
in  the  tea  houses  there  are  always  to 
be  found  a  few  inveterate  smokers. 
The  waiters  generally  light  the  long 
slender  pipe  of  cherry  wood  themselves, 
and,  having  duly  puffed  and  kindled  the 
fragrant  weed,  transfer  it  to  the  bearded 
visitor.  It  is  difficult  at  first  for  the 
stranger  to  imagine  how  so  many  attend- 
ants are  required  in  a  Russian  tea  house, 
or  traktir,  until  he  sees  how  much  attend- 


Russia. 


KOUTE    94. — THE   MOSQUE. 


569 


ance  the  Russian  public  requires.  Not 
only  must  these  pipes  be  cleaned,  filled, 
lighted,  and  put  into  the  mouths  of  the 
guests,  but  some  will  have  their  tea 
poured  out,  and  their  cutlets  and  steaks 
cut  into  small  pieces  for  them.  These 
waiters  are  all  dressed  in  white  panta- 
loons, white  shirts  or  jackets,  and  white 
girdles  to  bind  all  together  —  a  very- 
good  costume  as  long  as  it  remains 
pure  and  undefiled. 

THE   ENGLISH    CHAPEL. 

There  is  an  English  place  of  worship 
at  Moscow,  connected  with  that  of  the 
factory  at  St.  Petersburgh.  It  is  a  plain 
substantial  building,  neatly  fitted  up  and 
situated  in  the  TchernichefFskoi  Pereu- 
lok.  The  clergyman's  house  is  attached 
to  it,  and  those  who,  like  ourselves,  may 
have  the  good  fortune  to  make  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  present  incumbent, 
will  find  both  pleasure  and  profit  in 
meeting  such  a  person  so  far  from  home. 
In  winter  the  congregation  is  a  large 
one,  being  for  the  most  part  composed 
of  tutors  and  governesses  in  the  Rus- 
sian families  in  and  around  Moscow, 
and  of  the  artizans  in  the  manufac- 
tories. The  morning  service  com- 
mences at  11  A.M. ;  in  the  winter  there 
is  a  second  service  at  6^  p.m. 

THE   MOSQUE. 

On  the  further  side  of  the  stone 
bridge,  going  towards  Tartar  Street,  a 
part  of  the  city  is  reached  where  the 
houses  are  particularly  small  and  low, 
and  the  courts  and  gardens  all  unusu- 
ally large.  In  this  quarter  stands  the 
humble  building  erected  to  the  honour 
of  Allah,  whose  priests  deal  in  dress- 
ing gowns.  A  former  mosque  met,  in 
1812,  with  the  same  fate  from  the 
fire  in  which  so  many  Russian  churches 
shared,  and  the  flock  were  long  unable 
to  get  together  the  necessary  funds  for 
a  new  temple,  till  about  twelve  years 
ago,  when  a  wealthy  Tartar  erected  the 
walls  that  are  now  standing.  It  is 
not  even  whitewashed  within,  and  so 
totally  without  decoration  that  it  must 


be  called  uncomfortably  simple.  It  is 
incomprehensible  that  it  has  not  yet 
occurred  to  any  wealthy  Russian  here 
to  perform  the  really  Christian  work  of 
putting  the  temple  of  these  poor  Mo- 
hammedans into  decent  condition.  On 
the  contrary,  those  who  should  be  most 
imbued  with  Christian  principles  have 
even  robbed  them.  The  only  point  on 
which  these  poor  people  could  not  re- 
sist the  inclination  to  incur  expense 
was  for  the  carpets  that  cover  the  floor 
of  their  mosque — these  are,  with  one 
exception,  of  Russian  fabric,  and  this 
one  came  from  Egypt  by  Constantinople, 
and  cost  them  3000  rubles  :  it  had  a  fel- 
low equally  beautiful,  which  some  Rus- 
sians stole.  The  service  and  religious 
ceremonies  of  the  Tartars  take  place 
on  their  Sabbath  (Friday),  and  many 
persons  influenced  by  curiosity  go  and 
see  them.  The  first  ceremonial  con- 
sists in  the  ascent  of  the  chief  priest  to 
the  roof  of  the  building,  by  means  of  a 
ladder  placed  on  the  outside,  dressed  in 
his  long  flowing  robes  of  the  brightest 
and  gayest  colours.  Here,  having  secured 
his  footing  on  this  somewhat  perilous 
pulpit,  the  reverend  mullah  proceeds 
with  great  deliberation  to  elevate  his 
lower  garments  to  his  waist,  and  then 
seating  himself  cross-legged  on  the 
parapet,  commences  the  shrill  mono- 
tonous invitation  to  the  faithful  to 
enter  the  house  of  prayer,  which  he 
continues  to  pour  forth  until  all  have 
quitted  the  open  area  in  front  of  the 
church.  Descending  again  by  the  same 
precarious  pathway,  he  moves  slowly 
between  the  worshippers,  rajjged  in  two 
long  parallel  lines,  to  the  altar,  and  be- 
gins a  low  chant  in  measured  cadence, 
to  which  the  faithful  respond  at  inter- 
vals, bowing  incessantly,  with  their 
faces  turned  to  the  east.  On  a  sudden 
the  ministering  priest  gives  a  sharp 
shrill  cry,  and  again  the  whole  congre- 
gation form  two  parallel  lines,  facing 
each  other;  the  cry  is  repeated,  and 
every  head  is  bent  forward,  and,  as  the 
holy  call  peals  forth  fast  and  frequent, 
each  stubborn  back  is  bowed  in  gradual 


570 


EOUTE    94. THE   UNIVERSITY    OF   MOSCOW.  Sect.  V. 


humiliation,  until  every  head  touches 
the  floor,  and  the  natural  order  of  hu- 
manity is  absolutely  reversed.  A  simi- 
lar succession  of  sounds  and  correspond- 
ing movements  restores  again  the  com- 
mon order  of  things,  and  the  faithful 
disperse  once  more  to  their  traffic  and 
merchandise.  What  the  precise  re- 
ligion of  these  Tartars  is,  we  know  not; 
their  holy  city  is  in  the  east,  but  they 
certainly  are  not  followers  of  Mahomet, 
for  the  juice  of  the  grape  is  not  for- 
bidden by  their  law.  The  chief  trade 
of  the  Tartars  of  Moscow  is  in  shawls, 
caps,  and  Asiatic  dressing  gowns.  Their 
dress  is  picturesque,  and  consists  of  a 
flowing  robe  of  dark  cloth,  bound  round 
the  waist  by  a  red  shawl,  boots  of  the 
embroidered  leather  of  Kazan,  and  over 
these  thick  slippers,  which,  in  true  East- 
ern fashion,  they  leave  outside  the  door 
of  the  house  they  are  about  to  enter. 
Their  heads  are  shaved,  and  covered  by 
a  cap  of  gold  tissue,  over  which,  Avhen 
in  the  street,  they  wear  a  large  cap  of 
leather,  trimmed  with  fur.  They  are 
capital  hands  at  a  bargain,  and  will 
sometimes  take  the  fourth  of  the  sum 
they  ask. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   OP   MOSCOW. 

This  University  was  established  in 
1755  ;  the  number  of  students  is  about 
nine  hundred.  The  scientific  collec- 
tions are  not  to  be  compared  with 
those  of  other  European  countries,  al- 
though there  are  some  objects  worthy 
of  notice.  In  the  collection  of  miner- 
alogy is  a  Siberian  emerald,  three 
inches  long,  and  two  thick.  In  the 
zoological,  a  bouquet  of  flowers  formed 
of  fifty  colihris,  arranged  in  that  form, 
the  work  of  one  of  the  subordinates  of 
the  institution,  but  scarcely  an  appro- 
priate object  in  a  scientific  collection. 

Much  more  worthy  of  notice 
are  the  anatomical  cabinet  of  Loder 
and  the -microscopic  preparations  of 
Lieberkuhn.  This  collection  is  parti- 
cularly rich  in  human  hearts,  of  which 
there  are  a  great  number,  all  spitted 
on  needles.     There  is  also  a  camel's 


stomach  extended  to  its  natural  extent, 
with  all  its  cells  and  subdivisions  so 
arranged  that  every  corner  in  which 
the  food  was  retained  till  perfectly  dis- 
solved can  be  as  exactly  noted  as  if 
the  spectator  were  to  put  his  hand  into 
the  very  body  of  the  animal.  There 
is  also  a  stocking,  taken  from  the 
stomach  of  a  cow,  changed  into  a  large 
firm  mass,  without  losing  the  appear- 
ance of  the  web ;  the  remains  of  a 
billiard  ball,  from  the  stomach  of  a 
dog,  where,  within  four-and-twenty 
hours,  it  had  diminished  to  a  fifth  of 
the  original  size  ;  a  pair  of  scissors,  a 
knife,  and  a  fork,  from  the  stomach  of 
a  man,  where  they  had  been  bent  and 
twisted  as  if  beaten  by  the  hammer  of 
a  smith.  In  this  stomach  were  like- 
wise found  10  lbs.  weight  of  equally  in- 
digestible substances.  In  the  same 
case  with  these  stomachers  is  the  in- 
strument used  by  Peter  the  Great  for 
drawing  teeth.  Kohl  remarks  that  it 
is  a  little,  rough,  short  instrument, 
something  like  that  used  by  smiths  to 
pick  locks.  Some  of  Lieberkuhn's  pre- 
parations are  quite  unique  of  their 
kind.  Amongst  other  things  are  some 
fine  injections  of  the  minutest  vessels 
of  the  human  body.  Every  injection 
is  inclosed  with  a  microscope  of  its 
own,  through  the  glasses  of  which  the 
most  interesting  and  wonderful  view  is 
afforded  into  the  depths  and  sinuosities 
of  a  bit  of  fat,  or  of  a  portion  of  skin. 
In  one  of  the  microscopes  the  object 
is  the  pores  of  a  square  line  of  a  human 
gall-bladder  :  into  the  most  delicate  ar- 
terial divisions  and  fibres,  imperceptible 
to  the  naked  eye,  Lieberkuhn  injected 
some  fluid  so  subtile  that  every  thread 
is  as  perceptible  as  those  in  a  fine  piece 
of  embroidery.  An  intellect  like  that 
of  the  German  anatomist,  and  hands 
so  delicate,  are  not  often  met  with  ; 
it  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  the 
recipe  for  the  preparation  of  the  red 
material  used  by  him  in  his  injections 
should  have  died  with  him. 

The  collection  of  human  skeletons  is 
very  complete ;  there  are  not  less  than 


Russia. 


ROUTE    94. SUMMARY. 


571 


forty  specimens,  varying  from  the  em- 
bryo, five  inches  long,  to  the  full  de- 
velopement  of  the  organization.  They 
are  arranged  on  stages  in  the  hall, 
which  contains  many  other  things  cal- 
culated to  awaken  the  zeal  of  a  former 
professor  of  the  University  of  Kazan, 
who,  when  he  heard  of  the  godless 
work  carried  on  by  the  anatomists  in 
the  institution  under  his  charge,  ordered 
an  immediate  stop  to  be  put  to  it,  caused 
all  the  human  remains  of  bones  and 
skeletons  to  be  collected,  and  then  had 
them  buried. 

SUMMARY. 

We  believe  that  an  account  has  now 
been  given  of  every  church,  bazaar, 
hospital,  and  public  building,  requiring 
a  particular  description.  There  remain, 
however,  a  few  subjects  to  which  the 
travellers  attention  may  be  drawn. 
Amongst  these  should  be  mentioned 
the  Zigani,  or  Russian  gypsies,  whose 
origin,  language,  and  habits  have  been 
so  admirably  described  by  the  energetic, 
unselfish,  and  inimitable  Borrow.  In 
speaking  of  the  Russian  gypsies,  he  re- 
marks that  "  those  of  Moscow  must 
not  be  passed  over  in  silence,  for  the 
station  to  which  they  have  attained  in 
society,  in  that  most  remarkable  of  cities, 
is  so  far  above  the  sphere  in  which  the 
remainder  of  their  race  pass  their  lives, 
that  it  may  be  considered  as  a  pheno- 
menon in  gypsy  history,  and,  on  that 
account,  is  entitled  to  particular  notice. 
To  the  power  of  song  alone  this  pheno- 
menon is  to  be  attributed.  From  time 
immemorial  the  female  gypsies  of  Mos- 
cow have  been  much  addicted  to  the 
vocal  art,  and  bands  or  quires  of  them 
have  sung  for  pay  in  the  halls  of  the 
nobility,  or  upon  the  boards  of  the 
theatre.  Some  first-rate  songsters  have 
been  produced  amongst  them,  whose 
merits  have  been  acknowledged  by  the 
most  fastidious  foreign  critics.  Per- 
haps the  highest  compliment  ever  paid 
to  a  songster  was  paid  by  Catalan!  her- 
self to  one  of  these  daughters  of  Roma. 


It  is  well  known  throughout  Russia 
that  the  celebrated  Italian  was  so  en- 
chanted with  the  voice  of  a  Moscow 
gypsy  (who,  after  the  former  had  dis- 
played her  noble  talent  before  a  splen- 
did audience  in  the  old  Russian  capi- 
tal, stepped  forward  and  poured  forth 
one  of  her  national  strains),  that  she 
tore  from  her  own  shoulders  a  shawl 
of  Cashmere,  which  had  been  presented 
to  her  by  the  Pope,  and,  embracing 
the  gypsy,  insisted  on  her  accepting 
this  splendid  gift,  saying  ^'  that  it  had 
been  intended  for  the  matchless  song- 
ster, which  she  now  perceived  she  was 
not."  These  gypsies  have  a  leader, 
under  whose  direction  all  engagements 
are  conducted,  and  he  is  said  to  have 
refused  an  offer  of  500,000  rubles  to 
go  with  his  band  to  Paris  for  one  year, 
a  proof  what  their  gains  must  be  at 
home,  for  this  sum  would  have  been 
about  1000^.  for  each  individual. 
It  must  not,  of  course,  be  sup- 
posed that  the  generality  of  these 
gypsy  vocalists  are  like  the  one  here 
described — the  majority  follow  the  oc- 
cupation, but  are  very  bad  singers; 
many  of  them  obtain  a  livelihood 
by  singing  and  dancing  at  taverns,  on 
the  racecourse :  at  the  fairs  of  Nijni 
and  Smolensk  they  also  muster 
in  great  strength.  Their  favourite 
place  of  resort  in  the  summer  is  Ma- 
rina Rotze,  a  species  of  guinguette, 
about  two  versts  from  Moscow  ;  their 
songs  are  in  Russian  and  their  own 
dialect.  In  the  provincial  towns  they 
follow  the  profession  for  which  they  are 
so  admirably  fitted  by  education,  horse- 
dealing  and  hocussing;  but  the  vast 
majority  traverse  the  coimtry  in  large 
bands,  and  follow  a  pastoral  life,  de- 
pending on  the  chase  and  their  herds 
of  cattle  for  subsistence.  Borrow 
states  that  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
find  them  encamped  in  the  midst  of 
the  snow  in  slight  canvas  tents,  when 
the  temperature  is  twenty-five  or  thirty 
degrees  below  the  freezing  point  of 
Reaumur.  Their  personal  attractions 
are   sometimes  considerable;  and  on 


572 


EOUTE    94. SUMMAEY. 


Sect.  V. 


great  occasions  they  are  arrayed  in 
splendid  dresses,  and  sparkle  with 
jewels.  "We  believe  that  the  gypsies 
are,  by  a  late  ukase,  invited  to  re- 
nounce their  wandering  habits,  and 
that  all  found  without  passports  are 
obliged  to  serve  in  the  dockyards  or 
in  the  army. 

In  walking  through  the  streets  of 
Moscow,  particularly  in  the  Grostinnoi 
Dvor,  and  the  market-places,  the  tra- 
veller will  not  fail  to  remark,  in  the 
tradesmen's  hands,  a  small  oblong  frame 
of  wood,  between  the  sides  of  which  are 
six  or  seven  parallel  wires,  on  which  are 
strung  balls  of  various  colours.  This  ma- 
chine is  called  a  schot,  and  is  used  by 
every  Russian  for  the  purposes  of  calcula- 
tion; the  rapidity  with  which  the  mer- 
chant goes  through  the  four  rules  of 
arithmetic  with  this  simple  contrivance 
is  perfectly  surprising.  There  are 
usually  ten  balls  on  each  row ;  those 
in  tlie  lowest  being  taken  as  units,  the 
next  as  tens,  the  third  as  hundreds, 
and  so  on.  Having  only  two  kinds 
of  coins,  the  ruble  and  the  kopek, 
there  is  little  or  no  difficulty,  after  a 
very  slight  observation  of  the  process 
adopted,  in  using  this  machine.  Thus, 
supposing  you  have  to  pay  8  rubles, 
50  kopeks,  and  you  give  a  note  for  25 
rubles,  the  Russian  first  puts  all  the 
balls  to  the  right  hand  side  of  his 
frame,  and  then,  as  each  ruble. is  100 
kopeks,  he  puts  5  balls  on  the  third 
row  over  to  the  left  side,  for  the  5 
rubles,  and  2  balls  on  the  row  next 
above,  for  the  20  rubles  ;  thus  repre- 
senting, in  a  manner  familiar  to  his 
own  mind,  the  real  value  of  the  note. 
To  effect  the  subtraction  of  85  rubles, 
he  will  first  put  back  one  ball  on  the 
third  or  ruble  row,  and  put  over  10 
balls  on  the  second  row,  where  each 
ball  represents  10  kopeks,  and  then 
remove  5  of  these,  leaving  the  remain- 
ing 5  to  show  that  50  kopeks  remain 
in  that  row ;  after  removing  the  4 
remaining  rubles  in  the  row  above,  he 
will  bring  down  1  ball  from  the  row 
where  each  one  designates  10  rubles, 


and  bring  over  to  the  left  side  of  the 
row  below  that  10  balls,  each  repre- 
senting a  single  ruble ;  having  re- 
moved from  these  the  remaining  4 
rubles  to  make  up  the  8  rubles,  his 
machine  shows  the  result  to  be  1  ball 
on  the  fourth  line,  6  on  the  third,  and 
5  on  the  second,  or  16  rubles,  50 
kopeks.  Of  course,  to  persons  in  ge- 
neral, the  simple  calculation  by  the 
mind,  particularly  in  so  very  obvious 
an  instance  as  that  here  selected,  would 
be  much  the  easiest;  but  with  these 
people,  accustomed  to  this  method  from 
their  infancy,  the  mind  is  not  prepared 
to  calculate ;  and  there  is  this  advan- 
tage in  the  machine,  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  be  in  error.  The  inge- 
nuity and  dexterity  of  the  Russian 
peasant  and  carpenter  with  his  hatchet 
is  also  extremely  remarkable,  and 
worthy  of  observation. 

If  the  traveller  is  in  Moscow  during 
the  summer,  he  should  attend  the  races, 
for  it  is  an  occasion  which  brings  the 
population  together,  and  there  is,  conse- 
quently, something  nov  el  and  interesting 
to  be  seen.  The  race-course  is  situated 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Donskoi 
Convent,  and,  with  the  assistance  of 
English  jockeys,  there  is  frequently  a 
good  race.  Droshky  races  may  also  be 
seen  here,  and  near  the  Peterskoi  Gar- 
dens, the  horses  trot  for  government 
prizes ;  but  these  matches  have  no  great 
charm  to  an  Englishman,  for  they  appear 
dull  and  tame  after  the  displays  at 
Newmarket  and  Doncaster :  the  show, 
however,  is  worth  seeing  for  once, 
particularly  to  the  sporting  man,  who 
should  observe  with  attention  the 
racing  droshky,  harness,  breed  of  the 
horses,  &c.  Bitshok,  the  best  trotter 
in  Russia,  is  said  to  have  accomplished 
20  miles  within  the  hour. 

As  in  amusements,  so  in  their  reli- 
gion, no  stranger,  who  wishes  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Russian  people  should  omit  to  be  pre- 
sent at  the  mass  celebrated  on  Sun- 
days and  holidays,  when  the  sacrament 
is  administered ;  it  is  the  chief  act  of 


Russia. 


KOUTE    94. — SUMMAKT. 


573 


divine  service  for  fifty  millions  of  the 
human  race,  and  much  will  be  seen  at 
this  ceremony  which  is  characteristic 
of  the  people.  In  the  commencement, 
a  gigantic  diaJcon,  with  a  stentorian 
voice,  announces  that  the  bread  is 
breaking  in  the  name  of  our  Lord,  the 
Emperor,  the  state,  the  military,  &c. 
Then  the  Bible,  weighing  many  pounds, 
is  brought  out,  and  a  lesson  is  read, 
the  reader  being  frequently  interrupted 
by  the  choir,  who  chant,  in  most  me- 
lodious tones,  the  words,  ''  Gospodi 
jpomiUd  "  (Lord  have  mercy).  Dur- 
ing this,  the  high  priest  is  perceived 
through  the  incense  which  is  burning 
behind  the  Ikonostast,  walking  to  and 
fro  in  his  priestly  garments,  and,  the 
reading  of  the  chapter  over,  the  door  of 
the  sanctuary  is  opened  and  the  altar 
displayed.  At  the  same  moment, 
the  side  doors  are  thrown  back,  and 
the  whole  body  of  officiating  priests 
come  forth,  the  high  priest  bearing  a 
silver  chalice,  and  followed  by  another 
with  a  salver  on  his  head — two  others 
bear  the  bread  and  wine.  The  prayer 
for  the  Emperor  is  then  said,  and  the 
priests  return  to  the  sanctuary  and 
deposit  the  elements  on  the  altar, 
when  the  transubstantiation  takes 
place,  the  priest  kneeling,  and  reading 
many  prayers.  In  the  meantime,  the 
gigantic  diaJcon  calls  out  with  a  loud 
voice,  "  Depart,  ye  unbelieving,  that 
no  infidel  may  remain  in  the  church, 
we,  believing  faces  (literally  trans- 
lated), will  then  supplicate  the  Lord 
for  His  peace."  Any  Jew  or  Moham- 
medan, who  may  happen  to  be  in  the 
church,  must  now  leave  it.  Many 
"  Gospodi  pomiluis  "  follow ;  and  when 
the  diaTcons  public,  and  the  high 
priest's  private  prayer  are  ended,  the 
latter  advances  solemnly  and  blesses 
the  chalice  containing  the  wine,  by 
saying  the  word  "  VladiTc"  which  may 
be  translated,  "  Rabbi,  or  Master,  bless 
this  vessel."  The  bread  is  subsequently 
shaken  into  the  wine,  and  again  both 
elements  are  blessed — the  moment  of 
this  blessing  is  that  of  the  transubstan- 


tiation. In  the  same  instant  the  priests 
prostrate  themselves  at  the  foot  of  the 
altar;  the  congregation  make  endless 
signs  of  the  cross,  and  kiss  the  ground 
repeatedly  ;  and  all  the  bells  in  the 
church  burst  forth  at  once,  in  order  that 
the  occurrence  may  likewise  be  known 
and  solemnized  beyond  the  church  walls 
by  those  who  cannot  attend.  The 
communicants  then  approach  one  after 
another,  kneel  three  times,  and  hold 
their  hands  crossed  upon  their  breasts. 
A  morsel  of  bread,  dipped  in  the  wine, 
is  put  into  the  mouth  of  each  with  a 
small  silver  spoon ;  the  chalice  is  kissed, 
and,  kneeling  once  more,  they  retire, 
and  prayers  and  genuflections  close  the 
ceremony.  The  smallest  babies  com- 
municate, and  the  scene  is  then  extra- 
ordinary, for  they  frequently  refuse 
this,  to  them,  unnatural  food,  while 
their  mothers,  fully  impressed  with  a 
belief  in  the  benefit  they  are  to  derive 
from  it,  endeavour  in  some  cases  to 
force  it  down  their  little  throats. 

The  feasts  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Greek  Church  are  very  numerous, 
amongst  them  is  that  incomprehensible 
service  of  the  Eastern  Church  so  in- 
consistent with  its  general  tendencies, 
"  The  Cursing  of  the  Heretics  ;  "  this 
takes  place  during  March ;  the  "  Bless- 
ing of  the  Waters  "  (or  the  Feast  of 
Jordan),  in  the  spring,  furnishes  the 
people  with  another  spectacle,  when  "  the 
secret  gate  "  opens  a  passage  from  the 
Kremlin  to  the  Moskwa;  the  "Blessing 
of  the  Fruit"  in  August;  the  ceremonies 
of  Easter  and  Christmas.  During  the 
week  after  Easter,  people  are  edified 
with  a  sight  of  the  sacred  paraphernalia 
kept  in  the  Kremlin.  They  then  gaze 
with  devout  admiration  at  the  numer- 
ous vestments  of  the  priests,  the  holy 
oil,  and  the  relics  of  the  saints.  All 
these  festivals  are  eminently  national 
at  Moscow.  A  visit  to  the  Armenian 
Church  there  will  enable  the  stranger 
to  observe  that  form  of  Christian  wor- 
ship. 

If  the  traveller  is  in  want  of  French 
books,  English  cloth,  Swiss  confection- 
0  0  3 


5T4 


EOUTE    94. SUMMARY. 


Sect.  V. 


ary,   and    olDJects    of    ornament    and 
luxury,  he  must  go  to  theKv^netzkoi. 
Mostj  or  Smith's  Bridge.     In  the  print- 
shops  there  it  is  easier  to  find  views  of 
London,    Paris,   Calcutta,    and    New- 
York,  than  of  St.  Petersburgh  or  Mos- 
cow.    Lukmanoff's  Magazine    is    also 
an   agreeable    lounge,  and   so   is   the 
flower-market  at  the  foot  of  the  Krem- 
lin.    It  is  a  repetition  of  what  may  be 
seen  in  spring  in  the  hay-market  of 
St.   Petersburgh,   but   much    prettier. 
In  Moscow  it  has  the  appearance  of  a 
village  in  which  every  house  stands  in 
its   own    garden.       Huts    of  painted 
wood  are   filled  with   cherry-trees   in 
blossom,  with  roses  of  all  kinds,  and 
all  such  flowers  as  will  not  in  winter 
bear  exposure  to  the  open  air.     Before 
the  door  of  these  huts  sits  the  owner 
of  these  fragrant  prisoners ;  and  around 
the  mimic    houses    are   little  beds    of 
flowers ;  behind  these  are  ranged  the 
larger  kinds  of  plants  and  bushes,  in 
whose  branches    the   birds    sing   and 
chirrup  as  in  their  native  woods.     A 
more  agreeable  stroll  cannot  be  ima- 
gined than  amongst  these  huts,  to  look 
at  their  odoriferous  contents,  and  gossip 
with  the  gardeners  about  their  plants. 
Flowers  are  very  frequently  hired  by 
the  Moscovites  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  giving  dinner  parties.      The  letting 
price    of    an    orange-tree     sometimes 
amounts  to  several  rubles. 

Of  the  various  public  promenades  it 
may  be  said  that  the  gardens  of  the 
Kremlin  are  to  Moscow  what  those  of 
the  Tuileries  are  to  Paris;  and  in 
these  gardens  the  beau-monde  of  Mos- 
cow promenade  in  the  fine  spring 
evenings.  At  the  foot  of  the  wall,  a 
number  of  artificial  hills  have  been 
raised,  where,  on  holidays,  musicians 
are  placed.  These  hills  are  hollowed 
out  beneath,  and  supported  by  pillars, 
and  the  benches  with  which  they 
are  provided  afford  cool  resting-places 
for  the  weary. 

The  Tver  Boulevards,  surrounding 
the  Beloi  Gorod,  are  not  unpleasing, 
though  less  agreeable  than  the  Alex- 


ander Grarden.     They  are  broad  walks 
laid  out  with  trees,  shrubs,  and  par- 
terres, far  more  rural  and  pleasing  than 
the  formal  lime  avenues  of  Berlin,  and 
they  will   be   much   handsomer  some 
time  hence,  for  at  present  the  planta- 
tions are  very  young.      The  different 
boulevards  round  Beloi  Grorod  have  an 
extent  of  seven  versts,  or  about  a  mile. 
During  the  Easter  week  these  boule- 
vards are  greatly  frequented  by  parties 
in   their   sledges,   and   the   numerous 
booths  give  them  all  the  appearance  of 
a  fair.     In  addition  to  these  may  be 
mentioned  the  Peterskoi  Gardens,  al- 
ready described,  and  the  Summer  Gar- 
dens of  the  Empress  Elizabeth  in  the 
eastern  suburb.       These  are  very  ex- 
tensive, but  their  beauties  are  in  the 
sere   and  yellow  leaf.     The   traveller 
shoiild  on   no  account  leave  Moscow 
without  having  seen  the  Kremlin  by 
moonlight.      There    are    three    clubs 
at    Moscow,  to  which   foreigners   can 
obtain  admission  through  a   member. 
That    called    the    English,    originally 
established  by  the  merchants  of  our 
nation,    is    a   splendid    establishment, 
well   planned    and    skilfully   directed 
in     fact,     like    the     clubs     of    other 
countries.     Twice  a  week  there  is  a 
tahle-d'-hote,  at  3  rubles  par  ttte,  which 
is  well  attended.     The  club  of  the  no- 
bility is  also  a  very  handsome  struc- 
ture, particularly  the  principal  saloon, 
ornamented  with  pillars  and  a  statue  of 
Catherine  II.  :  in  the  winter  magnifi- 
cent balls  are  given  in  it ;  and,  during 
the  carnival,  morning  masquerades  with 
dancing ;  these  assemblies  are  attended 
by  as  many  as  2000  persons,  and  the 
room  is  calculated  to  hold  3000. 

Should  the  traveller  desire  to  know 
what  a  Russian  chateau  is  like,  he  may 
drive  to  that  of  Astanhina,  three  miles 
from  Moscow,  a  seat  of  the  Chereme- 
tieff  family,  one  of  the  wealthiest  in 
Russia.  The  dining  hall  is  furnished 
in  the  Louis  Quatorze  style;  and  in 
the  drawing-rooms  are  some  good  pic- 
tures, a  Claude  and  a  Rembrandt  being 
the  best.     There   are   also   some   an- 


Russia. 


EOUTE    94. — THE   TKOITZKA   MONASTERY. 


575 


tiques;  a  Vulcan  lays  claim  to  some 
merit.  These  country  seats  bear  the 
singular  name  of  Moscow  appurte- 
nances, because  the  habitations  twenty- 
five  miles  round  the  city  are  considered 
as  belonging  to  it.  The  great  number 
of  horses  kept  by  the  rich^  at  a  small 
cost,  abridges  the  distance  ;  and  many 
persons  who  spend  the  day  at  a  dis- 
tant country  seat  enjoy  at  night  the 
pleasures  of  the  city.  The  "  Allee  des 
Peuples,"  outside  the  barrier,  on  the 
CheremetiefF  estate,  is  a  great  ren- 
dezvous of  the  shopkeepers  and  mer- 
chants of  Moscow.  One  of  the  prettiest 
and  most  picturesque  places  in  the 
environs  is  Koonsova ;  a  drive  to  it,  in 
the  summer,  will  repay  the  traveller 
for  his  trouble.  Moscow  prides  herself 
on  her  manufactures,  and  her  intention 
never  to  take  foreign  manufactured 
goods ;  that  is  to  say,  never  to  adopt 
the  principles  of  free  trade ;  nor  have, 
we  believe,  the  Russian  manufacturers 
altered  their  opinion  since  the  itinerant 
apostle  of  that  system  visited  them. 
The  traveller  will  readily  obtain  access 
to  the  silk  and  cotton  mills ;  the  ma- 
chinery is  frequently  under  the  care  of 
Englishmen. 

THE   TROITZKA   MONASTERY. 

This  monastery,  which,  next  to  that 
of  Kief,  is  the  most  renowned  and 
venerated  in  Russia,  is  distant  from 
Moscow  about  sixty  versts.  The  road, 
which  is  frequently  crowded  during  the 
summer  months  by  pilgrims  from  all 
parts  of  the  empire,  is  far  from  good  ; 
and  the  building  destined  for  the  re- 
ception of  strangers,  though  connected 
with  the  monastery,  is  as  destitute  of 
accommodation  as  an  ordinary  post- 
house  ;  moreover,  it  is  excessively  in- 
fested by  the  traveller's  worst  enemies, 
and  repose  after  the  fatigues  of  his 
day's  journey  he  must  not  expect. 
Troitzka,  however,  should  be  visited ; 
for  to  be  at  Moscow  without  going 
there  would  be  as  outrageous  a  dere- 
liction of  a  traveller's  duty  as  to  be  at 
Naples  and  not  go   to   Vesuvius ;  or 


to  be  at  Constantinople  and  not  see 
the  Sweet  Waters.  At  a  spot  about 
twenty  versts  from  the  monastery,  a 
halt  should  be  made  at  the  cave  and 
subterraneous  passages  of  a  religious 
recluse  who  has  attained  no  small  de- 
gree of  celebrity,  the  work  of  exca- 
vating which  was  a  self-inflicted  pen- 
ance. To  perform  this  labour  of  en- 
thusiastic zeal,  the  monk  left  his  con- 
vent every  evening,  and,  unassisted,  is 
said  to  have  completed  his  task,  with 
the  further  miracle  attached  to  the 
story,  that  he  executed  the  super- 
human undertaking  with  an  iron  belt 
round  his  waist,  so  heavy  that  none  of 
the  pilgrims  that  pay  their  devotions 
at  his  shrine  can  lift  it ;  and  yet  the 
poor  fellow  died  fearing  that  he  had 
failed  to  secure  his  salvation.  A  monk 
is  always  in  attendance  with  a  torch 
to  conduct  the  visitor  through  the  la- 
byrinth of  passages  which  the  old  an- 
chorite cleverly  finished  with  masonry. 
A  donation  is  usually  dropped  into  the 
money-box  on  leaving. 

The  country  round  Troitzka  is  un- 
dulating ;  over  the  low  hills  are  scat- 
tered clumps  of  trees  and  habitations, 
and  the  town  stands  well  on  an  emi- 
nence. In  the  centre  of  it,  the  cupolas 
and  minarets  of  the  nine  churches  of 
the  monastery  are  seen  from  a  dis- 
tance, radiant  in  gold  and  colours,  like 
those  of  Moscow.  The  building  is 
surrounded  in  its  whole  extent  by  an 
embattled  wall,  characterising  it  not 
only  as  a  place  of  devotion,  but  like- 
wise as  one  of  defence  and  refuge, 
which  it  often  proved  itself  to  be,  in 
the  most  troubled  times,  to  some  of 
Russia's  sovereigns,  as  well  as  nobles. 
There  still  remains  a  mile  and  a  half  of 
the  walls,  about  thirty  feet  high,  that 
resisted  the  attacks  of  the  Polish 
invader,  with  many  turrets  at  inter- 
vals ;  and  along  and  inside  the  whole 
are  two  covered  galleries,  in  which  the 
brave  fraternity  conducted  their  de- 
sperate defences  in  conjunction  with 
their  military  coadjutors.  Under  these 
walls  is  a  large  space  of  open  ground. 


576 


ROUTE    94.  —  THE    TROITZKA   MONASTERY. 


Sect.  V 


whicli  the  traveller  will  find  covered 
v^rith  tents  and  other  temporary  erec- 
tions, for  the  use  of  the  pilgrim  mul- 
titude   with   which    it    is    thronged. 
Amongst  them  are  book-stalls,  and  tea 
and  brandy  booths ;  shops  for  the  sale 
of  medals    and    pictures    of    Sergius 
and    St.   Nicholas,   and   their  various 
miracles ;  and  stalls  of  fruit,  vegetables, 
and    butchers'   meat,    &c.,   &c.      The 
crowd  is  composed  of  every  class,  age, 
and  nation  within  the  Russian  domi- 
nions   that    recognise    the    efficacy  of 
the  shrine,  and  some  who  do  not,  in- 
cluding  even    the   wandering    gypsy, 
who,  no  doubt,  finds   many  opportu- 
nities of  plying  his  trade.     The  whole 
has  the  appearance  of  a  fair,  for  the 
enjoyment  of  which  the  concourse  of 
people  might  be  supposed  to  have  col- 
lected, until  the  bells  of  the  churches 
disperse  their  mundane  thoughts,  and 
recall  them  to  the  object  for  which  so 
many  of  them  have   travelled  so  far. 
On  leaving  the  hostelrie,  the  morning 
after  his  arrival,  from  which,  sooth  to 
say,  the  traveller  will  be  very  glad  to 
escape,  he  will  cross  the  large  place, 
and  approach  the  gate  in  the  monas- 
tery wall.     Within  the  holy  precincts 
is  a  long  avenue,  and  dispersed  with- 
out order  or  design,  about  the  ample 
space,  are  the  churches,  all  called  cathe- 
drals, with  their  detached  bell-towers, 
and   chapels,   and    numbers   of  large 
buildings,  utterly   destitute   of  archi- 
tectural  beauty,  in  which   dwell  the 
brethren  of  St.  Sergius.     In  the  prin- 
cipal cathedral   repose  the  remains  of 
that  saint,  the  founder  of  the  establish- 
ment, which,  having  been  miraculously 
preserved  from  decay,  were  disinterred 
from  the  ruins  after  the  Tartars  had 
ravaged  it,  subsequently  to  the  victory 
of  Dmitri    Ivanovitch.       The  convent 
was  afterwards,  with  the  assistance  of 
the   Tzars,   rebuilt  by  the    Patriarch 
Nicon ;  and  in  1421  his  body  was  en- 
cased in  a  shrine,  and  is  still  believed 
to  exercise  miraculous  powers.     This 
is  protected  and  enriched  by  columns 
and  a  canopy  of  silver,  presented  by 


the  Empress  Anne  ;  and  the  whole  is 
of  dazzling  splendour.    Not  far  from  this 
shrine  is  the  tomb  of  Boris  GodunofF, 
the  usurper,  who,  after  having  procured 
the   assassination   of    his   royal   pupil 
Dmitri,  placed  the  crown  of  Muscovy 
on  his  own  head  at  the  death  of  the 
Tzar    Feeder,    his   wife's    brother,   in 
1598,  and  wore  it  till  his  own  death, 
which  took  place  in  1605.     Some  of 
his  family  also  lie  here  ;  and  there  are 
other  tombs  of  note  in  the  church.     In 
the   Archimandrites'   house,    and    the 
palace  of  the  Tzars,  there  is  little  to 
interest,  except  the  library,  which  the 
monks  rarelj''  show.     As  the  history 
of  this  monastery  is  much  interwoven 
with   that   of  Russia   itself,   a   slight 
sketch  of  it,  and  the  life  of  its  founder, 
will  not  be  out  of  place.  It  was  founded 
in  1338,  by  St.  Sergius,  the  legendary 
account  of  whose  birth  and  youth  is 
one  series  of  miraculous  events,  lead- 
ing to  his  assuming  the  sacerdotal  cha- 
racter in  his  twenty-fourth  year.  Some 
of  these  seem  to  have  been  exaggera- 
tions, based  on  the  life  of  the  Baptist; 
for  the  simple  biographer  states  .that, 
when   his    mother  was   enceinte,    the 
child  uttered  such  a  cry,  when  she  re- 
ceived  the   Communion,  that   it   was 
heard  all  over  the  church.      Also,  that 
he  knew  the  Catechism  and  Ten  Com- 
mandments when    he  was  born ;  and 
that  on  fast  days,  when  his  mother  ate 
too  hearty  a  meal,  he  refused  to  suck. 
His  father,  a  powerful  Boyard  of  Ros- 
tof,  was  ruined  by  a  Tartar  invasion, 
and  retired  with  his  wife  to  a  convent, 
when  the  saint  and  his  brother  took 
refuge  in  a  forest,  where  they  built  a 
hut  for  Sergius's  future  residence,  and 
a  church  that  he  dedicated  to  the  Holy 
Trinity  :  after  which  the  brother  left 
the  anchorite  to  shift  for  himself.     His 
sanctity  however  soon  became  known, 
and  he  formed  a  community  of  twelve 
disciples,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  establishment.      Rich  pilgrims, 
as  well  as  poor,  were  attracted  by  the 
miracles   he  worked,  and  their  dona- 
tions enabled  the  brotherhood  to  exer- 


Ttussia. 


ROUTE    94. — THE    TROITZKA   MONASTERY. 


577 


cise  charity  and  hospitality ;  and  sub- 
sequently, under  the  direction  of  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  it  became 
a  regularly  organized  monastery.  One 
of  the  miracles  wrought  by  St,  Sergius, 
being  historical,  should  be  related.  In 
the  reign  of  the  Grand  Prince  Dmitri 
Ivanovitch,  the  Khan  Mamai  having 
invaded  his  dominions,  he  repaired  to 
the  Troitzka  to  seek  the  counsel  and 
intervention  of  Sergius ;  both  were 
granted  ;  he  received  the  Eucharist, 
and,  being  joined  by  two  pious  and 
pugnacious  monks,  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  400,000  men,  with 
whom  he  crossed  the  Don,  cutting 
down  all  the  bridges  as  he  passed 
them.  Having  reached  their  ground, 
in  front  of  the  Tartar  army,  one  of  the 
chiefs  challenged  the  Monk  Peresvet 
to  single  combat ;  he  accepted  the  chal- 
lenge, and  both  were  killed  ;  the  con- 
flict then  became  general,  and  the 
Grrand  Prince,  having  had  two  horses 
killed  under  him,  and  fought  on  foot 
with  a  club,  was  escaping  from  the 
field,  when  the  prayers  of  St.  Sergius 
procured  him  the  assistance  of  the  ele- 
ments— a  stormy  wind,  which  had 
hitherto  materially  assisted  the  ene- 
my, suddenly  changed,  the  Russians 
rallied,  and  the  Tartars,  fighting  for 
life  instead  of  victory,  at  length  fled, 
including  Mamai  himself.  But  the 
carnage  on  the  side  of  the  Russians 
was  very  great ;  and,  when  Dmitri  was 
recovered  from  his  wounds,  his  army 
numbered  only  40,000  out  of  400,000 
men.  His  gratitude  to  St.  Sergius 
was  great,  and  he  manifested  it  by 
giving  to  the  monastery  large  grants 
of  lands.  St.  Sergius  died  in  1391,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight.  "When  first 
selected  superior  of  his  twelve  brethren, 
he  was  simple,  self-denying,  and  la- 
borious; cut  wood,  fetched  water,  and 
made  their  bread  and  garments,  in 
addition  to  his  devotional  exercises ; 
and  these  severe  habits  he  continued  to 
the  last.  As  early  as  the  fifteenth 
century,  so  much  was  the  shrine  be- 
lieved to  have  eiFected  for  the  country 


and  the  Tzars,  that  its  riches  had  ac- 
cumulated to  an  enormous  amount,  and 
it  then  possessed  100,000  peasants. 
For  many  years  the  monks  remained 
in  peaceful  possession  of  the  wealth 
with  which  it  had  been  so  richly  en- 
dowed ;  but  in  1609  it  was  besieged 
by  the  Poles,  under  Sapieha  and  Li- 
poifsky,  who,  no  doubt,  reckoned  upon 
obtaining  a  considerable  booty ;  they 
were,  however,  disappointed,  and,  after 
a  siege  of  sixteen  months,  were  obliged 
to  retire  from  the  hopeless  contest, 
having  arrived  somewhat  late  at  the 
conclusion  that  the  walls  were  spe- 
cially protected  by  the  Divine  power. 
On  this  memorable  occasion,  the  monks 
not  only  fought  with  the  greatest  cou- 
rage, but  also  melted  down  much  of  the 
precious  metals  which  adorned  their 
churches,  in  order  to  pay  the  troops 
who  assisted  them  in  defending  their 
altars  and  the  shrine  of  their  patron 
saint.  Subsequently,  when  the  Poles 
M'ere  in  possession  of  Moscow,  they 
failed  not  to  render  assistance  to  their 
countrymen.  Three  years  after  this 
the  monastery  sustained  another  siege, 
but  the  enemy  were  repulsed  as  before, 
and  were  obliged  to  abandon  the  enter- 
prise. The  most  interesting  fact,  how- 
ever, connected  with  the  history  of  the 
Troitzka,  is,  that  it  was  the  place  of 
refuge  of  Peter  the  Grreat,  and  his 
brother  John,  when  they  fled  there  to 
save  themselves  from  an  insurrection 
of  the  Strelitzes.  The  Tzar,  at  a  later 
period  of  his  life,  did  not  fail  to  evince 
his  admiration  for  the  saint,  whose  pic- 
ture, from  the  monastery,  he  is  said  to 
have  carried  with  him  when  he  took 
the  field  against  the  Swedes.  The 
riches  of  the  Troitzka,  at  the  present 
time,  are  great  in  precious  stones, 
shrines  of  the  precious  metals,  and 
sacerdotal  robes ;  but  the  revenues 
were  greatly  reduced  by  Catherine  II., 
who  confiscated  nearly  the  whole  of 
their  lands.  The  annual  income  de- 
rived from  the  property  of  the  esta- 
blishment, and  the  offerings  of  pil- 
grims, now  amounts  to  about  12,000^. 


578 


ROUTE    95. ST.  PETERSBURGH   TO    BERLIN.  Sect.  V. 


a  year.  The  most  interesting  relics 
are  the  wooden  cup  and  coarse  woollen 
robe  of  the  founder ;  these  are  shown 
in  the  Treasury,  and  are  much  more 
highly  esteemed  by  the  pilgrims  than 
the  rich  vestments  of  those  who  suc- 
ceeded him.  The  Russians  say  that, 
when  the  plague  was  in  Moscow,  at 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
not  a  human  being  was  attacked  within 
the  walls  of  the  Troitzka;  and  again, 
during  the  cholera,  the  disease,  though 
raging  in  the  neighbouring  towns  of 
Vladimir  and  Yaroslaff,  stopped  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  holy  place.  Mons. 
de  Custine,  speaking  of  this  celebrated 
spot,  remarks,  in  the  true  spirit  of  a 
trooper  of  the  Grande  Armee,  "  what  a 
rich  booty  this  would  have  been  for 
his  countrymen."  No  doubt  it  would; 
and  there  can  be  as  little  doubt  that 
they  would  have  dropped  their  sacri- 
legious plunder  on  the  banks  of  the 
Beresina. 

ROUTE  95. 

ST.  PETERSBURGH  TO  BERLIN,  BY  DOR- 
PAT,  RIGA,  AND  TAUROGGEN,  ON 
THE   RUSSIAN   FRONTIER. 

ST.PETERSBURGHto^<re?jia,17versts. 

Kipen,  23 1 .  There  are  post-houses 
throughout  Esthonia  and  Livonia, 
That  of  Kipen  is  described  by  the 
authoress  of  "  Letters  from  the  Baltic" 
as  a  fine  building  outwardly,  but  other- 
wise a  mere  whitened  sepulchre.  Ger- 
man is  almost  universally  spoken. 

Kashovo,  19. 

TcMerkovitz,  21. 

Oi?o/^^•,  221. 

Jamhnrg,  15.  This  is  a  rambling 
town,  with  barracks.  The  Luga  is 
crossed  here  by  a  ferry  ;  the  banks  of 
the  river  are  pretty,  though  desolate, 
with  high  rocks  and  a  scanty  vegeta- 
tion creeping  amongst  them.  A  hill  of 
unusual  steepness  is  ascended  beyond 
this,  whence,  as  far  as  Narva,  is  one 
uninterrupted  plain. 

Narva,  204.  Hotel  de  St.  Peters- 


burgh.  Here  the  Narova  is  crossed,  and 
the  traveller  enters  Esthonia.  Popula- 
tion, 5500. 

The  town  of  Narva  is  very  German 
in  its  character;  and  though  it  can 
boast  a  very  eventful  history  of  sieges, 
bombardments,  battles,  and  blockades, 
as  a  frontier  town,  in  times  gone  by,  it 
is  no  longer  the  prosperous  place  it  was 
wont  to  be.  The  foundation  of  St. 
Petersburgh  ruined  its  trade,  whereas 
formerly  its  harbour  contained  a  forest 
of  masts.  The  Narova,  in  its  course  to 
the  sea  from  the  Lake  Peipus,  divides 
it  in  two  parts.  The  Germans  dwell 
within  the  wall  of  the  old  town  on  the 
right  bank,  the  Russians  round  the 
ruins  of  the  old  fortress  of  Ivangorod. 

It  was  near  Narva,  and  in  1700, 
that  Charles  XII.,  then  a  lad  of  seven- 
teen, fought  his  celebrated  battle 
against  the  Russians.  The  king  at- 
tacked the  ill-disciplined  forces  of  the 
enemy,  amounting  to  60,000,  with  only 
8000  men,  fatigued  by  a  long  march, 
and  entirely  routed  them,  officers,  ar- 
tillery, and  stores  all  falling  into  his 
hands.  "  I  know  well,"  said  Peter  the 
Great,  when  he  heard  of  the  defeat  of 
his  troops,  "  that  the  Swedes  will  long 
be  superior,  but  they  will  at  length 
teach  us  to  vanquish  them."  And  so 
it  turned  out ;  for  the  Tzar,  five  years 
afterwards,  closed  a  series  of  victories 
by  taking  Narva  by  storm.  On  this 
occasion  he  exhibited  unusual  humanity, 
by  preventing  the  excesses  of  his  sol- 
diers. Having  with  his  own  hand 
killed  two  of  them  who  had  dis- 
obeyed his  orders,  he  repaired  to  the 
inn  where  the  citizens  had  taken  refuge, 
and,  laying  his  sword  on  the  table,  said 
to  the  terrified  Esthonians,  "  It  is  not 
with  the  blood  of  the  inhabitants  that 
this  sword  is  stained,  but  with  that  of 
my  subjects,  which  I  have  shed  to  save 
your  lives." 

The  course  of  the  Narova  is  rocky, 
and  forms  some  pretty  falls,  though  the 
height  is  not  above  15  or  20  feet;  the 
best  is  about  a  verst  from  Narva,  in  the 
western  arm  of  the  river,  which  there 


Russia. 


EOUTE    95. DORP  AT. 


579 


incloses  a  small  island.  Over  the  fall 
is  a  picturesque  bridge. 

The  Narova  divides  itself  into  two 
arms,  each  of  which  forms  a  separate 
waterfall,  and  they  afterwards  unite 
again.  The  island  between  the  two 
arms  of  the  river,  which  is  500  paces 
broad,  is  laid  out  in  pretty  gardens, 
trees,  and  houses,  as  are  the  margins  of 
the  waterfalls  themselves.  The  view 
here  in  summer  is  very  beautiful ;  the 
western  fall,  at  a  little  distance  from 
w^hich  a  bridge  leads  to  the  island,  is  the 
finest ;  more  water  falls  in  the  eastern 
one,  but  it  cannot  be  approached  as  near 
as  the  other. 

Waivara,  22.  Not  far  from  Waivara 
the  road  passes  the  north-western  point 
of  the  Lake  Peipus,  and  runs  along  its 
low  shore  to  Kleinpungern.  This  lake 
is  about  50  miles  long  from  north  to 
south,  and  has  some  beautiful  islands 
on  it ;  it  is  full  offish,  and  very  stormy 
and  dangerous. 

Tschudeli,  17|. 

Lewe,  12, 

Kleiwpungem,  21.  Here  Livonia  is 
entered. 

Rama  Pungern,  26J. 

Nainal,  14.  On  the  north-west  shore 
of  the  Peipus  Lake, 

Torma,  25|.  The  taraJcan  (cock- 
chafer) is  not  uncommon  in  some  of  the 
post-houses  on  this  road.  Erman  states 
that  the  country  people  near  here  call 
them  Prussaki,  or  Prussians,  because 
they  first  showed  themselves  on  the 
retreat  of  the  Russians  from  Prussia  at 
the  end  of  the  Seven  Years'  War. 

I99(^fe'>%  231. 

DoRPAT,  23.  Hotel  de  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  Hotel  de  Londres.  Population, 
14,000.  The  history  of  this  town  is  a 
stirring  and  stormy  one.  The  Russians 
from  the  east,  the  Teutonic  knights 
from  the  west,  the  quarrels  of  both  with 
the  aboriginal  Esthonians,  and  the 
bloody  wars  between  the  Russians, 
Swedes,  and  Poles,  more  than  once  laid 
it  in  ashes.  Its  University  was  founded 
by  Gustavus  Adolphus  in  1632,  the 
year  of  his  death,  and,  after  various 


vicissitudes,  it  took  refuge  in  Sweden, 
to  avoid  the  Russian  army  in  1710. 
Professors,  students,  libraries,  museums 
— all  departed  ;  and  returned  only  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander in  1802.  It  now  contains  45 
professors,  and  600  or  more  students, 
and  has  a  high  reputation  in  Russia. 

Among  the  professors  one  name  may 
be  cited  of  great  fame,  that  of  Struve, 
whose  astronomical  labours  have  pro- 
cured him  a  well-earned  reputation 
throughout  Europe.  The  observatory 
on  the  Domberg,  from  the  character  of 
the  work  done  there,  is  ranked  among 
the  most  celebrated  institutions  in  this 
branch  of  science,  and  well  worthy  of 
being  seen.  Here  is  a  great  refracting 
telescope,  the  work  of  Frauenhofer, 
mounted  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
iron  roof,  revolving  round  a  vertical 
line,  affords  complete  protection  from 
the  weather  without  hindering  the  view 
of  any  point  in  the  heavens.  This  was 
designed  and  constructed  by  Mr.  Parrot, 
and  so  beautifully  is  it  executed  that 
one  hand  is  enough  to  impel  and  guide 
the  machinery  which  moves  the  tele- 
scope and  roof.  The  Emperor  Alex- 
ander presented  the  telescope  to  the 
University.  Struve  is  now  at  the  head 
of  the  observatory  near  Petersburgh, 
and  the  telescope  which  he  now  directs 
towards  the  heavens  is  on  a  far  more 
gigantic  scale  than  his  old  friend  of 
Dorpat.  Some  of  the  apparatus  which 
was  used  in  measuring  a  portion  of 
the  meridian  of  Dorpat  is  to  be  seen 
here.  The  library  has  a  very  curious 
locality,  being  situated  in  the  ruins  of 
the  old  Dom;  the  views  from  hence 
are  very  fine.  The  broad  crown  of  the 
hill,  adorned  by  numerous  avenues  of 
trees,  is  called  Cathedral  Place;  the 
ruins  of  a  church,  destroyed  in  1775, 
by  a  fire  which  consumed  nearly  the 
whole  town,  explains  the  origin  of  this 
name.  On  the  Domberg  are  likewise 
the  Schools  of  Anatomy  and  Natural 
History,  the  museums,  &c.  The  philo- 
sophical instruments  are  remarkable 
from  their  having  been  made  for  the 


580 


EOUTE    95. — DOEPAT. 


Sect.  V. 


most  part  by  a  Russian  artisan  of  the 
name  of  Samoiloff.  Of  all  the  collec- 
tions of  the  University,  that  of  the 
Botanical  Grarden  is  the  most  com- 
plete ;  it  contains  more  than  18,000 
plants,  some  of  which  are  not  to  be 
found  in  the  other  botanical  gardens  of 
Europe.  Dorpat,  like  Keval,  had  once 
its  corps  of  Schwarzen  Haupter,  or 
"  association  of  citizens  for  the  defence 
of  the  city  ;"  it  is  now  a  mere  convivial 
club.  Among  its  treasures  is  a  magnifi- 
cent goblet  of  glass  and  gold,  two  feet 
high,  on  the  side  of  which  are  engraved 
a  beetle,  a  humming-bird,  and  a  butter- 
fly. Whoever  could  only  drink  to  the 
beetle  was  fined  two  bottles,  whoever 
reached  the  humming-bird  only  one, 
and  he  whose  draught  attained  as  deep 
as  the  butterfly  was  exempt  from  fine. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Dom  no  ves- 
tige remains  at  Dorpat  of  the  ancient 
Gothic  nucleus  of  the  town ;  all  is  new. 
The  fortifications  have,  as  at  Frankfort 
and  Hamburgh,  been  converted  into 
agreeable  promenades.  A  granite 
bridge  over  the  Embach,  which  is  na- 
vigable up  to  Dorpat,  adds  not  a  little 
to  the  appearance  of  the  town. 

Uddern,  26. 

Kaikaz-Loivenhoff,  24 1. 

Teilitz,  22|. 
^  Wall;  lOf.  At  Walk  the  Estho- 
nian  language  takes  the  place  of  the 
Lithuanian.  This  small  town  was  for- 
merly a  busy  little  place,  but  the  cow- 
herds now  cut  the  grass  in  the  streets. 

The  only  thing  which  can  attract  the 
traveller's  attention  on  the  road  between 
Dorpat  and  Walk  is  Schloss  Ringen, 
formerly  one  of  the  largest  castles  in 
Livonia,  but  now  a  picturesque  ruin. 
These  ruins  of  Ringen  are  a  perpetual 
monument  of  the  ferocious  feuds  be- 
tween two  neighbouring  noblemen,  the 
Lord  of  Ringen  and  the  Lord  of 
Odempa.  An  old  family  quarrel  be- 
tween them  had  been  heightened  by 
various  personal  insults  into  the  dead- 
liest mutual  hatred.  Notwithstanding 
this,  they  sometimes,  when  their  own 
interests    demanded    it,    visited    and 


entertained  one  another  with  out 
ward  civility.  One  day  the  Lord  of 
Ringen  invited  the  Lord  of  Odempa  to 
a  banquet.  The  latter  came,  enjoyed 
the  feast  much,  and  was  particularly 
pleased  with  one  costly  dish,  which  his 
host  strongly  recommended  to  him,  so 
much  so  that  he  wished  to  know  what 
it  was  made  of,  but  this  was  a  secret, 
said  the  Lord  of  Ringen.  As  the 
visitor  was  returning  to  Odempa,  how- 
ever, a  servant  was  sent  after  him,  with 
a  message,  that  if  he  remembered  what 
the  Persian  king,  Astyages,  son  of 
Cyaxares,  served  up  to  his  servant, 
Harpagus,  he  would  know  how  the 
delicate  dish  which  had  pleased  him  so 
much  was  composed.  The  horror- 
struck  father  flew  home  to  seek  his 
only  little  son,  but  sought  him  in  vain, 
the  Lord  of  Ringen  had  served  up  to 
him  for  dinner  his  own  son's  heart  and 
brains. 

The  infuriated  nobleman  attacked 
Schloss  Ringen  that  same  night  with 
all  his  men,  and,  though  the  Lord  of 
Ringen  was  prepared  for  the  attack, 
yet  the  superhuman  fury  of  the  father, 
and  the  justice  of  his  cause,  over- 
came all  opposition.  The  castle  was 
stormed,  reduced  to  ruins,  and  the 
hearts  and  brains  of  its  defenders  thrown 
to  the  dogs. 

The  histories  of  these  old  Livonian 
castles  are  often  very  romantic  and 
tragical;  and,  though  these  bloody 
feuds  have  been  modified  by  the  spirit 
of  the  age,  the  animosity  of  neighbour- 
ing nobles  now  develops  itself  in  in- 
terminable litigation. 

Oulhen,  7g.  Villages  are  perhaps 
as  rare  here  as  in  any  part  of  Russia, 
except  the  steppes.  The  great  inclo- 
sures  of  the  post  stations  afford  the  only 
habitation  which  the  traveller  meets 
with  ;  they  are  all  built  of  wood,  and  a 
post  in  front  of  each  tells  the  distances 
to  St.  Petersburgh  and  Moscow,  the 
foci  of  the  empire.  The  country  is 
either  sandy  or  marshy,  or  covered 
with  large  forests ;  the  district  being 
one  of  the  ugliest  and  most  barren  iu 


Russia. 


ROUTE    95. — RIGA. 


581 


Livonia.  The  road  during  the  breaking 
up  of  the  winter  is  almost  impassable, 
and  in  summer  over  tracts  of  sand. 

Staakehi,  21 5. 

Wohnai^,  20.  A  large  village,  the 
only  one  besides  that  of  Walk  on  the 
whole  road  between  Dorpat  and  Riga. 
The  flax  grown  in  this  part  of  Livonia  is 
particularly  fine,  though  not  so  much  so 
as  that  of  Marienburgh,  where  it  is 
sometimes  seen  an  ell  in  length,  and  as 
silky  as  hair. 

Lemenhof,  19. 

Roop,  22. 

Engelhardshof,  21. 

Hilchensfer,  19. 

NeuermuJden,  15. 

Riga,  11.  The  capital  of  Livonia. 
Hotel,  the  King's  Arms,  in  a  street 
near  the  Quay,  kept  by  a  Scotchwo- 
man ;  very  comfortable,  and  charges 
moderate;  Hotel  deSt.  Petersburgh ; 
Hotel  de  Londres,  dirty  and  dear. 

Riga,  the  capital  of  Livonia,  is  a 
strongly  fortified  city  of  60,000  inha- 
bitants, situated  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Dwina,  at  the  distance  of  about  five 
English  miles  from  the  Gulf  of  Riga, 
into  which  that  river  discharges  its 
waters.  It  is  a  thriving  commercial 
place,  with  a  spacious  quay,  on  which 
the  daily  market  is  held.  That  part  of 
the  town  that  lies  closely  compressed 
witliin  the  earthen  walls  is  essentially 
German.  Its  narrow  winding  streets 
and  pointed  roofs,  and  the  dress  and 
appearance  of  the  people,  bear  a  much 
stronger  resemblance  to  the  old  cities 
of  the  German  empire  than  to  anything 
Russian ;  but  the  suburbs,  which  are 
very  extensive  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  are  quite  Russian.  The  immense 
flat-bottomed  timber  barges  which  are 
built  near  Vitepsk  and  Desna  resemble 
the  rafts  on  the  Rhine,  and  are  tenanted 
by  whole  families  of  Poles  descending 
the  Dwina;  these  rafts  are  broken  up 
at  Riga  as  soon  as  their  cargoes  are 
discharged,  and  not  unfrequently  the 
various  disjointed  fragments  which 
formed  compartments  of  a  single  barge 
are  converted  into  a  number  of  primi- 


tive   dwellings   for   the   peasantry   of 
Livonia  and  Courland. 

The  entrance  into  the  city  of  Riga  is 
by  a  bridge  of  boats  over  the  Dwina, 
upwards  of  1500  feet  long  ;  the  central 
vessels  being  moveable,  to  permit  the 
passage  of  ships.  The  city  contains 
several  handsome  squares,  in  one  of 
which  is  erected  a  pillar,  bearing  a 
bronze  statue  of  Victory,  intended  to 
commemorate  the  courage  displayed  by 
the  citizens  in  repulsing,  near  the  town, 
an  attack  of  some  straggling  columns  of 
the  French  invading  army,  in  1812. 
Many  of  the  churches  and  public  build- 
ings are  striking  and  handsome  edifices ; 
of  the  latter  the  Rathhaus,  the  Ex' 
change,  and  the  Castle  are  the  princi- 
pal. This  is  the  oldest  building  in  the 
town,  and  was  once  the  residence  of 
the  Masters  of  the  Teutonic  Order.  In 
the  interior  of  the  court  is  a  statue  of 
the  Grand  Master,  Walter  Von  Tletten- 
berg,  who  erected  this  edifice  ;  it  is  now 
inhabited  by  the  governor-general  of 
the  Livonian  provinces.  In  the  Dom- 
hirche  are  the  tombs  of  the  first  bishops 
of  Riga.  The  church  of  St.  Peter,  with 
its  lofty  tower  and  oriental  dome,  is  a 
beautiful  building,  and  the  view  from 
its  summit  is  such  as  one  seldom 
meets  with  in  these  level  countries; 
in  front  lie  the  wide  waters  of  the 
Baltic,  with  their  distant  islands  ;  while, 
more  immediately  beneath,  the  Dwina 
spreads  its  ample  bosom,  covered  with 
vessels  of  all  nations,  and  fenced  along 
its  banks  with  the  frowning  batteries 
of  the  citadel ;  the  dark  pine  forests  of 
Courland  close  in  the  prospect  on  the 
south  side,  contrasting  with  the  bound- 
less plain  of  sand  that  forms  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Riga,  over  which 
the  eye  wanders  till  it  is  wearied  with 
its  dreary  unchanging  sameness. 

The  steeple  of  St.  Peter's  is  said  to 
be  the  highest  in  the  Russian  empire. 
In  the  town  library  are,  a  curious  arm- 
chair that  once  belonged  to  Charles 
XII.,  a  very  old  Bible,  some  letters 
written  by  Luther  to  the  Senate  of 
Riga,  and  a  ball  which  is  said  to  have 


583 


ROUTE    95. RIGA. 


Sect.  V. 


been  fired  by  Peter  the  Great  in  the 
siege  of  1710,  and  lodged  in  the  wall 
of  the  library.  The  esplanade  and 
gardens,  both  in  and  near  the  town, 
are  well  laid  out.  There  is  a  cele- 
brated festival  held  here  on  St.  John's 
day,  the  24th  of  June,  called  ''  the 
Flower  Feast ;"  also  one  whiah  bears 
the  singular  title  of  the  "  Hugger  Sor- 
row," held  in  commemoration  of  a  siege 
in  which  the  inhabitants  suffered 
greatly  from  famine. 

The  provinces  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  the  Baltic  were  originally  peopled 
by  tribes  of  Wendish  origin,  Avho  held 
fast  to  their  heathen  rites  and  idol 
worship  long  after  Christianity  was 
permanently  established  throughout  the 
rest  of  Europe.  Warlike,  restless, 
and  piratical,  they  were  engaged  in 
ceaseless  struggles  with  the  Danes  and 
other  powers  of  the  north,  but,  above 
all,  with  the  merchants  of  the  Hanse 
Towns,  crippling  their  commerce, 
and  threatening  the  very  existence 
of  the  infant  mercantile  republic.  A 
powerful  fleet  was  speedily  equipped, 
and  a  landing  effected  on  the  coast  of 
Livonia.  A  species  of  crusade  was 
preached  against  these  warlike  idola- 
ters, whose  stubborn  attachment  to  the 
dark  rites  and  ceremonies  of  their  fore- 
fathers defied  the  zeal  and  eloquence  of 
the  military  prelates  who  founded  Riga 
and  Yorkeel  towards  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century.  These  worthies  esta- 
blished the  order  of  the  Brethren  of 
the  Cross  and  Sword  (Schwert  briider), 
the  members  of  which  were  principally 
natives  of  Bremen  and  Lubeck,  to  the 
former  of  which  cities  Albrecht  von 
Apelden,  the  founder  of  the  order, 
belonged. 

In  the  full  spirit  of  the  name 
they  bore,  these  warlike  adventurers 
speedily  enlarged  the  teriitories  of  the 
Hanse  Towns.  Ignorant  of  the  lan- 
guage, and  despising  the  habits  of  the 
natives,  their  principal  weapon  of  con- 
version to  the  true  fiiith  was  that  sword 
by  which  they  held  their  footing  on 
the  shores  of  the  east  sea ;  though  on 


one  occasion  the  Bishop  of  Eiga  is  re- 
ported to  have  edified  the  minds  of 
heathen  Wends  by  a  dramatic  repre- 
sentation of  a  variety  of  scenes  from 
the  Bible,  while  all  writers  concur  in 
describing  the  cruelties  practised  upon 
the  unbelieving  natives  by  these  Chris- 
tian warriors  as  of  the  most  revolting 
and  barbarous  description.  They  were 
not  long  permitted  to  pursue  their 
career  of  conquest  and  tyranny  with 
impunity.  On  the  north,  they  were 
compelled  to  recoil  before  the  arms  of 
the  Dane  ;  while  the  Russians,  alarmed 
at  the  near  approach  of  such  formidable 
neighbours,  roused  the  natives  to  avenge 
the  wrongs  of  half  a  century  of  oppres- 
sion, and  the  flame  of  insurrection 
spread  far  and  wide  throughout  Livonia 
and  Esthonia.  Many  Grermans  were 
cut  off  by  the  insurgents ;  but  at  length 
Bishop  Bernhard,  falling  upon  their 
tumultuous  forces  with  his  disciplined 
chivalry,  routed  the  Wends  and  their 
allies,  and  slew  them  mercilessly.  The 
Kussian  town  of  Dorpat  was  taken, 
and  a  German  colony  established  there 
(a.d.  1220).  The  capture  of  the  Isle 
of  Oesel,  to  the  rocky  fastnesses  of 
which  the  best  and  bravest  of  the  Livo- 
nians  had  retired  as  a  last  refuge,  and 
the  voluntary  conversion  of  the  Cour- 
landers,  completed  the  power  of  the 
brotherhood.  The  Emperor  Frederick 
II.  (1230)  conferred  the  conquered 
provinces  as  an  imperial  fief  on  Valquin, 
the  grand  master  of  the  order,  and 
everything  seemed  to  promise  the 
rapid  rise  of  a  mighty  kingdom,  when  a 
sudden  attack  of  the  Lithuanians  laid 
low  the  grand  master  and  his  hopes  of 
conquest,  and  nearly  annihilated  the 
entire  forces  of  the  brotherhood.  The 
scanty  relics  of  this  powerful  body  now 
called  for  aid  on  their  brethren  the 
Teutonic  knights,  who  were  anxiously 
seeking  a  fairer  field  for  military 
achievements  than  the  East,  where  they 
were  alike  harassed  by  the  open  vio- 
lence of  the  Mussulman,  and  the 
jealousy  of  the  rival  orders,  the  Tem- 
plars and  Hospitallers.     The  presence 


Russia. 


KOUTE    95. — RIGA. 


583 


of  these  hardy  warriors  restored  the 
Christians  to  their  former  superiority 
in  the  field,  and  these  new-comers  soon 
rivalled  the  knights  of  the  cross  and 
sword  in  cruelty,  burning  whole  vil- 
lages that  had  relapsed  into  idolatry, 
and  making,  in  the  words  of  one  of 
their  own  bishops,  "  out  of  free-born 
men  the  most  wretched  slaves."  As 
allies  of  the  Poles,  they  built  on  the 
Vistula  the  fort  of  Nassau,  and,  sallying 
forth  from  thence,  took  by  storm  the 
holy  oak  of  Thorn,  the  chief  sanctuary 
of  the  Prussians,  and  beneath  its  far- 
spreading  arms,  as  in  a  citadel,  the 
knights  defended  themselves  against 
the  frantic  attacks  of  the  idolaters.  A 
general  rising  of  the  natives,  and  a  war 
of  extermination,  reduced  their  nume- 
rous forces  to  a  few  scanty  troops,  and 
their  ample  domains  to  three  strong- 
holds ;  and,  after  various  alternate  de- 
feats and  victories,  they  were  rescued 
from  entire  destruction  by  a  crusade, 
under  the  command  of  the  Bohemian 
monarch,  Ottokar  the  Great,  who 
founded  the  city  of  Konigsberg  (a.  d. 
1260),  and  gave  for  a  time  new  life 
and  vigour  to  the  falling  fortunes  of 
the  northern  chivalry. 

Internal  dissensions,  and  the  conse- 
quent establishment  of  a  second  grand 
master,  who  held  his  seat  at  Mergen- 
theim,  weakened  the  growing  power  of 
the  reviving  brotherhood,  and  the  fatal 
battle  of  Tannenberg  (1410)  gave  a 
mortal  blow  to  the  importance  of 
this  "  unnatural  institution ; "  but 
the  knights  still  retained  the  whole 
eastern  coast  of  the  Baltic,  from  the 
Narova  to  the  Vistula,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century 
that  the  arms  of  Poland  compelled  them 
finally  to  relinquish  their  claims  to  the 
district  of  eastern  and  western  Prussia. 
The  ancient  spirit  of  the  order  awoke 
once  again  in  the  Grand  Master  Tletten- 
berg,  Avho  routed  the  Russians  in  1502, 
and  compelled  the  Tzar  to  agree  to  a 
truce  for  fifty  years ;  but  the  stipulated 
time  had  no  sooner  elapsed  than  the 
Russians  again  invaded  them,  and,  too 


feeble  any  longer  to  resist  such  power- 
ful enemies,  the  knights  were  glad  to 
purchase  peace,  and  the  undisturbed 
possession  of  the  province  of  Courland 
as  a  fief  of  the  Polish  crown,  by  sur- 
rendering Esthonia  to  Sweden,  and 
Livonia  to  the  Poles,  while  the  dis- 
tricts of  Narva  and  Dorpat  were  incor- 
porated with  the  empire  of  Russia. 
Still  the  brotherhood  existed.  Without 
importance  as  an  independent  power, 
but  valuable  as  an  ally,  its  friendship 
was  sought  and  courted  in  the  various 
intrigues  and  commotions  of  the  Russian 
throne  during  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  office  of  grand 
master  or  Duke  of  Courland  was  last 
held  by  Biron,  the  favourite  of  the 
Empress  Anne. 

The  only  surviving  relic  of  the  Teu- 
tonic knights,  besides  the  palace  near 
Mittau,  is  the  beautiful  hall  of  the  pre- 
ceptory  at  Marienbiirg.  "  In  June, 
1809,"  says  Menzel,  "the  King  of 
Wirtemburg  took  possession  of  Mer- 
gentheim,  the  principal  settlement  of 
the  Teutonic  knights.  The  astonished 
inmates  beheld  with  fury  the  new  Pro- 
testant officials,  and  rose  in  open  re- 
bellion against  the  proposed  traffic  with 
their  rights.  They  were  easily  sub- 
dued and  savagely  punished ;  for  they 
were  condemned  to  the  galleys,  and 
compelled  to  work  in  chains  in  the 
Royal  Gardens  at  Stuttgard.  Thus 
ended  the  far-famed  order  of  the  Teu- 
tonic knights."  Almost  the  only  men- 
tion of  the  order  in  the  later  history 
of  Germany  is  the  elevation  of  the 
Swedish  General  Horn  to  the  grand 
mastership  of  Mergentheim,  during  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  in  order  to  enable 
him  to  treat  with  the  nobles  and  cities 
of  the  empire  as  an  equal.  The  ancient 
palace  of  the  Teutonic  knights  at  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main  is  at  present  used  as 
a  barrack  for  the  Austrian  garri- 
son. 

St.  Olai,  19  J.  The  Dwina  is  crossed, 
and  the  traveller  enters  Courland. 
The  posting  in  this  province  is  con- 
siderably dearer  than  in  Livonia,  but 


584 


EOUTE    96. ST.  PETEESBUKGH   TO    BEELIN.  Sect.  V. 


the  arrangements  are  far  superior,  and 
the  rate  of  travelling  is  good. 

MiTTAu,  194.  The  capital  of  Cour- 
land.  Hotel  de  Petebsbourg,  and 
Hotel  de  Moscou.  The  Inns  of  this 
town  enjoy  a  pre-eminent  reputation 
for  exorbitant  charges.  Mittau  is  a  place 
of  considerable  traffic,  for  which  its  po- 
sition near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Aa, 
over  which  there  is  a  bridge  of  boats, 
is  very  favourable.  Its  population  is 
about  10,000.  The  houses  are  chiefly 
of  wood,  painted  green  or  a  reddish 
brown.  The  most  lively  period  to 
visit  Mittau  is  St.  John's  Day, 
when  the  whole  town  is  full  of  life 
and  bustle,  and  every  spare  room  is 
occupied.  There  is  a  Casino,  which 
is  well  conducted,  and  supported  by 
all  the  nobility  of  Courland.  The 
picture  galleries  of  Counts  Medem  and 
Ropp  are  particularly  worthy  of  notice; 
the  library  of  the  Gymnasium  contains 
25,000  volumes.  The  most  interest- 
ing building  is  the  castle,  the  old 
residence  of  the  Dukes  of  Courland ;  it 
is  in  the  Versailles  style,  situated 
on  an  island,  surrounded  by  the 
canals  of  the  Aa,  and  was  built  by 
Marshal  Biron,  the  favourite  of  the 
Empress  Anne,  when  he  was  chosen 
chief  of  the  Courland  chivalry.  A  fire 
nearly  destroyed  it  in  1788,  when  it 
was  rebuilt,  and  subsequently  became 
the  residence  of  Louis  XVIII.,  when 
travelling  under  the  title  of  the  Count 
de  Lille.  It  is  now  inhabited  by  the 
chief  officers  of  the  city,  and  a  portion 
of  it  is  set  apart  for  the  Imperial 
family.  The  country  around  Mittau 
is  low,  flat,  and  sandy,  producing 
chiefly  flax,  and,  in  the  more  favoured 
spots,  com ;  but  covered,  for  many  a 
verst,  with  pine  forests.  Diligences 
run  daily  between  this  town  and  Riga. 

EUievka,  20. 

Janishki,  23 1. 
"   1 

,^.     Beyond    this    small 
town  the  chaussee  commences,  which 
is  excellent    . 
Pouhjevha,  \Z\. 


MilovidovJca,  18. 

Zarizino,  18. 

NesJcutschu,  22. 

Tauroggen  (Russian  frontier),  22. — 
Total,  777^  versts. 

The  route  from  hence  to  Berlin  is  by 
Tilsit.  The  travelling  in  Prussia  is 
placed  on  an  admirable  footing,  and 
the  roads  are  well  constructed. 

ROUTE  96. 

ST.  PETERSBT7RGH  TO  BERLIN,  BY  VIL- 
KOMIR,  KOVNO,  AND  STOLEPAEN,  OR 
STALLAPONEN,  ON  THE  PRUSSIAN 
FRONTIER. 

There  are  two  roads  by  which  the 
traveller  may  reach  Berlin,  that  by 
Riga  and  Tauroggen,  or  the  new  one 
by  Kovno  and  Stolepaen ;  the  latter, 
though  longer  by  about  30  versts,  is 
by  far  the  best,  and,  if  taken,  a  great 
saving  of  time  will  be  efi^ected,  putting 
the  comfort  of  a  good  road  entirely  out  of 
the  question.  This,  the  grand  road 
between  St.  Petersburgh  and  the  Polish 
capital,  was  constructed  in  1845,  and, 
should  the  traveller  journey  day  and 
night,  he  will  reach  Berlin  on  the 
seventh  day ;  that  is  to  say,  in  summer, 
or  in  the  depth  of  winter,  when  the 
sledge  road  is  in  good  order,  and  no 
difficulties  present  themselves  in  cross- 
ing the  various  rivers,  five  in  number, 
which  occur  on  this  route.  During 
the  commencement  or  breaking  up  of 
the  winter  season,  a  traveller  may  oc- 
casionally be  detained  four  or  five  days 
longer.  The  English  Cabinet  mes- 
sengers, who,  during  the  winter,  leave 
Berlin  and  St.  Petersburgh  every  fort- 
night, generally  accomplish  the  dis- 
tance in  six  days ;  but  then  it  must  be 
remembered,  that  every  facility  with 
regard  to  horses,  post-boys,  &c.,  is 
given  them,  both  by  the  Russian  and 
Prussian  Governments.  These  remarks 
are  intended  to  refer  to  posting  only ; 
for  information  respecting  the  public 
conve3''ances  on  this  road,  and  those 
between  Kovno  and  Warsaw  and  Kovno 
and  Berlin,  or  the  price  for  a  seat  in  a 


Russia. 


EOUTE    96. LUGA. 


585 


courier's  sledge  between  St.  Petersburgh 
and  the  Prussian  capital,  see  Prelimi- 
nary Chapter,  pp.  392  and  393.  Though 
the  various  post-houses  erected  by  the 
Governinent  on  this  road  are  externally 
pleasing  to  the  eye,  and  of  recent  con- 
struction, they  are  as  destitute  of  pro- 
visions as  a  caravanserai  in  Turkey ;  the 
traveller  will  therefore  do  well  to  take 
his  own  with  him.  Occasionally  he 
will  light  upon  a  post-house  kept  by  a 
German,  in  which  case,  tolerable  fare 
may  be  expected,  or  at  any  rate  hoped 
for.     St.  Petersburgh  to 

Podgorno  Pulkovo,  17.  At  the 
twelfth  verst  is  a  very  old  village, 
and  just  beyond,  on  the  left,  the  ex- 
tensive gardens  of  Sophia,  the  entrance 
to  which  is  in  the  town  of  that  name, 
two  versts  farther  on.  Sophia  is  in  the 
government  of  St.  Petersburgh,  and 
appertains  to  the  town  and  palace  of 
Tzarsko-Selo.  It  was  founded  by 
Catherine  II.,  1785  ;  several  of  the 
houses  are  of  brick,  and  the  church, 
being  a  miniature  copy  of  the  mosque 
of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople,  is 
worthy  of  the  traveller's  observation. 

Gatshina,  25.  The  barrier  of  Gat- 
shina  is  a  neat  stone  arch ;  and  about 
a  couple  of  versts  farther  on  are  the 
ruins  of  an  unfinished  chateau,  which 
had  been  commenced,  by  the  Emperor 
Paul.  The  town  is  a  short  distance 
from  this  chateau.  The  present  mag- 
nificent palace  and  gardens  were  for- 
merly only  a  country  residence,  built 
by  Prince  Gregory  Orloff,  but  on  his 
decease  it  was  purchased  by  the  Em- 
press Catherine,  and,  with  all  its  ap- 
pendages of  lands  and  peasants,  pre- 
sented to  her  son,  the  Grand  Duke 
Paul,  in  1784.  The  place  was  raised 
into  a  town  by  the  Emperor  Paul,  in 
1797,  and  contains  upwards  of  3000 
inhabitants.  The  church  contains  some 
relics,  brought  from  Malta,  when  that 
island  was  taken  by  Baron  Hompech, 
who  was  at  the  time  Grand  Master  of 
the  Knights  of  Malta. 

There  are  several  charitable  institu- 
tions  at   Gatshina,  which  were  esta- 


blished and  superintended  by  the  late 
Empress  mother ;  it  was  her  favourite 
residence. 

Sivoritzi,  12^.  Immediately  on 
leaving  Gatshina,  the  road  strikes  into 
a  forest. 

Vira,  \2\. 

Yatshera,  20.  On  leaving  this  sta- 
tion the  road  runs  through  four  versts 
of  forest,  on  the  other  side  of  which  is 
a  village.     Post-house  good. 

Mutu,  124. 

Dolgofka,  12\.  At  the  fourth  verst, 
a  village ;  and  at  about  the  eighth  is 
the  district  town  of  Arouga,  near  which 
the  country  is  undulating,  and  very 
pretty,  and  the  road  crosses  the  river 
Luga. 

LuGA,  20 1.  A  district  town,  though 
built  of  wood  :  it  contains  a  church, 
Gostinnoi  Dvor,  and  market,  and,  like 
most  other  district  towns,  has  a  barrier 
at  each  end. 

Gorodetz,  20^. 

Plusa,  23. 

Novoselje,  21^. 

Kateshnoe,  22\.  Post-house  good. 
Here  the  road  divides,  that  on  the  left 
being  the  one  to  Kief. 

Mocheai,  22f. 

CUesii,  22 1. 

StremalJca,  15f. 

Dulofka,  15  J. 

OsTROFF,  17.     Post-house  good. 

Ruhilova,  21\. 

VishgodoJc,  21  f. 

Nestei,  20^. 

Ivanoshaia,  22|. 

Regictza,  20 1.  Post-house  tolerably 
good. 

Gonholna,  20. 

KusJcur,  22. 

Vassillievo,  2\\. 

Du7iaborg,2'[\.  The  inn  tolerably 
good. 

Egypten,  20.     Ditto. 

Dezazzir,  ISg. 

Dongelli,  15j. 

Utziani,  17. 

Scavsliedshika,  20^.  Post-house  good. 

Staskuniska,  17|. 

YiLKOMiR,  224.     Post-house  good. 


586 


KOUTE    97. ST.  PETERSBURGH   TO    ODESSA.  SeCt.  V. 


PogelosJca,  1Q\. 
lanova,  17^. 
Turzani,  15, 

KovNO,  15.^.  Hotel  de  la  Poste, 
Hotel  de  Varsovie.  Here  the  fron- 
tier of  Russia  is  passed,  and  the  zlots 
at  the  next  post-station  will  inform  the 
traveller  that  he  is  in  Poland.  It  was 
near  this  spot  that  the  French  army, 
on  the  24th  and  25th  of  June,  1812, 
crossed  the  Niemen  on  their  advance 
to  Moscow.  It  was  here,  also,  that 
the  remnant  of  the  450,000  men  who 
formed  that  army  re-crossed  it  on  the 
13th  of  December  of  the  same  year. 
They  amounted  according  to  Labaume, 
only  to  20,000,  of  whom  two-thirds  at 
the  least  had  never  seen  the  Kremlin. 
"Arrived,"  says  that  officer,"  "at  the 
opposite  bank,  like  ghosts  returned 
from  the  infernal  regions,  we  fearfully 
looked  behind  us,  and  beheld  with 
horror  the  savage  countries  where  we 
had  suffered  so  much.''  All  discipline 
was  at  an  end  when  the  debris  of  the 
French  army  reached  Kovno,  and,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  gallant  defence  made 
by  Ney  at  the  Wilna  Gate,  this  rem- 
nant would  have  been  annihilated. 
The  passport  is  vise  here. 

Veiveri,  21. 

Budkja,  14. 

Marienpol,  18 J.  A  small  town. 
Here  the  traveller  leaves  the  main 
road  from  St.  Petersburgh  to  Warsaw, 
on  the  left,  and  proceeds  to 

VilkofsU,  21.  Here,  on  the  22nd 
of  June,  1812,  Napoleon,  having  re- 
fused the  wise  and  moderate  conditions 
proposed  to  him  by  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der, at  Gumbinnen,  issued  the  following 
proclamation  in  his  General  Orders  : — 
"  Soldiers, 

"  The  second  Polish  war  is  begun. 
The  first  terminated  at  Friedland  and 
at  Tilsit.  At  Tilsit,  Russia  vowed  an 
eternal  alliance  with  France,  and  war 
with  England,  She  now  breaks  her 
vows,  and  refuses  to  give  any  explana- 
tion of  her  strange  conduct,  until  the 
French  eagles  have  repassed  the  Rhine 
and  left  our  allies  at  her  mercy. 


"  Russia  is  hurried  away  by  a  fatality ! 
Her  destinies  will  be  fulfilled.  Does 
she  think  us  degenerated]  Are  we 
no  more  the  soldiers  who  fought  at 
Austerlitz]  She  places  us  between 
dishonour  and  war.  Our  choice  cannot 
be  difficult.  Let  us,  then,  march  for- 
ward. Let  us  cross  the  Niemen,  and 
carry  the  Polish  war  into  her  country. 
This  second  Polish  war  will  be  as  glo- 
rious for  the  French  arms  as  the  first 
has  been;  but  the  peace  we  shall  con- 
clude will  carry  with  it  its  own  gua- 
rantee, and  will  terminate  the  fatal 
influence  which  Russia  for  fifty  years 
past  has  exercised  in  Europe." 

VirhoUen,  14.  Between  this  sta- 
tion and  the  next  the  Polish  frontier  is 
reached,  indicated  by  a  bar  placed  across 
the  road.  Close  to  it  is  a  large  staring 
white-washed  Custom  House,  at  which 
the  passport  is  examined.  The  search 
at  the  Prussian  frontier  is  civilly  con- 
ducted. 

Stolepaen,  14. — Total,  801  versts. 
Stolepaen  is  a  moderately  sized  town, 
situated  within  five  English  miles  of 
the  Prussian  frontier.  The  people  at 
the  post-house  are  obliging,  and  will 
give  the  traveller  Prussian  thalers  for 
his  remaining  roubles.  From  hence 
the  road  passes  by  Gumbinnen  and 
Insleberg;  and  at  Tapian,  a  small  post- 
station  about  nine  German  miles  from 
Konigsberg,  the  road  to  Tilsit  is  left 
to  the  right.  The  road  from  hence  to 
Berlin  is  excellent,  and  the  posting 
good.  The  distance  from  Stolepaen  to 
Berlin  is  about  97  German  miles,  or 
458  English, 

ROUTE  97. 

st.  petersburgh   to  odessa,   by  vi- 
tepsk,  mohilef,  and  kief. 

St,  PETERSBURGH  tO 

Podgorno  Pulkovo,  17. 
Gatshina,  25. 
Sivoritzi,  12^. 
Vira,  12i, 
Yatshera,  20. 


"Russia. 


ROUTE    97. SKLOF. 


587 


M^itii,  121. 

Dolgofka,  \2\. 

LuGA,  20|. 

Gorodetz,  20\. 

Plusa,  23. 

Navoselje,  21  j. 

Kateshnoe,  22|.      Post-house  good. 

Pereroselje,  13^. 

Jamkino,  14g^. 

PoKCHOF,  22.  An  ancient  town, 
has  two  churches,  a  Gostinnoi  Dvor, 
and  large  market,  &c. 

Duhrofka,  264- 

SoTokino,  25^. 

Asheva,  24. 

Beshanizi,  18. 

Michailof  Pogost,  22\. 

Priskucha,  26f . 

Nedomerki,  2 Of. 

Velikije  Luki,  23.  This  ancient 
district  town  contains  several  churches, 
and  twenty-seven  manufactories  of 
leather ;  this  is  forwarded  to  the  St. 
Petersburgh  markets  by  water.  The 
town  was  in  1611  taken  and  burnt  by 
the  adherents  of  the  pretended  Dmitri. 

Senhof,  211. 

Seruii,  17.  This  is  a  lonely  post 
station,  surrounded  by  a  dense  forest, 
tenanted  only  by  wolves,  which,  when 
hard  pressed  for  food  in  winter,  will 
sometimes  prowl  for  prey  in  the  near 
neighbourhood  of  the  post-house. 

Tshnrilova,  23.  On  leaving  Seruti, 
the  traveller  enters  White  Russia,  and 
the  road  plunges  into  a  thick,  undulat- 
ing forest,  the  scenery  of  which  is  ro- 
mantically varied.  The  country  is  of 
this  description,  stretching  for  a  con- 
siderable distance  towards  the  banks  of 
the  Dwina,  nearly  a  day's  journey. 
Usviat,  19  2. 

Shlikof,  19^.  Pass  the  Dwina  into 
SuRASH,  22 1.  On  the  left  bank  of 
that  river  :  there  are  no  remarkable 
features  in  the  country  near  here ; 
but  the  ground  is  interesting,  as  a  tract 
in  the  route  of  the  desolating  army  of 
Napoleon,  and  the  scene  of  some  of  the 
severe  conflicts  consequent  upon  his 
unprincipled  invasion. 
Goponofslschina,  19  5. 


ViTEPSK,  19^.  The  barrier  is  de- 
corated by  two  stone  pillars  supporting 
the  Imperial  Eagles  ;  and,  on  entering 
the  town,  the  traveller  will  perceive 
the  prison  on  his  right  hand.  Vitepsk 
is  the  Government  town ;  the  Dwina 
flows  through  it.  It  is  a  very  large 
town,  containing  eight  monasteries,  and 
two  convents ;  eleven  Greek  churches, 
and  one  for  the  garrison ;  three  Roman 
Catholic  churches ;  three  synagogues ; 
a  gymnasium  ;  magazines ;  hospitals  ; 
tribunals  ;  tanneries,  &c.  The  popu- 
lation, chiefly  Jewish,  amounts  to  about 
15,000  souls.  At  Vitepsk  were  Na- 
poleon's first  head-quarters  after  he  left 
Wilna.  Beyond  Vitepsk  the  country 
is  exceedingly  pretty,  and  the  road 
good ;  yet  the  traveller  will  scarcely 
pass  through  it  without  calling  to  mind 
the  ravages  of  the  French,  and  the 
wisdom  and  dexterity  of  Barclay  de 
Tolly's  famous  retreat, 

Dimakova,  20.  The  road  out  of 
Vitepsk  keeps  the  right  bank  of  the 
Dwina, 

PogrehenJci,  20. 
Grishani,  17. 

Orsha,  17f.  On  the  Dnieper,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Orchitza,  and  one  of 
the  oldest  Russian  towns.  It  contains 
monasteries  of  the  orders  of  St.  Do- 
minic, St.  Francis,  St.  Bernard,  and  St. 
Basil ;  four  Greek  churches  ;  a  college 
of  Jesuits ;  a  convent ;  and  a  syna- 
gogue. The  population,  entirely  Jew- 
ish, amounts  to  about  2000  ;  and,  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  the  filth  of 
everything  in  the  place  beggars  every 
attempt  at  description.  Much  as  the 
ordinances  of  the  Hebrews  enjoin 
cleanliness,  the  traveller  will  find  that 
the  Russian  and  Polish  Jews  are  the 
dirtiest  of  the  whole  human  race  claim- 
ing to  be  considered  civilized. 

Alexandria,  21  f.  Birch  planted  on 
either  side  of  the  road,  all  the  way  to 
this  place. 

Sklof,  174-  This  small  town  is 
the  property  of  General  Zoritz.  It  has 
barriers,  two  churches,  and  a  market. 
The  General  had  erected  a  handsome 


588 


EOUTE    97. MOIIILEF. 


Sect.  V. 


building,  in  the  form  of  a  crescent, 
devoted  to  the  education  of  young 
men  for  the  army.  The  ruined  walls 
alone  remain ;  it  lay  on  Napoleon's  route. 

Dohreika,  12. 

MoHiLEP,  19|.  On  the  east  bank 
of  the  Dnieper ;  so  ancient,  that  there 
is  no  record  of  the  period  of  its  founda- 
tion ;  but,  until  the  close  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  the  Russian  Princes 
held  possession  of  it.  In  1772,  Ca- 
therine II.  regained  it,  and,  six  years 
after,  made  it  a  Government  town.  It 
contains  many  Greek  and  Roman  Catho- 
lic convents ;  several  churches,  and  two 
synagogues  ;  and  is  the  residence  of  a 
Russian  archbishop  ;  population  about 
10,000,  of  which  more  than  2000  are 
Jews.  This  place  carries  on  a  con- 
siderable commerce  with  Riga,  Memel, 
and  Dantzic,  in  leather,  tallow,  wax, 
honey,  potash,  hemp,  and  corn ;  and 
imports  raw  silk. 

Amckova,  18j. 

Belizhoi  Prostojaloi  Dvor,  18. 

Rabovitchi,  19j. 

Propoisk,  12  J. 

Glinka,  17  5. 

Litvinovitchi,  13j. 

VoronovstcMna,  19j. 

Tshetshersk,  12. 

Shepotovitchi,  16^. 

Osohin,  17. 

Kostchu  Kovitchi,  12. 

Gomel,  12  A. 

Beliza,  6  j.  a  town  of  Little  Rus- 
sia, with  a  Greek  church,  and  about 
800  inhabitants. 

Pesotshnaya  Buda,  19. 

Dohrianka,  20;j. 

Drosdovitza,  17. 

GORODNIA,  15. 

Smilshin,  16. 

Nismennaia,  17. 

TcHERNiGOP,  19.  Supposed  to  be 
at  least  as  old  a  town  as  Kief.  The 
stone  cathedral  was  built  in  the  eleventh 
century.  There  is  a  wooden  church  and 
amonastery.within  the  inclosure  of  which 
is  the  archbishop's  palace.  In  the  town 
are  eight  other  churches,  and  a  school 
and  gymnasium  (dependent  upon  the 


University  of  KharkofF),  in  which  are 
professors  of  mathematics,  language, 
&c.  Tchernigof  has  also  several  large 
markets. 

Yanovka,  17. 

Krasovski  Ghutor,  19. 

Tcliemer,  18^. 

KosELEZ,  20^.  In  the  fertile  dis- 
tricts of  Little  Russia,  the  traveller 
will  observe  some  distinctive  features 
in  the  landscape;  amongst  them  the 
primitive  wind-mills,  and  the  use  of 
thatch,  instead  of  wood,  for  the  roofs 
of  the  cottages,  many  of  which  have 
orchards  attached  to  them.  The  honey 
here  is  collected  in  pieces  in  the  hol- 
low trunks  of  trees,  fixed  at  a  consi- 
derable height  on  the  timber,  in  the 
oak  forests.  A  tithe  of  the  produce  of 
these  hives  belongs  to  the  seigneur. 
The  timber  felled  in  these  forests  is 
sent  down  the  Dnieper  to  the  Black 
Sea,  for  the  Imperial  Dockyards. 
Koselez  is  a  town  on  what  are  called 
the  "Steppes," — immense  districts, 
nearly  flat ;  rarely  indeed  in  them  is 
anything  to  be  descried  by  the  traveller 
between  him  and  the  horizon,  but  a 
straggling  tree,  or  a  Tartar  tumulus. 
These  tracts  are  extremely  dangerous 
to  traverse  in  the  winter,  as  in  the 
dark,  or  a  snow  storm,  the  way  is 
easily  lost,  and  the  bewildered  wan- 
derer may,  in  a  very  short  space,  be 
frozen,  or  overwhelmed  in  drift. 

Kalitjanski  Ghutor,  17|. 

Bogdanofski,  17;j. 

Brovari,  19. 

Kief,  24.  The  foundation  and  ear- 
liest history  of  this  town  is  involved  in 
obscurity ;  but  in  882  it  was  the 
capital  of  Southern  Russia.  Under 
the  Grand  Duke  Vladimir,  and  several 
of  his  successors,  it  flourished  for  a 
considerable  period;  and  it  is  said  that 
in  the  eleventh  century  there  were  400 
churches  within  its  walls.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  this  is  an  exaggeration ; 
but  it  was  decidedly  a  very  rich  and 
prosperous  town,  or  such  a  statement 
would  never  have  been  made. 

Most  or  all  the  frightful  vicissitudes 


Fiussia. 


ROUTE    97. — KIEF. 


589 


of  Tartar  invasions,  civil  war,  fire,  and 
famine,  and  plague,  have  swept  over 
Kief,  as  over  all  other  Russian  towns 
that  existed  in  those  days ;  and  its 
ancient  grandeur  has,  therefore,  suf- 
fered serions  diminution,  but  it  still 
remains  a  i"emarkable  and  venerated 
city.  It  is  divided  into  three 
parts,  the  "  Old  Town,"  the  "  Petcher- 
skoi,"  also  called  the  "  New  Fort," 
and  the  "  Podole,"  the  "  Low  Town," 
or  "Town  of  the  Vale."  Each  of 
these  has  its  own  fortifications.  The 
banks  of  the  Dnieper  are  here  lofty, 
and  on  two  steep  hills  are  situated  the 
Old  Town  and  the  Petcherskoi  divi- 
sion, with  its  monaster}'',  fortress,  and 
bastions,  separated  from  each  other  by 
a  deep  ravine,  while  the  Podole  occu- 
pies the  space  between  the  hills  and 
the  river,  where  are  carried  on  the 
commercial  affairs  of  the  town.  The  site 
of  the  Old  Town,  in  remote  ages,  was 
the  Sclavonian  Pantheon.  There  the 
worshippers  of  Perune,  Horsa,  Lado, 
and  other  idolatrous  deities,  rendered 
homage  to  their  savage  gods;  and  there 
the  rough  Christian  Vladimir  erected 
the  church  of  St.  Basil  (still  standing), 
on  the  spot  long  desecrated  by  the 
temple  of  Perune,  the  Russian  Jupiter, 
At  the  northern  end  of  the  high  land, 
on  which  the  Old  Town  stands,  is  part 
of  another  church  that  was  likewise 
erected  by  Vladimir.  The  immense 
earthen  walls  of  this  very  ancient  part 
of  Kief  inclose,  within  a  small  space, 
several  churches,  and  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Sophia.  This  magnificent  struc- 
ture was  built  by  the  Grand  Duke 
Yaroslaf  in  1037,  on  the  spot,  and  in 
commemoration,  of  his  victory  over  the 
Petchnegans.  It  exceeds  in  grandeur 
the  Petcherskoi  Cathedral,  and  con- 
tains a  mosaic  representation  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  on  a  colossal  scale,  with 
other  pieces  of  a  similar  description. 

The  palace  of  the  Metropolitan  is 
close  to  the  cathedral,  and  shaded  by 
venerable  trees.  Some  remarkable 
remains  of  ancient  art  are  preserved 
in  it. 


The  Petcherskoi  Monastery  stands 
within  the  immense  fortress  of  Petch- 
ersk.  and  gives  its  name  to  this  portion 
of  Kief,  which,  from  the  eastern  ap- 
proach, has  an  exceedingly  striking 
and  picturesque  effect.  The  churches 
and  cathedral  of  the  Old  Town,  grouped 
with  those  of  this  monastery,  all  gilt 
and  coloured,  as  Russians  love  to  see 
their  great  buildings,  and  the  massive 
fortress,  Avails,  and  bastions  mantling 
the  heights,  seize  at  once  upon  the 
traveller's  attention,  at  the  close  ot 
his  laborious  journey. 

The  entrance  to  the  monastery  is  by 
a  splendid  gate,  ornamented  by  full- 
length  representations  of  St.  Anthony 
and  St.  Theodosius,  the  two  first  ab- 
bots, and  other  objects  of  veneration. 
The  cathedra],  dedicated  to  the  Ascen- 
sion of  the  Virgin,  is  reached  by  a  fine 
alley,  on  either  side  of  which  are  the 
cells  of  the  brotherhood.  The  interior 
of  the  cathedral  is  in  an  elegant  style 
of  architecture,  and  on  its  walls  beau- 
tiful representations  of  scenes,  taken 
from  Scripture  history,  are  many 
and  various ;  it  is  also  resplendent 
with  gilding,  gold  and  silver,  applied 
to  all  decorative  purposes  in  the  build- 
ing, and  on  the  shrines,  the  most  re- 
markable of  which  is  that  of  the  Virgin, 
over  the  doors  which  open  into  the 
Most  Holy  Place.  The  lights  con- 
stantly burning  about  the  church,  and 
the  profusion  of  them  about  this  particu- 
lar shrine  at  the  Vesper  Service,  are  in- 
sufficient to  showto  advantage  the  richly 
decorated  ceiling.  The  seven  turrets 
of  this  church,  with  their  gilt  cupolas, 
connected  by  golden  chains,  and  the 
superb  belfry,  which  stands  alone,  and 
is  upwards  of  300  feet  high,  add  much 
to  the  external  splendour  of  the  place. 
It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  Russian 
annalist,  Nestor,  lived  in  this  convent. 
Among  the  numerous  other  churches 
in  the  inclosure,  that  of  St.  Nicholas 
is  the  most  worthy  of  a  stranger's  in- 
spection. Within  the  walls  of  the  for- 
tress of  Petchersk  are  thebarracks  of  the 
garrison,  magazine,  arsenals,  and  houses 

D   D 


690 


EOUTE    97. KIEF. 


Sect.  V. 


of  the  officers.  Near  the  fortress  is  a 
bazaar;  and  the  quarter  of  the  town 
behind  it,  which  is  regularly  laid  out, 
is  partly  inhabited  by'Jews.  The  best 
part  of  the  town,  containing  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Governor,  and  other  per- 
sons of  distinction,  shaded  by  fine  old 
trees,  is  north  of  the  Jewish  neigh- 
bourhood. 

The  renowned  catacombs  of  St. 
Anthony,  the  founder  of  the  monas- 
tery, are  excavations  in  the  precipitous 
cliff  which  overhangs  the  river;  his 
remains  are  therein  preserved  at  the 
extremity  of  the  labyrinth.  This  pas- 
sage is  about  six  feet  high,  but  ex- 
tremely narrow,  and  blackened  by  the 
torches  of  the  numerous  visitors.  The 
number  of  bodies  here  preserved  is 
about  eighty,  ranged  in  niches  on  both 
sides  of  the  passage,  in  open  coffins, 
enveloped  in  wrappers  of  cloth  and 
silk,  ornamented  with  gold  and  silver. 
The  stiffened  hands  are  so  placed  as  to 
receive  the  devotional  kisses  of  the 
pilgrims ;  and  on  their  breasts  are 
written  their  names,  and  sometimes  a 
short  record  of  their  virtuous  deeds. 
These  saints  had  died  a  natural  death ; 
but  the  most  distressing  part  of  the 
scene  is  the  row  of  small  windows, 
behind  which  the  deluded  martyrs  had 
built  themselves  into  a  stone  wall, 
leaving  only  those  apertures  at  which 
to  receive  their  food ;  these  little  win- 
dows close  at  once  their  dwelling  and 
their  tomb.  The  catacombs  of  Theo- 
dosius  are  to  the  south  of  those  of  St. 
Anthony,  and  are  on  a  much  smaller 
scale  and  simpler  plan.  They  contain 
but  forty-five  bodies,  and  these  remains 
are  not  so  highly  venerated  as  those  in 
the  other  catacomb. 

The  pilgrims  to  this  monastery  and 
catacombs  amount  annually  to  as  many 
as  50,000,  or  more;  some  from  one  part 
of  .the  widely-extended  Russian  em- 
pire, some  from  another.  A  few  will 
toil  even  all  the  weary  way  from 
Kamschatka,  collecting  on  the  road 
the  offerings  of  those  who  are  either 
not  able^  or  not  sufficiently  devout  to 


undertake  the  journey  themselves.  A 
shoi't  distance  from  the  road  which 
leads  from  Petchersk  to  the  Podole, 
the  traveller  should  notice  a  handsome 
monument,  that  marks  the  fountain  in 
which  the  children  of  Vladimir  the 
Great  were  baptized.  It  is  a  stone 
obelisk,  150  feet  high  ;  and  close  to 
its  base  is  a  wooden  crucifix,  bearing, 
in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  the 
words,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King  of 
the  Jews.  The  administration  of  the 
baptismal  rite  to  the  Russian  people, 
at  the  period  of  the  conversion  of  their 
renowned  Grand  Duke,  took  place  very 
near  the  spot  on  which  this  monument 
stands. 

The  Podole  portion  of  Kief  is  well 
and  regularly  laid  out,  interspersed 
with  trees  and  gardens,  and  forms  a 
strong  contrast  to  the  old  parts  of  the 
city,  where,  at  almost  every  turn,  the 
picturesque  presents  itself  in  great 
variety.  The  academy  is  on  a  splendid 
scale ;  there  are  upwards  of  6000 
students. 

Weta,  20. 

Wasilkopf,  17J. 

Grehenki,  28. 

Belaia  ZerJcof,  16^. 

Schamraiefka,  24^. 

Skwira,  12|. 

Morosofka,  26. 

Pleskofskaia  Kartshema,  24 1. 

LivoPEZ,  26^. 

SchornitscJie,  17|. 

Nishnaia  Kra^ifna,  26y. 

Brazlaf,  14.  The  capital  of  the 
Palatinate  of  that  name,  situated  on  a 
lake. 

Tultshin,  17. 

JSavinezkaia,  26. 

Schahokritskaia,  26. 

Olgopol,  21^.  In  the  government 
of  Podolia. 

Pereima,  15|. 

Balta,  16.  Capital  of  a  circle  in 
the  government  of  Podolia,  on  the 
Kadynia  :  population,  1600.  Before 
the  annexation  of  this  part  of  Poland 
to  Russia,  one  half  of  the  town  be- 
longed to   the  Palatinate  of  Breslau, 


Hiissla. 


ROUTE  98. ST.  PETEESBURGH  TO  REVAL. 


591 


and  the  other  to  the  Khan  of  Tartary. 
Some  excesses  committed  by  a  party 
of  Cossacks  here  in  1767,  were  one  of 
the  ostensible  causes  of  the  war  which 
broke  out  soon  after,  between  the  Rus- 
sians and  the  Turks,  during  which  the 
town  of  Balta  was  laid  in  ashes  by  the 
former. 

Baitalsluia,  22. 

Ananief,  15. 

Schishkova,  16. 

Djaurova,  VI \. 

Bantkofikaia,  274- 

Janofskaia,  27 1. 

Severin  ofskaia,  1 8 . 

Ilinskaia,  16|. 

Odessa,  22^. 

Total,  1792^-  versts. 

ROUTE  98. 

ST.  PETERSBTJRGH  TO  REVAL,  BY  NARVA* 

(See  Route  95,  p.  578,  as  far  as  Nar- 
va), 138.2  versts. 
Waivara,  21. 

Tshudleigh,  17|. 

Lewe,  12. 

War  gel.  21. 

Hohenkreutz,  26j. 

Petrus,  25 1. 

Lop,  22|.  This  station  has  a  more 
inviting  interior  than  many  others  on 
this  road ;  two  old  elms,  Baucis  and 
Philemon  like,  stand  at  the  door,  and 
the  landlord's  habits  of  order  and  clean- 
liness, acquired  in  a  residence  in  Eng- 
land, are  in  strong  contrast  with  those 
of  his  countrymen.  "  The  windows," 
remarks  a  recent  traveller,  '*  were 
bright  and  clean;  the  floor  clean  and 
fresh  sanded,  and  in  the  corner  stood 
a  dear  familiar  object,  a  regular  eight- 
day  clock,  —  Thomas  Hunter,  Fen- 
church  Street." 

Kagal,  23 f. 

Geggleclit,  24f. 

Reval,  22 1 . 

Total,  356  versts. 


ROUTE  99. 

ST.      PETERSBURGH      TO     WARSAW,     BY 

elovno,  marienpol,  suwalki,  ani> 
pultusk;  and  from  the  polish 
cap;tal,  by  bloni  to  slupza,  on 
the  frontier. 

From  St.  Petersburgh  to  Marienpol^ 
(see  p.  584,  Route  96,)  752  versts. 

May-ienpol  to  Kalvarija,  17  versts. 
A  small  town. 

Shiplishki,  20^. 

SuwALKi,  191.     A  town. 

Stshepki,  14. 

Angustovo,  14.     A  small  town. 

Raigrod,  23. 

Graevo,  17  5. 

Stshutshin,  13. 2. 

Sfaviski,  22^. 

LoMSHA,  21  ^.  A  small  town — cross 
the  river. 

Miastkof,  16.     Grovernment  of  Plok. 

OsTROLENKA,  17|.     A  small  town. . 

Sehin,  20. 

Shelkof,  18|. 

Pultusk,  15^.  A  small  garrison 
town  on  the  Narev.  Post-house  good 
and  clean. 

Serodsk,  21. 

Taslona,  I75. 

Warsaw,  16|.  Total,  1077^  versts; - 
An  extra  post,  both  on  entering  and 
leaving  Warsaw.  Hotel  D'Akgle- 
TERRE,  in  the  Novi  Svyat,  the  best  ; 
the  Hotel  de  Wilna,  de  Saxe,  and 
Hotel  de  l'Europe. 

The  first  view  of  Warsaw  from  the 
St.  Petersburgh  road  is  magnificent. 
The  ground  rising  gradually  from  the 
left  bank  of  the  Vistula  displays  its 
domes  and  palaces,  rising  above  each 
other  until  the  vast  picture  can  no 
longer  be  taken  in  at  a  singlcA-iew. 
Midway  up  the  steep  ascent  stands  the 
huge  Zamek,  spreading  far  and  wide 
its  ample  arms,  and  towering  above 
the  surrounding  buildings  like  a  giant 
oak  above  his  brethren  of  the  forest. 
The  suburb  of  Praga  is  no  longer  a 
fortress  bristling  with  cannon,  as  in  the 
dd2 


593 


ROUTE    99. ST.  PETERSBUKGH   TO    WARSAW.  Sect.  V. 


days  of  Kosciusko ;  a  few  straggling  huts 
upon  the  sand  bfinks  of  the  Vistula,  for 
the  most  part  inhabited  by  Jews,  are  all 
that  remain  of  it.  A  bridge  of  boats  tra- 
verses the  broad  stream  of  the  Vistula ; 
the  entire  length  of  this  bridge  is 
above  3000  feet,  exceeding  the  dimen- 
sions of  any  similar  structure  in  Eu- 
rope. The  Russian  government,  it  is 
said,  intend  to  erect  a  suspension  bridge, 
but  this  gigantic  undertaking  has  not 
as  yet  been  carried  into  execution.  A 
barrier,  running  the  whole  length  of 
this  bridge,  separates  the  two  streams 
of  passengers  going  to  and  fro,  each 
having  its  allotted  side,  as  on  the  Elbe 
Briicke,  at  Dresden.  The  present 
population  of  Warsaw  does  not  exceed 
100,000,  exclusive  of  the  garrison,  the 
average  strength  of  which  may  be  com- 
puted at  20,000.  Many  of  the  older 
houses  are  built  of  wood,  but  all  the 
more  modern  buildings  are  of  stone  or 
brick :  all  are  numbered,  beginning 
from  the  government  palace.  The 
streets  are  almost  entirely  without 
trottoirs,  and  the  pavement  bad. 

The  dimensions  of  the  palaces  at 
Warsaw,  both  ancient  and  modern,  are 
enormous,  but  they  now  contain  little 
to  interest  the  traveller,  save  their  his- 
torical associations  with  many  a  mighty 
name  now  better  known  to  the  stranger 
than  to  their  own  countrymen.  Amongst 
these  palaces  may  be  cited  that  of  the 
Counts  of  Bruhl ;  the  residence  of  the 
Sapiehas,  the  rivals  of  John  Sobieski ; 
the  palace  of  the  Radziwills,  the 
Lubomirskis,  Czartoriskis,  and  other 
noble  families  distinguished  in  their 
day  as  soldiers,  men  of  letters,  and  poli- 
ticians. At  the  extremity  of  Warsaw 
there  is  one  royal  edifice  not  less 
■splendid  than  those  already  men- 
tioned, that  of  Augustus  II.,  which, 
in  a  fit  of  pride  and  gallantry,  he 
caused  to  be  built  for  one  of  his 
.mistresses.  It  is  said  that  one  day 
ithe  beautiful  Countess  Orselska,  in  tra- 
Tersing  an  uninhabited  part  of  the  city, 
happened  to  expatiate  on  the  beauty 
of  the  site,  and  that  the  king,  in  con- 


sequence, raised  this  palace  on  it  as  if 
by  magic.  In  fifteen  days  the  la- 
bours of  many  thousand  workmen  had 
produced  a  palace,  park,  and  gardens, 
and  the  king,  conducting  the  countess 
through  the  richly  furnished  apart- 
ments, said  to  her,  "All  this  is  yours." 
This  palace  is  now  the  property  of  the 
Count  Zamoyski,  who  has  a  fine  collec- 
tion of  objects  of  art  of  the  middle  ages. 
In  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  near  the 
Vistula,  is  the  ZameJc,  the  residence  of  the 
Polish  kings,  erected  in  part  by  Sigis- 
mund  III.,  enlarged  by  Augustus  II., 
and  finished  by  Stanislas  Augustus 
Poniatowski.  The  architecture  is  of  a 
sombre  character,  but  the  biulding  is 
imposing  by  its  dimensions  and  site. 
It  is  now  inhabited  by  the  Governor  of 
Warsaw  and  his  officials. 

The  splendid  Canalettis,  so  long  the 
glory  of  the  Zamek,  are  there  no  longer, 
but  have  been  removed  to  decorate  the 
imperial  palaces  in  Russia.  The  ball- 
room, with  its  richly  gilded  ceiling, 
the  vast  hall  of  the  assembly — where 
the  stormy  diets  were  held  in  former 
times,  and  the  sword  was  but  too  often 
appealed  to,  when  some  stubborn  pala- 
tine threatened  to  frustrate  the  wishes 
and  decisions  of  the  assembled  nobles — 
the  collection  of  national  archives,  and 
the  apartments  formerly  tenanted  bj' 
the  Tzar,  when  he  visited  Warsaw,  are 
all  it  now  offers  to  the  traveller's  no- 
tice. 

The  Government  Palace  is  an  im- 
mense building,  of  modern  erection, 
comprising  within  its  vast  walls  the 
principal  theatre,  the  courts  of  justice, 
the  custom-house,  and,  until  within  the 
last  few  years,  the  hotels  of  several  of 
the  ministers  of  the  various  departments 
of  government. 

The  nobility  and  the  wealthy  in- 
habitants reside  in  the  Cracovian 
suburbs,  in  the  Electoral  and  Stony 
Streets,  and  in  that  of  the  New 
World.  In  this  elegant  street  is  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  and  the  Jardin  de  Saxe. 
The  palace,  pulled  down  in  1838, 
was  once  the  residence  of  the  Saxon 


Bussla. 


ROUTE    99. WARSAW. 


593 


kings.  The  former  requires  only  the 
ornamental  water  of  the  Tuileries  to 
make  it  as  charming  a  resort  as  those 
gardens ;  it  is  the  fashionable  prome- 
nade. In  the  same  street  is  the  square 
on  which  is  erected  a  statue  to  Coper- 
nicus, and  near  the  Jardin  de  Saxe 
is  a  very  good  restaurant,  kept  by  a 
Frenchman;  the  cooking  and  wines  are 
excellent,  and  the  charges  moderate. 

One  of  the  palaces  of  the  Polish 
kings,  called  the  palace  of  Casimir, 
is  now  occupied  by  the  professors  and 
students  of  the  university,  founded 
about  twenty  years  since  by  the  Em- 
peror Alexander.  Its  library  is  said 
to  contain  150,000  volumes,  and  a  great 
number  of  scarce  and  curious  manu- 
scripts. The  collection  of  medals  is 
likewise  extensive.  Attached  to  this 
establishment  are  also  a  Museum,  a 
Botanical  Garden,  and  Observatory. 
Nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  city  stands 
the  Exchange,  a  handsome  and  spacious 
building.  The  Marien  Bazaar  is  a 
large  open  square,  surrounded  by  shops^ 
the  owners  of  which  are  almost  entirely 
Jews  ;  standing  among  this  assemblage 
of  flowing  robes  and  ample  beards,  one 
might  fancy  oneself  once  more  in  the 
Torgovi  Riadi,  at  Moscow,  with  its 
labyrinth  of  streets  and  noisy  traders. 

The  churches  in  Warsaw,  both  Ca- 
tholic and  Lutheran,  might  bear  a  com- 
parison with  those  in  the  majority  of 
European  capitals.  The  principal  Ro- 
man Catholic  churches  are  the  cathedral 
of  St.  John  and  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Cross,  The  Gothic  architecture  of  the 
former  is  a  monument  of  taste,  the 
carving  and  sculpture  of  the  choir  being 
also  of  excellent  workmanship.  Twelve 
charming  statuettes  adorn  the  balus- 
trade, and  the  Gothic  superstructure 
above  them  is  admirably  executed 
and  exceedingly  light  and  elegant. 
The  walls  of  the  side  aisles  are 
covered  with  funeral  epitaphs  and  mo- 
numents. Among  the  most  recent  is 
one  of  the  Count  MalachofFski,  by  Thor- 
walsden,  of  great  merit.  The  tomb  of 
two  brothers,  Princes  of  Masovia,  one 


a  bishop,  the  other  a  Avarrior,  is  worthy 
of  notice ;  they  are  represented  as  if 
asleep  in  one  another's  arms ;  and  on 
either  side  are  several  passages  of  scrip- 
ture expressive  of  their  love  one  to 
another,  and  of  their  hope  in  Christ. 
In  the  Holy  Cross  is  a  fine  altar-piece, 
and  the  horse-tail  of  a  Turkish  pasha, 
taken  by  John  Sobieski,  at  Vienna,  in 
1689 — the  sole  trophy  of  that  chival- 
rous enterprize  of  the  "  wizard  king," 
by  which  he  drove  back  the  Mussulman 
from  the  imperial  city,  already  trem- 
bling to  its  fall,  and  received  but  cold 
thanks  from  the  rescued  emperor,  while 
all  Europe  hailed  him  Avith  well-de- 
served acclamation  as  the  deliverer  of 
Christendom.  In  a  small  chapel  in  the 
church  of  the  Capuchins  there  is  a 
monument  to  the  great  warrior  in  black 
marble,  surmounted  by  a  crown  and 
sceptre,  and  on  it  is  a  Latin  inscription, 
which  may  be  rendered — Sacred  to  the 
remains  of  the  invincible  John  III., 
Prince  and  King  of  Poland,  who  often 
put  to  flight  the  Turkish  armies,  and 
delivered  besieged  Vienna.  Nicholas, 
Emperor  of  all  the  Russias,  and  King 
of  Poland,  erected  this  monument  anno. 
Dom.  1829.  Near  this,  and  on  the 
right,  is  a  sepulchral  urn  dedicated  to 
the  memory  of  Stanislas  Augustus, 
King  of  Poland;  on  it  is  the  following 
poetical  inscription: — Morte  quisfor- 
tior  1     Gloria  et  Amor. 

The  tower  of  the  Lutheran  church  is 
the  loftiest  building  in  Warsaw,  and 
the  view  from  the  galler)'-  at  its  summit 
has  by  many  been  thought  sufficient  to 
repay  the  traveller  for  the  long  and 
toilsome  journey  which  he  must  en- 
counter from  whatever  quarter  he  ap- 
proaches the  Polish  capital.  The  other 
churches  of  Warsaw  have  little  in 
them  Avorthy  of  attention ;  most  of  them 
have  at  one  period  or  another  been  pil- 
laged, and  partially  destroyed,  and 
again  rebuilt  in  A-arious  styles  of  archi- 
tecture ;  they  are  for  the  most  part  in 
the  old  quarters  of  the  city.  Many  of 
the  squares  contain  monuments  of  the 
Polish  kings  and  chieftains :  the  most 


694 


ROUTE    99. — WARSAW. 


Sect.  V. 


showy  of  these  is  a  colossal  statue  of 
Sigismund  III.,  of  bronze  gilt.  There 
was  also  a  bronze  equestrian  statue  of 
Poniatowski,  one  of  the  finest  of  all  th  e 
immortal  works  of  Thorwalsden,  but  it 
has  been  taken  down. 

Beyond  the  city  barriers  lies  the 
Ujazlov,  with  its  long  avenues  of  lime 
and  chesnut  treess,  thronged  in  fine 
weather  with  the  gay  and  fair  of  War- 
saw ;  passing  through  this,  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  few  versts  you  come  to  Bel- 
videre,  formerly  the  residence  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Constantino. 

To  those  who  venerate  the  cha- 
racter of  John  Sobieski  we  recom- 
mend a  walk  to  the  Castle  of  Wil- 
lanow,  situated  on  a  branch  of  the 
Vistula,  about  three  miles  from  War- 
saw, and  on  the  same  road  as  the 
palace  of  the  Belvidere.  This  chateau, 
of  elegant  proportions,  and  in  the  style 
of  an  Italian  villa,  with  a  terrace  and 
wings  ornamented  with  pictures  and 
bas-reliefs,  was  built  in  part  by  the 
captive  Turks  whom  Sobieski  had 
made  prisoners  in  one  of  his  glorious 
campaigns,  and  finished  on  the  origi- 
nal plan  by  Stanislas  Augustus.  At 
the  death  of  Sobieski  the  domain  of 
Willanow  was  sold  by  his  son  to  the 
Countess  Semiafska,  and  afterwards 
became  successively  the  property  of 
Stanislas,  the  family  of  the  Lubomirskis, 
and  the  Count  Potocki.  The  private 
apartments  of  Sobieski  are  said  to  be 
exactly  in  the  same  state  they  were  at 
his  death,  and  if  this  be  the  case  they 
are  highly  interesting ;  the  rooms  are 
neither  large  nor  richly  furnished,  but 
show,  nevertheless,  that  great  taste 
"was  exercised  in  their  decoration ;  the 
style  is  that  of  Louis  XIV.  It  was  to 
this  retreat  that  Sobieski  brought  back 
the  trophies  of  his  mighty  deeds  in 
arms;  it  was  here  that  he  endea- 
voured to  forget  the  rival  factions 
of  his  nobles,  and  the  stormy  debates 
of  the  Diets ;  and  finally,  it  was  to  this 
palace,  and  accompanied  by  thousands 
of  his  countrymen,  who  shouted  their 
passionate  welcome,  that  he  came  after 


he  had  driven  the   Moslem  from  Vi- 
enna's walls.     It  was  then, 

"  when  his  horse  triumphant  trod 

The  burgher's  richest  robes  upon, 

The  ancient  words  rose  loud, '  From  God 
A  man  was  sent  whose  name  was  John.'  " — 

R.  M.  MiLNES. 

Here  too  Sobieski  sunk  to  rest,  in  1696. 

The  walls  of  the  first  room  shown  to 
strangers  in  the  palace  of  Willanow  are 
hung  with  full-length  portraits  of  the 
Sapieha  family,  those  of  the  Jablonoif- 
ski,  and  of  the  Polish  kings  and 
queens.  In  another  apartment  is  a 
collection  of  objects  of  art,  armour,  and 
other  curiosities.  Here  is  preserved 
the  magnificent  suit  of  armour  presented 
by  the  Pope  to  Sobieski,  after  the 
Turks  were  driven  from  Vienna.  It 
is  covered  with  arabesques  and  chas- 
ing, and  inlaid  with  ivory  and  mother  of 
pearl.  The  room  of  the  beautiful 
Marie  d'Arquien,  Sobieski's  queen,  is 
also  shown,  and  near  it  is  a  small  one 
covered  with  pictures  representing  the 
peccadilloes  of  Jupiter,  from  Danae  down 
to  Leda.  The  queen  herself  figures  on 
the  ceiling,  amidst  a  crowd  of  lovers  ; 
and  there  is  a  portrait  and  bust  of  her 
in  an  adjoining  apartment.  In  the 
collection  of  pictures  there  are  some 
works  of  Lucas  of  Leyden,  and  Lucas 
of  Cranach,  worthy  of  notice ;  also  an 
admirable  Rubens — the  Death  of  Se- 
neca. In  the  park  of  Willanow  is  the 
magnificent  tent  of  Kara  Mustapha, 
one  of  the  spoils  of  war  brought  from 
Vienna  hy  Sobieski. 

The  traveller  should  also  visit  the 
royal  villa  of  Lazinsky,  beautifully  si- 
tuated on  the  Vistula ;  the  views  from 
the  park  are  particularly  fine,  com- 
manding the  whole  course  of  the  river 
and  the  distant  towers  and  palaces  of 
Warsaw.  Here  resided  the  effeminate 
Stanislas  IV.  Not  far  from  this  place 
is  Jablona,  the  chateau  of  Poniatowski, 
Avho  fell  in  the  retreat  after  Leipzic. 
A  well  chosen  library,  maps,  and  works 
of  art,  indicate  that  he  was  possessed  of 
a  cultivated  mind,  as  well  as  a  brave 
heart ;  amongst  these  memorials  of  him 
is  his  portrait,  with  an  inscription,  said 


Russia.       BouTE  100, — st.  petersbukgh  to  Warsaw. 


595 


to  be  the  last  words  he  uttered,  as,  for 
the  last  time,  he  charged  into  the  ranks 
of  the  enemy  :  Bog  mi  2)02nerz  il 
honor  Polakow,  Bogu  go  ad  dam. 
"  God  confided  to  me  the  honour  of 
Poland,  to  God  I  will  render  it."  In 
another  room  is  the  celebrated  picture 
of  Napoleon  passing  the  Great  St. 
Bernard,  once  the  property  of  Blucher, 
and  sold  by  his  son  for  3000  francs. 
Five  miles  from  Warsaw  is  the  field  of 
Vola,  celebrated  as  the  spot  on  which 
the  election  of  the  Polish  kings  took 
place.  There  is  a  Canaletto  in  the 
palace  of  the  Kremlin  at  Moscow  re- 
presenting this  ceremon3^    See  p.  543. 

FROM    ^YARSA■W    BY    BLONI    TO    SLUPZA 
ON   THE    FROHTIER. 

Warsaw  to  Oltasef,  1Q\  versts. 

Bloni,  10.  A  small  town  in  the 
government  of  Musovia. 

Seroki,  12. 

Sochatshef,  \2\. 

^oslof.  12. 

LoviTSSH,  12.     A  small  town. 

Plesha  Doinhrova,  22  j. 

KuRTiXO,  18|. 

Kroshnevize,  13. 

Klodava,  16. 

Kolo,  18f.  Cross  the  Warta,  after 
which  is  the  government  of  Kalitz. 

Konin,  27^. 

Slupza,  27^. 

Total,  2184  versts.     • 

The  Russian  and  Prussian  frontier 
customhouses  are  situated  close  to- 
gether to  the  west  of  Slupza.  The 
distance  from  the  Russian  frontier  to 
Posen  is  about  10  Prussian,  or  47  Eng- 
lish miles.  The  examination  of  lug- 
gage at  Slupza  is  strict,  and  the  search 
for  coined  money  particularly  careful. 

ROUTE  100. 

ST.  PETERSBURGH    TO   WARSAW   BY  VIL- 
KOMIR,  WILNA,  AND  GRODNO. 

From  St,  Petersburgh  to  Vilkomir, 
(see  p.  584,  Route  96,)  6344  versts. 
Vilkomir  to  Vesofskaia,  20^. 
Jawnjunskaia,  \*J\. 


Kersanskaia,  18  j. 

WiLNA,  161.  A  large  town  of  Li- 
thuania, with  a  university,  castle,  and 
palace.  The  houses  are  for  the  most 
part  built  of  wood.  It  was  taken  by 
the  Russians  in  1794. 

Gedlinskaia,  23^. 

Soletshniki.  I85. 

Woronovo,  16|. 

Skirmtini,  15i. 

LiDA,  14.     A  small  town. 

Radsivonishki,  20. 

Tstsholna,  16|. 

Shurava,  12. 

Milkofstshisiia,  22j. 

Strunin,  \Q\. 

Grodno,  24. 

Kusniza,  21. 

SoKOLKA,  14|.     A  small  town. 

Bukshtel,  17 1. 

BiALisTOK,  19|.     A  small  town. 

Slotorija,  14. 

Menshennin,  32. 

Samhrqf,  18. 

Ostrof,  29 1. 

Budi-Diski,  14j. 

Vishkof,  21. 

Serodsk,  27^. 

Taslona,  17?. 

Warsaw,  16^. 

Total,  1171  versts. 

For  description  of  Warsaw,  see  page 
591. 

ROUTE  101. 

MOSCOW  TO   TULA   BY   VLADIMIR,  NIJNI, 
NOVGOROD,    AND   RIAZAN. 

If  he  has  not  yet  been  off  the  Moscow 
road,  the  traveller  will  now  have  the 
pleasure  of  experiencing  for  the  first 
time  the  sweets  of  steppe  travelling, 
and  judging  whether  the  remarks  on 
roads  and  road-side  accommodation  in 
our  preliminary  chapter  have  been  over- 
charged. This  route,  to  the  great  fair 
of  Nijni,  is  no  exception  to  the  rule, 
and,  after  passing  the  eastern  gate  of 
this  capital,  the  wayfarer  will  have  to 
plough  his  own  furrow  through  a  heavy 
sand,  unless  the  chanssee  is  finished. 


696     ROUTE    101. MOSCOW  TO  TULA  BY  NIJNI  NOVGOROD.    Scct.  V, 


Gorenlci,  18  versts. 
Kupafiia,  \6\. 

BoGORODSK,  16.  This  is  a  district 
town^  but  dull,  and  the  streets  in  many 
places  grass-grown.  Good  bread  may 
be  had  here.  Most  of  the  villages  look 
far  from  flonrishing,  the  doors  of  the 
houses  being  frequently  choked  with 
drifting  sand ;  no  pig  even  will  be  seen, 
to  greet  the  traveller,  or  a  dog  to  bark 
at  him. 

Ploiava,  24.  A  long  miserable  vil- 
lage. The  country  beyond  this  im- 
proves, and  is  undulating;  larger  herds 
of  cattle  are  occasionally  seen,  the  land 
is  better  cultivated,  and  here  and  there 
a  church  spire  and  trees  enliven  the 
tame  landscape.  Buck-wheat  and  rye 
are  the  favourite  crops. 

PocFvOP,  20.     A  small  town. 
Peteishku,  18. 
Boldino,  18^, 

DmetrlefsJcoe,  or  Vorsha,  19. 
Vladimir,  20 |.  This  is  the  capital 
of  the  government  of  the  same  name, 
and  figured  in  history  when  it  was 
the  seat  of  government  of  the  Dukes  of 
Vladimir,  during  Avhich  time  it  was 
frequently  ravaged  by  the  Tartars. 
Here  is  an  ecclesiastical  seminary,  the 
most  frequented  in  Eussia,  which  ranks 
with  the  universities.  The  city  is  also 
held  in  great  veneration,  from  its  hav- 
ing been  the  burial  place  of  St.  Alex- 
ander Nevsky ;  and  tradition  states  that 
his  ashes  reposed  here  until  they  were 
removed  to  St.  Petersburgh ;  others 
state  that  the  grand  duke  was  buried 
at  a  convent  on  the  banks  of  the  Volga. 
The  view  of  Vladimir,  after  passing  the 
Kliazma,  along  which  it  is  built,  is 
pleasing.  Standing  high  on  the  Avooded 
bank,  its  lofty  cathedral  and  large  bar- 
racks, surrounded  by  some  ancient  look- 
ing structures,  give  it,  for  Russia,  a 
general  air  of  antiquity.  This  pro- 
vince is  one  of  the  richest  in  Russia, 
agricultural  produce  being  raised  in  con- 
siderable quantities.  Manufactures  of 
different  kinds  also  flourish  :  the  cotton 
works  of  Prince  CheremetiefF  are  con- 
siderable; other  spinning  works  employ 


about  30,000  hands.     Vladimir  is  cele- 
brated for  its  cherry  orchards,  the  fruit 
of  which  is  sent  to  Moscow.     The  po- 
pulation is  about  4000,  and  many  of 
them  gain  a  livelihood   by  the  traffic 
which  is  created  by  the  great  fair. 
Barali,  12.^. 
SouDOGDA,  234. 
Moshli,  31. 
Dratsltevo,  ^b\. 

Murom,  29J.  A  district  town  o{ 
the  province  of  Vladimir,  with  a  popu.- 
lation  of  about  4500  inhabitants,  situ- 
ated on  the  river  Oka,  one  of  the  great 
tributaries  of  the  Volga.  There  is  a 
cathedral  and  sixteen  churches  in  this 
town.  Muvom  was  originally  one  of 
the  chief  places  in  Russia  for  the  manu- 
factory of  leather,  and  the  city  is  said 
to  be  of  older  date  than  that  of  any 
other  in  Muscovy.  It  has  been  held 
successively  by  Tartars,  Mordouins, 
and  Russians,  The  ferry  over  the 
Oka  is  crossed  in  a  large  boat  navi- 
gated by  a  rope  stretched  from  side  to 
side.  This  river  rises  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Orel,  and  pursues  a  cours3 
nearly  as  tortuous  and  as  slovv'  as  the 
Volga  itself,  into  which  it  falls  at 
Nijni  Novgorod.  The  Oka  is  wide, 
but  the  yellow  sands  of  its  banks  are 
rapidly  filling  up  the  bed,  so  that  the 
large  barges  which  navigate  it  are  often 
seriously  impeded  in  their  voyage ; 
these  sands  once  yielded  gold,  but  they 
appear  to  do  so  no  longer  ;  there  are 
valuable  copper  and  iron  mines  near 
the  river. 

Monohovo,  31  f. 
Osahlihovo,  29. 

Yarimovo,  18j.  In  the  wide  val- 
ley a  short  distance  beyond  this  sta- 
tion, a  lake  will  attract  the  traveller's 
attention,  with  a  beautiful  little  island 
on  its  tranquil  surface.  The  white 
walls  of  a  cloister  may  be  distinguished 
amongst  the  trees  upon  it. 
Aleshkovo,  25. 
DosTcino,  21. 

Nijni  Novgorod   (i.  e.  Lower  Nov- 
gorod), 24^. 

Total,  441^  versts. 


Russia. 


ROUTE    101. — NIJNI  NOVGOROD. 


597 


The  road  to  Nijni  by  Vladimir, 
Viasniki,  and  Gorkovitz,  is  only  3781 
versts.  Some  Russians  go  to  Yaroslaf 
by  land,  and  thence  down  the  Volga 
on  some  of  the  huge  market  barges, 
but  the  navigation  is  tedious  and  some- 
times inconveniently  exciting,  if  not 
dangerous.  The  road  by  land  from 
Yaroslaf  to  Nijni  is  one  of  the  most 
imdulating  in  liussia,  because  the  table 
land  is  frequently  intersected  by  tri- 
butary streams  to  the  Volga.  Mons. 
de  Custine,  who  is  for  ever  finding  a 
mare's  nest,  says,  that  while  travelling 
this  road  the  jolting  was  so  excessive 
that  it  broke  a  bottle  of  his  Seltzer 
water,  though  carefully  packed  in  hay. 
We  have,  unfortunately,  had  a  very 
disagreeable  experience  of  Russian 
roads,  and  that  from  Yaroslaf  is  pro- 
bably a  bad  one,  still  we  cannot  credit 
the  anecdote  the  Frenchman  has  selected 
to  prove  it  such.  But  we  are  approach- 
ing Nijni  and  its  fair,  the  great  ob- 
ject of  the  journey,  and  to  some  the 
only  object  for  visiting  Russia.  Twenty- 
four  hours'  travelling  from  Murom  will 
bring  the  stranger  within  sight  of  the 
white  walls  and  blue  domes  of  Nov- 
gorod. The  fair  is  held  in  the  autumn, 
and  the  weather  is  at  that  season 
generally  fine,  so  that  dust,  not  mud, 
will  be  the  misery;  but  if  there  has 
been  any  rain,  the  road  for  the  last 
nine  miles  will  exceed  in  depth  of  the 
latter,  all  that  the  tourist  has  ever  been 
dragged  through ;  and  one  traveller 
states,  that  he  was  five  hours  perform- 
ing the  last  five  miles.  This  is  caused 
by  the  carriages,  kibitkas,  and  telegas 
of  the  different  streams  of  traders  and 
merchandise  converging  to  the  central 
point.  Long  lines  of  these  vehicles 
will  assure  the  stranger  that  he  is  ap- 
proaching the  town;  bands  of  Cossacks, 
stationed  by  way  of  police  in  rude 
tents  along  the  road,  with  their  long 
lances  glittering  among  the  trees,  are 
seen  in  larger  numbers ;  and  crowds  of 
Russians  and  wild  eastern-looking  men, 
in  singular  and  varied  costumes,  be- 
come every  moment  more  dense,  until, 


on    reaching  Nijni  itself,    the    crowd 
and  turmoil  surpasses  all  description. 

The  population  of  this  town  is  only 
18,000  souls,  though  nearly  300,000 
frequent  it  during   the  fair;  it  is  on 
the  high  road  to  Asiatic  Russia,  and 
yet  does  not  contain  one  good  hotel. 
The  best  is  in  the  upper  town;  the 
Dom    Monacho,  in  the  lower,  is   the 
next  best.      The  most  canny  way  ta 
proceed  is  to   inquire  at  Moscow,  of 
some  competent  person,  and  write  be- 
forehand to  secure  rooms;  even  with 
this  precaution  the  accommodation  Avill 
be  found  far  from  good.     The  English- 
man, however,  who  travels  in  Russia, 
and  to  Nijni,  will  not  expect  to  sleep 
very  often  in  a  clean  bed,  or  revel  in 
gastronomy,  and  ought  to  be  prepared 
to  rough  it  in  every  sense  of  the  word : 
in  addition  to  other  social  discomforts, 
the  intrusions  of  the  black  beetle  should 
be  mentioned  as  one  of  the  greatest  to  be 
met  with  at  Nijni ;  they  swarm  every- 
where. Hunger  and  fatigue  will  perhaps 
overcome  many  if  not  all  the  disagree- 
ables, and,  with  the  mental  appetite  welK 
whetted  by  curiosity,  the  stranger  will,_ 
on  the  morning  after  his  arrival,  be  all 
on  the  qiu  vive  to  lionize  the  scene  he 
has  come  so  far  to  witness.     In  order 
that  he  may  have  some  idea  of  the  ne- 
cessity there  is  of  holding  this  fair,  it 
will  be  as  well  to  refer  him  to   the 
map,  when  he  will  remark  that  some 
place  of  rendezvous  was  absolutely  re- 
quisite, to  enable  the  inhabitants  of  the 
empire   east   of    Moscow,   as   well  as 
of  those  countries  bordering  on  China 
and   the  Caspian,   to    exchange   their 
productions  with  the  merchants  of  St. 
Petersburgh,   and    those   who    might 
come  from  Germany  and  the  central 
parts  of  Europe.     This  fair,  which  was 
originally  held  at  Kazan,  the  ancient 
capital    of    Tartary,    Avas    afterwards 
transferred    to    Makarief,    about   fifty 
miles  below  Nijni,  on  the  lands  of  a 
boyard.     At  a  still  later  period,  viz., 
in  1817,  this  property  was,  for  some 
reason,  confiscated  by  the  Crown,  and 
the   Emperor   Alexander  then  trans- 
D  D  3 


598 


ROUTE    101. NIJNI   NOVGOROD. 


Sect.  V. 


ferred  the  gathering  to  Nijni ;  but  it 
is  still  called  by  Russians  the  fe,ir  of 
Makarief,  or  St.  Macarius,  under  whose 
protection  it  is  held.  The  town  of 
Nijni  is  situated  on  a  high  triangu- 
lar promontory,  standing  between  the 
Volga  and  the  confluence  of  the  Oka 
with  that  river.  The  Oka  at  this  point 
seems  as  large  as  the  former,  and  is, 
in  fact,  a  magnificent  stream,  and  na- 
vigable for  a  great  portion  of  its  length. 
The  position  of  Novgorod  is  so  admir- 
ably adapted  for  commerce,  and  so  cen- 
tral in  regard  to  Asiatic  as  Avell  as  Euro- 
pean Russia,  that  Peter  the  Great  in- 
tended, at  one  time,  to  make  it  the  seat 
of  the  capital  of  his  empire,  instead  of 
the  mouths  of  the  Neva.  The  country 
round  it  is  also  highly  picturesque ; 
nevertheless  those  who  founded  the  city 
'do  not  seem  to  have  courted  the  oppor- 
tunities of  enriching  themselves  by 
33ieans  of  the  two  great  rivers  which  flow 
by  it,  for  the  old  town  lies  back  behind 
the  ridge.  This  mistake  struck  the  pre- 
sent Emperor  very  forcibly  when  he 
paid  Nijni  his  first  visit ;  and  he  is 
said  to  have  remarked,  that  "  nature 
had  done  everything,  man  nothing." 
To  remedy  this,  a  suburb  has  been 
built  along  the  face,  and  at  the  foot, 
of  the  high  ground  which  forms  the 
southern  bank  of  the  Oka.  The  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  city  lies  on  the  sum- 
xnit  of  the  triangular  height,  and  is 
chiefly  composed  of  three  handsome 
streets,  converging  towards  an  irregular 
open  space  in  front  of  the  Kremlin, 
which  covers  the  lofty  point  of  the 
triangle  immediately  overhanging  the 
Volga.  There  is  a  beautiful  terrace 
above  this  river,  from  whence  is  seen 
one  of  the  most  singular  and  extensive 
views  in  Europe  ;  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach  extends  a  vast  plain  of  corn  and 
forest  land.  The  city  contains  no 
fewer  than  twenty-six  churches,  some 
of  which  are  of  great  size  and  beauty, 
two  monasteries,  and  a  nunner3^  The 
Kremlin,  with  its  low  arched  gates  and 
jagged  walls,  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able of  these  ancient  structures   now 


remaining  in  Russia.     Here  is  a  monu- 
ment to  the  patriotic  Minim  and  Po- 
jarski.      Curious,    however,     as     the 
Kremlin  and  the  various  churches  are, 
they  possess,  to  one  who  has  seen  all 
the  wonders  in  this  way  at  Moscow 
and  St,  Petersburgh,  little  interest  com- 
pared with  the  views  from  the  spot  on 
which  they  stand,  and  the  tAvo  mighty 
rivers   on   which   the   traveller   looks 
down,  flowing  so  near  that  it  seems  as 
if  a  pebble  could  be  thrown  into  either 
from   this   lofty  eminence.      Turning, 
however,  from  the  far  east,  the  stranger 
must  look  in  a  contrary  direction,  and 
across  the  Oka,  to  the  triangular  piece 
of  land  between  that   river  and   the 
Volga,  a   low,   and    sometimes   inun- 
dated flat,  exposed  to    the  waters  of 
both  these  rivers,  where,  during   the 
fair,  is  exhibited  a  picture  of  human  life 
unparalleled  in  any  other  portion  of  the 
globe.      Here  is  then  seen  a  vast  town 
of  shops,  laid  out  in   regular  streets, 
with  churches,  hospitals,  barracks,  and 
theatres,  the  whole  tenanted  by  no  less 
than  from  250,000  to  300,000  souls, 
destined,  however,  in  six  weeks  to  be 
as    silent    and   lifeless   as   the   forest 
steppes  of  which  we  have  just  made 
mention;  for,  when  the  fair   is  over, 
not    an     inhabitant     of     Nijni    ever 
traverses     the    spot    which   annually 
swarms  with  foreigners.     It  must  not 
be  supposed  that  these  shops  are  con- 
structed like  the  English  booth,  of  can- 
vas,   ropes,   and  poles  ;  they  are,  on 
the  contrary,  regular   houses,  built  of 
the  most  substantial   materials,  gene- 
rally  of  one  story,  with  large  shops 
to  the  front,  and  sleeping  rooms  for  the 
merchant  and  his  servants  in  the  rear. 
The  interior  portion  of  the  fair  is  regu- 
larl}'-  laid  out  in   twelve  or  thirteen 
streets    of     shops,    terminating    in    a 
Russian  church,    and  twelve    Chinese 
pavilions,  from  the  summits  of  which 
there  is  a  good  view.     It  is  said  that 
a  person  would  have  to  walk  twenty- 
five   miles   if    he    promenaded   every 
street ;  and  this  does  not  include  what 
may  be  termed  the  suburbs  of  the  fair. 


Russia. 


EOUTE    101 . NIJNI   NOVGOEOD.- 


599 


The  business  of  this  fair  is  of  such  im- 
portance, that  the  Grovernor  of  the 
Province  takes  up  his  residence  in  it 
during  the  two  months  it  lasts,  that  is 
to  say,  July  and  August.  His  house, 
which  is  in  the  centre,  is  a  handsome 
building,  and  accommodates  a  large 
train  of  secretaries  and  other  officials, 
A  dozen  Chinese  pagodas  rise  above 
the  shops,  and  the  whole  stands  upon 
vaulted  cloacse,  into  which  dirt  of 
every  description  is  conveyed.  These 
sewers,  which  are  constructed  of  hewn 
stone,  are  cleaned  out  several  times 
a  day,  by  pumps,  which  draw  the 
water  from  the  adjoining  rivers,  and 
are  entered  at  several  points  by  hand- 
some staircases.  They  were  constructed 
by  the  Emperor  Alexander,  and  are 
worthy  of  the  Morpeths  of  ancient 
Rome.  Any  one  who  shows  a  dispo- 
sition to  defile  the  streets  is  quickly 
enjoined  by  a  Cossack  to  retire  to  the 
lower  regions.  A  portion  of  the  sums 
expended  on  these  sewers,  which,  from 
the  nature  of  the  swampy  soil,  must 
have  been  enormous,  would  have  been 
economized  had  a  better  site  been  se- 
lected; but  there  seems  to  be  a  fatality 
attending  the  choice  of  position  for 
public  edifices  all  over  the  world,  our 
own  barracks  in  the  West  Indies  in- 
cluded. The  first  view  of  this  lair 
from  the  Kremlin  is  very  striking;  but 
we  must  descend  from  that  elevated 
spot,  and  take  the  traveller  into  the 
busy  scene  itself;  this  is  about  a  mile 
from  the  centre  of  the  city,  though  less 
from  the  outskirts,  to  which  it  is  in 
fact  united  hj  a  long  and  wide  bridge 
of  boats  across  the  Oka,  and  a  line  of 
good  houses  along  the  steep  and  diffi- 
cult slope  leading  to  the  bank  of  that 
river.  Here  will  be  met  a  countless 
throng  of  every  kind  of  vehicle,  for 
this  is  the  only  bridge  that  connects 
the  town  of  Nijni  with  the  fair;  and 
the  space  between  the  street  in  ques- 
tion and  the  entrance  to  it  is  one  of 
the  very  few  spots  in  Russia  where 
large  masses  of  the  population  can  be 
seen  congregated  together,  always  ex- 


cepting the  military  portion  of  it.  On 
each  side  of  the  bridge,  and  for  more 
than  a  mile  and  a  half  above  it,  the 
river  is  wider  than  the  Thames  at  West- 
minster, and  so  completely  covered 
with  boats,  that  the  element  on  which 
they  float  is  scarcely  visible.  These 
barges,  of  every  variety  of  shape  and 
tonnage,  are  either  discharging  or  tak- 
ing in  their  cargoes.  The  shops  in 
the  fair  near  the  bank  thus  receive 
their  goods  at  once  from  the  two 
rivers,  and  at  the  more  remote  parts  of 
it  there  are  canals,  which  serve  the 
same  purpose.  An  aquatic  community, 
amounting  to  40,000  persons,  from 
every  corner  of  this  side  of  the  earth, 
inhabit  this  floating  camp;  and  their 
countenances  and  costumes  are  as 
varied  and  strange  as  the  vessels  they 
navigate.  Had  Kohl  gone  to  Nijni, 
and  spent  a  week  in  rambling  over 
them,  we  should  have  had  a  most  sin- 
gular and  amusing  description  of  these 
fresh-water  sailors.  On  the  Volga, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Oka,  and  up  and 
down  the  former  river,  extends  a  si- 
milar scene.  Immediately  on  leaving 
the  bridge,  the  fair  ground  begins; 
this  part  is  crowded  with  mujiks 
looking  out  for  employment,  with 
a  good  sprinkling  of  Cossacks  to 
keep  order ;  then  come  lines  of 
temporary  booths,  displaying  beads, 
trinkets,  and  articles  of  dress  for  the 
lower  orders,  particularly  caps  from 
Tartary,  Kirghis  bonnets,  made  of 
black  wool,  and  flat  gold-figured  cowls 
from  Kazan.  These  booths  stand  in  front 
of  the  tea  houses,  laid  out  with  little 
tables :  and  traktirs,  or  resta%irants, 
large  enough  for  two  or  three  hundred 
persons  to  dine  in  with  comfort,  at  any 
price  from  ten  silver  kopeks  to  twelve 
silver  rubles.  This  being  the  great 
entrance  to  the  fair,  it  is  always  the 
most  crowded  part  of  it,  consequently 
the  most  interesting  to  the  traveller; 
and  if  he  can  squeeze  himself  into  some 
corner,  or  under  the  projecting  roof  of 
some  booth,  no  easy  matter  in  such  a 
whirlpool  of  promenaders,  he  will  pass 


600 


ROUTE    101. KIJNl    KOVGOEOD. 


Sect.  V, 


in  review  as  strange  a  scene  as  he  ever 
witnessed,  or  is  likely  to  do  again.  It 
is  scarcely  accurate  to  apply  the  word 
tame  to  such  a  stream  of  human  beings, 
but  the  stranger  must  not  expect  to 
v.'itness  the  diablerie  of  an  English, 
German,  or  French  fair ;  no  clown, 
grinning  from  ear  to  ear,  is  to  be  seen, 
nor  is  the  peculiar  squeak  that  an- 
nounces the  peripatetic  Pvinch  to  be 
lieard,  no  quack  dentist  to  pull  teeth, 
and  dispense  his  nostrums.  The  fair  of 
Nijni  is  not  an  idle  holiday  meeting, 
but  a  place  of  business,  a  gathering  of 
merchants,  traders,  and  bankers,  who 
liave  their  whole  fortunes  at  stake,  and 
who  meet  here  once  a  year  to  deal  and 
barter  in  commodities  which  may  be 
valued  at  not  less  than  fifteen  millions 
stei'ling.  It  should  also  be  mentioned 
that  a  great  blank  exists  in  the  crowd, 
caused  by  tlie  scarcity  of  female  laces. 
From  the  space  in  front  of  the  bridge 
the  stranger  enters  into  the  regular 
quarters  of  the  fair,  and  unless  he  has 
studied  costumes,  various  will  be  his 
inquiries  as  to  those  he  meets  at  every 
tuni.  Amongst  the  traders  which  may 
pi'obably  fall  under  his  observation  is 
the  white-faced,  flat-nosed  merchant  of 
Archangel,  come  to  sell  his  furs ;  the 
bronze  and  long-eared  Chinese  his  tea ; 
Tartars,  Crim  and  Nogai,  with  their 
muslins ;  Cossacks  with  their  hides 
from  the  Ukraine  ;  and  others  from  the 
Aktuba  with  caviare  ;  Persians  with 
their  scents  and  amulets  ;  Bukarians 
Avith  their  turquoises  and  precious 
stones ;  Bashkirs,  Calmucks,  Turko- 
mans, Kirghisses,  Circassians,  Turks, 
and  other  eastern  etcetera.  There  is, 
indeed,  no  spot  in  the  world  where  so 
many  individuals  meet  belonging  to 
such  different  divisions  of  the  globe. 
The  number  of  Mahometans  is  so  great 
that  a  handsome  mosque  has  been  built 
for  them  at  the  end  of  the  fair,  in 
Avhich  worship  is  performed  as  regu- 
larly as  in  those  of  their  native  cities. 
The  Bukharians,  who  inhabit  the  coun- 
try near  Thibet,  consume  nearly  a  year 
in  their  journey  out  and  home.     The 


Kalmucks  and  Kirghisses  are  many  of 
them  horse-dealers,  and  bring  here 
droves  of  their  little  wild  steeds  ;  these 
animals  are  very  active  and  strong,  and 
singularly  attached  to  each  other,  so 
much  so  that  when  sold  it  is  necessary 
to  separate  them  by  force.  Amongst  the 
European  merchants  and  dealers  may  be 
cited  those  of  Manchester ;  Grex'man 
jewellers;  Swiss  watchmakers;  Frank- 
fort wine  merchants  ;  Hamburgh  leech 
buyers;  dealers  in  amber  from  the 
Baltic  ;  pipe-makers  from  Dresden  ; 
furriers  from  Warsaw  ;  French  fancy 
dealers ;  Jews  from  Poland,  and  the 
south  of  the  empire,  in  their  long  black 
caftans  ;  and,  though  we  did  not  meet 
with  one,  there  is  no  doubt,  when  so 
many  dollars  are  clianging  hands,  a 
delegate  or  two  from  Boston  or  New 
York.  Many  of  the  bulky  articles  oc- 
cupy a  large  space  of  ground,  and  ta 
that  called  the  tea  quarter  we  will 
now  conduct  the  traveller  through 
streets  as  long  and  as  wide  as  some 
of  the  best  in  London,  many  of  which 
have  elegant  light  arcades  on  each 
side,  supported  in  front  by  thousands 
of  cast-iron  cohnnns,  where  purchasers 
can  walk  about  well  sheltered  in  all 
kinds  of  weather,  and  make  purchases, 
or  gossip,  as  they  feel  disposed.  The 
shops,  generally  very  handsome,  ex- 
tend, in  some  instances,  like  Swan  and 
Edgar's,  from  street  to  street,  so  as  to 
have  two  fronts  ;  they  present  nothing 
of  the  confusion  of  a  fair,  and  the  goods 
of  every  kind  are  as  neatly  arranged 
as  in  the  shops  of  a  large  capital. 
This  tea  quarter  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  in  the  fair,  not  only  from 
the  number  of  Chinese  seen  in  it,  but 
also  from  the  large  demand  there  is 
for  this  article.  The  Eussians  are, 
after  the  English,  the  most  inveterate 
tea  drinkers  in  Europe ;  and  we  be- 
lieve that  the  tea  sold  at  Nijni  is  the 
finest  imported  from  China — it  is,  cer- 
tainly, the  most  fragrant  and  perfumed, 
and,  therefore,  to  the  English  palate  ge- 
nerally perhaps  not  so  agreeable ;  to  our 
own,  however,  the  Russian  tea  is  deli- 


Hussia. 


BOUTE    101. — ^•IJKI   NOVGOROD. 


COl 


cious.  It  is  introduced  into  this  country 
by  Kiatka,  on  the  frontiers  of  China,  a 
very  insignificant  place,  and  separated 
from  it  and  the  Chinese  town  of 
Mamaia  by  a  small  brook.  At  this 
first  depot  it  is  exchanged  for  goods ; 
and  from  thence  transported  by  land, 
in  packages  of  about  two  feet  square, 
and  covered  with  skin,  to  Koursk,  in 
Siberia  ;  here  the  tea  is  put  into 
barges,  which  navigate  the  Irtish  and 
the  Tobol,  until  it  arrives  at  the  town 
of  Tourmine,  where  it  is  disembarked, 
and  transported  again  by  land  to  Perm, 
in  Siberia;  there  it  is  once  more  em- 
barked in  boats  that  descend  the 
Kama  to  the  Volga,  by  which  river  it 
arrives  at  Nijni.  From  90,000  to 
100,000  chests  are  annually  imported; 
half  of  these  remain  in  Siberia,  and 
reach  Moscow  by  sledges  during  the 
winter,  while  the  remainder  are  sold 
at  this  fair.  The  importation  from 
China  to  England  is  upwards  of 
350,000  chests  annually;  but  it  should 
be  observed  that  a  pound  of  the  tea 
sold  at  Nijni  would  go  farther,  that 
is  make  more  tea,  than  two  pounds  of 
that  sold  in  England  ;  the  very  finest 
fetches  sometimes  as  much  as  thirty  or 
forty  shillings  a  pound.  Next  in  in- 
terest to  the  tea  quarter  is  that  of  the 
Persians,  situated  in  a 'suburb  on  the 
opposite  side  of  an  arm  of  the  Oka,  in 
which  are  sold  costly  shawls,  small 
carpets,  and  silk  pieces.  Then  there 
is  the  quarter  for  the  dealers  in  skins 
and  furs ;  here  the  outside  garment  of 
pretty  nearly  every  beast  that  claims 
the  arctic  circle  for  a  home  may  be 
seen,  from  a  sable  to  a  bear  ;  and  a 
pelisse  of  the  choicest  skins  of  the  lat- 
ter animal  will  fetch  as  much  as  five 
hundred  pounds.  Near  this  is  the 
quarter  for  the  sale  of  Siberian  iron — 
a  perfect  metal  town;  one  may  walk 
for  nearly  half  a  league  surrounded  by 
every  species  of  bar  iron,  palisades, 
pots,  agricultural  and  other  instruments. 
The  outskirts,  in  which  most  of  the 
foregoing  articles  are  sold,  is  by  far  the 
most  animated    portion  of    the  fair; 


there  is  more  movement  there,  car- 
riages and  carts  are  passing  to  and 
fro,  the  tones  of  the  dealers  are  louder, 
venders  of  kvass  and  refreshments  ply 
their  trade  with  unceasing  energy,  and 
the  crowd  roll  backwards  and  forwards 
in  one  uninterrupted  stream ;  every 
tongue  going ;  and  earnestness  or  drol- 
lery in  every  face.  In  the  interior  of 
the  fair  there  is  an  air  of  regularity 
and  order  which  savours  more  of  real 
business;  even  the  features  of  the 
Cossacks,  who  do  the  duties  of  police- 
men, are  scarcely  ever  seen  to  relax 
into  a  smile.  There  is  also  a  theatre, 
and  sometimes  a  good  company. 

Nijni  Novgorod  back  to 

DosJdno,  2 4 4. 

Aleshkovo,  21. 

Yarimovo,  25. 

Osahlikovo,  18|. 

MonaJcovo,  29, 

MUEOM,  313. 

OcJcsJtevo,  23. 

DmitHefskoe,  or  Agafanovo,  20|. 

Kasimoff,  18|. 

The  population  of  the  country  for 
the  last  few  stages  evidently  shows  its 
Tartar  origin  ;  but  their  wild  and  war- 
like habits  are  quite  subdued,  though 
the  swarthy  oval  face,  dark  elongated 
eye,  arched  nose,  and  rounded  forehead, 
and  the  small  compact  frame,  testify  to 
their  descent,  and  contrast  strangely 
with  the  personal  characteristics  of 
their  Russian  fellow  subjects.  In  this 
government  there  are  iron  mines  ;  and 
on  entering  the  government  of  Riazan 
some  improvement  in  cultivation  is 
observable.  Hops  and  sunflowers,  a 
little  oats,  barley,  and  wheat  are  found 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  villages, 
and  cattle,  sheep,  and  pigs  are  abun- 
dant. The  town  of  Kasimoff  stands 
high,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Oka; 
the  opposite  bank  is  low  and  flat. 
The  inhabitants  of  Kasimoff  amount 
to  about  5000.  It  was  a  place 
of  great  consideration  in  the  times  of 
Tartar  supremacy,  and  here  is  still  the 
ancient  mosque,  in  a  tomb  near  which 
lies  buried  the  terrible  Shah  Ali ;  the 


602 


BOUTE    101. MOSCOW   TO    TULA. 


Sect.  V. 


Arabic  inscription  on  which  enlightens 
but  few  travellers  as  to  the  virtues  or 
achievements  which  it  probably  records, 
in  common  with  epitaphs  any  or  every- 
where else.  The  Tartar  suburb  con- 
sists of  wretched  huts  grouped  on  a 
high  point  above  the  river ;  but  the  un- 
mixed blood  of  the  race  that  inhabits 
it  cannot  be  mistaken,  though  the 
glory  and  power  of  the  horde  has  long 
since  departed.  The  rest  of  the  town 
is  decaying  and  drearj^ ;  there  is,  how- 
ever, an  old  church  and  a  miserable 
Gostinnoi  Dvor.  ''Begging,"  says  a 
traveller,  some  years  ago,  "  is  the  only 
industry  of  the  place."  The  costume 
of  the  women  cannot  be  passed  unob- 
served. An  outer  garment,  like  a  sol- 
dier's great  coat,  strapped  round  the 
waist,  low,  strong  mud  boots,  and  a 
white  handkerchief,  folded  in  a  stiff 
square  in  front,  and  hanging  loose  be- 
hind the  head ;  a  bad  imitation  of  the 
Italian. 

The  soil  becomes  very  sandy  in  this 
stage,  and  the  only  crop  of  value  that 
it  produces  is  mushrooms. 

Jerachturskaia,  30.  Here  cows  are 
almost  superseded  by  geese,  for  the 
stubble  will  not  maintain  cattle  to  ad- 
vantage. One  of  the  two  churches  in 
this  place  is  exceedingly  magnificent 
for  a  place  so  little  frequented.  Still  a 
sandy  soil,  and  the  track,  in  consequence, 
very  bad,  even  through  the  towns. 

Tschefskoe,  27. 

ITistrus,  27.  Forest  and  fertility 
have  here  disappeared  ;  sandy  undula- 
tions and  a  lazy  river  are  the  only 
featiires  of  the  neighbourliood ;  but 
further  on  the  oats  and  sunflower  are 
seen  again ;  from  the  seeds  of  the 
latter  the  oil  is  expressed,  but  it  is  also 
boiled  and  eaten,  resembling  in  some 
degree  the  Indian  corn.  Poultry  fat- 
ten well  upon  it ;  pheasants,  partridges, 
and  other  birds  also  eat  it  with  avidity. 
The  sheaves  are  used  instead  of  straw, 
and  the  stalks  contain  a  good  deal  of 
alkali.  These  valuable  properties  ren- 
der it  common  in  many  parts  of  Cen- 
tral and  Southern  Russia. 


SamhulofsJcaia,  29. 

EiAZAN,  26.  This  is  a  government 
town,  and  one  of  the  most  cheerful  in 
appearance  in  the  interior  of  Eussia. 
In  the  reign  of  Catherine  II.  it  num- 
bered but  1500  inhabitants,  now  there 
are  10,000  or  more.  They  are  indus- 
trious and  prosperous,  have  a  public 
garden  and  gay  kiosk,  and  the  houses 
and  streets  are  spacious,  more  particu- 
larly in  the  heart  of  the  city,  where, 
strange  to  say,  the  garden  is  situated. 
The  site  of  this  place  is  a  wide  hollow, 
and  it  spreads  over  the  adjacent  de- 
clivities. 

Jlinshaia,  29. 

ZaraisJc,  27.  Its  population  is 
about  5000,  but  it  is  a  deserted  looking 
town,  though  it  has  plenty  of  wide, 
straight  streets ;  the  plastered  facing 
is  all  tumbling  off  the  large  houses. 
The  Kremlin  is  in  ruins,  the  Gostinnoi 
Dvor  is  gloomy,  and,  in  the  wooden 
suburbs,  the  grass  grows  in  the  streets. 

Usunova,  29. 

Venef,  32.  A  district  town.  In 
comparison  with  Russian  scenery  gene- 
rally it  may  be  said  to  stand  on  a 
steep  height.  It  has  4500  inhabitants, 
a  church  or  two,  and  a  wooden  prison. 
This  town  is  also  a  has  been;  dismal 
plaster  dilapidation  destroys  all  claim 
to  respectability,  and  the  streets,  being 
unpaved,  are  in  wet  weather  knee- 
deep  in  mud.  In  this  excessively  rich 
corn  country  Avood  is  proportionably 
scarce,  and  the  cottages  are  built  of  clay 
instead  of  timber. 

Anishina,  27.  At  a  short  distance 
from  this  road  is  the  small  lake 
Ivanooskoe,  the  source  of  the  river 
Don,  which  gives  its  name  to  the  cele- 
brated and  most  powerful  tribe  of  Cos- 
sacks. It  is  sluggish  and  full  of  shal- 
lows, and  its  mouth  full  of  sand- 
banks ;  in  consequence  its  winding 
course  of  900  miles  to  Tcherkask, 
where  it  enters  the  Sea  of  Azov,  is  of 
little  use  in  inland  navigation. 

Tula,  27,  963  versts.  The  whole 
of  this  cross  road  may  be  travelled  with 
quite  aa  little  inconvenience,  perhaps 


Hussia. 


BOUTE    103. — MOSCOW   TO    WARSAW. 


603 


rather  less,  than  some  of  the  great  ones ; 
and  the  saving  of  70  versts,  by  rejoining 
the  road  to  Odessa  at  Tula  instead  of 
coming  back  to  Moscow,  would  be  de- 
sirable to  most  tourists. 

EOUTE  102. 

5I03COW    TO    WARSAW,    BY  SMOLENSK 
AND   MINSK. 

This  road  is  most  uninteresting,  un- 
less the  fact  of  its  having  been,  as  far 
as  Borisof,  the  one  by  which  the  French 
beat  their  retreat,  relieves  it  from  that 
epithet.  The  journey  usually  occupies 
about  a  week. 

Moscow  to  ^ 

PerchushJcovo,  30 f. 

PodlipH,  25. 

SheUcofka,  24 f. 

MosHAisK,  23f.  A  small  town  on 
the  Moskva. 

Gridneva,  29. 

Gshatsk,  34.     On  the  Gshat. 

Tophicha,  31. 

ViASMA,  30.  A  small  town  on  the 
river  of  the  same  name.  Here  the  Rus- 
sians attacked  the  French  under  Eu- 
gene Beauharnois,  on  the  3rd  of  No- 
vember, 1812  ;  but  the  latter,  notwith- 
standing inferiority  in  artillery,  main- 
tained his  position  long  enough  to 
enable  the  baggage  to  pass  through  the 
town ;  subsequently  his  situation  be- 
came very  critical,  and  the  French  were 
only  saved  from  a  severe  defeat  by  the 
bravery  and  exertions  of  Ney,  who 
commanded  the  rear-guard ;  the  ex- 
cellent position  which  he  occupied,  and 
that  of  the  large  ravine  on  the  left  of 
the  town,  at  length  arrested  the  ene- 
my's progress.  At  the  bridge  over  the 
little  river  Osma,  at  a  village  called 
Policenovo,  between  Viasma  and  the 
next  station,  the  rush  of  the  troops  and 
camp  followers  to  clear  the  narrow  de- 
file led  to  the  greatest  insubordination 
and  loss  of  life. 

Semlevo,  26.     On  a  steep  hill, 

Vasina,  27|:. 

DoEOGOBusH,  22|.     A  small  town. 


The  Dnieper  here  is  210  feet  broad. 
The  French  reached  this  on  the  6th 
of  November,  when  the  weather,  which 
had  hitherto  been  fine,  suddenly 
changed  to  a  tempest  of  snow  and 
wind ;  and  from  this  day  it  may 
be  said  that  the  army  lost  its  courage 
and  military  attitude ;  the  guns  were 
abandoned,  the  ranks  broken,  and  the 
men  who  straggled  from  the  road  were 
soon  despatched  by  the  Cossacks  or  the 
peasantry,  eager  to  avenge  the  miseries 
which  they  had  suffered. 

Michailqfka,  22. 

Pneva,  25. 

Bredichino,  17. 

Smolensk,  22^.  Capital  of  the 
Government  of  the  same  name,  situated 
on  the  Dnieper.  This  city  was  in  the 
ninth  century  in  a  flourishing  state,  and 
independent  until  the  year  881,  when 
it  submitted  to  Novgorod.  The  scenes 
of  1812  have  left  it  almost  a  heap  of 
ruins,  the  fortifications  being  much  in 
the  same  state  as  when  Napoleon  left 
them ;  large  apertures  made  in  the 
walls  have  never  been  repaired,  and 
the  inhabitants  seem  poor  and  misera- 
ble. Here  the  French  army  had  ex- 
pected to  rejoin  the  divisions  left  on  the 
Dnieper  and  the  Dwina,  and  find  their 
stores,  but  on  their  arrival  the)-  learnt 
that  Napoleon  had  altered  his  plans, 
that  the  ninth  corps  had  not  even 
halted  in  Smolensk,  and  that  the  pro- 
visions were  all  consumed.  "  A  thun- 
derbolt," writes  Labaiime,  "falling  at 
out  feet  would  have  confounded  us  less 
than  did  this  news  ;  the  little  that  re- 
mained in  the  magazines  was,  in  spite 
of  the  guard,  pillaged  by  the  famished 
soldiers,  who  would  not  wait  for  the 
regular  distribution  of  their  rations." 
"  This  pillage,"  remarks  the  same 
author,  "  led  for  the  moment  to  abun- 
dance. At  the  unexpected  view  our 
hearts  once  more  expanded.  One 
laughed  with  joy  as  he  kneaded  his 
bread,  another  sang  as  he  cooked  his 
meat ;  but  most  of  our  party,  eagerly 
seizing  the  brandy,  quickly  caused  the 
wildest  gaiety  to  succeed  to  the  most 


604 


EOUTE    lOj^. — MOSCOW   TO   WAESAW. 


Sect.  V. 


distressing  sadness."  On  the  14th 
November,  Napoleon  held  here  his  first 
council  of  war. 

Koritnia,  23. 

Krasnoe,  285.  The  French,  in  the 
several  engagements  near  this  place, 
lost  25,000  men,  thousands  of  pri- 
soners, and  twenty-five  pieces  of  can- 
non. It  was  in  one  of  these  affairs 
that  Davoust's  baton- de-Marechal, 
now  in  the  Kazan  church,  Avas  taken. 
The  Russians  divide  the  retreat  into 
three  epochs — the  first  ended  at  the 
battle  of  Krasnoe,  the  second  at  the 
I3eresina,  and  the  third  at  the  Niemen. 

Liadi,  \Q\. 

Kosiani,  I65. 

Duhrovna,  on  the  Dnieper,  12f. 

Orsha,  14^.  A  small  town  on  the 
Dnieper,  which  is  crossed  by  a  ferry. 
The  Hospital  of  Napoleon  is  a  mass  of 
ruins,  having  been  gutted  by  fire. 

Kochanovo,  28|. 

Tolotshin,  19. 

Maliafka,  20a. 

Krupka,  16. 

Loshniza,  25. 

BoRisoF,  17^.  On  the  Beresina. 
The  passage  of  this  river  was  the 
second  fearful  epoch  in  the  retreat. 
The  Russians  having  destroyed,  in 
their  retrograde  movement,  the  great 
bridge  of  Borisof,  now  defended  the 
right  bank,  and  occupied,  with  four  divi- 
sions, the  principal  points ;  but  Napo- 
leon, by  clever  manoeuvring  and  stra- 
tagem, obtained  possession  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Studzianca,  and  there,  notwith- 
standing the  opposition  of  the  enemy, 
constructed  two  bridges ;  on  these 
Marshal  Oudinot  crossed  with  his  divi- 
sion, and  fought  his  way  to  the  head  of 
the  bridge  of  Borisof,  when  Napoleon, 
with  a  portion  of  the  troops  under 
Bcaviharnois  and  Victor,  and  the  Poles 
under  Dombrowski,  followed ;  they 
v/ere,  however,  hotly  pursued  by  the 
Russian  army  of  the  Dwina  and  that 
of  Kutusoff,  with  which  it  had  formed 
a  junction  near  Lochnitza,  the  last 
divisions  arriving  in  a  deplorable 
state  of  confusion  at  the  river;  and 


then  followed  a  scene  which  has  no 
parallel  in  the  military  history  of  any 
country.     It  was  about  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  27th  November 
that  Napoleon  crossed  the    Beresina, 
and  about  eight  on  the  following  morn- 
ing the  bridge  for  the  cavalry  and  the 
carriages  broke  down,  when  the  artillery 
and    baggage   advanced    towards   the 
other  bridge  and  attempted  to  force  a 
passage.    And  now  commenced  a  scene 
which  defies  description.     Thousands 
of  the  infantry,  who    had   refused  to 
leave  their  fires  and  cross  on  the  pre- 
ceding evening,  on  the  plea  that  the 
bridges  would  be  more  free  the  next 
day,  seeing  one  bridge  gone  rushed  to 
the  head   of  the  one  remaining,  and. 
entered   into  a  fierce  contention  with 
the  artillery  and  the  dragoons ;  thou- 
sands of  camp  followers  pressed  on  the 
rear  of  these,  until   the  passage  was 
completely  choked  up  ;  and  some  shells 
from  the  Russian  batteries,  which  were 
now  engaged  with  Ney  and  Oudinot, 
falling  amongst  them,  completed   the 
panic  and  struck  terror  into  every  heart. 
Hundreds  perished  by  the    hands  of 
their  comrades  in  this  strife,  and  the 
bodies  of  the  dead  men  and  horses  were 
so  heaped  up  at  the  head  of  the  bridge, 
that  every  avenue  to  it  was  choked. 
Over  this   pile   of  the  dying  and  the 
dead   the    strongest   climbed,   kicking 
from   them  with   violence  the   frantic 
beings,  who,  weaker  than  themselves, 
and  struggling  in  the  agonies  of  death, 
clung  to  their  feet  in  the  hope  of  extri- 
cating themselves.      The  women  and 
children,  who  had  escaped  so  many  dis- 
asters, seem  to   have  been  preserved 
only  to  suffer  here  a  death  still  more 
terrific.     "  We  saw  them,"  Avrites  La- 
baume,    ''rushing   from    the   baggage 
waggons  and  falling  in  agonies  of  tears 
at  the  feet  of  the  first  soldier  they  met, 
imploring  his  assistance  to  reach  the 
other  side.    The  sick  and  the  wounded 
sitting  on  the  trunks  of  the  trees,  or 
supported  by  their  crutches,  anxiously 
looked  around  them  for  some  friend  to 
help  them.     But  their  cries  were  lost 


Bussia. 


EOUTE    103. — MOSCOW   TO    ODESSA. 


605 


in  the  air.  No  one  remembered  his 
dearest  friend ;  his  own  preservation 
absorbed  every  thought.  More  than 
20,000  sick  and  wounded  and  200 
pieces  of  cannon  fell  into  the  enemy's 
hands,  and  36,000  bodies  were  found 
after  the  thaw  in  the  river;  the  num- 
ber of  killed  was  never  accurately  ascer- 
tained. From  Borisof  the  remnants  of 
the  army  pursued  their  way  to  AVilna, 
meeting  at  every  step  with  fresh  dis- 
asters. 

Shodln,  19^. 

Smolevitshi,  18. 

Ticchnoflca,  15|. 

Minsk,  21^.  On  the  Svenlosh. 
There  are  some  fine  buildings  here 
amongst  the  palaces  of  the  nobility. 
Business  seems  to  be  almost  exclusively 
in  the  hands  of  the  Jews,  Avho  are  met 
at  every  step  dressed  in  their  long 
black  caftans  and  black  fur  caps.  The 
women  are  handsome,  and  appear  on 
Saturdays  decked  out  in  all  their 
finery ;  an  embroidered  velvet  cap 
which  they  wear  is  generally  orna- 
mented with  seed  pearls  and  precious 
stones. 

Prihthi,  I65. 

Koidcvnovo,  24|. 

Agatino,  20^. 

Novo  Soershen,  16f . 

Neswish,  25.     A  small  town. 

Snof,  21  i_. 

JStolovitshi,  24^. 

Polonka,  21^. 

Dzjadi,  13i. 

Slonim,  15.  A  small  town  on  the 
river  Sezara,  in  Lithuania.  In  an  ac- 
tion fought  here  by  Prince  Radzivil 
against  the  forces  of  Catherine  II.,  in 
1764,  two  ladies  of  the  highest  rank 
appeared  in  the  field.  One  was  sister 
to  the  prince,  the  other  his  wife.  The 
latter,  scarcely  seventeen  years  of  age, 
fought  on  horseback,  and  with  a  pistol 
in  her  hand  encouraged  the  troops  to 
do  their  duty.  "When  the  Russians  ob- 
tained the  victory,  she  saved  her  life 
by  swimming  her  horse  across  the 
river  Niemen. 

Meshevitshi,  19|. 


Rushana,  16. 

Michailino,  20  j. 

Voroshhiti,  19. 

Prushaki,  19|.     a  small  town. 

Gorodetshna,  12\. 

KoBRiP,  22^.     A  small  town. 

Kruiytsldnshaia,  134. 

Bulkof,  154. 

Brest,  21^.  On  crossing  the  Polish 
frontier  the  usual  search  takes  place, 
and  the  passport  is  signed. 

Tirespol,  4, 

Salesje,  24. 

Biala,  16. 

Mendsirshez,  23 1. 

Shutshin,  24 4. 

Sedlze,  14|. 

Mingosi,  16. 

Kaluzshin,  18.  Government  of  Jla- 
sovia. 

Minsk,  16^. 

Milovna,  22|. 

Warsaw,  141.  Total,  1278i.  For 
description  of  "Warsaw  see  p.  591. 

EOUTE  103. 

MOSCOW    TO   ODESSA  BY    TULA,    KHAKK- 
HOFF,  OREL,   AND   NICOLAIEFP. 

The  journey  to  Odessa  from  Moscow 
will  occupj'-  about  fourteen  travelling 
days.  If  the  traveller  can  obtain  a  cou- 
rier from  the  post-office,  he  will  accom- 
plish the  journey  in  less  time,  and  will 
be  saved  a  multitude  of  miseries.  Alter- 
cations with  postmasters,  or  the  govern- 
ment officers,  at  the  post  stations  should 
be  avoided,  more  especially  if  it  be  a  rule 
of  the  travellers  never  to  be  imposed 
upon  ;  a  hot  temper  is  a  bad  companion 
in  steppe  travelling.  It  will,  too,  be  idle 
and  unwise  to  fume  and  fuss,  and  talk 
of  reporting  if  the  post-horses  do  not 
come  out  as  quick  as  they  do  in  other 
countries.  Those  of  the  government 
couriers  do  not  make  their  appearance 
under  twenty  minutcf?.  If  the  traveller 
stops  at  night  and  sleeps  in  the  post- 
house,  it  will  be  well  to  pay  a  man  to 
take  care  of  the  carriage  during  the 
night.     If  the  springs  have  too  much 


606 


KOUTE    103. — MOSCOW   TO    ODESSA. 


Sect.  V. 


play,  they  should  be  corded.  (For 
further  information  on  this  subject, 
see  preliminary  information,  p.  405, 
et  seq.) 

Moscow  to — 

Podolsk,  35.  Grood  inn  on  the  left, 
half  Avay  up  the  town.  Cross  the  river. 
This  is  a  post-royal,  consequently 
double  the  charge. 

Lopassnia,  32.  The  road  is  mac- 
adamised between  Podolsk  and  Ser- 
puchof 

Serpuchof,  27.  Eoad  excellent, 
through  a  forest.  The  town  prettily 
situated.  Inn  capital ;  from  hence  the 
post-houses  are  execrable. 

Vcdmenski  Savod,  Sl^.  The  road 
is  heavy.  The  view  from  the  hill 
above  the  river  Oka,  looking  back 
upon  Serpuchof,  is  very  beautiful. 

Vasliani,  19^.  Execrable  post- 
house. 

Volotja,  22.  A  little  better  accom- 
modation. In  all  the  post-houses  be- 
tween Moscow  and  Tula,  hardware 
nick-nacks  are  to  be  found^  all  made  at 
the  latter  place. 

Tula,  13.  The  Russian  Birming- 
ham ;  a  town  of  36,000  inhabitants ; 
on  an  insignificant  stream,  the  Oopa. 
It  is  famed  for  its  manufactory  of  fire- 
arms and  hardware.  Tula  was  founded 
by  Peter  the  Great,  in  1712,  and  has 
been  twice  destroyed  by  fire  during 
the  reign  of  the  present  emperor ;  the 
last  time  in  1834,  when  a  large  por- 
tion of  its  inhabitants  were  reduced  to 
beggary.  The  manufactory  of  fire- 
arms is  worth  visiting.  The  new 
works,  erected  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  Mr.  Trewheller,  an  Eng- 
lishman, made  this  establishment  one 
of  the  first  in  Europe.  The  lathes  are 
turned  by  water,  which  runs  through 
iron  cylinders  large  enough  for  a  man 
to  walk  in  nearly  upright ;  and,  by 
means  of  a  warming  apparatus,  the 
working  of  these  lathes  is  not  inter- 
rupted by  any  degree  of  frost.  The 
muskets  are  neatly  made,  but  do  not 
carry  with  the  same  degree  of  pre- 
cision as  an  English  one.    As  many 


as  7000  persons  are  employed  in  this 
establishment.  An  immense  trade  is  car- 
ried on  here  in  samovars  ;  the  cutlery 
is  very  inferior.  The  ornamental  steel 
work  is  far  inferior  to  that  of 
Prussia;  and  the  Platina  snuff-boxes 
to  those  of  Moscow.  There  are  iron 
mines  in  the  neighbourhood.  No  bread 
will  be  met  with  between  this  and 
Orel. 

Jassnaia  Poliana,  17.  Post-house 
bad. 

Solova,   18.      Post   fairish.      Poad 

hilly. 

Sergiefscoi,  24|.  Post-house  exe- 
crable. This  village  belongs  to  a 
Prince  Gargarin;  his  house  is  on  the 
right  above  it,  and  looks  well.  The 
inhabitants  are  in  a  very  destitute 
state  ;  the  dirt  snd  filth  inconceivable, 
and  beggars  by  hundreds.  The  tra- 
veller will  do  well  to  compare  the  con- 
dition of  this  village  with  those  of  the 
Crown  near  Volki,  two  stages  from 
Karkhoff;  he  cannot  fail  to  remark 
how  much  better  off  the  Crown  pea- 
sant is  to  that  of  the  noble. 

Skuratovo  Malencoi,  25.}.  Post- 
house  so-so.     Road  tolerable. 

Skuratovo  Bolshoi,  18.  The  post- 
house  bad,  and  swarming  with  cock- 
roaches. 

Mtsensk,  252.  Road  horrible,  with 
ravines.     Post-house  passable. 

Otrada,  27.     Road  bad. 

Orel,  25.  A  large  town  on  the 
Oka.  The  streets  horribly  paved. 
The  post-house  execrable ;  but  the  inn 
to  the  right  near  it  very  fair.  The 
public  gardens  are  prettily  laid  out,  and 
the  view  from  them  gaod.  This  town 
was  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  7th  of 
June,  1848,  and  most  of  the  inhabitants 
lost  all  they  possessed.  Upwards  ot 
1237  houses,  including  50  of  stone; 
80,000  tchetverts  of  grain,  100,000 
puds  of  peas,  and  four  bridges,  were  de- 
stroyed. The  four  stone  churches  were 
much  injured.  The  whole  of  this  loss 
was  officially  estimated  at  3,425,000 
silver  rubles.  The  emperor  forwarded 
the  sum  of  50,000  rubles  to  be  distri- 


Russia. 


ROUTE  ]03. — MOSCOW  TO  ODESSA. 


607 


buted  amongst  the  poorer  people,  and 
the  ministers  also  sent  10,000  rubles 
for  the  same  purpose. 

Chotetovo,  23.  Horrible  road,  and 
at  a  village  four  miles  from  the  town 
almost  impassable. 

Mocressi,  25.  Post  so-so.  Road 
bad. 

Otshi,  25. 

Olchovatla,  16.  Post  pretty  good. 
Road  horrible. 

Sorocovi  Colodetz,  21.  Post-house 
so-so. 

IsaJcievsTci  Dvori,  23.  Post-house 
bad.     Road  ditto. 

KouRSK,  17.  A  large  town.  The 
post-house  is  very  tolerable.  White 
bread  can  be  procured  here. 

Selichova  Dvori,  17.  The  road 
from  Koursk  to  this  place  is  in  some 
parts  very  bad,  particularly  near  the 
river ;  extra  horses  are  necessary  in 
the  best  weather,  in  consequence  of  the 
heavy  sand. 

Medvenca,  18.  Post  fairish.  Road 
ditto. 

Obojan,  24.  Post-house  good.  This 
is  a  small  town. 

Kotshetvi  Dvori,  18.  Post-house 
so-so.     Road  hilly,  from  ravines. 

Jacavlevo,  20.  Post  bad.  Road 
hillj"-,  and  not  unlike  a  ploughed  field. 

Belgorod,  28.     A  small  town. 

Tsherevioshnaje,  26.  Post  so-so. 

Lipsi,  22.     Post-house  good. 

Karkhofp,  28.  Hotel  in  the  great 
square,  near  and  on  the  same  side  as 
the  Chamber  of  the  Noblesse  ;  it  is  not 
so  good  as  the  one  at  Orel.  The  uni- 
versity is  worthy  of  a  visit;  and  if 
during  the  fair,  which  is  in  the  month 
of  May,  the  jewellers'  and  other  shops. 
A  great  deal  of  business  is  done  here 
in  wool.  The  fair  lasts  a  fortnight.  The 
Russian  baths  are  pretty  good ;  an  ordi- 
nary warm  bath  may  also  be  had.  The 
public  gardens  are  pretty;  they  are 
close  to  the  Institnt  des  Demoiselles 
Nohles,  the  wall  of  separation  has  a 
chevaux  de  frise  on  the  top,  and  two 
soldiers  stand  sentry  at  the  gate,  rather 
an  odd   accompaniment  to    a    ladies' 


school ;  it  is  explained  by  its  being 
a  government  establishment.  The 
Chinese  pagoda  in  these  gardens  cost 
30,000  rubles;  it  is  very  much  defaced 
with  scribbling.  The  theatre  is  small, 
but  the  acting  was,  when  we  visited 
it,  very  respectable.  The  environs  of 
the  town  are  pretty.  From  hence 
to  Odessa  travellers  must  post,  or  take 
Jews'  horses,  for  the  diligence  goes  no 
farther. 

Liiibolin,  20.  Road  from  Khark- 
hoff  very  sandy,  and  extra  horses  are 
frequently  required. 

Valid,  28.  Post-house  pretty  good. 
The  villages  near  here  belong  to  the 
Crown,  and  are  in  excellent  order, 
particularly  the  one  on  leaving  the 
town.  Ice  may  be  generally  procured 
in  the  summer  at  almost  every  cot- 
tage. 

ColomaJc,  25.  The  post-house  clean. 
Employe  civil. 

Vanioffka,  25.  "Wretched  post- 
house. 

Dudnikqf,ld.  Horrible  road.  Post- 
house  bad. 

PuLTAVA,  20.  Post-house  execrable. 
The  town  is  not  fortified.  The  iron 
column  erected  to  commemorate  the 
defeat  of  Charles  XII.  is  an  ill-pro- 
portioned monument;  it  is  surmounted 
by  a  helmet  with  the  vizor  down.  In 
looking  at  it,  our  sympathies  are 
awakened  in  favour  of  the  glorious 
madman,  who,  with  the  exception  of 
Patkul's  execution,  committed  few  un- 
justifiable acts,  and  certainly  had  many 
fine  points  of  character.  Pultava 
stands  splendidly  on  a  high  hill ;  close 
to  it  is  another,  crowned  by  a  church. 
The  river  Bursk  runs  at  the  foot  of 
these  hills,  and  crosses  the  marshy 
plain  to  the  wood  beyond.  It  must 
have  been  a  desperate  place  to  storm, 
without  proper  means,  and  nothing 
but  the  wretched  position  the  army  of 
Charles  was  in,  cut  off  from  his  sup- 
plies, and  but  a  very  few  rations  in 
camp,  made  such  an  attempt  justifiable. 
The  battle  of  1709  was  fought  in  a 
plain  about  four  miles  S.W.  of  the  town. 


6oa 


KOUTE    103. MOSCOW    TO    ODESSA. 


Sect.  V. 


A  mound  of  earth  about  40  feet  in 
height,  surmounted  by  a  cross,  covers 
the  bodies  of  the  Swedes  who  fell,  and 
serves  to  mark  the  centre  of  the  field. 
The  pools  and  morasses  here  yield 
large  quantities  of  leeches,  which  are 
despatched  across  the  whole  length  of 
the  continent  to  Hamburgh,  for  ex- 
portation ;  a  thousand  leeches  are  some- 
times sold  at  Pultava  for  a  silver  ruble. 
The  imperial  garden  is  an  agreeable 
promenade. 

Extra  horses  are  positively  neces- 
sary from  DudnikoiT,  the  wheels  being 
up  to  the  axles  in  sand.  We  fairly 
stuck,  and  were  drawn  out  by  oxen. 
The  road  close  to  the  town  is  per- 
fectly disgraceful ;  the  worst  part  being 
within  the  gates. 

Kuralechovo,  17.  Post-house  bad. 
Wretched  road. 

ReshetilovJca ,  18.     Post-house  bad. 

KorolevsJci,  Trahtir,  18.  Post-house 
bad. 

Pdshani  PosJci,  23.  Post-house 
wretched. 

Omelnilc,  12.  Between  this  and  the 
last  post  the  carriage  of  the  emperor 
was  once  upset,  a  fact  which  the  pos- 
tillion recounts  to  every  traveller. 
The  road  is  very  ma^sh3^  At  the  8th 
verst  there  is  an  execrable  bridge,  the 
approach  on  each  side  being  infamous. 

Krementschuk,  22.  Signifying 
'^  the  city  of  fire-stones."  A  town  on 
the  Dnieper.  The  post-house  so-so. 
The  river,  which  runs  at  a  sharp  rate,  is 
passed  by  ferry  boats.  We  crossed  it 
in  May,  and  saw  no  bridge,  and  from 
the  great  width,  doubt  whether  there 
is  one  more  advanced  in  the  season. 
The  banks  are  not  unlike  those  of  the 
Ganges.  The  ferry  presents  a  very 
animated  appearance. 

Svetaja  BalU,  24 1.  Road  through 
a  track  of  heavy  sand,  a  fine  view  of 
the  town  and  river. 

Alexandria,  27.  Post-house  pretty 
good.  Pass  the  river.  Vast  numbers 
of  the  spotted  earth  hares  are  seen. 

Novaga  Praga,  21. 

Adjiamca,  23.     A  military  colony; 


the  cavalry  may  be  seen  at  exercise  in 
the  morning.     The  post-house  so-so. 

Elizavetgrad,  22.  This  town  is 
the  head-quarters  of  the  military  colo- 
nies on  this  side  the  river  Bug.  To 
the  military  man  this  establishment  is 
particularly  interesting ;  a  letter  of 
introduction  will  procure  favourable 
reception  from  the  officer  in  com- 
mand. At  the  last  review  of  Vos- 
nesensk  80,000  cavalry  were  present, 
all  drawn  from  these  colonies.  The 
Hulans  are  perfect,  the  discipline  is 
good,  and  the  men  are  remarkably  well 
mounted.     The  post-house  so-so. 

Tumuli  begin  to  be  numerous  here  ; 
when  opened  they  have  generally 
produced  quantities  of  horses'  teeth 
and  bones,  but,  we  believe,  no  coins.  At 
the  period  to  which  these  tumuli  belong, 
the  Scj'thians  had  no  money,  and  no 
knowledge  of  the  arts.  The  tumuli  in 
Avhich  coins,  &c.,  have  been  found 
further  south,  were  the  burying-places 
of  the  Scythian  heroes  who  joined 
themselves  to  the  colonists  from  Magna 
Grecia,  and  who  left  Athens  about  the 
time  of  Pericles.  These  colonists  and 
the  Scythians  adopted  many  of  each 
other's  customs. 

Kamiyaniefka,  24  j.     Bad  ford. 

/  The  steppe 
Bohrineiz,  24 4-  here  is  hard 
GromoJcleia,  15j.  \  and  good,  and 
Mahsiraovha,  19.  j'^ou  may  gallop 
^all  the  way. 


Post-house  bad 

Wretched    post- 

This  town  covers 
each  house  being 


Vodianaia,  16  3. 

Veilandova,  20j. 
enough. 

Kandihino,    23. 
house. 

NiCOLAIEFF,  24. 
an  immense  extent, 
generally  of  one  story,  with  large  gar- 
dens attached  to  it,  and  streets  of 
enormous  width.  The  houses  are  well 
white-washed  and  yellow- washed,  and 
look  much  more  cheerful  than  those  of 
other  towns.  The  rivers  Bug  and  In- 
gul,  which  unite  below  the  town,  form  a 
fine  estuary,  in  which  during  winter  the 
Black  Sea  fleet  station.  The  Boulevard, 


Eiissia. 


ROUTE    103. — ODESSA. 


609 


near  tlie  river,  is  well  planted,  and  forms 
a  shrubbery  to  the  water's  edge.  This 
and  other  improvements  were  effected 
under  the  government  of  Admiral 
Greig,  who  was  also  Admiral  of  the 
Black  Sea  fleet.  His  father's  services 
and  his  own  are  too  well  known  to 
need  comment  hero  ;  it  must  be  gratif}^- 
ing  to  every  Englishman  to  find  that 
his  countryman  raised  this  place  to  its 
present  position.  The  objects  most  wor- 
thy of  notice  are  the  Dockyards,  which, 
however,  the  traveller  must  not  expect 
to  find  like  those  of  Portsmouth  or  Ply- 
mouth. The  machinery  used  here  is, 
with  one  exception,  English.  The  model 
room  is  also  worthy  of  a  visit;  in  passing 
through  it  the  traveller  will  observe  a 
vessel  rigged  and  ready  for  sea.  Upon 
this  the  naval  cadets  gain  a  knowledge 
of  ropes,  yards,  and  sails,  &c.,  &c. 
The  Observatory  is  situated  a  short 
distance  from  the  town ;  the  astro- 
nomer, a  Livonian  and  a  very  clever 
man,  is  always  glad  to  show  it.  The 
view  from  the  roof  is  fine.  The  bar- 
racks for  the  seamen  are  very  exten- 
sive ;  they  were  built  by  an  English 
architect  residing  here ;  he,  as  well  as 
all  Englishmen  we  met  in  Russia,  are 
anxious  to  be  of  service  to  any  travel- 
ler who  may  fall  in  their  way.  Most 
of  the  naval  architects  receive  their 
education  in  England,  and  speak  the 
language.  The  post-house  is  execrable  ; 
but  private  lodgings  are  to  be  procured. 
The  governor's  house  was  built  by  Po- 
temkin ;  in  the  garden  is  a  Montague 
Kusse  built  of  wood.  The  present  com- 
mander of  the  Black  Sea  fleet  is  Ad- 
miral Lazzareff,  who  served  in  the  Eng- 
lish navy.  In  bad  weather  the  river 
is  rather  rough  at  the  ferry.  The 
inn  on  the  opposite  side  of  it  is  better 
than  any  in  the  town  ;  it  is  kept  by  a 
German  and  his  wife ;  it  was  clean, 
and  but  for  the  inconvenience  of  cross- 
ing to  visit  the  town,  would  be  the 
best  place  to  put  up  at.  The  toll  is  a 
mere  trifle,  35  silver  kopeks  for  a  car- 
riage ;  great  care  was  taken  of  the  car- 
riage by  the  ferryman.     For  those  per- 


sons who  wish  to  visit  the  Crimea  and 
return  by  steamer  to  Odessa,  this  will 
be  the  place  to  turn  off  at.  They  will 
pass  by  Howard's  tomb,  no  small  ob- 
ject of  interest  to  his  countrymen,  to 
Cherson,  a  town  now  nearly  deserted, 
but  once  a  naval  station  ;  the  rope- 
walk  is  nearly  all  that  remains  of  its 
Admiralty.  From  thence  the  tra- 
veller should  make  his  way  by  Perecop 
and  Sevastopol  through  the  Crimea. 

The  distance  from  Nicolaieff  to  the 
ferry  is  four  versts. 

Warvarof/ca,  23. 

Shermelei,  25. 

Krasnoi  TraJdir,  22. 

CohlefJca,  22.  Called  so  after  Gene- 
ral Cobley,  an  Englishman  in  the  Rus- 
sian service,  who  had  an  estate  here. 

Adgelik,  28. 

Odessa,  18.  Total,  1371^  versts. 
The  town  is  about  four  versts  from  the 
Custom-house  barrier.  Hotels  :  Hotel 
DE  LoNDKES,  ou  the  Boulevard,  the 
best ;  Hotel  de  Paris  ;  Hotel  de 
Richelieu.  For  further  information 
see  Preliminary  Information,  p.  400, 
et  seq. 

This,  the  principal  mercantile  city  in 
this  part  of  Russia,  is  situated  on  the 
northern  shore  of  the  Black  Sea,  and, 
as  a  residence,  there  is  nothing  to  ren- 
der it  agreeable  to  the  traveller.  The 
climate  is  very  unequal,  and,  being 
built  on  a  limestone  cliff  of  a  very 
crumbling  nature,  the  dust  during 
summer  is  not  onl}'- injurious  to  the  eyes, 
but  almost  insupportable.  In  winter 
the  thermometer  falls  to  23^  below 
Zero  of  Reaumur,  and  in  spring  the 
streets  are  full  of  mud  and  sludge. 
The  state  of  the  streets,  which  are  not 
paved,  may  be  imagined  by  the  follow- 
ing carica.ture,  which  we  once  saw  when 
residing  in  this  city :  a  Frenchman, 
just  arrived  from  Marseilles,  is  repre- 
sented sticking  up  to  his  knees  in  the 
mud,  and  exclaiming  ''  Je  me  fixe  id," 
and  under  this  was  written — "  How 
to  establish  oneself  at  Odessa." 

The  Turks  had  a  fortress  here,  called 
Khodja   Bey,  and   when   taken  from 


610 


BOUTE    103.  —  ODESSA. 


Sect.  V. 


them  by  Catherine,  it  Avas  named  by 
her  Odessus.  Admiral  Ribas  was  the 
first  person  who  made  any  improve- 
ments, but  he  was  thwarted  in  his 
plans.  In  the  year  1803  his  mea- 
sures were  renewed  ;  the  population, 
however,  was  not  formed  of  the  best 
materials,  being  composed  of  adven- 
turers from  all  parts  of  the  Levant,  run- 
away serfs,  and  other  itinerant  persons. 
When  the  Emperor  Paul  ascended  the 
throne,  he  gave  the  town  considerable 
privileges,  but  its  prosperity  is  chiefly 
owing  to  the  Duke  de  Kichelieu,  a 
French  emigrant,  who  was  subsequently 
appointed  governor,  and  who,  by  his 
judicious  administration,  brought  the 
commerce  of  the  town  into  a  very 
flourishing  state.  The  principal  streets 
were  laid  out  by  him,  and  his  amiable 
and  charitable  disposition  was  such,  that 
his  departure  was  sincerely  regretted  by 
all  classes.  With  every  opportunitj''  of 
enriching  himself,  he  is  said  to  have  left 
Odessa  with  a  small  portmanteau  con- 
taining his  uniform  and  two  shirts,  the 
greater  part  of  his  income  having  been 
disbursed  in  relieving  the  distresses  of 
a  portion  of  the  population,  who  were 
always  arriving  in  the  greatest  state  of 
destitution.  The  port  was  made  free 
in  1819,  and  in  1822,  a  nmiour  having 
spread  that  the  freedom  was  about  to 
be  abolished,  the  foreign  merchants 
were  on  the  point  of  quitting  the  town, 
when  the  order  was  rescinded,  and 
Count  Langeron,  the  governor,  who 
had  advocated  this  measure,  dismissed. 
The  port  has  remained  free  up  to  the 
present  time,  and,  through  the  exer- 
tions of  Count  Woronzoff,  has  become 
the  most  flourishing  port  in  the  Black 
Sea.  His  house,  a  princely  mansion, 
is  on  the  cliff  at  the  end  of  the 
Boulevard,  and  when  resident  here, 
he  is  particularly  attentive  to  English- 
men passing  through.  The  Exchange 
is  situated  at  the  other  extremity  of  the 
Boulevard  ;  the  interior  is  handsome  ; 
balls  are  held  in  the  principal  room 
during  the  winter  season,  and  are  very 
numerously  attended.    The  Theatre  is 


in  the  large  squate,  near  the  Hotel  de 
Kichelieu.  Italian  operas  and  French 
plays  are  performed  here  throughout 
the  year.  There  is  likewise  a  Rus- 
sian theatre.  The  principal  promenade  is 
on  the  Boulevard,  which,  on  Saturday 
evenings,  is,  by  a  sort  of  common  con- 
sent, left  to  the  Jews,  who  reside  here 
in  great  numbers.  A  military  band 
performs  three  times  a  week  during  the 
summer ;  a  stranger  may  then  see,  in 
one  cov/p  d'ceil,  all  the  elite  of  the 
place.  There  is  in  the  centre  of 
this  walk  a  bronze  statue  of  the 
Duke  de  Kichelieu ;  he  is  looking 
towards  the  sea  and  facing  a  monster 
staircase,  which  has  been  built  on 
arches,  and  reaches  from  the  Boulevard 
to  the  shore ;  this  has  cost  an  enor- 
mous sum  of  money,  and  its  strength  as 
well  as  use  is  so  problematical,  that  an 
Odessa  wag  observed,  that  Kichelieu 
would  in  all  probability  be  the  first 
person  to  descend  it.  The  museum 
and  library  are  in  the  same  house  with 
the  bureau  of  the  military  governor, 
situated  opposite  the  Hotel  de  Peters- 
bourg,  and  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
Boulevard.  The  library  is  small  but 
well  chosen :  the  museum  contains 
many  objects  of  antiquity  from  the  site 
of  ancient  Greek  colonies  in  this  part 
of  the  world,  particularly  from  those 
of  Olbia,  the  Chersonesus,  Kertch, 
Sisopolis,  &c.,  &c.  Some  of  the  vases 
and  medals  are  worthy  of  observation, 
and  a  gold  one  of  the  time  of  Alexan- 
der is  in  remarkable  preservation.  And 
last,  though  not  least  in  interest,  is  a 
japanned  flat  candlestick,  once  the  pro- 
perty of  the  philanthropic  Howard  ;  it 
is  preserved  with  great  care.  The 
sight  of  this  relic  will  call  up  a  host  of 
feelings  connected  with  the  remem- 
brance of  his  fate,  and  emotions  of  ad 
miration  and  respect  for  his  unwearied 
exertions  in  the  cause  of  humanity. 
Howard's  last  words  to  his  friend 
Priestman  are  characteristic — ''Let  no 
monument  or  monumental  inscription 
whatsoever  mark  the  spot  where  I  am 
buried ;  lay  me  quietly  in  the   earth,, 


Russia. 


EOTJTE    103. — ODESSA. 


611 


place  a  sundial  over  my  grave,  and  let 
me  be  forgotten."  And  truly  this  re- 
markable man  seems  to  be  forgotten. 
His  remains  lie  mouldering  in  the 
steppe  near  Cherson,  and  those  who 
pass  by  his  tomb,  are  alike  ignorant  of 
his  virtues  and  his  name.  Why  are  not 
his  ashes  vi^ith  the  good  and  great  in 
his  own  country  1  The  librarian,  a 
Monsieur  Spada,  is  generally  to  be 
found  in  attendance  between  12  and 
2  o'clock.  Some  of  the  granaries  in 
Odessa  ai'e  worthy  of  notice ;  they 
are  remarkably  well  built  with  the 
stone  found  here ;  that  of  Saban- 
sky,  now  a  school-house,  on  the 
ravine,  is  of  immense  extent,  and  has 
an  imposing  appearance  from  the  streets 
looking  towards  the  Lazaret.  The 
public  slaughtering  houses  are  on  a 
large  scale,  many  thousands  of  cattle 
are  there  boiled  down  for  the  tallow  ; 
it  is  a  singular  but  not  a  very  agree- 
able spectacle.  Droshkis  are  to  be 
found  at  every  corner  ;  they  have  gene- 
rally two  horses;  the  fare  is  from  18 
to  30  silver  kopeks  the  hour.  The 
drivers  go  at  railroad  pace.  A  drive 
to  the  race-course  or  the  villas  on  the 
sea  coast,  about  two  versts  from  the 
town,  will  pass  away  a  few  hours. 
Favoured  as  Odessa  is  by  its  position 
on  the  sea,  it  is  surrounded  on  the  land 
side  by  a  dreary  steppe  of  so  intracta- 
ble a  soil,  that  trees  and  shrubs,  with 
the  exception  of  the  acacia,  rarely  at- 
tain any  size,  and  in  many  places  will 
not  even  live.  The  narrow  strip  along 
the  sea  shore  above  mentioned  is  the 
only  oasis  of  vegetation  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  city.  There  is  also 
another  and  a  greater  evil,  the  want 
of  fresh  water ;  the  greater  part,  in- 
deed ner.rly  all  of  this  necessary  of 
life,  is  brought  in  carts  from  a  dis- 
tance of  several  versts.  Artesian 
borings  have  been  made  in  the  town 
to  a  depth  of  600  feet,  but  hitherto 
without  success.  Fuel  is  also  very  dear. 
Odessa  enjoys  an  etahlusement  des 
Bains,  situated  at  the  foot  of  the 
Boulevard,  which  is  much  frequented 


during  the  summer  months,  especially 
by  Poles,  who  come  here  to  sell  their 
corn,  and  disburse  theirmoney  in  piano- 
fortes, English  agricultural  implements, 
&c.  The  accommodation  at  the  baths 
is  indifferent,  but  the  charges  are  very 
low,  the  admittance  being  only  four- 
pence  each  person;  chocolate,  coifee, 
and  confectionary  may  be  had,  but 
nothing  of  a  more  substantial  nature. 
The  Andrieffsky  salt  baths,  on  a  liman 
about  seven  versts  from  the  town,  are 
in  great  vogue;  lodgings  are  easily  ob- 
tained there. 

German  waters  are  sold  at  an  esta- 
blishment in  the  town  garden.  An- 
other institution  which  may  be  interest- 
ing to  the  stranger  is  the  Richelieu 
Lyceum,  a  commercial  college,  in  which 
the  sciences  and  ancient  and  modern 
languages  are  taught  by  professors, 
chiefly  Gferman.  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
town  in  the  world  in  which  so  many 
different  tongues  may  be  heard  as  in 
the  streets  and  coffee-houses  of  Odessa. 
A  Avalk  to  the  Parlatoire  of  the 
Quarantine  will  enable  the  traveller  to 
hear  them  in  perfection  ;  this  is  the 
place  where  the  captains  of  vessels  and 
the  brokers  and  merchants  of  the  town 
meet  to  settle  their  business  :  and  here 
in  little  cells,  but  separated  from  one 
another  by  a  wire  grating,  so  that  no 
contact  can  take  place,  parties  can  dis- 
cuss their  affairs  without  being  over- 
heard. There  is  a  botanical  garden 
near  Odessa,  hut  the  difficulties  of  soil, 
drought,  and  frost  are  highly  injurious 
to  the  growth  of  plants.  The  Greek 
and  other  bazaars  merit  attention,  par- 
ticularly to  a  person  landing  here ; 
there  is  no  regular  Gosiinnoi  Dvor  as 
in  other  cities,  but  the  Privosdni  Ba- 
zaar is  an  excellent  spot  for  observing 
local  and  national  peculiarities,  espe- 
cially of  the  Moldavians,  Jews,  and 
Gypsies.  The  latter  are,  for  the  most 
part,  smiths ;  they  ^live  in  tents,  eat 
hedgehogs,  and  hocuss  as  in  other 
countries.  Q"'he  women  braid  their 
hair  into  twenty  tails  like  the  Tartars, 
smoke  all  day  long,  and,  notwithstand- 


612 


ROUTE    104. — ODESSA   TO    THE    CRIMEA. 


Sect.  V. 


ing  their  wild  and  savage  appearance, 
are  not  destitute  of  beauty ;  they 
have  fine  black  eyes,  and  well-propor- 
tioned figures.  There  are,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Odessa,  large  vineyards. 
In  that  of  Count  "Woronzoflf  are  from 
60,000  to  80,000  vines ;  the  wine  made 
from  these  grapes  is  not  so  good  as  that 
of  the  Crimea.  Vast  numbers  of  me- 
lons aro  also  raised  in  the  gardens  in 
the  environs  of  the  city  ;  some  of  them 
are  of  the  most  delicious  flavour,  and 
so  cheap  that  half  the  population  live 
upon  them  and  black  bread  during  the 
summer ;  the  universal  favourite  is  the 
water  melon,  which,  if  placed  in  ice 
for  a  short  time  before  dinner,  is  in 
this  season  a  most  grateful  fruit.  The 
stone  fruit  is  very  poor. 

Should  the  traveller  require  any  ad- 
vice or  assistance  during  his  stay  in 
Odessa,  we  would  recommend  him  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  the  British 
Consul  -  General  there,  Mr.  Yeames, 
the  most  intellectual  and  kind-hearted 
Englishman  in  Russia;  the  stranger 
will,  in  this  gentleman's  society,  learn 
more  about  the  country  he  is  going  to, 
or  has  explored,  in  one  hour  than  he 
will,  by  his  own  exertions,  in  one  year. 

ROUTE  104. 

ODESSA    TO    THE   CRIMEA. 

There  'are  only  two  reasons  which 
arc  likely  to  induce  the  Englishman  to 
visit  Odessa — business  or  excessive 
curiosity.  If  it  should  be  the  former, 
we  think  that  a  short  trip  to  the  Crimea 
will  repay  him  for  his  trouble ;  if  the 
latter,  a  month  may  be  passed  there 
with  profit  and  pleasure,  provided  al- 
ways th:it  it  is  in  the  summer  season: 
he  will  revel  in  fine  scenery,  become 
acquainted  with  an  oriental  people,  the 
Tartars,  and  see  Sevastopol,  the  great 
naval  station  and  Gibraltar  of  the 
Black  Sea.  We  have  remarked  else- 
where, and  we  again  refer  the  stranger 
to  page  408  for  information  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  proceeding  to  Krim  Tar- 


tary,  namely,  by  the  steamboat,  which 
leaves  Odessa  every  fortnight.  The 
vessel  is  generally  crowded  with  pas- 
sengers, and  in  their  society,  frequently 
the  elite  of  that  of  the  town,  pleasure 
and  amusement  may  be  anticipated. 
The  voyage,  apparently  for  the  benefit 
of  the  steward,  is  so  arranged  that  it 
shall  require  two  dinners  to  be  eaten 
before  reaching  the  destined  haven  ot 
Yalta,  where  persons  generally  dis- 
embark; the  traveller,  however,  who 
is  fond  of  antiquities  had  better  proceed 
direct  to  Kertch,  and  remain  there  till 
the  steamer  returns  from  thence,  when 
he  can  steam  back  by  it  to  Yalta,  and 
there  commence  his  explorations  in 
the  interior. 

In  approaching  the  Crimea,  it  is  hj 
no  means  the  nearest  land  which  first 
comes  in  sight,  but  rather  the  centre  of 
the  Peninsula,  whose  lofty  mountains 
stand  out  in  bold  relief  and  refresh  the 
sight,  which  has  for  days  dwelt  on  the 
flat  tame  steppe  which  surrounds 
Odessa.  When  the  steamer  stops  at 
Sevastopol  the  first  view  of  the  coast 
will  be  Cape  Chersonesus,  which  has  a 
light-house  on  it ;  near  this  and  in  the 
cliff  may  be  discovered,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  a  glass,  the  convent  of  St. 
George  and  the  promontory  on  which 
the  temple  of  which  Iphigenia  was 
priestess  was  situated.  A  view  ot 
this  edifice  by  those  who  navigated 
these  seas  in  this  lady's  time  must 
have  been  far  from  agreeable,  for  in 
this  temple,  it  is  said,  that  shipwrecked 
tourists  were  wont  to  be  sacrificed  by 
her  in  compliance  with  the  commands 
of  Diana.  The  scenery  from  hence 
down  the  coast  is  highly  interesting 
and  picturesque ;  the  slope  formed  by 
the  range  of  hills  towards  the  sea 
being  covered  by  Tartar  villages,  vine- 
yards, and  country  seats. 

The  summits  of  these  mountains  are 
crowned  with  forests,  but  their  sides 
are  in  many  cases  quite  precipitous  and 
devoid  of  trees  or  any  vegetation,  their 
gray  and  rugged  masses  contrasting 
well  and  powerfully  with  the  rich  cul- 


Russia. 


KOUTE    104.  — ODESSA   TO    THE    CKIMEA. 


613 


tivation  at  their  base.  The  splendid 
Grothic  chateau  of  Count  WoronzoiF 
is  the  last  object  of  attraction  before 
entering  the  small  bay  of  Yalta,  and 
its  toAvers  look  well,  surrounded  by  a 
southern  foliage,  and  contrasting  with 
the  minarets  of  an  adjacent  mosque. 
The  steamer  remains  at  Yalta  to 
coal,  after  which  she  continues  her 
voyage  to  Kertch,  keeping  near  the 
coast  all  the  way  to  that  town.  The 
headlands  after  leaving  Yalta  are 
very  bold,  particularly  that  of  the 
Bear,  and  remind  one  of  the  cliffs  on 
the  N.  coast  of  Ireland.  If  the  steam- 
boat leaves  Yalta  about  mid-day,  it 
will  in  fair  weather  reach  Theodosia 
after  dark.  This  town  was  once  a 
great  commercial  mart  of  the  Genoese, 
and  some  part  of  the  fortifications 
erected  by  them  are  still  to  be  seen 
near  the  harbour;  the  port  is  con- 
sidered the  best  on  this  coast  of  the 
Crimea,  after  that  of  Sevastopol.  The 
next  morning  the  town  of  Kertch,  situ- 
ated on  the  straits  which  join  the 
Black  Sea  to  that  of  Azoff,  will  heave 
in  sight;  the  hill  on  the  left,  called 
Mithridates,  is,  with  the  exception  of 
the  numerous  tumuli,  the  only  eleva- 
tion that  breaks  the  dreary  waste  of 
steppe ;  the  roads,  however,  are  gene- 
rally full  of  shipping,  as  all  vessels 
that  intend  to  enter  the  Sea  of  Azoff 
are  obliged  to  quarantine  here.  On 
landing  at  Kertch,  the  traveller  had 
better  make  his  way  to  the  house  of 
the  English  vice-consul,  who  will  in- 
form him  where  to  put  up ;  in  our  own 
case,  that  gentleman's  hospitality  saved 
us  from  a  Russian  third-rate  hotel, 
called  the  Club. 

The  most  interesting  object  at  Kertch 
is  the  museum,  in  which  is  a  collection 
of  medals,  Greek  vases,  sarcophagi, 
gems,  gold  ornaments,  amphorae,  glass, 
and  other  antiquities,  which  have  been 
dug  out  of  the  tumuli  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. The  ear-rings,  bracelets,  and 
bangles  found  in  these  mounds  are 
of  exquisite  workmanship,  and  afford 
strong  evidence  of  the  wealth  and  re- 


finement of  the  inhabitants  of  the  an- 
cient and  once  powerful  city  of  Panti- 
capaeum  :  the  gold  is  without  alloy. 
The  Tartars  have  a  tradition  that  up- 
wards of  40  puds,  1400  lbs.  English, 
of  this  precious  metal,  in  ornaments 
and  coins,  were  excavated  from  a  tu- 
mulus in  the  neighbourhood,  which 
they  still  call  in  consequence  the 
Golden  Hill.  There  are  Roman  as 
well  as  Greek  remains  in  this  collec- 
tion, but  the  latter  prevail,  the  Ro- 
mans not  having  had  possession  of  this 
part  of  the  world  till  after  the  defeat 
of  Pharnaces  by  Caesar,  the  occasion 
on  which  he  dictated  his  famous  letter 
to  the  Roman  Senate,  "Veni,  vidi, 
vici." 

At  some  distance  from  the  museum 
is  the  staircase  of  Mithridates,  leading 
up  to  the  hill  of  that  name,  which,  like 
the  Mons  Testaceus  at  Rome,  is  com- 
posed of  broken  pottery.  Half-way  up 
the  Hill  of  Mithridates  is  a  Boulevard 
planted  with  trees,  and  on  it  is  a 
whitewashed  fac-simile  of  the  Temple 
of  Theseus,  intended  for  a  museum ;  but 
what  a  contrast  to  the  original,  on  which, 
for  ages  past,  a  ray  of  each  succeeding 
sunset  seems  to  have  rested,  and  created 
that  rich  and  golden  tint  which  so 
much  enhances  its  beauty  !  There  is 
also  on  this  hill  a  stone  seat  somewhat 
rudely  shaped  like  a  chair,  and  cut  out 
of  the  rock ;  on  it  Mithridates  is  said  to 
have  sat  when  he  reviewed  his  troops, 
previously  to  his  last  expedition  against 
the  Romans.  At  Yeni  Kale,  the  an- 
cient Myrmecium,  at  the  further  ex- 
tremity of  the  straits,  is  a  fort,  and  in 
it  a  sarcophagus  mentioned  by  Clarke. 
On  the  road  there  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable of  the  tumuli  that  cover  the 
plain ;  it  was  originally  350  feet  in 
diameter,  and  concealed  a  mausoleum, 
the  entrance  to  which  is  a  gallery 
36  paces  long,  lined  with  solid  masonry 
of  hewn  stone,  admirably  fitted.  The 
mausoleum  is  square,  the  walls  being 
about  seven  feet  in  height,  with  a  su- 
perstructure rising  from  them  which  is 
gradually  worked  into  a  cone  of  pecu- 

£   E 


614 


ROUTE    104. —  ODESSA   TO   THE    CEIMEA. 


Sect.  V. 


liar  form,  each  stone  in  every  layer 
being  made  to  project  a  certain  pro- 
portion of  its  length  beyond  the  one 
beneath  it.  The  holes  in  the  masonry 
at  the  end  of  the  gallery,  which  origin- 
ally received  the  hinges  of  the  door, 
still  remain.  It  is  said  this  tumulus 
was  opened  by  the  Tartars,  who  sunk 
a  shaft  from  the  centre,  but,  birds 
having  built  in  the  opening  for  many 
years,  rubbish  accumulated,  and  the 
Genoese,  not  discerning  this,  drove  a 
shaft  horizontally,  till  they  arrived  in 
the  chamber,  when  they  found  out  that 
others  had  preceded  them  in  the  work 
of  spoliation.  The  Tartars  had  of  course 
left  nothing  behind  them  of  value. 
Frogs,  sheep,  and  cattle  are  now  the 
inhabitants  of  this  place  of  sepulture. 

The  inhabitants  of  Yeni  Kale  are  of 
Greek  descent.  Persons  going  to  the 
Kuban  or  Tiflis,  the  mineral  baths  at 
Petigorski,  which  are  of  great  reputa- 
tion, take  boat  here;  the  distance  to  the 
other  side  of  the  straits  is  about  11 
English  miles.  The  volcanoes  of  mud 
about  a  mile  from  the  fort  are  curious. 
This  part  of  the  country,  as  well  as 
the  island  of  Taman  opposite,  is  rich  in 
pitch  springs,  which  run  freely  in  a 
cutting  of  three  feet;  sulphur  is  also 
deposited  in  large  quantities.  From 
hence  is  a  good  view  of  the  Sea  of 
Azoff,  which  generally  looks  turgid 
and  still.  Should  the  traveller  desire 
to  extend  his  journey  to  Taganrog,  at 
its  eastern  extremity,  he  can  reach 
that  place  by  a  steamer,  from  Kertch, 
and  proceed  thence  to  Orenburgh,  and, 
if  he  pleases,  to  Siberia  or  China.  As 
there  is  nothing  but  a  steppe  to  tra- 
verse between  Kertch  and  Theodosia, 
it  is  better  to  return  to  Yalta  by 
the  steamer.  There  is  a  tolerable  inn 
at  the  latter  place,  but,  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  his  arrival,  we  recommend 
the  stranger  to  procure  a  European 
saddle,  obtain  an  order  for  post  horses, 
or  rather  ponies,  and  mounted  on  one, 
with  his  carpet  bags  and  guide  on  the 
other,  to  take  the  road  to  Sevastopol 
by  the  coast.    The  first  large  residence 


on  leaving  Yalta  is  Livadia,  the  seat 
of  Count  Potocki.  The  park  and  land 
below  the  house  are  Imperial  property. 
The  scenery  along  this  coast  seen  from 
the  sea  is  remarkably  striking,  but 
when  passing  through  it  nothing  can 
be  imagined  more  enchanting.  The 
winter,  which  is  severe  on  the  northern 
side  of  this  range  of  mountains,  is 
scarcely  felt  here.  On  the  coast,  as 
well  as  in  the  valleys,  every  kind  of 
fruit,  shrub,  and  forest  tree  is  to  be 
found;  in  fact,  a  more  abundant  and 
varied  vegetation  we  do  not  remember 
to  have  seen  elsewhere.  Amongst  the 
fruit  trees  may  be  cited  the  vine,  olive, 
pomegranate,  figs,  nut  and  standard 
peach,  nectarine,  and  apricot.  The 
walnut  is  particularly  large  in  its 
growth,  and  may  be  called  a  forest 
tree.  The  shrubs  are  beautiful,  and 
include  the  juniper,  laurel,  &c. ;  and 
on  many  of  the  trees  in  the  hedgerows, 
for  there  is  a  great  deal  of  fencing,  the 
wild  hop  and  vine  may  be  seen  climb- 
ing from  one  to  the  other,  mingling 
with  the  clematis  and  forming  the  most 
graceful  festoons. 

The  next  estate  to  Livadia  is  that  of 
the  late  Count  de  Witte,  governor  of 
the  military  colonies.  The  count  was 
a  native  of  Holland,  and  the  house  is 
in  the  Dutch  taste.  Near  here  is  a 
Tartar  village,  the  flat  roofs  of  the 
houses  in  which  are  so  curiously  placed 
against  the  mountain  side,  that  a  per- 
son coming  down  it  might  easily 
walk  or  ride  on  to  the  top  of  one 
without  being  the  least  aware  of  it. 
Alupka,  the  splendid  residence  of 
Count  Woronzoff,  will  be  reached  in 
the  course  of  the  afternoon.  In  the 
architecture,  the  Elizabethan  is  blend- 
ed with  the  Oriental ;  the  material,  a 
greenish  porphyry,  was  taken  from  the 
crater  of  an  extinct  volcano,  at  the 
back  of  the  house  or,  rather  palace; 
the  turrets,  tracery,  mullions,  coins, 
and  other  ornamental  parts  of  the 
building  are  all  of  the  same  stone, 
which  is  exceedingly  hard  and  difficult 
to  work.    The  dining-room  is  of  splen- 


Russia. 


EOUTE    104. ODESSA   TO    THE    CRIMEA. 


615 


did  dimensions,  and  lighted  by  two 
immense  windows  overlooking  the  sea ; 
the  groined  ceiling  is  of  oak,  and  the 
wall  opposite  the  windows  is  orna- 
mented with  two  fountains  of  elegant 
form  in  a  dove-coloured  marble,  with 
dark  red  veins,  peculiar  to  the  Crimea. 
These  fountains  play  at  all  times,  being 
fed  by  a  crystal  rill  from  the  moun- 
tains, and  must  have  a  delightful  eifect 
on  an  atmosphere  of  hot  dishes.  The 
terrace  in  front  of  the  chateau  is  orna- 
mented with  orange  trees  and  other 
choice  plants ;  the  gardens  are  well 
laid  out  but  small,  in  consequence  of 
the  plateau  of  land  on  which  the  house 
stands  being  circumscribed  by  the  sud- 
den rise  of  the  mountains  at  the  back, 
and  the  precipitous  fall  of  the  ground 
towards  the  sea  in  front.  The  orna- 
mental water  is  full  of  trout.  This 
palace  was  built  under  the  personal 
superintendence  of  Mr.  Hunt,  an  Eng- 
lishman, after  Mr.  Blore's  designs,  and 
the  whole  reflects  great  credit  on  the 
taste  and  judgment  of  those  gentlemen. 

The  noble  owner  delights,  as  well 
he  may,  in  Alupka ;  should  he  be  there 
when  the  traveller  is  passing,  we 
strongly  recommend  him  to  pay  his 
respects  to  the  Count ;  a  hospitable  re- 
ception will  assuredly  be  his  lot. 

The  rocks  at  Yamen,  about  30 
versts  from  Alupka,  are  remarkable, 
but  the  country  there  is  more  arid  and 
the  vegetation  less  abundant.  At 
Mukalatka  the  coast  is  left,  and  the 
traveller,  ascending  by  an  almost  per- 
pendicular road  hollowed  out  of  the 
rocky  mountain,  which  is  very  appro- 
priately called  the  Devil's  Staircase, 
strikes  into  the  forest  of  Baidar ;  this 
extends  to  the  village  of  the  same 
name,  a  distance  of  7  versts.  The 
branches  of  the  trees  along  this  road 
meet  overhead,  and  form  an  agreeable 
shade  from  the  rays  of  the  mid-day  sun, 
which  in  the  summer  are  rather  oppres- 
sive. Chevreuil  are  said  to  abound  here, 
and  red  deer  and  bears  are  sometimes 
to  be  met  with.  The  valley  of  Baidar 
is  pretty,  but  it  requires  a  good  deal  of 


enthusiasm  and  imagination  to  see  in 
it  either  a  "  Tauric  Arcadia"  or  a 
"  Crimean  Tempo."  The  next  place  is 
Balaclava,  a  small  seaport  and  the 
head  quarters  of  a  regiment  of  Arna- 
outs  colonized  here.  There  are  the 
towers  of  a  Genoese  fortress  on  the 
hill  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbour. 

The  picturesque  ceases  at  Balaclava : 
beyond  it  the  country,  though  undu- 
lating, is  devoid  of  trees,  and  the  vege- 
tation is  parched  up.  The  convent  of 
St.  George  is  about  an  hour's  ride  from 
the  Greek  colony  ;  it  is  curiously  built 
against  the  cliff  overhanging  the  sea; 
but,  with  the  exception  of  the  singularity 
of  its  position,-  it  has  nothing  to  recom- 
mend it.  Night  will  bring  the  way- 
farer to  Sevastopol.  The  inn  there  is 
detestable  ;  we  remember  with  grati- 
tude being  relieved  from  the  necessity 
of  enduring  for  more  than  one  night  its 
vile  impurities,  by  Col.  Upton,  the  dis- 
tinguished civil  engineer,  who  built  the 
docks  here  for  the  Russian  Government. 
These  are  worthy  of  inspection ;  they 
are  five  in  number,  and  placed  on  two 
sides  of  a  quadrangular  basin ;  the 
centre  one  in  the  rear  is  capable  of 
receiving  a  first-rate  of  the  largest  size ; 
two  are  for  seventj^-four  gun  ships,  and 
the  remaining  two  for  frigates.  As 
there  is  no  tide,  the  lock  principle  has 
been  adopted  in  the  construction  of  these 
docks.  The  bottom  of  each  is  three  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  ships 
are  raised  into  the  dock-basin  by  a 
series  of  three  locks,  each  having  a  rise 
of  ten  feet ;  the  surface  of  the  water, 
therefore,  in  the  dock-basin  is  thirty 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Each 
dock  can  be  laid  dry  by  means  of  a 
subterranean  drain,  the  sluice-valve  of 
which,  being  opened,  carries  off  the 
water  into  the  sea ;  by  this  means 
each  dock  may  be  used  separately,  and 
a  ship  taken  in  or  out  without  inter- 
fering with  the  others.  The  dock-basin 
is  supplied  with  water  by  means  of  a 
canal  from  the  Tcherney-Ruilka  {the 
Black  River),  which  commences  at  the 
village  of  Tchergana,  at  which  point  it 
E  E  2 


616 


ROUTE    104. ODESSA    TO    THE    CEIMEA. 


Sect.  V. 


has  an  elevation  of  about  62  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  This  canal  is 
about  10  feet  wide,  and  18  versts 
long,  with  a  fall  of  a  foot  and  a 
half  in  each  verst ;  it  leads  into  a  reser- 
voir about  8  versts  from  its  commence- 
ment. Should  the  rivulet  fail  in  the 
dry  season,  this  reservoir  contains  a 
sufficient  body  of  water  to  supply 
the  dock-basin ;  but  there  is  a  much 
larger  one  between  the  hills  above 
the  head  of  the  canal.  The  line  of 
the  canal  from  the  river  to  the  docks 
runs  over  very  difficult  ground,  chiefly 
by  the  sides  of  steep  hills,  and  crosses 
many  deep  ravines.  To  remove  these 
obstacles,  and  preserve  a  regular  fall,  it 
became  necessary  to  construct  an  em- 
bankment, three  aqueducts,  and  two 
tunnels.  The  tunnel  at  Inkerman, 
which  we  visited,  is  about  300  yards 
long,  and  cut  through  a  mass  of  free- 
stone. But  the  great  difficulty  Avas  to 
obtain  a  foundation  for  the  first,  or  sea- 
lock.  When  the  coffer-dam  was  made, 
and  the  water  pumped  out,  which  was 
not  much  more  than  7  feet  deep,  an 
excavation  of  20  feet  was  necessary,  as 
the  foundation  of  the  lock  is  nearly  30 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  water  in  the 
bay:  this  ground,  composed  of  blackmud 
and  sand,  when  cleared  out  to  about  half 
the  depth,  was  forced  upwards  by  the 
pressure  of  the  earth  at  the  sides,  so 
that  what  was  dug  out  in  the  day  was 
filled  up  again  in  the  night.  To  over- 
come this  difficulty,  it  was  necessary  to 
drive  the  piles  intended  for  the  founda- 
tion over  the  whole  surface  of  the  lock, 
and  the  earth  was  taken  out  to  the 
required  depth  across  its  whole  breadth. 
This  could  only  be  done  in  narrow 
portions  of  about  8  or  10  feet  wide; 
the  piles  were  then  cut  to  the  proper 
depth,  the  framework  put  on,  and  the 
masonry  commenced ;  this  was  re- 
peated by  degrees,  till  the  whole  was 
finished.  It  would  appear  almost  im- 
possible to  have  accomplished  this  diffi- 
cult point  any  other  way.  The  ma- 
terials employed  in  the  construction  of 
the  docks  are  freestone  and  granite; 


the  latter  is  used  at  the  gates,  for  the 
blocks  on  which  the  ships  will  rest  in  the 
docks,  and  for  the  whole  of  the  upper 
course  of  the  locks,  docks,  and  dock- 
basin, — in  short,  wherever  there  is  great 
pressure,  or  liability  to  receive  heavy 
concussions.  The  masonry  is  beauti- 
fully fitted,  and  the  whole  of  the  cap- 
stans and  machinery  of  the  locks  are  of 
English  manufacture.  The  filter  for 
watering  the  shipping  is  supplied  by 
the  same  canal  which  feeds  the  dock- 
basin,  and  the  water  passes  through 
charcoal  and  sand;  this  building  is 
neatly  constructed.  The  fortifications 
are  also  worthy  of  notice;  the  three  prin- 
cipal works,  which  command  the  ap- 
proach, entrance,  and  interior  of  this  har- 
bour, are  Forts  Alexander,  on  the  right, 
Constantine,  on  the  left,  and  Nicholas 
at  the  base  of  the  hill  on  which  the 
town  stands.  The  principle  of  the 
casemate  has  been  adopted  very  ge- 
nerally in  these  works.  There  seems 
little  chance  of  their  ever  being  taken. 
They  are  said  to  have  cost  Russia 
5,000,000  rubles. 

The  church  near  the  Lazaret,  built 
with  the  materials  that  remained  of  the 
ancient  cities  of  the  Chersonesus,  is 
said  to  have  been  erected  by  Vladimir, 
the  first  Christian  Tzar ;  portions  of  the 
entablatures  and  columns  of  temples 
may  be  seen  in  the  walls. 

It  is  worth  while  to  row  up  the  bay 
to  Inkerman  to  see  the  chapels  and 
chambers  excavated  in  the  rocks  there. 
They  are  cut  out  of  the  freestone,  and 
are  said  to  have  been  inhabited  by  the 
Arians,  who  retired  here  to  escape 
persecution.  Near  this  is  the  tunnel 
of  the  aqueduct  which  supplies  the 
docks  at  Sevastopol.  Returning  from 
hence  the  traveller  should  take  a  pull 
about  the  harbour,  one  of  the  finest  in 
the  world;  the  depth  of  water  is  so 
great,  that  line-of-battle  ships  of  the 
largest  size  lie  close  to  the  shore.  The 
Russian  fleet  is  laid  up  here  during 
the  winter,  when  the  crews  go  into 
their  barracks.  There  is  a  direct  car- 
riage road  from  hence   to  the  Tartar 


Russia. 


KOUTE    104. —  ODESSA   TO    THE    CRIMEA. 


617 


town  of  Bagtche  Serai,  once  the  capital 
of  the  Crimea — the  traveller's  next 
point,  and  a  long  day's  journey.  But 
we  would  recommend  him  to  take  the 
more  circuitous  route  by  Mangoup 
Kale  ;  at  10  versts  from  Sevastopol 
the  reservoir  which  feeds  the  docks  is 
passed,  the  road  then  winds  through 
several  beautiful  valleys  covered  with 
fine  walnut  trees,  and  the  afternoon 
will  not  be  far  advanced  when  the 
mountain  of  Mangoup  will  be  seen 
rising  majestically  from  the  glen  at  its 
base.  The  town  of  Mangoup  belonged 
at  different  periods  to  the  Greeks,  the 
Grenoese,  and  the  Karaite  Jews,  a  tribe 
peculiar  to  the  Crimea,  who  follow  the 
law  of  Moses,  reject  the  traditions  of 
the  elders,  adopt  many  of  the  habits  of 
the  Mahommedan,  and  are  a  remark- 
ably fine  race  of  men.  A  guide  to  the 
ruins  and  excavations  at  the  summit  of 
this  mountain  will  be  necessary,  for 
the  ascent  is  steep  and  difficult ;  half- 
way up,  the  road  runs  through  a  ceme- 
tery of  these  Karaite  Jews,  contain- 
ing many  thousand  tomb-stones,  of  cof- 
fin shape,  covered  with  Hebrew  inscrip- 
tions. Beyond  this  is  the  outer  wall 
of  the  fortress,  flanked  by  square  cas- 
tellated towers  at  short  distances  from 
each  other.  "Within  this,  and  further 
up  the  hill,  is  a  projection  of  the  table 
land,  precipitous  on  all  sides  but  one — 
this  was  the  citadel ;  the  excavations 
here  are  very  singular,  and  the  view  from 
the  windows  of  these  chambers  in  the 
rock  down  the  ravines  is  of  the  wildest 
character.  From  the  opposite  side  of  the 
mountain,  Sevastopol,  with  its  harbours, 
shipping,  &c.,  may  be  distinctly  seen, 
and  towards  Bagtche  Serai  the  eye 
ranges  over  a  broken  chain  of  moun- 
tains, each  in  itself  a  natural  and  im- 
pregnable fortress.  Of  the  vast  popu- 
lation that  once  inhabited  Mangoup, 
not  one  human  being  now  remains  ; 
ivy  has  embraced  its  walls  and  towers, 
rank  herbs  and  trees  have  choked  the 
vine,  the  lizard  and  the  eft  disport 
themselves  over  the  ruins  of  the  syna- 
gogue,   and  a  stray  feather  from   an 


eagle's  wing,  which  we  preserve  as  a 
memorial  of  our  visit,  completed  the 
scene  of  desolation,  and  showed  that 
the  spot  which  had  once  owned  the 
sovereignty  of  ancient  Grreece,  that  of 
the  enterprising  and  valiant  Grenoese, 
and,  lastly,  that  of  the  children  of 
Judah,  was  indeed  a  solitude.  If  the 
traveller  should  on  descending  feel 
thirsty,  let  him  stroll  down  the  vil- 
lage while  the  nags  are  being  refreshed, 
and  drink  at  the  fountain  erected 
in  times  past  by  some  charitable 
Tartar;  the  water  is  delicious.  The 
brick  monuments  on  the  road  side, 
between  this  and  Bagtche  Serai,  were 
erected  by  Potemkin,  to  commemorate 
the  Empress  Catherine's  visit  to  the 
Crimea.  It  will  be  night  before  the 
traveller  reaches  this  town,  one  of  the 
few  now  remaining  in  the  Crimea,  in- 
habited solely  by  Tartars,  who  still 
cling  with  reverence  and  affection  to 
the  ancient  capital  of  their  race. 

This  city  of  Bagtche  Serai— in  the 
Tartar  language.  Seraglio  of  Gar- 
dens— was  for  centuries  the  capital  of 
that  remarkable  state  which  formed 
the  last  fragment  of  the  great  Mongo- 
lian power  in  Europe,  and  spread  its 
influence  as  far  as  the  Volga  and  the 
Vistula.  And  here,  in  this  narrow 
ravine,  dwelt  those  khans  before  whose 
name  the  ancient  city  of  the  Tzar 
trembled  each  returning  spring,  and 
for  whose  protection  and  friendship 
Poles,  Turks,  and  Russians  vied  with 
one  another.  To  those  who  have  not 
been  in  Eastern  countries,  all  that  re- 
mains of  Bagtche  Serai  will  be  in- 
teresting ;  for,  though  the  glory  of 
the  Tartar  Khans  has  departed,  and 
their  mausoleum  is  a  very  humble 
edifice  compared  with  that  of  the 
Sultans'  at  Constantinople,  this  build- 
ing and  that  of  the  Palace  of  the 
Khans  are  quite  Oriental  in  their  ar- 
chitecture, and  striking  monuments  of 
the  instability  of  human  greatness. 
The  palace  presents  a  series  of  diminu- 
tive apartments,  small  courts,  foun- 
tains, and  kiosks ;  and  one  room  left 


618 


EOUTE    J04. ODESSA   TO    THE    CEIMEA. 


Sect.  V. 


in  its  original  state  is  lined  with  look- 
ing glass.  The  seraglio  is  separated 
by  a  wall  from  the  principal  building, 
but  the  gallery  of  the  apartment  in 
which  the  khans  gave  audience  is  lat- 
ticed, so  that  the  ladies  of  the  harem 
were  enabled  to  hear  and  see,  unseen. 
The  bath  in  the  garden  must  have  been 
a  delightful  retreat  for  them;  it  is 
several  feet  square,  and  the  trellis  work 
over  it  is  covered  with  a  most  splendid 
vine,  so  old,  that  no  doubt  many  of 
these  houris,  while  bathing  here,  and 
disporting  themselves  in  the  crystal 
waters,  plucked  from  this  very  vine 
the  ripe  and  delicious  fruit ;  and  the 
Khans — where  were  they  1  peeping,  no 
doubt.  On  the  fountain,  called  Selsabil, 
in  the  vestibule,  is  the  following  in- 
scription, remarkable  only  for  the 
Oriental  character  of  the  style  : — 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  Highest. 

"The  town  of Bagtch^-Serai rejoices 
in  the  beneficent  solicitude  of  the  lumi- 
nous Crim-Gheri-Khan  :  it  was  he  who 
with  generous  hand  quenched  the  thirst 
of  his  countrymen,  and  who  will  occupy 
himself  in  shedding  still  greater  bene- 
fits, when  God  shall  assist  him.  His 
benevolence  discovered  this  excellent 
spring  of  water." 

*'  If  there  exists  such  another  foun- 
tain, let  it  present  itself.  The  towns  of 
Scham  and  Bagdad  have  seen  many 
things,  but  never  such  a  fountain." 

The  author  of  this  inscription  is  by 
name  Chegi.  Those  tormented  with 
thirst  will  read  through  the  water, 
which  falls  from  a  pipe  of  the  size  of  a 
finger,  what  is  traced  in  the  fountain. 
But  what  does  it  announce  ? 

"Go,  drink  of  the  beautiful  water 
from  the  purest  of  fountains,  for  it  be- 
stows health."  (In  the  year  1176,  a.d.) 

The  traveller  should  try  and  obtain 
a  room  at  the  palace,  which  is  the  usual 
halting  place  for  persons  furnished 
with  a  padaroshna. 

The  Tartars  are  a  kind  and  inoiFen- 


sive  people,  and,  generally  speaking, 
lead  a  pastoral  life  ;  some  of  those  re- 
sident here  employ  themselves  in  the 
manufacture  of  leather  cushions,  slip- 
pers, whips,  saddles,  caps  of  the  black 
lambskin,  and  felt  cloaks  called  hour- 
Teas.  The  coffee-houses,  which  are 
mean  and  dirty,  are  divided  into  little 
pens  by  low  partitions ;  the  beverage, 
as  in  Turkey,  is  served  in  very  small 
cups  in  filagree  stands.  The  road  turns 
ofif  there  to  Simferopol,  the  Russian 
capital  of  the  Crimea ;  but  there  is  no- 
thing there  which  can  interest  the  tra- 
veller. It  is  central  in  its  position,  and 
contains,  like  all  new  Russian  towns, 
many  handsome  houses  decorated  with 
green  paint  and  rows  of  columns.  The 
Gypsies  near  Bagtche  Serai  live  in  ex- 
cavations of  the  rocks ;  they  are  re- 
markably handsome,  and  at  some  little 
distance  from  their  singular  habitations 
is  the  Monastery  of  Koroli,  perched 
like  that  of  St,  George  on  a  ledge  of 
rock.  On  the  opposite  side  of  this 
ravine,  and  on  the  summit  of  a  moun- 
tain, is  the  town  of  Tchufutkale,  in- 
habited by  all  that  remain  of  the  Ka- 
raite Jews.  The  beauty  of  their  wo- 
men is  remarkable,  and  their  Eastern 
costume  and  bright  robes  set  them  oif 
to  admiration.  The  synagogue  is  small, 
the  women  sit  in  a  gallery  apart  from 
the  men,  protected  by  a  very  efficient 
grating.  The  burying  ground  is  pret- 
tily situated,  and  near  the  synagogue 
is  the  tomb  of  a  daughter  of  one  of  the 
ancient  khans.  The  view  from  hence 
in  the  direction  of  the  mountain  range 
near  the  sea  is  very  fine,  and  not  un- 
like that  from  the  Acropolis  of  Corinth 
looking  towards  Nemea.  The  traveller 
will  do  well  to  sleep  at  Tchufutkale, 
and,  rising  early,  push  on  to  Ousembash, 
a  village  situated  at  the  foot  of  these 
mountains.  Here  there  is  a  caravan- 
serai, at  which  tea,  kaimak  (a  kind  of 
clotted  cream),  and  eggs  may  be  obtained. 
Fresh  horses  can  also  be  procured,  and 
these  are  absolutely  necessary,  for  the 
road  hence  runs  up  the  bed  of  a  torrent 
and  is  nearly  perpendicular.    The  sum- 


Russia. 


KOUTE    104. — ODESSA   TO    THE    CRIMEA. 


619 


mit  of  this  range  is  completely  devoid 
of  trees,  and  the  temperature,  even 
in  summer,  far  from  comfortable. 
The  view  is  sublime.  The  Tchatir 
Dagh,  the  highest  mountain  of  this 
range,  and  a  little  to  the  left,  is 
5135  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
The  descent  towards  Yalta  is  rapid, 
and,  from  the  quantity  of  pine  cones 
which  fall  from  the  trees,  slippery; 
but  the  Tartar  ponies,  like  goats,  are 
very  sure-footed,  and  relays  of  them 
are  obtained  at  every  village  by  the 
Onbashi,  or  head  man. 

The  valley  in  which  Yalta  is  situ- 
ated should  be  explored  up  to  its  junc- 
tion with  the  hills;  the  scenery  is 
beautiful,  a  trout  stream  runs  through 
it,  and  the  fish  are  of  excellent  flavour ; 
indeed  all  the  edibles  of  the  Crimea 
are  of  very  superior  quality. 

A  trip  along  the  coast  to  Alushta 
will  also  form  an  agreeable  excursion. 
This  place  is  reached  by  the  high  road 
to  Simferopol,  and  the  scenery  through 
which  it  passes,  as  far  as  Alushta,  is 
even  richer  and  more  picturesque  than 
that  on  the  road  to  Alupka.  On 
leaving  Yalta,  one  beautiful  estate 
follows  another  adorned  with  vine- 
yards, orchards,  and  handsome  houses, 
varied  by  thickly  wooded  mountain 
declivities,  groups  of  rocks  and  mur- 
muring rivulets,  with  a  sea  as  blue 
as  the  heavens  above  it.  In  the  valley, 
near  Yalta,  the  estates  are  small,  but 
higher  up  the  mountain  is  that  of  Mar- 
sanda,  the  property  of  the  young  Count 
Woronzoff ;  beyond  this  is  Choreis,  the 
charming  residence  of  Prince  Gralitzin, 
in  which  we  once  spent  some  very 
agreeable  hours.  Beyond  this  again 
is  the  valley  of  Magaratch,  some 
eighteen  years  since  a  wilderness,  but 
now  covered  with  beautiful  gardens 
and  villas,  the  land  here  having  been 
parcelled  out  and  sold  in  small  lots  by 
the  government  to  private  individuals. 
Near  Magaratch  is  the  Botanical  Gar- 
den  of  Nikita,  which  is  well  worthy  of 
inspection ;  every  possible  variety  of 
tree  and  plant  adapted  to  the  climate  is 


to  be  found  here ;  even  the  distant  Hi- 
malaya has  furnished  its  tribute.  The 
collection  of  vines  is,  perhaps,  the 
largest  and  most  perfect  in  the  world  ; 
it  was  made  for  an  American  merchant 
in  the  south  of  France,  but  subse- 
quently purchased  by  the  Russian  Go- 
vernment and  transferred  to  the  Crimea. 
There  are  upwards  of  300  sorts ;  the 
black  and  white  Muscats,  and  the  Isa- 
belle,  were  the  best  amongst  those  we 
tasted.  We  have  remarked  elsewhere 
that  the  grapes  of  Nikita  are  sent  for  the 
emperor's  use  to  St.  Petersburgh,  a  dis- 
tance of  2400  versts.  The  soil,  aspect, 
and  climate  of  this  coast  are  so  favour- 
able to  the  cultivation  of  the  vine,  that 
every  kind  of  wine  may  be  made  here ; 
and  where  quality,  not  quantity,  is 
made  the  object  of  attainment,  the  wine 
is  excellent.  Some  that  has  the  body  of 
good  French  claret,  with  the  flavour  and 
colour  of  port,  is  very  good ;  also  the 
sweet  wines,  Malaga,  Lunelle,  &c.  The 
vine  dressers  are  generally  French  or 
Germans.  In  the  garden  at  Nikita  is  a 
curious  ruin  of  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
consisting  of  the  decayed  and  moulder- 
ing trunks  of  some  olive  trees  which 
flourished  here  in  the  time  of  the  Ge- 
noese. This  tree,  though  it  grows, 
does  not  succeed  here,  bearing  fruit 
but  rarely,  and  of  an  inferior  quality. 
Beyond  Nikita  is  Yursuf,  and  then 
Alushta.  This  place  occupies  a  very 
interesting  geographical  position.  The 
high  wall  of  the  Crimean  mountains  is 
here  broken  through  in  a  remarkable 
manner,  by  broad  valleys  stretching 
from  the  sea- shore  on  the  south-east 
to  the  steppe  on  the  north-west,  sink- 
ing at  the  same  time  from  the  height  of 
4000  to  that  of  2000  feet,  and  rising 
again  on  the  east,  abruptly  to  its 
former  height,  whilst  from  the  lower 
elevation  the  isolated  summit  of  the 
Tchatir  Dagh  stands  out  towering  a, 
thousand  feet  above  any  other  point 
of  the  whole  range,  apparently  quite 
distinct  from  it,  especially  on  the  north 
and  south.  This  mountain  is  called 
by  the    Russians    "  Palata  Gora,"  a 


6-20 


EOUTE  105. ODESSA  TO  GALLATZ. 


Sect.  V. 


name,  like  the  Tartar  appellation 
Tchatir  Dagh,  descriptive  of  its  form, 
which  is  very  like  that  of  the  Table 
Mountain  at  the  Cape  of  Grood  Hope. 

This  form  may  be  considered  com- 
mon to  the  mountains  of  the  Crimea, 
since  they  all  appear  as  high  walls  or 
ridges,  intersected  by  valleys,  but  it  is 
of  course  less  evident  where  they  are 
not  isolated.  The  valleys  or  defiles 
which  cross  the  Tchatir  Dagh  from  the 
sea  to  the  steppe  are  interesting,  not 
merely  from  their  physical  conforma- 
tion, but  also  in  a  commercial  point  of 
view.  They  are  the  only  convenient 
passes  through  the  mountains  and  the 
principal  channels  of  communication 
between  the  north  and  the  south,  and 
two  not  inconsiderable  commercial 
towns  have  arisen,  one  at  each  ex- 
tremity ;  Simferopol  on  the  north,  and 
Alushta  on  the  south.  These  defiles 
are  also  interesting  in  an  historical 
point  of  view,  and  the  numerous  bat- 
tles fought  in  them  have  rendered  them 
quite  the  classic  ground  of  the  Crimea. 

Alushta,  in  the  time  of  the  Genoese, 
was  a  very  populous  place,  and,  in  the 
Byzantine  period,  the  seat  of  a  bishop. 
It  possessed  a  large  fortress,  built  by 
the  Emperor  Justinian,  and  its  fame 
dated  from  several  centuries  before 
Christ.  The  modern  Alushta,  how- 
ever, lies  in  the  midst  of  the  ruins  of 
its  former  greatness,  like  an  Arab  vil- 
lage amongst  the  remains  of  an  Egyptian 
city.  At  the  side  of  the  town  stands 
a  large  building  in  the  Asiatic  style, 
for  the  reception  of  travellers,  where, 
with  the  exception  of  thick  coffee, 
little  is  to  be  procured  but  hot  water 
for  making  tea ;  the  traveller  is  ex- 
pected to  bring  the  herb  with  him. 
The  slice  of  lemon  which  they  put 
into  the  tumbler,  for  it  is  rarely  served 
in  a  cup,  is,  to  our  ideas,  delicious 
after  a  fatiguing  ride.  Towards  noon 
the  Tchatir  Dagh  generally  puts  on  his 
cap  as  the  Tartars  say,  the  very  same 
expression  used  by  the  Swiss,  when  a 
mountain  top  becomes  covered  with 
clouds.  In  case  the  traveller  should  de- 


sire to  ascend  this  mountain,  he  will  re- 
quire a  stout  guide,  a  good  cloak  or  coat, 
and  provender  for  the  inward  man. 

We  were  amply  repaid  by  the  novelty 
and  beauty  of  the  scenery  for  the  rough- 
ing and  inconvenience  we  experienced 
in  visiting  the  Crimea ;  to  the  geologist 
or  botanist  it  must  be  still  more  in- 
teresting. 

ROUTE  105. 

ODESSA  TO  GALLATZ  BY  OVIDIOPOL. 

Should  the  winter  be  severe,  which, 
it  generally  is  at  Odessa,  the  sea  will 
be  frozen  over,  and  all  communication 
to  Constantinople  or  the  Danube,  by 
steamboat,  impossible.  The  journey 
by  land,  either  to  Grallatz,  on  that 
river,  or  to  the  Austrian  frontier  at 
Tchernovetz,  will,  however,  be  still 
open  to  travellers ;  but  the  travelling 
on  either  of  these  roads  is  rough  .work. 
The  distance  from  Odessa  to  the  Da- 
nube is  about  290  versts,  and  the 
accommodation  is  similar  to  that  on 
every  steppe  road  in  Russia. 

Odessa  to 

OviDioPOL,  37  versts.  This  town  is 
about  15  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Dniester.  The  Niproffski  Leman  or 
Lake  must  be  passed  here  in  a 
steamer,  which  crosses  four  or  five 
times  in  the  day ;  the  trajet  takes  an 
hour. 

Akerman,  9.  This  is  the  only  town 
of  any  consequence  on  this  road,  but 
there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  which  can 
interest  a  stranger. 

Alkaliskaia,  27. 

Sarjarskaia,  15^. 

Tartarhunarshaia,  23. 

Smiefkaia,  21. 

Troiani,  ISj. 

Katlahugskaia,  17f. 

IsMAEL,  29  2.  Celebrated  for  the 
fearful  siege  and  storm  which  it  suffered 
on  22nd  Dec.  1790.  Suwaroff  greatly 
distinguished  himself  by  several  acts 
of  personal  courage  during  the  assault, 
and,  snatching  a  standard  from  an  of- 


Hussia. 


ROUTE    106. — ODESSA    TO    TCHERNOVETZ. 


621 


ficer,  planted  it  on  the  ramparts.     The 
garrison  of  30,000  Turks  was  put  to 
the  sword ;  the  loss  of  the  Russians  is 
said  to  have  been  20,000  men. 
TsMshmi  Waruit,  22f . 
Bolgrad,  18j. 
Volhoneshti,  22f . 
Reni,  29i. 
Total,  2911. 
This  is  the  last  station,  and  on   the 
Danube ;  here  a  small  boat  must  be 
hired,  in  which  the  traveller  will  reach 
Grallatz  in  about  two  hours  and  a  half, 
or  he  can  go  by  land  if  he  prefers  it  at 
an  expense  of  from  four  to  five  silver 
rubles.     The  best  of  the  bad  hotels  at 
Grallatz  is  the  Hotel  de  Moldavie  ;  but 
at  the  Consulate  will  be  found  the  best 
accommodation,   and   a    letter   to    our 
representative    will    be    found   highly 
useful.      The    diplomatic    corps    have 
very  little    to    do    here,  and    perhaps 
their  greatest  pleasure  consists  in  en- 
tertaining   any   of    their    countrymen 
who  may  happen  to  wander  this  way. 
The  Austrian  Consul,  who  has  the  su- 
perintendence of  the  Vienna  and  Con- 
stantinople line  of  steamers,  and  there- 
fore an  important  functionary,  is  most 
hospitably  disposed ;    an  introduction 
to  this  gentleman  will  procure  the  tra- 
veller the  best  dinner  that  can  be  ob- 
tained at  Grallatz,  with  the  best  addi- 
tion to  it,  an  agreeable  companion. 

ROUTE  106. 

ODESSA   TO   TCHERNOVETZ,  ON  THE  AUS- 
TRIAN FRONTIER,  BY  TIRESPOL. 

The  road  from  Odessa  to  Tcherno- 
vetz,  on  the  Austrian  frontier,  is  much 
more  frequented  than  that  to  Gallatz 
during  the  winter  months;  for,  though 
it  is  not  quite  so  good,  more  rapid  pro- 
gress is  made,  because  there  are  plenty 
of  post-horses.  Should  the  merchant  or 
traveller  be  very  much  pressed  for  time, 
we  would  recommend  him  to  get  intro- 
duced, through  some  private  friend,  to 
the  post-master  at  Odessa,  who  may  pos- 


sibly allow  him  to  have  a  courier  of  that 
department  who  will   bring   back  the 
mail;  the  horses  will  instinctively  move 
out  of  the  stable  at  the  sight  of  this  subor- 
dinate's uniform,  who  will  think  him- 
self well  paid  with  five  silver  rubles ; 
should,  however,  it  so  happen  that  the 
party  engaging  the  courier  has  to  pay 
his  way  back,  the  whole  cost  for  his 
services   and   the   back  posting  for  a 
telega  and  two  horses,  will  be  twenty 
silver  rubles. 
Odessa  to 
DalwiJc,  15\. 
Barahoi  or  Gidirim,  25. 
Kutshungaoi,  26 j. 
TiRESPOL,  27.      There   is   little   or 
nothing  to  attract  observation  on  this 
road.    Tirespol  is  on  the  Dniester,  and 
contains   about   500    houses  and  two 
churches.   The  river  with  its  numerous 
and  thickly  wooded  islands  is  a  very 
pleasing    landscape    after   a   long   ac- 
quaintance   with    tame    and    treeless 
steppe  scenery. 

Bender,  12.    Crossing  the  Dniester, 
the  traveller  will  arrive  at  Bender,  so 
celebrated  as  the  place  in  which  Charles 
XII.  made  his  gallant  but    eccentric 
defence  against  the  Turks. 
Zinzinenskaia,  295. 
Kishinepp,    29^.       The    principal 
town  on  this  road  after  Tirespol. 
Peresetshina,  24 1. 
Orgeiep,  1Q\.     a  small  town. 
Saraten,  26j. 
Kopatsheni,  28|^. 
Bblzi,  25^.     A  small  town. 
Retsha,  25. 
Bratushanshaia,  25. 
Glinnaia,  2  3  5^. 
LijpTcani,  314. 
StalinetsJci,  19j. 

NovosELiTZA,  27^.  —  Total,  437. 
The  frontier  town.  Here  the  Russian 
post  stations  cease,  and  for  the  stage 
hence  to  Boyanne,  the  first  Austrian 
post  station,  the  traveller  must  hire  pri- 
vate horses  either  of  a  Jew  or  a  Christian, 
and  he  will  find  that  neither  Testa- 
ment has  had  much  effect  on  their 
E  £  3 


622 


EOUTE    106.-— ODESSA   TO    TCHEENOVETZ.  Sect.  V. 


owners.  From  there  post-horses  and 
a  diligence  will  be  found  ready  to 
convey  the  wearied  traveller  to  the 
town  of  Tchernovetz.  The  expenses 
of  the  Jew  and  his  horses  or  a  carriage 
from  Novoselitza  to  that  place  will  be 


about  six  silver  rubles.  The  whole 
distance  from  Odessa  to  Tchernovetz  is 
about  470  versts.  A  diligence  will 
take  the  traveller  from  hence  to 
Vienna. 


GENERAL  INDEX  TO  ROUTES 


IN 


DENMARK,    NORWAY,    SWEDEN, 
FINLAND,   AND    RUSSIA. 


AABEL. 
A. 

Aabel,  192 

Aabenraa,  75 

Aabogen,  246 

Aalborg,  94,  95,  253 

Aalesund,  198 

Aalgaard,  194 

Aabrust,  162,  172 

Aalund,  195 

Aardals  Fiord,  167 

Aarfor,  207 

Aarhuus,  91 ;  Cathedral,  92 

Aarosund,  76 

Aasen,  200 

Aasceth,  236 

Aberdeen,  95 

o 

Abo,  358 ;  Description  of, 
358;  Inns,  358;  University, 
358;  Great  fire,  358;  Castle 
of, 359;  Cathedral,  359;  Or- 
gan, 359;  Treaty,  359,  374 

Abofors,  372 

Abohus,  358 

Aborrebierg,  83 

Aby,  339 

Abyn,  328 

Achmet,  423 

Ackland's,  Sir  Thomas,  ac- 
count of  Sneehcetten, 
224 

Af  va,  327 

Afvelsater,  346 

Agershuus,  Castle  of,  153 

Agnesberg,  334,  344,  346 

Agre,  237 

Ahrensburg,  69 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  64 

Akerman,  620 

Aktuba  River,  600 

Aland,  327 

Aland,  Island  of,  329 

Aland  group,  358 

Alexander,  Emperor,  367,400, 
433,  434,  435,  436,  437,  462, 
464,  465,  491,  493,  494,  495, 
507,  511,  517,  519,  521,  524, 
633,  541,  542,  548,  550,  679, 
586,  693,  597,  598 


Alexander,  Fort,  616 

the  Great,  610 

St.  Nevskoi,  421,  476 

Alexandria,  587,  608 

Alexandrosky,  607 

Alexis,  Tzar,  427,  539,  544, 

549, 555 
Alfarnoes,  235 
Alfta,  314 
Alheim,  340 

o 

Alingsas,  336 
Allebek,  90 

Almas,  334 

Alsensjon,  326 

Alsike,  324 

Alsta,  326 

Altar-piece  at  Borre,  83 

Alteidet,  209 

Alten  river,  209 

Copper  Works,  210 

to  Tornea  in  winter,  241 

in  summer,  243 

Altona,  37,  253;  Tomb  of 
Klopstock,  37 

Bauer's  Gardens,37 ;  rail- 
road, 38 

Alupka,  614,  615,  619 

Alushta,  619,  620 

Amal,  346 

Amsterdam,  68 

Amten  Lake,  334 

Anastasia,  424,  425 

Andersby,  309 

Anderstof ,  341 

Angelstad,  191 

Angerman  River,  327 

Angersjd,  328 

Angustovo,  691 

Angvik,  199 

Aniskina,  602 

Anne,  Empress,  430, 548,  551, 
576,  583,  584 

Annenhof,  Asylum  of,  522 

Anthony,  St.,  589 

Antiquities,  Copenhagen,  47, 
61 

Christiania,  152 ;  Stock- 
holm, 293;  Lund,  342 

Antwerp,  66 


BAIDAR. 

Apelden  von  Albrecht,  682 

Apenrade,  75 

Arboga, 331 

Archangel,  405 

Arctic  Circle,  207 

Are  River,  326 

Areda,  338 

Arendal,  191,  215 

Arfuet,  314 

Arians,  616 

Arnaouts,  615 

Arnheim,  68 

Arouga,  585 

Arset,  339 
Asa,  344 
Asen,  345 

Ashult,  338 

Asker,  181 

Askja,  327 

Asnen  Lake,  338 

Aspen  Lake,  336 

Assens,  76 

Asser  Ryg,  legend  of,  78 

Astorp,  337 
Atlestad,  196 
Atorp,  331 
Augustus,  11,  592 

Stanislas,  643 

Aunoen,  215 
Aurajoki,  358 

Aurora   borealis,    Mr.    Eve- 
rest's account  of  the,  212 
Austa,  236 
Averoen,  199 
Azoff,  428 
Sea  of,  602 


B. 

Baadsenden,  233 

Baads  Vand,  193 

Back,  345 

Backa,  344 

Bagtch6  Serai,  617;  History 
of,  617;  Palace  of  the 
Khans,  617;  Bath,  618; 
Fountain,  618 

Baidar,  Forest  of,  615 


624 


DENMARK,   NORWAY,    SWEDEN, 


Index. 


BAIDAR. 

Baidar,  Valley  of,  615 

Baird,  Mr.,  474,  508 

Bakke,  194 

Balaclava,  615 

Balta,  590 

Baltic,  Letters  from  the,  407 

Bangsund,  202 

Bankeberg,  336 

Bareberg,  334 

Barkarby,  330 

Barnarp,  337,  338 

Barretskov,  93 

Basaltic  caverns,  97 

Basil  II.,  422,531,536 

IV.,  424,  544 

Batvinia,  a  soup,  402 
Baver  Elv,  252 
Bear,  Headland,  613 
Bear-shooting,  161,  164,  234 
Beauharnais,    Eugene,    603, 

604 
Beina  Elv,  161 
Bejan,  215 
Beldringe,  84 
Belefstrooskaia,  374 
Belgorod,  607 
Behza,  588 

Belozelsky,  Prince,  529 
Belzi,  621 
Bender,  621 
Benningsen,  433 
Benson,  Misses,  398,  399 
Beranger,  Mons.,  404 
Beresina,  436 

Passage  of,  604 

Berg,  202,  239,  325 

Berge,  186,  326 

Bergen,  173;  Churches,  175; 

Art  Union,  175  ;    Fortress, 

175;  Museum, 176;Theatre, 

176;  Trade,  177 
Bergen  to  Molde,  196 
Bergland,  Andrew,  360 
Bergsager,  193 
Bergseth,  237 
Bergsjdbyn,  326 
Bergviken  Lake,  325 
Berlin,  302,  584 
Bemadotte,  202,  309,  331 
Bernhard,  Bp.,  582 
Besborodko,  Prince,  529 
Bessieres,  Marshal,  520 
Bielosersk  Convent,  544 
Bierkager,  200,  225 
Bindals  Fiord,  207 
Biorsatter,  333 
Birkrim,  194 
Biron,  Marshal,  583,  584 
Bitshok,  572 
Bjerke,  233 
Bjoberg,  179 
Bjorndal,  180 
Bjorneborg, 377 
Bjdrnedals  Elv, 185 
Bj6rn6raa,  193 
Bjdrne  Fiord,  195 
Bjdroen,  206,  216 
Bjorsbeg,  Cascade  of,  371 
Bjuggsta,  330 
Blacksta,  333 
Black  Sea,  613 
Blaker,  252 


Blaker  to  Laurgaard,  252 
to  Romsdalen,  252 


Blili,  232 

Blinni,  pancake,  526 

Blore,  Mr..  615 

Blucher,  595 

Bo,  3.38 

Boatzkhan,  421 

Bodo, 207 

Boekken,  199 

Boekkervigen,  195 

Boerden,  209 

Bogen,  238 

Bogorodsk,  596 

Bogstad,  156 

Boh  us,  ruins  of  the  Castle  of, 

321,345 
Bokharians,  600 
Bole,  314 
Bolgen,  199,  235 
Boiler,  93 
Bolstaddren,  172 
Bomarsund,  358 
Bona,  339 
Bondkara,  cart,  352 
Boren  Lake,  317 
Borggardet,  312 
Borgholm,  287 
Borgo,  371 

Borgund,  old  Church  of,  164 
Borisof,  603,  604 
Bornholm,  Island  of,  286, 303 
Borodino,  434,  533 
Borre,  83 

Cliffs  at,  83 


Borregaard,  247 
Borrow,  Mr.,  571 
Bosekop,  210,  216 
Bothnia,  Gulf  of,  352,  355 
Botten,  193 
Boursk,  607 
Bowyer,  Mrs.,  398 
Boxholm,  Island  of,  358 
Boyanne,  621 
Braaten,  159,  180 
Brcekke,  191 
Brcendaasen,  193 
Bracke,  326 
Brahe,  Tycho,  69,  305 

Ebba,  305 

Bransmala,  339 

Braviken,  bay  of,  339 

Brazlaf,  590 

Bregentved,  84 

Breitenburg,  castle  of,  74 

Breivi,  193 

Bremer's,   Miss,   Legend    of 

the  Marie  Stien,  184 
Bremund  Elv,  233 
Brest,  605 
Breum  Vand,  197 
Brevig,  191,  215 
Brief,  Bookseller,  529 
Bringsta,  325 
Bringsvoerd,  192 
Brink,  335 
Bro,  325 

Broby,  338,  339,  372 
Broke  Field,  186 
Brdms,  340 
Bronitzi,  532 
Brosarp,;338, 341 


CATHEDRALS. 

Brdsta,  327 
Brottby,  239 
Brufladt,  161 
Bruges,  63 
Bruhl,  Count,  5.92 
BrulofF,  Artist,  456,  480,  485 
Brummen  Vand,  179 
Brunback, 310 
Brunsatra,  310 
Brunswick,  302 

■ death  of  the  duke 

of,  37 
Bubbetorp,  341 
Bug  River,  608 
Butler,  427 
Bukken,  195,  215 

Burea,  328 
Bustetun,  188 
By  River,  346 
Byarum,  337 
Bye,  200 
Bygholm,  94 
Bygland,  193 
Bykle,  193 
Byske,  328 


Caesar,  613 

Callot,  Marie,  510 

Calmucks,  600 

Canaletto,  Belotto  di,  542, 
595 

Canals,  Schleswig  and  Hol- 
stein,  40 

■ Gotha,  316 ;    Ost  Go- 

tha,  317 ;  West  Gotha,  318; 
Vishni  Volotchok,  534 

Carleby,  Ny,  377 

Old,  377 

Carlshamn,  340 

Carlshuus,  247 

Carlskrona,  340,  341 

Carlstad,  331,  346 

Carmarthen,  Lord,  429 

Caroline  Matilda,  Queen,  87. 
89 

Carrioles,  352 

Carruta's  Hotel,  401 

Casimir  IV.,  424,  593 

Cathedrals  and  Churches. — 
Hamburg,  34;  Copenha- 
gen, 55;  Ghent,  63;  Ma- 
lines,  63  ;  Liege,  63 ;  Co- 
logne, 64;  Antwerp,  66; 
Lubec,  70;  Sleswig,  76; 
Odense,  76  ;  Roeskilde,  79; 
Mariebde,81;  Elsineur,88; 
Ribe,  94;  Borgund,  164; 
Hitterdal,  186;  Stavanger, 
194;  Trondhjem,228;  Kal- 
mar,  286;  Wisby,  288; 
Stockholm,  294;  Upsala, 
306 ;  Vretakloster,  317 ; 
Westeras,  331;  Abo,  359; 
Helsingforss,  361;  Reval, 
364,  367;  St.  Petersburgh, 
469,  473,  475,  476,  478,  480, 
481;  Novgorod,  532;  Mos- 
cow, 543,  544,  545,  546; 
Riga,  581;   Gatshina,  585; 


hidex. 


FINLAND,    AND    RUSSIA. 


B25 


CATHERINE. 

Kief,  589;    Warsaw,  593; 
Vladimir,  596;  Nijni  Nov- 
gorod, 598 
Catherine  I.,  430,  548 

II.,  3G7,  368,  431,   432, 

433,  490,  491,  492,  495,  514, 
517,  518,  521,  525,  544,  547, 
548,  549,  550,  574,  577.  585, 
588,  602,  610,  617 

Chancellor,  Richard,  425 

Charles  XII.,  247,  249,  295, 
360,  361,  364,  428,  548,  578, 
581,607,621 

Charlottenlund,  61 

Chemiaka,  423 

Cherem^tieff,  Prince,  574, 
575,  596 

Cherson,  609 

Chersonesus,  610,  612,  616 

Chetiri  Rouki,  531 

China,  614 

Chinois  Caf6,  404,  405 

Choczim,  431 

Choreis,  619 

Chotetovo,  607 

Christiania,  150;  Fiord,  150; 
Inns,  151  ;  Post-office,  151 ; 
Money,  151  ;  University, 
152;  Collection  of  North- 
ern Antiquities,  152  ;  Na- 
tional Gallery,  153;  Art 
Union,  153  ;  Theatre,  153; 
Castle  of  Agershuus,  153; 
Steam-boat  Office,  154 ; 
Passport  Office,  154  ;  Shops, 
155;  Carriages,  155;  En- 
virons, 156;  Cemetery, 156; 
Column  of  Liberty,  156; 
Steamers,  157 

Christiania  to  Sarpsfos,  157 

to  Christiansand,  188, 

213 

Christiansand,  192 

to  Stavanger,  193 

Christiansfeldt,  76 

Christian  stad,  338 

Christiansund,  199 

Christina,  Queen,  364 

Christinehamn,  331 

Christinestadt,  377 

Circassians,  600 

Clubs,  399,  401,  574 

Cobley,  General,  609 

Coblefka,  609 

Codex  argenteus,  307 

aureus,  293 

Codrington,  Sir  E.,  519 

Cologne,  64 

Colomak,  607 

Colpenny,  385 

Constantine,  Fort,  616 

Grand  Duke,  437,  521, 

594 

XL,  420 

Constantinople,  412 
Consulate,  Russian,  385 
Convent  at  Preetz,  69 
Copenha,  507 
Copenhagen,  41 ;  Post-office, 

41 ;  Days  for  seeing  collec- 
tions, 42;  Market,  45; 
Palace   of  Christiansborg, 


EGERSUND. 


45;  Royal  collection  of 
pictures,  46 ;  Museums,  46, 
50,  53 ;  Royal  Library,  48 ; 
Arsenal,  4i3;  Palace  of 
Rosenberg,  48;  Money  and 
medallion  cabinet,  50 ;  Uni- 
versity, 53  ;  Churches,  55  ; 
Hospitals,  57;  Theatres, 
58;  Statues,  59;  Royal 
china  manufactory,  59;  Ce- 
meteries, 59,  61;  Public 
conveyances,  59, 61;  Steam- 
ers, 60 ;  Environs,  61 

Copernicus,  593 

Corokovi  Colodetz,  607 

Cossacks,  591,  600,  601,  603 

Crimea,  408,  431,  548,  609, 
612,  613,  614,  615,  616,  617 

Cronstadt,  438;  Population, 
439;  Harbour,  440;  Docks, 
440 ;  Fortifications,  440 ; 
Kettle  Island,  440 

Admiral,  360 

Custine,  Marquis  de,  578,  597 

Cuxhaven,  30 

Czartoriski,  Prince,  592 


Doel,  183 

to  Kongsberg,  184 

to  Bergen,  185 


Dag-bok,  352 

Daglosten,  328 

Dala,  339 

D*lberg  River,  346 

DalboSjon,  319 

Dalby,  342 

Dale,  172 

Dal  Elv,  161 

Dal  River,  324 

Dalecarlia,  311 

Dalseidet,  172 

Danemora,the  Iron  Mines  of, 
309 

Dannevirke,  76 

Dantzic,  588 

Danube  River,  621 

Davoust,  Marshal,  473,  520, 
604 

D'Arquien,  Marie,  594 

Degeberga,338 

De  la  Rue,  Mr.,  507 

Demidoff,  474 

Denmark,  15  ;  Routes  from 
England,  15;  Money, 
Weights,  and  Measures,16 ; 
Language,  16;  Passports, 
16 ;  Roads,  Posting,  I7 ; 
Steam-boats,  19 ;  Inns,  19; 
Rivers,  21  ;  Features  of  the 
countrv,  21;  Heaths,  21; 
Forests',  22 ;  Sandhills,  22 ; 
Islands,  23;  Marshes,  23; 
Royal  Family,  24;  Popu- 
lation, 25;  Finance,  25; 
Army  and  Navy,  25 ;  His- 
torical Notice,  25;  New 
Constitution,  28 ;  Product- 
ive Industry,  28;  People, 
28;  Peasantry,  29 ;  Public 
Instruction,  29 


529 


Derbend,  428 
Deutz,  65 
Diana,  612 
Dickson,  Mr., 
Didiloff,  427 
Dihult,  338 
Dillingen,  247 
Dimakova,  587 
Djekneboda, 328 
Dmitri,  Prince,  425,  576 

. Ivanovitch,  576,  577 

IV.,  Donskoi,  422 

the  False,  426,  427,  545, 

587 
Dnieper  River,  419,  587,  588, 

589,  603,  608 
Dniester  River,  620,  621 
Docksta,  327 
Dokha  Elv,  160 
Dokkenhuden,  37 
Dolgof  ka,  585 
Dombrowski,  604 
Don,  Battle  of  the,  422,  577 

River,  418 

Sources  of,  602 

Virgin  of  the  Cossacks 

of,  557 

Donnoes,  207 

Glacier  at,  207 


Dorarp,  337 

Dorby,  340 

Dorfgarten,  40 

Dorogobush,  603 

Dorpat,    579;     Hotels,   579; 

Teutonic     knights,     579; 

University,  579,  582 
Douglas,  364 
Dovre  Field,  222 
Dragoons,  Russian,  427 
Drammen,  181 
Dranishnekovo,  375 
Drivstuen,  225 
Drobak,  215,  246 
Dronningstolen,  83 
DronningsUdsigt,  159 
Drontheim  (see  Trondhjem) 
Drotningholm ,  300 
Dudnikoff,  607,  608 
Dugdale,  Lieutenant,  431 
Duisberg,  68 

Dum^e,  Restaurateur,  402 
Dunaborg,  585 
Dunserud  180,  182 
Duseau,  Restaurateur,  529 
Dusseldorf,  65 
Dusternbroek,  40 
Dwina  River,  581,  587 
Dykalla,  346 
Dypvlk,  209 

E. 

Eagle,  the  Ship,  427 

• •  the  Black,  427 

Ebeltoft,  95 
Edenryd, 341 
Edsberg  Sanna,  331 
Edsby,  314 
EfverlSf,  342 
Eggedals  Field,  179 
Egelykke,  81 
Egersund,  194,  215 


626 


DENMARK,   NOEWAY,    SWEDEN, 


Index. 


EGYPTEN. 
Egypten,  585 
Ehrenswerd,  Count,  360 
Eid,  197 
Eide,  198,  235 
Eider  Duck,  habits  of  the, 

235 
Eidevik,  197 
Eidre  Vand,  179 
Eidsvold,    Constitution 

House  at,  217 
Eina  Elv,  232 
Einstuga,  314 
Eklanda,  336 
Eksjo,  339 
EJaren  Lake,  337 
Elden, 202 
Eldsoet,  239 
Elfdal,  313 ;  Royal  Porphyry 

Manufactory,  313 

■ to  Tornea  andTrond- 

hjem,  314 
Elf karleby,  324 
Elfsborg,  Fortress  of,  323 
Elizabeth,  Empress,  430,  431, 

521,  524,547,561,574 
Elizavetgrad,  608 

Military  Colonies  at,  608 

Elliot,  Mr.,  on  Tellemarken, 

186 
Elm  shorn,  74 
Elmhult,  338 

Elphinstone,  Admiral,  431 
Elsineur,  88 ;  Sound  Duties, 

90 ;  Steamers,  91 
Elstad,220 
Embach  River,  580 
Emmeboda,  341 
Enebakken,  333 
Engelholm,  343 
Engelsholm,  93 
Engen.  237 
Engersund,  195 
Engestofte,  82 
Enkdping,  330 
Eric,  Saint,  359 
XIV.,  359,  362,  363 

Eriksmala,  341 

Erman,  551 

Ersnas,  328 

Erye  Elv,  220 

Esrom  Lake,  87 

Etnedals  Elv,  160 

Etnesoen,  195 

Eusta,  329 

Evanger,  171 

Everest,  Mr.,  on  Kongsberg, 

182 
• on  the  Aurora  Bo- 

realis,  212 
Exampe,  552 
Eyanpaika,    The  rapids  of, 

244 
Eye,  194 


F, 

Fagerhult,  337 
Falconet,  510 
Faleidet,  166,  197 
Falkenberg,  344 


Falster,  Island  of,  82 
Falun,  311 

to  Gefle,  312 

Elfdal,  313 


Fanbjerget,  234 
Fanbyn, 326 
Fandrem,  200 
Fanebust,  197 
Fanne  Fiord,  235 
Fare  Elv,  232 
Farjestaden,  339 
Faroe  Islands,  96 
Farsund,  194,  215 
Faxelfven,  326 
Feodorovna,  Maria,  542 
Fedde.  194 
Fieldoen,  195 
Fielkinge,  341 
Fiennes  Idv,  78 
Fikke,  209 
Fille  Field,  163 
Findoe,  195 
Finkroken,  209 
Finland,  Routes,  349;   Rus- 
sian passport,  349 ;  Finnish 
passport,  349;  Padaroshna, 
350;    Money,  350;   Steam- 
boats, 351,   362;    Posting, 
352;    Diligences,  352;   Ge- 
neral view  of,  355 
Finve, 207 
Firbank,  Mr.,  385 
Fisher,  Mr.,  516 
Fiskum  Fos,  202 
Fittia,  335 

Fjal,  327  • 

Fjerdingsta,  339 

Flaae,  225 

Fladmark,  234 

Flad  Soe,  186 

Fiadsnoes,  202 

Flagan  Lake,  332 

Flage,  171 

Flagstad  Elv,  233 

Flarenden,  193 

Fleet,  Black  Sea,  616 

Flekkefiord, 194,  215 

Fleninge,  343 

Flensborg,  75 

Flikeid,  194 

Flisan,  239 

Flodals  Elv,  186 

Flottbeck,  37 

Foedor  I.,  425 
III.,  427 


Fogs  Aae,  222 

Fogstuen,  222 

Folda  Elv,  222 

Folden  Fiord,  207 

Foldereid,  207 

Folgefond,    Glacier  of   the, 

171,  188 
Folgeroen,  195 
Foling,  202 
Forbord,  201 
Forde,  197 
Forde  Fiord,  197 
Forresvig,  195 
Fors,  346 
Forssa,  326 
Fortun,  251 
Forvik,  207 


GERDSBERG. 

Fosland,  202 

Frankeklint,  81 

Frankfort-on-the-Maine,  583 

Frauenhofer,  579 

Fredensborg,  palace  of,  87 

Frederick  II.,  582 

Fredericksham,  373;  Inn, 
373;  Treaty  of,  373;  Forti- 
fications, 373. 

Frederiksborg,  palace  of,  86 

Frederiksdal,  81 

Frederikshald,  249 

Frederikshavn,  95,  253 

Frederikstad,  247 

Frederiksteen,  fortress  of, 
249 

Frederiksund,  85 

Frederiksvoerk,  86 

Frederiksvoern,  190,  215, 253 

Fredo,  199,  235 

Fremstedal,235 

Freng,  234 

Frogner,  233 

Frogneraasen,  156 

Froisnces,  193 

Frostkage,  328 

Frusvoldsmden,  252 

Frydenlund, 161 

Fuhr,  341 

Fulgestad,  194 

Furresund,  215 

Furudalsbruk,  314 

Fuse,  196 

Fyldpaa,  190 


G. 

Gaasetaarn,82 
Gabense,  82 
Gaddvik,  328 
Galitzin,  the  Buffoon,  430 

the  Minister,  428 

Prince  S.,  619 

Gallatz,  620,  621 

Gamb,  Upholsterer,  528 

Game,  402 

Gamleby  Viken,339 

Gangenoes,  195 

Garberg, 200,  313 

Garde,  326 

Garder,  239 

Gardie,  Jacques  de  la,  361, 

367 
Gargarin,  Prince,  606 
Garlie,  226,  237 
Garnoes,  173, 241 

Garsas,  313 
Garsjoe,  232 
Gartland,  202 
Gatshina,  Chateau  of,  585 

Town  of,  521,585 

Gaupne  Fiord,  165 
Gaustad,  236 
Gautetun,  193 
Gefle,  312, 324 

-toSundsvall,325 


George,  St.,  424,  529 

Convent  of,  612,  615 

Gerdhem,  346 
Gerdsberg,  331 


Index. 


FINLAND,    AND    BUSSIA. 


627 


GERRESTAD. 

Gerrestad  Lake,  191 
Getterum,  340 
Geyser,  the,  98 
Ghent,  62 
Gibostad,  209 
Gidea  River,  327 
Gidskoe,  ruins  at,  198 
Giellebek,  181 
Gisselfeldt,  abbey  of,  84 
Gjermundshavn,  188 
Glanshammar,  331 
Glommen    River,    236,  238, 

245,  247 
Glosbo,  314 
Glukoi,  502 
Glumslof,  343 
Godunof  Boris,  425,  426,  549, 

576 
Golova,  543 
Gorkovitz,  597 
Gorodichetche,  Convent  of, 

476 
Gostomisle,  Chief  Magistrate, 

419 

Gottasa,  338 

Gottenburg,  321,  334,  345; 
Inns,  321 ;  Post-office,  321 ; 
Steam-boat  office,  322 ; 
Money,  322;  Travelling 
servants,  322  ;  Churches, 
322;  Environs,  323 ;  Steam- 
ers, 323;  Carriages,  323 

Gottland,  Island  of,  287 

Gottorf,  Castle  of,  74 

Gousta  Field,  159 

Graaryg, 83 

Grado,  310 

Grafe,  Bookseller,  529 

Gran,  300 

Grand  Le,  Restaurateur,  402, 
529 

Granevold,  160 

Grastorp,  334 

Green,  180 

Greiffenfeld,Count,94.190,230 

Greig,  Admiral,  431,  609 

Grenna,  336 

Grimnas,  326 

Grimsmark,  328 

Grimstad,  192,  215 

Grimtorp,339 

Gripsholm,  300 

Grisselhamn,  329,  370 

Grodaas,  197 

Grodt,  238 

Grohed,  345 

Gronnen,232 

Gronsund,  83 

Grorud,  217 

Grotius,  Hugo,  37 

Grotnas,  329 

Grudt,  225 

Grunge  Elv,  187 

Grundseth,  236,  239 

Grytestuen,  232 

Gryttje,  325 

Gubberud,  180 

Gudvangen,  168 

Gugaard,  187 

Gula  Elv,  200 

Gulben,  580 

Guldbrandsdalen,  219 


Guldholmen,  211 
Guldsmedmoen,  193 
GuUered,  336 
Gulsvig,  179 
Gumbinnen,  586 
Gumboda,  328 
Gumdal,  200 
Gurre,  88 
Gustafskrogen,  346 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  295,  359, 

364,  427,  438,  579 
Gustavus  III.,  482 
Gustavus  Vasa,  306,  312,  313, 

321,  361,  424 
Gypsies,  571,611,  618 

H. 

Haas,  Dr.,  564 

Hoeg,  164, 179 

Hcegeim,  199,235 

Haalangen  Field,  222,  252 

Haar,  194 

Haarlem,  68 

Haarstad,  225 

Hadersleben  (Haderslev),  76, 
253 

Haft  Elv,  237 

Haga,  179,  332 

Hagna,  336 

Hague,  the,  67 

Hall,  329 

Hall,  Mrs.,  398 

Hals  Fiord,  199 

Halmstad,  344 

Hamburg,  31,  253;  Hotels, 
31;  Money,  32;  Fire  in 
1842,  33;  Churches,  34; 
Johanneum,  34  ;  Chari- 
table Institutions,  34;  Ex- 
change, 34 ;  Funeral  Pro- 
cessions, 34  ;  Theatre,  35  ; 
Public  Amusements,  35; 
Jungfernstieg,  35 ;  Con- 
suls, 35;  Steam-boats,  35  ; 
Railroads,  35  ;  Public 
Walks,  36;  Environs,  36, 
438 

Hamer,  202 

Hamlet,  Saxo  Grammaticus, 
account  of,  90 

Hammer,  200,  201 

Hammerfest,211,216 

to  the  North  Cape,  212 

Hamneda,  337 

Hanestad,  239 

Hanover,  65 

Hanseatic  League,  70,  72 

Hanse  Towns,  582 

Haparanda,  245,  329 

Harald  Haarfager,  burial 
pla8e  of,  195 

Haraldstad,  247 

Harburg,  65 

Hardanger  Fiord,  I71, 188 
Mountains,  187 


Hardenberg,  Castle  of,  82 
Harfsta,  310 
Harold  II.,  420 
Haroldskioer,  90 
Hasselden,  82 


HOP. 

Hasselror,  333 

Haste,  326 

Hatvigen,  171,  196 

Haugen,  198 

Haugesund,  195,  215 

Haugum,  202 

Haukerod,  190 

Havnik,  209 

Havdsund,  212 

Havstad,  197 

Hecla,  Mount,  97 

Hedals  Elv,  221 

Hede,  345 

Hedemora,  310 

Heden,  314 

Hegncesgavl,  ruins  of,  76 

Hegrestad,  194 

Heibo,  186 

Heidkug,  69 

Hel-fos,  192 

Helga  Lake,  338 

Helge  Lake,  338 

Helgenoeset,  239 

Helgeo,  ruins  at,  218  , 

Heligoland,  30 

Heljbo,  313 

Helle,  193,  200 

Helleland,  188 

Hellesylt,  198 

Helnoes,  207 

Helsingborg,  88,  337,  343 

Helsingforss,  360 ;  Hotels, 
360;  Population,  361;  Se- 
nate House,  361;  Univer- 
sity, 361 ;  Library,  361 ;  Sa- 
gas, 361 ;  Standsvik,  forest 
of,  361 ;  Mailand,  361 ;  Trces- 
kenda.  Gardens  of,  361  ; 
Museum,  361 ;  New  Club, 
361 ;  Assembly  Rooms,  362; 
Botanical  Garden,  362;  Ob- 
servatory, 362;  Bathing 
House,  362;  Scheerin,  the, 
362 

Helstad,  198 

Helvig,  196 

Hemsedal  Elv,  179 

Hennau,  Dr.,  405 

Henoug,  239 

Herberg,  245 

Herdals  Elv,  217 

Hernosand,  327 

Herodotus,  418,  551 

Herresta,  338,  341,  345 

Herro,  215 

Herrskog,  327 

Hester,  339 

Hildal,  188 

Hillerod,  86 

Himalaya,  the,  619 

Himki,  536 

Himmelbierg,  92 

Hitterdal,  Church  of,  186 
Vand<.186 


Hitteren,  Island  of,  200,  231 
Hjerdals  Elv,  186 
Hjdrring,  94 
Hobberstad,  194 
Hobro,  94 
Hoby,  340 
Hodne,  193 
Hof,  160 


628 


DENMARK,  NORWAY,  SWEDEN, 


Index. 


HOFF. 

Hofr,  252 

Hofva,  333 

Hofve,  201 

Hogbo,  313 

Hogboda,  332 

Hogdal,  250,  345 

Hogforss,  372 

Hogsta,  324 

Hogvalta,  332 

Holager,  234 

Holen,  247 

Holger  Danske,  legend  of,  89 

Holkaberg,  336 

Holleland,  194 

Holm,  345 

Holme,  201 

Holmen,  220 

Holmestrand,  189,  215 

Holseth,  234,  252 

Hols  Fiord,  159 

Holstein ,  38 

Holte,  191 

Holten,  200 

Holy  Anders,  legend  of,  77 

Homme,  193 

Homo,  202 

Hompesch,  Baron,  585 

Honey,  Mode  of  collecting, 
588 

Hone-fos,  159 

Honstad,  200 

Hopseidet,  211 

Horde,  Golden,  the,  423 

HordncES,  193 

Horjem,  234 

Horn,  Count,  367,  583 

Hornoes,  237 

Hornbek,  90 

Hornilden,  remarkable  rock 

of,  215 
Horningdals  Vand,  197 
Hornvigen,  212 
Horre,  187, 193 
Horsens,  92 
Horten,  189,  215,  247 
Horungerne  Mountains,  232 
Horvig,  196 
Hostelbro,  94 
Hot  springs,  98 
Hougan,  200 
Houge,  173 
Hougen,  222 
Hougsund,  180,  181 
Houm,  239 
Hov,  226,  238 
Howard,  Mrs.,  399,  408 

the  Philanthropist, 

609,  610 
Howqua,  402 
Hoyland,  the  robber,  154 
Hudiksvall,  325 
Hugakollen,  162 
Humlestad,  191 
Hun,  160,  202,232 
Hundven,  197 
Hunne-fos,  220 
Hunt,  Mr.,  615 
Hurdals  River,  232 

Vand,  232 

Huse,  188,  195 
Husum,  164 
Hverled,  334 


Hvetlandfa,  339 
Hvitan,  328 


I. 

lbs,  St.,  Church  of,  92 

Iceland,  97 

Ice,  Palace  of,  430 

Idde  Fiord,  249 

Iggersund,  325 

Ijora,  531 

Ilberg,  332 

Ilia,  Alexander's  coachman, 

494 
Ilmen,  Lake,  531 
River,  419 


Imse  Elv,  237 

Indvigs  Fiord,  197 

Ingared,  336 

Ingul,  River,  608 

Inkerman,  Bay  of,  616 

Innertafle,  328 

Innervik,  328 

Insleberg,  586 

Irtish,  601 

Isakievski  Dvori,  607 

Isdaal,  196 

Ishult,  340 

Isla,  312 

Islands, Danish,  80;  Orkneys, 
95;  Shetland,  96;  Faroe, 
96;  Swedish,  287;  Lofod- 
den,  208;  Aland  Islands, 
329,  358 

Ismael,  Siege  of,  620 

Istad,  199,  235 

Itzehoe,  74 

Ivan  I.,  422 

II.,  422 

III.,  423,  539,  548,  549 

IV.,  424,  .554 

Death  of,  425 


VI.,  430 

Ivan,  Prince  of  Mojaisk,  423 

Prince,  427,  549 

Ivanooskoe,  Lake  of,  602 


J. 

Jablona,  .'>94 
Jablonofski,  .594 
Jacavlevo,  607 
Jader,  335,  339 
Jafre,  328 
Jamburg,  578 
J  am  jo,  340 
Jamt  Krogen,  326 
Jarlsberg,  190 
Jassnaia  Poliana,  606 
Joej^erspriis,  86 
Jedeckjaure  Lake,  244 
Jellinge,  93 

remarkable  stones  at,  93 

Jelsoe-stranden,  195 
Jemserum,340 
Jerackturskaia,  602 
Jerkin,  222 
Jews  Karaite,  618 
Johannesberg,  ruins  of,  335 
johnsrud,  159- 


KIEF. 
Jondalsdren,  188 
Jonkoping,  336,  337 
Jorbron,  310 
Jordbroekke,  1.03 
Jotumfields,  161 
Judeberget,  195 
JueJlinge,  81 
Jusjon  Lake,  313 
Justedal,  Glaciers  of  the,  165, 
Routes  from,  166 


197 

Justinian,  Emperor,  620 
Jutland,  91 


K. 

Kaaberbergs  Elv,  185 
Kaasa,  186 
Kadynia,  River,  590 
Kaflinge,  343 
Kalix,  328 

Kalka,  Battle  of,  421 
Kallehave,  83 
Kallundborg,  95 
Kalmar,  286,  340 
Kalo,  Island  of,  92 
Kalstad,  200,  225 
Kalvarija,  591 
Kama,  River,  601 
Kampaniefka,  608 
Kandibino,  608 
Karamsin,  the  Historian,  424, 
425,  435 

Karby,  340 

Kardis,  245 

Karkhoff,  433;  Hotel,  607; 
Description  of  the  Town, 
6O7 ;  University,  607 ;  Fair, 
607 

Karlso,  209 

Karra,  344,  346 

Karrby,  311 

Kasimoff,  601;  Description 
of,  601 ;  Tomb  of  Shah  All, 
601;  Mosque,  601;  Gosti- 
nnoi  Dvor,  601 

Kateshnoe,  .585 

Katilovo,  534 

Kattleberg,  346 

Kautokeine,  243 

Kazan,  548,  597 

Keel-fos,  168 

Kexisvara,  245 

Kertch,  610,  612,  613;  En- 
trance to,  913;  Description 
of,  613;  Museum,  613; 
Ancient  Mausoleum,  613; 
Pitch  Springs,  614 

Keveneb,  .374 

Khans,  Tartar,  617,  618 

Khodja  Bey,  609 

Khoonsova,  575 

Khovanski,  Prince,  427,  428 

Kiatka,  601 

Kibitka,  353 

Kief,  419,  420;  History  of, 
588;  Topography  of,  589; 
Sclavonian  Pantheon,  589; 
Cathedral  of  St.  Sophia, 
589;  Petcherskol  Monas- 
tery, 589 ;  The  Bazaar,  590; 


Index. 


FINLAND,    AND    RUSSIA. 


629 


KIEL. 
Catacombs,  r>90;  Obelisk 
of  Vladimir  the  Great,  590; 
Academy,  59() 
Kiel,  39;  Public  Buildings, 
39;  Palace  Garden,  39;  En- 
virons, 39 ;  Steamers,  40 

to  Copenhagen,  41 

Kierringo,  209 
Kiilshommen,  196 
Kile,  193 

Kinback,  328 

Kinne  Kulle,   mountain  of, 

319,  333 
Kipen,  578 
Kioge, 84 
Kirghises,  600 
Kirkvold,  238 
Kirkwall,  95 
Kishineff,  621 
Kistruss,  602 
Kjoer,  189 
Kjalsta,  326 
Kjelvik,  212 
Kjosebunden,  197 
Kloekken,  159 
Klampenborg,  61 
Klar  Elv,  239 
Klefshult,  337 
Kleven, 215 
Kliasma,  River,  596 
Klin,  535 
Klinga,  316 
Klintholm,  83 
Kloften,  217 
Klorup, 341 
Klot,  Baron,  529 
Knappekula,  339 
Knights,  Livonian,  363 

Teutonic,  363 

Knudtzon  Torkel,  373 
Knuthenborg,  82 
Kobberdal,2u7 
Kobrip,  605 
Kosciusko,  432,  433 

Kohl,  395,  404,  409,  496,  516, 

528,  546,  549,  555,  557,  570 
Kokkersvold,  191 
Kolare,  245 
Kolback,  331 
Kolding,  76,  94 
Kolfva,  310 
Kollangen,  333 
Kollekmd,  345 
Kolomna,  428 
Kongelbcek,  239 
Kongelf,  344 
Kongen's  Udsigt,  159 
Kongsberg,  182 

to  the  Riukan-fos,  183 

Kongsgaard,  93 
Kongsgaarden,  325 
Kongsvinger,  239,  246 
Kongsvold,  224 
Konich,  Battle  of,  520 
Konigsberg,  583 
Koping,  331 
Koppervik,  195,  215 
Korolevski  Traktir,  608 
Koroli,  Monastery  of,  618 
Korpikula,  245 
Korsegaarden,  246 
Korsodegaarden,  233 


Korsor,  77 
Koster,  83 
Kostol,  192 
Kotshetvi  Dvori,  607 
Kotzebue,  368 
Koursk,  607 

in  Siberia,  601 

Kovno,   584;     Hotels,    586; 

The  French  Army,  586 
Kozelez,  588 
Krageroe,  191 
Kragsta,  329 
Krasnoe,  604 

Selo,  526 


Krementschuk,  608 
Kremlin,  Erection  of,  422 
Krestsi,  532 
Kringelen,221 
Krogen, 237 
Krogkleven,  159 
Kroketorp,  339 
Kronborg,  Castle  of,  88 
Kroshuus,  185, 186 
Kuban,  River,  614 
Kukkola,  245 
Kulla,  341 
Kullen,  90 
KuUeryd,  341 
Kumla,  335 
Kungsbacka,  344 
Kuralechovo,  608 
Kutusoff,  434,  436,  472,  604 
Kvandesvold,  252 
Kyllingstad,  194 
Kymen  Waterfall,  372 


L. 

Laaksberg,  Rocks  of,  368 

Labaume,  435,  603,  604 

Laby, 324 

Ladournaire,  529 

Laga  River,  337,  344 

Lahne,  Dr.,  405 

Laholra,344 

Laing,  Mr,,  on  Norway,  201 

Lakes.— Oyeren,  217;    Mio- 

sen,    217 ;    Oresund,    238  ; 

Malar,    304,  315;    Roxen, 

316;    Wettern,    318;   We- 

nern, 319 
Landrath,  the,  364 
Landskrona, 343 
Landvig,  192 
Langbakke,  245 
Langeland,81,  197 
Langerak,  193 
Langeron,  Count,  610 
Langesund,  191 
Lang  Fiord,  235 
Langhei,  193 
Langledet,  238 
Langsceth,  200 
Lapland,  327 
Laplanders,     Mr.    Milford's 

visit  to  the,  203,  403 
Larbro-fos,  182 
Laurgaard,  197,  222 
Laurvig,  190 
Lauven  River,  190 
Lazzareif,  Admiral,  609 


LOPSTA. 

Lazaret  at  Odessa,  412 
Laerrestvedt,  192 
Leegardslyst,  92 
Leer,  226 
Leerdal  Elv,  163 
Leerlid,  187 
Leervig,  197 
Leervik,  196 
Leekoslott,  319 
Ledshastra,  336 
Lefvar,  327 
Leipsic,  594 
Leirdalsoren,  165 

to  Bergen,  167 


Leirfossen,  231 
Leksand,  313 
Leman  NiprofFski,  620 
Lenhofda,  341 
Lerhol,  332 
Leren  Elv,  217 
Lerum,  336 
Lerwick,  96 
Lessoe  Jernvcerk,  234 
Vand,  222,  234 


Levanger,  201 

Leydeii ,  67 

Libraries. — Kiel,  39;  Copen- 
hagen, 48;  Stockholm,  292; 
Skokloster,    305  ;    Upsala, 

307;  Westeras,  331;  Lin- 
koping,  336;  Wexio,  338; 
Lund,  342;  Helsingforss, 
361;  Reval,365;  St.Peters- 
burgh,  466,  477?  Moscow, 
559;  Dorpat,  579;  Riga, 
581;  Mittau,  584;  Warsaw, 
593 ;  Odessa,  610 

Lid,  222 

Lidar  River,  333 

Lidkoping,  333 

Lie,  217 

Lieberkuhn,  570 

Lie  Field,  186 

Liege,  63 

Lier  Elv,  181 

Lilla  A  by,  335 
LillaEdet,  321,346 
Lille,  Count  de,  584 
Lillehammer,  219,  233 
Lillesand,  92,  215 
Lillnor,  346 
Lind,  Jenny, 297 
Lindaas,  197 
Linkoping,  317,  335 
Linneus,  307 
Lipoffsky,  577 
Lipparjarfvi,  244 
Lipsi,  607 
Liselund,  83 
Lislena,  330 
Liten  Lake,  326 
Liubolin,  607 
Livadia,  614 
Ljoen, 193 
Ljunby,  337 
Ljung, 336 
Lobdal,  193 
Lochnitza,  604 
Loder,  570 

LoflToden  Islands,  208 
Lofsta,  310 


630 


DENMARK,    NORWAY,    SWEDEN, 


Index. 


LOGBIERGET. 

Logbierget,  83 
LogenElv,233 
LoUand  (Laland)  Island  of,  81 
Lorn  Field,  252 
Lomodden,  186 
Lomsha,  591 
Lonscet,  199 
Lop,  591 
Lopassnia,  606 
Loppen,  211 
Losnoes,  220 
Louis  XVIIL,  584 
Louvain,  63 

Lovisa,  371 ;  Monolith  of,  372 
Lovo,  207 

Lubeck,  60 ;  Money,  70 ;  Ca- 
thedral, 70 ;  Churches,  71  ; 
Clock,  71;  Raathaus,  72; 
Trade,  72;    Steamers,  73, 
438 
Lubomirski,  Prince,  592,  594 
Luga,  River,  585 
. Town  of,  585 

Lulea,  328 

to  Haparanda,  328 

Lum  Fiord,  94,  253 

Lumsheden,  313 

Lund,  342;  University,  342, 
Library, 342;  Cathedral,342 

Lund,  340,  346 

Lunde,  193 

Lunde-Vand,  194 

Lundesogna  Elv,  226 

Luquet,  Confiseur,  400 

Lure,  194 

Luther,  581 

Luvoso,  207 

Lyckeby,  340 

Lyngdals  Elv,  193 

Lyngholmen,  195 

Lysne,  165 

Lyster  Fiord,  165 


M. 

Moelandsmo,  185,  186 

Magaratch,  619 

Magdeburg,  302 

Mageroe,  2l2 

Maglevand's  Valley,  83 

Magnord,246,  332 

Mahmet,  423 

Maj,  325 

Makarief,  597 

Malachoffski,  Count,  593 

Mala  Morskoi,  529 

Malar  Lake,  304,  315 

Malines  (Mechlin),  63 

Malmo,  341 

to  Helsingborg,  342 

Maloga,  346 

Malo-Yarowslavitz,  436 

Malsta,  325 

Malta,  585 

Mamai  Khan,  577,  601 

Mandal,  193 

MangoupKal6,6l7;  Descrip- 
tion of,  617;  View  from, 
617;  Jewish  Cemetery,  617; 
Chambers  in  the  rocks,  617 

Mansbyn,  329 


Margaret,  Queen,  Monument 

of,  79 
Margretorp,  343 
Mark,  327 
Markaryd,  337 
Marklunda,  338 
Maria  Theresa,  368 
Marieboe,  81 
Marienborg,  89 
Marienburg,  Hall  at,  583 
Marienpol,  586,  591 
Mariestad,  319,  333 
Mariestuen,  164 
Mariosara,  245 
Marsanda,  619 
Marselisseborg,  the  wood  of, 

92 
Marsta,  324 
Marstrand,  323 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  468 
Masovia,  Princes  of,  593 
Matarengi,  245 
Matkull,  338 

Matuschevitz,  Count,  398 
Mauritius,  Saint,  366 
Medem,  Count,  584 
Medvenca,  607 
Mehede,  324 
Melan  Lake,  332 
Melby.  333 
Melbye,  246 
Melhuus,  226 
Mellerud,  346 
Memel,  588 
Menar,  Louis  of,  364 
MenzikofF,  Prince,  524 
Mcrgentheim,  Master  of,  583 
Mesne  Vand,  233 
Messelt,  237 
Messengers,  English  Cabinet, 

584 
Metcalfe,  Mr.,  399 
Meyendorf,  Baron,  364 
Michael,  Grand  Duke,  464, 

524 
Middelfart,  76 
Midtskougen,  246 
Miednoi,  535 

Miloradovitch,  General,  493 
Miloslavski,  427 
Minde,  217 
Minden,  65 

Mines.  —  Kongsberg,    182; 
Valle,187;  Alten,210;  Ro- 
raas,  238;  Danemora,  309; 
Sala,  310;  Falun,  311 
Minim,  426,  543 
Minsk,  C05 
Miosen  Lake,  217 
Mithridates,  613 ;  Hill  of,  613 
M  ittau,  Palace  near,  583 ;  Ho- 
tels, 584;    Description  of, 
584;   St.  John's  Day,  584; 
Casino,  584;  Picture  Galle- 
ries, 584;    Library  of  the 
Gymnasium,    584 ;      Dili- 
gences, 584 
Mjolby,  336,  338 
Mjoren  Lake,  336 
Mocressi,  607 

Mohilef,    588;     Description 
of,  588 


MOSCOW. 

Mo-Myskie,  314,  325 

Mockeln  Lake,  338 

Moe,  197,  233,  237 

Moe,  Elv,  233 

Moen,  220 

Moen,  Island  of,  83 

Moglestu,  192 

Molde,  199,  215, 235     , 

Molmen,  234 

Moloen,  215 

Money.  — Danish,  16;  Ham- 
burg, 32;  Belgian,  62; 
Prussian,  64;  Hanoverian, 
65;  Dutch,  67;  Lubeck, 
70;  Norwegian,  101 ;  Swe- 
dish, 255;  Russian,  350, 
379 

Money,  Leather,  423 

Monsteras,  340 

Montferrand,  Mons.,  511 

Mora,  313 

Mora  stone,  the,  309 

Morast,  246,  332 

Moreau,  General,  404,  481 

Morsun,  Caroline,  359 

Morstue,  233 

Morup,  344 

Mosby,  193 

Moscow,  426,  435,  436;  En- 
trance to,  536;   Tower  of 
Soukhareff,   536;    History 
of,    536;     Description    of, 
637 ;  Topography  of,  537  ; 
The  Kremlin,  538;   Spass 
Vorota  Gate,  539;  Nicholas 
Gate,  540;    The    Terema, 
541 ;  The  Granovitaya  Pa- 
lata,    541;     The    Bolshoi 
Dvoretz,  542;   The  Maloi 
Dvoretz,  542;  The  Uspen- 
ski  Sabor,  543;  The  Syno- 
dalni  Dom,  544;  Holy  Oil, 
545;     The    Arkhangelskoi 
Sabor,  545 ;  Tombs  of  the 
Tzars,  .546;    Portraits  of, 
546;  Church  of  the  Annun- 
ciation,   546;    The    Trea- 
sury,  547;    Regalia,  548; 
Polish  Sceptre,  549;   The 
Arsenal,  550 ;  French  Can- 
non, r>50 ;  English  Cannon, 
.550;    Tzar   Kolokol,   551; 
Tower  of  Ivan  Veliki,  552  ; 
View  from  the  Summit  of, 
6.53;  Cathedralof  St.  Basil, 
554;  Chapel  of  the  Iberian 
Mother  of  God,  555;  Vos- 
kressenskaia  Vorota,  .555; 
Monastery  of  the  Donskoi, 
656;  Cemetery  of,  557;  Se- 
minoflf    Monastery,    557 ; 
Chaunting,      558 ;       Bass 
voices,  558;  Devitchei  Con- 
vent, 558;    The  Devitchei 
Fall,  558;   Royal  Tombs, 
559;   Cemetery,  559;   The 
Androniefskoi  Monastery, 
559;  Tshudoff  Monastery, 
559;     Library   of    the   Sa 
Ikono     Spasskoi     Monas- 
tery, 559;   The  Foundling 
Hospital,  559;  Palace  and 


Index. 


FINLAND,    AND    RUSSIA. 


631 


MOSEBAAKEN. 

Gardens  of  Peterskoi,  561 ; 
Theatres,  562;  Great  Rid- 
ing School,  562;  Empress's 
Villa,  563;  Galitzin  Gar- 
dens, 563;  The  Sparrow 
Hills,  564;  View  of  the 
city  from,  564;  Prisoners, 
564;  Warsaw  Gate,  565; 
Market-Places,  565;  Kitai 
Gorod,  565;  The  Riadi, 
565;  Second-hand  Markets, 
567;  Winter  Market,  567; 
Tea-houses,  568;  Troitzka 
Traktir,  568 ;  The  English 
Chapel,  569;  The  Mosque, 
569;  University  of,  570; 
Summary,  571;  Gypsies, 
571 ;  Calculating  Machine, 
672;  The  Races,  572;  The 
Mass,  572;  Feasts  and  Ce- 
remonies, 573;  Armenian 
Church,  573 ;  The  Smith's 
Bridge,  574;  Shops  there, 
574;  LukmanofTs  Maga- 
zine, 574;  Flower  Market, 
574;  Public  Promenades, 
574;  Tver  Boulevards,  574; 
Alexander  Gardens,  574; 
Clubs,  574;  Astankina,  574 ; 
Moscow  Appurtenances, 
575;  A116edesPeuples,575; 
Khoonsova,  675 

Mosebaaken,  357 

Mosgaard,  92 

Moshaisk,  603 

Moshni,  532 

Mossoe,  92 

Moshuus,  219 

Moss,  215,  247 

Mosterhavn,  195,  215 

Mountains  —  Gousta  Field, 
159;  Jolum  Fields,  161  ; 
Hugakollen,  162 ;  Fille 
Field,  163;  Skagstol  Tend, 
165,  251;  Justedal,  165; 
Skogshorn,  179;  Eggedals 
Field,  179;  Tessung  Field, 
185 ;  Harteigen,  185 ;  Lie 
Field,  186;  Broke  Field, 
186;  Solfond  Nup,  187; 
Hardanger,  187 ;  Steens 
Field,  197 ;  Lang  Field, 
197;  Skole,  199;  Seven 
Sisters,  207 ;  Rundane,  221 ; 
Haalangen  Field,  222 ;  Do- 
vre  Field,  222;  Horun- 
gerne,  232;  Broste  Field, 
234;  Roms-dals-horn,  234; 
Troldtinderne,234;  Troms 
Field,  237;  Lom  Field, 
252 ;  Kinne  Kulle,  319, 
333;  Tchatir  Dag,  619 

Moxa  Elv,  220 

Mtsensk,  606 

Mukalatka,  615 

Munkholm,  Fortress  of,  230 

Muonio  River,  244 

Muonioniska,  244 

Murom,  596 ;  Description  of, 
596  * 

Museums. —  Hamburg,  35; 
Kiel,  39;  Copenhagen,  47, 


49,50;  Bergen,  176;  Trond- 
hjem,     230;     Stockholm, 
291,296;  Helsingforss, 361 ; 
St.  Petersburgh,  481,  482, 
483, 486,  489;  Moscow,  570; 
Dorpat,  579 ;  Warsaw,  593 ; 
Odessa,  610 
Mustapha  Kara,  594 
Mutton,  Astrakan,  402 
Myrmecium,  613 


N. 


NoerOens  Fiord,  168 
Ncerosund,  215 
Ncerstrands  Fiord,  195 
Noes,  179,  240 
Ncese,  196 
Noeverdal,  237 
Nagui,  Andrew,  636 
Nakskov,  81 
Namsen  River,  202 
Napoleon ,  433,  434,  435,  436, 

437,  561,  586,  687,  588,  603, 

604 
Narev,  River,  591 
Narishkin,  Mr.,  529 
Narova,  River,  578 
Falls  of,  579 


Narva,  428,  678 ;  Description 
of,  578 ;  Ivangorod,  578 

Naryshkins,  Tombs  of  the, 
477 

Natalia,  427,  428,  544 

Neby,  233,  237,  239 

Nebbelof,  338 

Nedansjo,  326 

Nedre  Vaage,  235 

Nelson,  Lord,  364 

Nestor  the  Annalist,  589 

Neva,  Water  of,  404 

Batttle  of,  421 

Inundation  of,  445 


Nevski,  St.  Alexander,  421, 
449,  476,  596 

Newspapers,  401 ,  529 

Ney,  586,  603 

Nicholas  I.,  364,  367, 437, 448, 
453,  465,  486,  491,  496,  506, 
514,  515,  519,  524,  526,  541, 
542,  643,  566,  576,  593,  598, 
606,  608 

Fort,  616 


Nickala,  329 

Nicolaieff,  608 ;   Description 

of,  608;    Dockyards,  609; 

Observatory,  609;    Ferry, 

609 
Nicon,   the   Patriarch,   544, 

576 
Nid  Elv,  191 
Nid  River,  228 
Nidaros,  227 
Niemen,  River,  434,  586, 604, 

605 
Niemio,  245 
Nikita,  Botanical  Garden  of, 

404,  619 


NTSTUEN. 

Nitte  Elv,  217 

Njurunda  River,  325 

Nobbeled,  338,  341 

Noklebye,  233 

Nohl,  334,  346 

Nord,  239 

Norderhong,  180 

Nordgaard,  187 

Nordgulena,  197 

Nord  Arnoen,  207 

Noret,  313 

Norje,  341 

Norlid,  239 

Norrby,  340 

Nors  River,  332,  346 

North  Cape,  the,  212 

Norway,  100;  Routes  from 
England,  101  ;  Money, 
Weights,  and  Measures, 
101 ;  Passports,  103 ;  Modes 
of  Travelling,  103;  Inns, 
104;  Steamers,  104;  Boats, 
105;  Carrioles,  105,  106; 
Four-wheeled  Carriages, 
106 ;  Requisites  for  travel- 
ling, 106;  Posting  regula- 
tions, 107;  Alphabet,  Vo- 
cabulary, 115;  Scenery  and 
Sketching,  123;  Angling, 
126;  Salmon,  125;  Trout, 
126;  Flies  and  rods,  127; 
Shooting,  127;  Game  Laws, 
129 ;  Fields,  Fiords,  and 
Valleys,  130;  Geology,  131; 
Mineralogy,  131 ;  Climate, 
131 ;  Population,  132 ;  His- 
torical Notice,  132 ;  Go- 
vernment, 138;  Storthing, 
138;  Religion,  139;  Public 
Instruction,  140;  Justice, 
140  ;  Press,  141 ;  Army  and 
Navy,  141 ;  Revenue,  141 ; 
People,  142 ;  Productive 
Industry,  143;  Agriculture, 
143;  Forests,  144;  Fishe- 
ries, 146;  Commerce,  146; 
Internal  and  ForeignTrade, 
146;  Exports  and  Imports, 
146;  Commercial  Marine, 
147;  Literature,  147 

Novgorod,  419, 420,  423;  De- 
scription of,  631;  Money 
first  coined,  531  ;  Tomb  of 
Feodor,  532;  Alarm  Bell, 
547,  648 

Nijni,    595;     En- 


trance to,  597 ;  Population, 
697;  Hotel,  597;  Minim 
and  Pojarski,  598;  Fair, 
698;  Description  of,  598; 
Mosque,  600 ;  Tea  quarter, 
600 ;  Theatre,  601 

Novoselitza,  621,  622 

Nuppi  Vara,  243 

Ny  Carleby,  377 

Nyeborg,  77 

Nykoping,  335 

Nyekioping,  82 

Nyso,  84 

Nysted,  194 

Nystad,  Treaty  of,  374,  428 

Nystuen,  163,  234 


632 


DENMAKK,    NORWAY,    SWEDEN, 


Index. 


OBOJAN. 


o. 


Obojan,  607 

Oby.  313 
Odegaarden,  191 
Odempa,  Lord  of,  580 
Oden,  220 
Odense,  76 

Odeshog,  336 

Odessa,  603,  605;  Hotels, 
609;  Description  of,  609; 
The  Exchange,  610;  Boule- 
vard, 610;  Theatres,  610; 
Statute  of  the  Duke  de 
Richelieu,  610;  Monster 
Staircase,  610;  Library, 
610;  Antiquities,  610;  Ho- 
ward's Candlestick,  610 ; 
Granaries,  611  ;  Bathing, 
611;  Parlatoire,  611;  Bo- 
tanical Garden,  611;  Steam- 
boats, 612,  620,  621,  622 

Ofte,  187 

Ojeby,  328 

Okha,  River,  596,  598 

Retreat  from  the,  422 

Olaf,  St.,  Cemetery  of,  92; 
Birthplace  of,  221 ;  Death 
of,  201  ;  Shrine  of,  228 

Olai,  St.,  365 

Village  of,  583 

Oland,  Island  of,  287,  340 
Olbia,  610 
Olchovatka,  607 
Oldeslohe,  69 
Olen  Fiord,  195 

Olfernoes,  196 
Olgopol,  590 
Omelnik,  608 
Omthvett,  186 
Onska,  327 
Oopa,  River,  606 
Oppegaard,  180 
Ophuus,  237 
Opthun,  251 

Or,  338 
Orchitza,  587 
Orebyhus,  359 
Ore  River,  328 , 

Orebro,  331 

Or^l,   606;     Description    of, 

606;  Public  Gardens,  606; 

Great  Fire,  606 
Orenburgh,  614 

Oresund  Lake,  238 

Orgeief,  621 

Orkla  Elv,  200 

Orkney  Islands,  95 

OrloflF,   Count  G.,  463,  491, 

510.517,521,  585 
OrloflFsky,  the  Artist,  522, 529 
Ormem,  234 
Oronst,  Island  of,  345 
O'Rourke,  Count,  364 
Orsa,  314 

Orselska,  Countess,  592 
Orsha,  587;   Description  of, 

587,  604 


Osboigd  Elv,  185 
Osma,  River,  603 

Ostad,  336 
Ostend,  62 

Osterby,  Forges  of,  310 
Osterbyn,  346 
Oster  Fiord,  196 

Ostersund,  326 

OsterSen,  Island  of,  173 

Osterricsor,  191,215 

OstraLjunby,  337 

Ostre,  189 

Ostre  Bagholm,  195 

Ostroff,  585 

Ostud-fos,  170 

Ostvik,  202 

Otrada,  606 

Ottakar  the  Great,  583 

Otta  Elv,  221 

Oudinot,  Marshal,  604 

Ougedal,  160,  232 

Oune,  200 

Ous,  238,  239,  246 

Elv,  239 

Ouse  Fiord,  157 
Ousembash,  618 
Ousoren,  196 
Oust,  226 
Oustad,  239 
Overdrevsbakken,  84 
Overgaard,  202 
Ovidiopol,  620 
Ovinna  Elv,  194 
Ovne,  225 
Oxenstiern,  Axel,  361 

Gabriel,  361 


Oyeren  Lake,  217,  239 
Oylve,  162 

P. 

Paboda,  340 

Panticapoeum,  613 

Poekkila,  245 

Palajoensum,  244 

Palajock  River,  244 

Paskallavik,  340 

Pello,  245 

Person,  .328 

Petersburgh,  St.,  Approach 
to,  441 ;  Topography  of, 
442 ;  Nefskoi  Prospekt, 
447;  Winter  Palace,  452; 
Hermitage,  456;  Marble 
Palace,  463;  Taurida  Pa- 
lace, 463;  Michailoff  Pa- 
lace, 464 ;  Annitchkoff  Pa- 
lace, 465;  Palace  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Michael,  465; 
Imperial  Library,  466 ;  Ka- 
zan Cathedral,  469;  Izak 
Church,  473;  Smolnoi 
Church,  475  ;  Monastery  of 
St.  Alexander  Nevskoi,  476; 
Preobrajensky  Church, 478 ; 
Church  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul,  478 ;  Cottage  of 
Peter  the  Great,  479; 
Church  of  the  Holy  Tri- 


PROBSTEY. 

ity,  480;  English  Church, 
480;  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  481 ;  Academy  of 
Sciences,  481;  Museum  of 
Peter  the  Great,  483 ;  Aca- 
demy of  Arts,  484 ;  Roman- 
zoff"  Museum,  486;   Tech- 
nological Institution,  486; 
Corps  of  Cadets  and  other 
Military   Academies,    487  ; 
Corps  des  Mines,  488 ;  Ecole 
du  G6nie,    490;    Old    and 
New  Arsenals,  491 ;  Found- 
ling  Hospital,  495;  Obou- 
koff   Hospital,    498;    Gos- 
tinnoi  Dvor,  498;  Apraxin 
Rinok,      501  ;      Tshukni 
Dvor,  503;  Sennaia   Plos- 
chad,  505;  Factories,  506; 
Theatres,  508;    Statue  of 
Peter  the  Great,  510  ;  Alex- 
ander Column,  511;    Ro- 
manzoff  Monument,  512 ; 
Suwaroff"  Monument,  513  ; 
Summer     Gardens,     513 ; 
Gardens  of  Catherinenhoff, 
514;     The    Islands,     514; 
Tzars  koSelo,  517;  Strelna, 
521 ;  Peterhoff,  522  ;  Sum- 
mary, 525;  Riding  House, 
525;  Palace  of  the  Senate, 
525 ;  Hotel  de  I'Etat  Major, 
525;    Exchange,  525;   Pa- 
rade Grounds,  526;  Easter, 
526;    Ice  Hills,   527;    Fox 
Hounds,  527;  Fish  Maga- 
zines,   527;    Fruit    Shops, 
528 ;     English    Magazine, 
528;     New    Bazaar,     528; 
Coffin  Shops,   528;    Wine 
and  Beer  Cellars,  528;  Mi- 
neral Waters,  529 ;  Picture 
Galleries,  529 ;  Russian  Ar- 
tist's,   529 ;    Restaurateurs 
and  Caf^s,  529 

Petigorski,  614 

Pharnaces,  613 

Pictures,  collections  of.  —Co- 
penhagen, 46 ;  Cologne, 64 ; 
Dusseldorf,  65;  Antwerp, 
6Q ;  the  Hague,  67  ;  Chris- 
tiania,  153;  Bergen,  175; 
Stockholm ,  291  St.  Peters- 
burgh, 458,  523;  Mittau, 
584 ;  Warsaw,  594 

Pilkrog,  335 

Pinneberg,  74 

Piroga,  502 

Pitea,  328 

to  Lulea,  328 


Plon,  69 
Poniatowski,  Prince,  594 
Pojarski,  General,  426,  543 
Porsgrund,  191 
Portsnas,  328 
Potzdam,302 
Prcestebierget,  83 
Proesto  Fiord,  84 
Preetz,  69 
Prestbol,  332 
Prinsdal,  246 
Probstey,40 


Index. 


FINLAND,    AND    RUSSIA. 


633 


QVAM.     • 

Q. 

Qvam,202 

Qvam,  church  of,  221 
Qvame,  162 
Qvande,  200 
Qvarsebo,  339 
Qvibille,  344 
Qvikne,  237 
Qviinge,  338 
Qvistrum,  345 


R. 

Raahol(lt,217,232,245 
Raaholt,  239 
Rabalshede,  345 

Raby,  336 

Radzivill,  Prince,  592,  605 

Wife  of,  605 

Sister  of,  605 

Roege  Fiord,  215 

Rafsunds  Lake,  326 

Rakino,  532 

Raknebo,  331 

Railroads.— Altona  to  Kiel, 
38  ;  Berlin  to  Stettin,  303 ; 
Brunswick  to  Magdeburg, 
302;  Copenhagen  to  Roe- 
skilde,  80  ;  Dentz  to  Han- 
over, 65 ;  Hanover  to 
Brunswick,  302;  Hanover 
to  Harburg,  65;  Magde- 
burg to  Berlin,  302 ;  Ostend 
to  Cologne,  62;  Rotter- 
dam to  Arnheim,  67;  St. 
Petersburgh  to  Moscow, 
384 ;  St.  Petersburgh  to 
Tzarsko  Selo,  384 

Ramundeboda,  333 

Ranbyn,  328 
Randers,  95 
Rands  Fiord,  159 
Ranea  River,  328 
Rattwick,  Church  of,  313 
Rauma  Elv,  234 
Raumo,  377 
Razumoffski,  465 
Reaumur's  thermometer,  412 
Ree,  194 
Reed, 197 
Reen  Elv,  236 
Refsland,  194 
Refsudden,  340 
Regictza,  585 
Reikavik,  97 
Reien,  161 
Reiersdal,  193 
Reindeer  travelling,  241 
Reisen  Elv,  209 
Relingden,  198 
Rembis-fos,  170 
Remeim,  198 
Rena,  Elv,  237 
Rendestrom ,  197 
Rendsburg,  74,  253 
Rennisoe,  195 
Reshetilovka,  608 
Revaa,  189 


Reval,  362  ;  Hotels,  362,  591 ; 
Cistercian  Convent,  362 ; 
Cisternpforte,  362;  Linda- 
nisse.  Fortress  of,  362;  Dom 
Hill,362;  The  Rilterbank, 
364;  The  Dom,  364;  Olai 
Kirche,  364;  St.  Nicholas, 
Church  of,  365;  Picture 
of  the  Crucifixion,  365; 
Dance  of  Death,  365 ;  Ro- 
sen Chapel,  365;  Duke  de 
Croy,365;  Russian  Church, 
366;  Hotel  de  Ville,  366; 
Guildhalls,  366 ;  The 
Schwarzen  Haupter,  367; 
Altar  piece,  367;  Dom 
Church,  367;  Tombs  of 
Thurn,  Horn,  and  De  la 
Gardie,  367,  368;  The 
Schmieedetforte,  368 ;  Jar- 
markt,  368 ;  Catherinen- 
thal,  308;  Population,  369 ; 
Bathing,  369;  Monastery 
of  Padis  Kloster,  369;  Ar- 
senal, 370;  The  Club,  370; 
Monument  to  Admiral 
Grieg,  370 

Riazan,  602 

Ribas,  Admiral,  610 

Ribe,  94 

Richeheu,  Duke  de,  610 

Riga,  581 ;  Hotels,  581,  588; 
Description  of,  581;  Flower 
Feast,  582;  The  Hunger 
Sorrow,  582;  The  Wards, 
582 ;  The  Schwert  Bruder, 
582 

Riisfiord,  212 

Riklea,  328 

Rilanda,  329 

Ringen,  Lord  of,  580 

Ringkiobing,  94 

Ringsted,  79 

Risalaks,  Granite  Quarries  at, 

373 
Rise,  225 
Rissby,  340 
Riukan-fos,  183 

to  the  Voring-fos,  185 

Rivers,  subterraneous,  207 

Rodbjerget,215 

Rodland,  196 

Rodnces,  160 

Rddset,  198 

Rodsceth,  235 

Rodven  Fiord,  235 

Roe,  179 

Roed,  194 

Roeskilde,  79, 85  ;  Cathedral, 

79 ;  Royal  monuments,  79; 

Railway,  80 
Rogstad,  238 
RoUo,  Duke  of  Normandy, 

castle  of  198 
Romanoff,  Michael,  426,  427, 

539,  549 

Daughter  of,  545 


SALMON. 

Ror  Fiord ,  186 
Roraas,  238 
Rorvigstrand,  194 
Rosen,  Count,  364 
Rosenberg,  300 
Rosendal,  Palace  of,  298 
188 


Romanzoff,  General,  431, 477, 

486,  512 
Romsdals-horn,  234 
Ronnede,  84 
Ropp,  Count,  584 


Rosenvold,  93 

Rosseland,  191 

Rossvig,  .328 

Rostof,  Metropolitan  of,  426 

Rotali,  Count,  523 

Rotebro,324 

Rotterdam,  67 

Rudkiobing,  81 

Rudsberg,  331 

Rugen,  Island  of,  303 

Ruilka  Tcherney,  River,  615 

Rundals  Elv,  169 

Rundane  Mountains,  222 

Runeberg,  the  Poet,  371 

Runeby,  340 

Rurik,  419,  425 

Russia,  379;  Money,  379; 
Steamboats,  382, 535 ;  Rail- 
ways, 384;  English  Pass- 
port, 384;  Custom  House, 
385;  Carte-de-S6jour,  386; 
Russian  Passport,  386 ; 
Travelling,  388 ;  Padarosh- 
na,388;  Posting,  388;  Dili- 
gences, 391;  Voituriers,391 ; 
Droshkies,  393 ;  Job  Carri- 
ages, 393;  Baths,  395; 
Stoves,  397;  Hotels,  398; 
Boarding  Houses,  398,  529 ; 
Lodgings,  398 ;  Restaur- 
ants, 402,  529 ;  Cafes,  402 ; 
Tea-houses,  402;  Roads, 
405;  Roadside  accommo- 
dation, 405;  Lacquey -de- 
place,  408;  Servants,  408; 
Climate,  410;  Clothing, 
410;  Vocabulary,  412; 
Names  of  the  Months,  417; 
Days  of  the  Week,  417; 
Numerals,  418 ;  Weights, 
418;  Historical  Notice,  418 
Russian  Malo,  418 
Rutledal,  197 
Rydboholm,  300 
Ryen,  238 
Ryg,  202 

S, 

Saffian,  535 
Scebo,  169 
Soeby,  95 
Seem  void,  196 
Seem,  186,  202 
Sceter,  200 
Soeter  Aae,222 
Sceter  Beverthun,  252 
Safvar,  328 
Saifvits,  329 
Sala,  310 
Salaup  Fiord 
Salen  Lake,  338 
Salhuus,  207 

Salmon  fishing. — Hardanger 
Fiord,  171;   Hel-fos,  192; 


634 


DENMAKK,  NORWAY,  SWEDEN, 


Index, 


SAMBIRIA. 

Namsen,  206;  Alten,  210; 
Sundal,  225;  Giila  Elv, 
226;  Trondhjem,231;  Rau- 
ma  Elv,  234;  Elfkarleby, 
324;  Angerman  River,  327; 
Falkenberg,  344 

Sambiria  Margaretta,  363 

SamoilofF,  580 

Samsoe,  Island  of,  95 

Sand, 160 

Sandbacka,  313 

Sandoesund,  lf)0 

Sandfarhuus,  200 

Sandnces,  193 

Sands  Fiord,  195 

Sandtorvholm,  209 

Sandven  Vand, 188 

Sangito,  329 

Sanna, 325 

Sannces,  193 

Sannassoen,  207 

Sapieha,  Prince,  577>  592 

Saraphan,  533 

Sarpsborg,  247 

Sarps-fos.  247 

Sathalla,  239 

Sauesund,  215 

Sauromatoe,  418 

Saxkioping,  82 

Saxo  Grammaticus,  78,  80 

Saxtorp,  348 

Sbiteen,  402 

Scanderberg,  92 

Scandinavia,  1 ;  Maxims  and 
Suggestions,4;  Books  upon 
Scandinavia,  5;  Passports 
and  Lists  of  Ambassadors, 
6 ;  Money,  7 ;  Steamers,  8 ; 
Travelling,  Servants,  9; 
Carriages,  9;  Clothes  and 
Luggage,  10 ;  Skeleton 
Tours,  11 

Scavshedshika,  585 

Schjefveland,  194 

Schooba,  price  of,  441 

Schor,  Mr.,  399 

Schot,  the,  572 

Schwarzen  Haupter,  365,  588 

■ Monu- 
ment to,  367 

Schwerdt  Bruder,  364 

Sclavonians,  418 

Sconevigsoen,  195 

Sedlze,  605 

Segeberg,  69 

Seglerum,  328 

Seid  Elv,  220 

Seierstad,  207 

Selbo  Lake,  231 

Selet,  328 

Selichova  Dvori,  60/ 

Seljestad,  187 

Selsovik,207 

Semiafska,  Countess,  594 

Sergiefscoi,  606 

Sergius,  St.,  576 

Serpuchoff,  606 

Seruti,  587 

Sevastopol,  612,  613,  614; 
Inn,  615;  Docks,  615; 
Fortifications,  616;  Laza- 
ret, 616;    Church  near  it. 


616:  Inkerman,  616;  Har- 
bours, 616 ;  Reservoirs,  617 

Sevre,  179 

Seyland,  211 

Sezara,  River,  605 

Shetland  Islands,  96 

Shtshie,  a  Soup,  402 

Shuttleworth,  Mr.,  408 

Siaberdasjock,  243 

Siberia,  548,  614 

Sieland  (see  Zealand) 

Sigismund,  426 

III.,  592,  594 


Sigstad,  236 
Sigtuna, 304 
Sillegjord  Vand,  186 
Siljan  Lake,  313 
Simferopol,  618,  619,  620 
Sinclair,    Col.,   account   of, 

221,234 
Sirnoes,  194 
Sirrevaags  Elv,  194 
Sis  Fiord,  234 
Sisopolis,  610 
Sivoritzi,  585 
Sjogerum,  339 
Skaav,  197 
Skagen,  95 

Skagstol  Tind,  165,  251 
Skalholt,  98 
Skallerud,  345 
Skalstugan,  241,326 
Skanderborg,  Lake  of,  92 
Skangs  Elv,  185 
Skare,  188 
Skatungebyn, 314 
Skeager,  252 
Skedshult,  339 
Skei,  197 

Skejerjehavn,  196,  215 
Skeleftea  River,  328 
Skien,  191 
Skifarf,  .341 
Skifstad,  200 
Skillinge,  340 
Skillingeryd,  337 
Skjcebro  Field,  233 
Skjcervo,  209 
Sjolden,  251 
Sklof,  587 

Skuratovo  Bolshci,  606 
Malencoi,  606 


Skogshorn,  179 
Skokloster,  Chateau  of,  305 
Skole,  199 
Skomedal,  193 
Skrimstad,  217 
Skyttie  fos,  170 
Slagelse,  77 
Sleswig,  75 
Sletteboe,  194 
Slevolden,  191 
Sloinge,  344 
Slonim,  605 
Slupza,  595 
Slyngstad,  198 
Smedsbo,  313 
Smedshammer,  160 
Smirdin,  Mr.,  529 
Smith  Bridge,  399,  574 
Smolensk,  434,  603 
Virgin  of,  558 


STATION. 

Snaasen  Vand,  302 
Sneehcetten,  223 
Snoghoi,  76 

Sobieski,  John,  593,  594 
Soderby,  309 
Soderhamn,  325 
Soderkioping,  316 
Sodertelje,  316,  335 
Sognedals  Elv,  180 
Sogne  Field,  251 

Fiord,  167 

River,  193 


Sogstad,  232 

Runic  obelisk  at,  232 

Soholt,  82, 198,  235 
Soknoes,  226 
Solfoiid  Nup,  187 
Sollebrun,  334 
Sollerod,  190 
Sollesnoes,  235 
Solova,  606 
SolsterVand,  197 
Sommen  Lake,  339 
Sommerspiret,  83 
Somovar,  407 
Sophia,  St.,  Church  of,  585 

■  Gardens  of,  585 

Princess  of  Constan- 


tinople, 424,  549 

Tzarina,  427,428,559 


Sopnoes,  209 
Sorbye,  190 
Sor  Fiord,  188 
Sorknces,  237 
Sorlid,  237 
Sdrmjole,  328 
Soro,  Academy  of,  78 
Sor6  Sund,  211 
Sor  Russevaag,  209 
Sorte,  235 
Sorterberg,  180 
Sottunga,  Island  of,  358 
Soudebnik,  Code,  425 
Soudogda,  5.96 
Sound  Duties,  90 
Sdvik, 207 
Soyland,  194 
Spada,  Signor,  611 
Spanga,  331 

Spaniards  in  Nyeborg,  77 
Sparlosa,  333 
Sparresholm,  84 
Spaskaia,  Polist,  531 
Spildum,  202 
Spink,  Mr.,  529 
Spjute,327 
Spodsbierg,  81 
Sprogde,  77 
Stabo3k,  181 
Stabby, 329 

Staircase,  the  Devil's,  615 
Stalhandsk,  General,  359 
Stalheim,  169 
Stalljernstugan,  326 
Stallaponen,  584,  586 
Stamgarden,326 
Stangebro,  battle  of,  ^36 
Stanislas,  Augustus,  593,  594 
Starhult,  338 
Stathelle,  191 

Station,  Railway  at  St.  Pe- 
tersburgh,  384 


Index. 

STAVANGBK. 

Slav  anger,  194 

to  Bergen,  195 

Hardanger  Fiord,  195 

Steamers.-Kiel,  40 ;  Copen- 
hagen, 60,  95  ;  London,  62, 
66 ;  Christiania,  157  ; 
Minde,  218;  Trondhjem, 
231;  Lubeck,  285;  Stock- 
holm, 300;  Malar  Lake, 
315:  Gottenburg,323;  Fin- 
land, 351,  362;  Russian, 
382,  535,  612,  620,  621,  622 

Stee,  162 

Steege, 83 

Steensballegaard,  93 

Steensfield,  197 

Steens  Fiord,  159 

Steenkjcer,  202 

Steensoen,  207 

Steiglitz,  Baron,  508 

Stein,  239 

Steppes,  description  of,  o88 

Sterlet  Fish,  402 

Stettin,  303 

to  Ystad,  303 


Stigamo,  338 

Stikkelstad,  201 

battle  of,  201 

Carl  .Tohan's  visit  to,  202 

St6en,237 

Stocketorp,  341 

Stockholm,  289;  Inns,  289; 
Cafes,  289;  Stora,  or  Little 
Club,     289;      Post-office, 
289;      Bank    of    Sweden, 
289;  Valets-de-place,  289; 
Society,  290;    Royal  Mu- 
seum,   291;    Picture   Gal- 
lery,   291;     Collection   of 
Drawings,  292;  Sculpture 
Gallery,  292 ;  Egyptian  and 
Etruscan  collections,  292  ; 
Royal  wardrobe,  292;  Roy- 
al Library,292;  Money  and 
Medallion   Cabinet,     293; 
Cabinet  of  Northern  Anti- 
quities, 293 ;  Chapel  Royal, 
294  ;  Obelisk  and  Statue  of 
Gustavus  IIL,  294;  Royal 
stables,    294 ;      Churches, 
294 ;      Riddarhuus,     296  ; 
Statue  of  Gustavus  Vasa, 
296;  Mint,  296;  Cabinet  of 
Minerals  and  Fossils,  296 ; 
Gardens  of  the  Horticultu- 
ral Society,  296;  Zoologi- 
cal   Museum,     296;     By- 
strom's  Studio,297 ;  Royal 
Theatre,  297;   Djurgaard, 
298;    Palace  of  Rosendal, 
298;  Haga  Park,  298;  Ob- 
servatory, 298;  Cemetery, 
299;     Park    of    Carlberg, 
299 ;  Royal  Porphyry  Ware- 
house, 299;    Police  Office, 
299;  Droskis,  299;  Passage 
boats,  299;  Environs,  300  ; 
Drotnhigholm,300;  Svart- 
sjo  Rosenberg,  300  ;  Ryd- 
boholm,  300;    Gripsholm, 
300  ;       Strengnoes,     300  ; 
Steamers,  300 


FINLAND,   AND    KUSSIA. 


Stocksjon,  328 

Stok  Elv,  232 

Stolepaen,  584,  586 

Storbjorvboda,  331 

Stor  Fiord,  234 

Stor  Lake,  245 

Stora  Logdan  River,  327 

Stora  Aby,  335 

Stordals  Elv,  200 

Storhammer,  218 

Storms  Lake,  326 

Stot,207 

Straken  Lake,  348 

Stralsund,  303 

Strand,  161,207,311,332 

Strand  Fiord,  161 

Strande,  236 

Strande  Fiord,  196 

Stratjara,  325 

Strelai,  an  Arrow,  424 

Strelitzes,  424,  426,  427,  492 

Strelna,  521 

Stroengnces,  300 

Stroganof,  Count,  529 

Stromstad,  345 

Struve,  Professor,  579 

Struve's  Mineral  Waters,  529 

Studzianca,  604 

Stuen, 225 

Stutgard,  583 

Sundbo,  186 

Sundby,  94 

Sundbye,  82,  239,  246,  247 

Sundfiord,  196 

SundalsElv,  199 

Sundseth,  225 

Sundsvall,  325 

_ to  Ostersund,  325 

to  Umea,  327 


Sundvolden,  159, 180 

o 

Sunnana,  328 

Suomemna,  355 

Sura  Elv,  199 

Surash,  587 

Suulstuen,  241,  326 

Suwalki,  591 

Suwaroff,  Marshal,  432,  433, 

467,  477,  492,  513,  620 
Svoerholt,  211 
Svalestad,  194 
Svanberga,  329 
Svardsbro,  335 

Svart  An,  330 

Svart  Elv,  233,  236 

Svarte  Elv,  186 

Svarteberg,  345 

Svartsjo,  Palace  of,  300 

Svee,  252 

Svendborg,  81 

Svenlosh  River,  605 

Svennarum,  338 

Svetaja  Balki,  608 

Svincer,  207 

Sweaborg,  Fortress  of,  360, 
362 

Sweden,  254;  Routes  from 
England,  255 ;  Money, 
Measures,  Weights,  255  ; 
Passports,  257;  Modes  of 
Travelling,  257 ;  Inns,  257 ; 
Carriages,  258;   Requisites 


635 

THEATRES, 
for  Travellers,258 ;  Forbud, 
259;  Posting  Regulations, 
259;  Vocabulary  and  Dia- 
logues, 261;  Scenery  and 
Sketching,  266;  Anglmg, 
267;  Shooting  and  Game 
Laws,  267  ;  Lakes  and  Ri- 
vers, 268;  Geology,  268; 
Mineralogy,  269;  Forests, 
269,  280;  Climate,  269; 
Population,  269;  Historical 
Notice,  269 ;  Government, 
276;  Diet,  276;  Religion, 
276;  Public  Instruction, 
276;  Press,  277;  Justice, 
277 ;  Army  and  Navy,  277  ; 
Orders  of  Knighthood,  278 ; 
Public  Finance,  278;  Royal 
Family,  278 ;  People,  279 ; 
Productive  Industry,  280; 
Mines,  280;  Fisheries,  281; 
Manufactures,  281 ;  Com- 
merce, 281;  Foreign  Trade, 
282 ;  Literature,  282 ; 
Churches,  282 ;  Canals,  283 

Swinemunde,  303 

Swinesund,  249 

Sylte,  198 

Systad,  197 

T. 

Taars,  81 

Taarvik,  199 

Tafra,  327 

Taganrog,  437,  614 

Taleren,  83 

Taman,  Island  of,  614 

Tamerlane,  422,  536 

Tana  Elv,  210 

Tang,  344 

Tannenberg,  Battle  of,  583 

Tanno,  337 

Tapian,  586 

Tarrakan,  insect,  579 

Tartars,  613,  614,  617,  618 

Crim,  690 

Kalmuck,  431 


. Nogai,  600 

Tauroggen,  584 

Tchatir  Dagh,  619,  620 

Tchergana,  615 

Tcherkask,  602 

Tchernigof,  588;  Descrip- 
tion of,  588 ;  Gymnasium, 
588 

Tchernovetz,  620,  621,  622 

Tchesme,  431 

Chateau  of,  517 


Tchudova,  531 
Tchufutkal6,618;  View  from, 

618 ;  Synagogue,  618 
Tea  Houses,  402 
Telega,  a  Cart,  390 
Tengs  Elv,  194 
Teraak,  207 
Tessung  Field,  185 
Testaceus  Mons,  613 
Teterud,  232 
Teutonic      Order,      Grand 

Master  of,  363,  58 J 
Theatres.  —  Hamburg,     35 ; 


636 


DENMAEK,  NORWAY,  SWEDEN, 


Index. 


THEODOSIA. 

Copenhagen,  58 ;  Christia- 
nia,  153;  Bergen,  176; 
Trondhjem,  230;  Stock- 
holm, 297;  St.  Petersburgh, 
508,  509;  Moscow,  562; 
Odessa,  610;  Karkhoff,  607 

Theodosia,  613,  614 

Theseus,  Temple  of,  613 

Thorn,  Oak  of,  583 

Thronstadt,  198 

Thorshavn,  96 

Thorseng,  81 

Thorwaldsen,  593 

Thorwaldsen's  Museum,  54 

Thune,  162 

Thurn,  Count,  367 

Thynoes,  240 

Tible,  330 

Tida  River,  333 

Tierna,  313 

Tiflis,  614 

Tilsit,  584 

Treaty  of,  434 

Timmelhed,  336 

Tingsta,  Church  of,  316 
Tingvold  Fiord,  199 
Tirespol,  621 
Tjernagelen,  195 
Tjomsland,  194 
Tjotoe,  207 
Tjureda,  339 
Tlettenberg,    Walter    Von, 

581,  583 
To  Soeteren,  252 
Tobol,  601 
Tofte,  222 
Tolly,  Barclay  de,  352,  434, 

587 
Tolstoy,  the  Artist,  529 
Tomlevold,  161 
Tonden  Elv.  237,  239 
Tonsberg,  190 
Tonset,  237 
Tonvold,  160 
Topdal  Elv,  192 
Toroe,  328 
Torghatten,  207 
Torjok,  535 ;  Description  of, 
535;     Cutlets,    535;     Em- 
broidery on  Leather,  535 
Torma,  579 

Tomea,  245,  329,  376,  378 
Torpane,  346 
Torrisdals  Elv,  192 
Tortola,  245 
Torvik,  235 
Totak  Vand,  185 
Tott  Clas,  359 
Troeet,  195 
Trakeryd,  337 

Tranas,338,  341 

Tranekicer,  81 

Trasta,  329 

Travemunde,  73 

Trensum,  340 

Trewheller,  Mr.,  606 

Trodje,  325 

Trods,  197 

Troitzka,  Monastery  of,  422, 
428,  575;  Saint  Sergius, 
founder  of,  576;  Descrip- 


tion of,  576 ;  Siege  of,  576 ; 
Road  to  it,  575 ;  Cave  of  a 
Recluse,  575 
Troldtinderne,  243 
Trolhattan,  the  Falls  of,  320, 

346 
Tromsoe,  209 
Troms  Elv,  220 
Tron-Field,  237,  239 
Trondenoes,  209 
Trondhjem,  226;  Inns,  226; 
Post-office,  227;  Passports, 
227;  National  Bank.  228; 
Cathedral,    228;     Arseoal, 
230;   Museum,  2.30;    The- 
atre, 230;    Environs,  2r50; 
Salmon      Fishing,      231  ; 
Steamers,  231 
Trondhjem  to  the  Namsen, 
200 

to  Hammerfest,  213 

rosa,  335 
rostem,  179 
Trysil,  239 
Tsheremoshnaje,  607 
Tshurilova,  587 
Tue  Fiord,  212 
Tuf,  179 

Tula,  602;    Description  of, 
606 ;  Manufactory  of  Fire- 
arms, 606;  Somovars,  606 ; 
Platina  Snuff  Boxes,  606 
Turcomans,  600 
Turks,  600,  621 
Tuschki,  420 
Tvede,  192 
Tvedestrand,  191 
Tver,  535;    Description  of, 

535 
Tveto  Vand,  187 
Tvinden,  169 
Tyrhoug,  215 
Tyri  Fiord,  159 
Tzar,  title  of,  424 
Tzarsko  Selo,  585 
Tzchemia  Griaz,  535 

U. 

Uddevalla,  334,  345 
Uddne,  231 
Udgaarden,  191 
Udleire  Tumulus  at,  85 
Udt,  93 
Udvigen,197 
Uggelsta,  309 
Uleaborg,  378 
Uifasa,  317 
Ulfs  Fiord,  209 
UUen  Elv,  221 
Ulrikehamn,  336 
Umea,  328 

to  Pitea,  328 


Ungern,  364 

Universities. — Kiel,  39;  Co- 
penhagen, 53;  Christiania, 
153;  Upsala,  307;  Lund, 
342;  Helsingforss,  361 ;  St. 
Petersburgh,  487 ;  Moscow, 
670;  Dorpat,  579;  Kief, 
590;  Warsaw,  5!)3;  Wilna, 
595;  Karkhoff,  607 


riBOKG. 

Uppbo,  311 

Uppland,  326 

Upsala,  306;  Cathedral,  306; 
Linneus,  306 ;  Tomb  of 
Gustavus  Vasa,  306  ;  Uni- 
versity, 307 ;  Botanical 
Garden,  308  ;  Palace,  308 

Upsala,  Old,  308 

to  Falun,  310 


Upton,  Colonel,  615 
Urlands  Fiord,  167 
Utby, 313 
Utne, 188 
Utrecht,  68 
Utza  Vand,  163 
Uxkiill,  Bishop  of  Reval,  370 
of  Reisenberg,  368 


Uzbek  Khan,  422 


Vaagboen, 199 

Vaags  Fiord,  197 

Vaaler,  239 

Veer  Elv,  201 

Voera  River,  240 

Voerdals  Fiord,  201 

Voerdal,  Mr.  Laing's  descrip- 
tion of,  240 

Vahlen,  196 

Valdai,  Hills  of,  532 

Valki,  606,  607 

Crown  Peasants  at,  606 

Valle,  187 

Vallo,  Castle  of,  84 

Valloe,  Salt  Works  at,  190, 
215 

Valquin,  Grand  Master,  582 

Vaniofka,  607 

Vang,  160 

Vangs  Fiord,  169 

Varde,  94 

Vasbotten,  191 

Vasenden,  197 

Vasendred,  180 

Vashani,  606 

Vathne,  193 

Vatne-dal,  193 

Veblungsnceset,  234 

Vedmenski  Savod,  606 

Veeme,  180 

Veglie  Elv,  221 

Veilandova,  608 

Veile,  93 

Velikije  Luki,  587 

Vemmences,  81 

Vemundirk,  207 

Venef,  602 

Venemoe  Elv,  187 

Vermen  Lake,  338 

Verviers,  64 

Vest  Fiord,  209 

Vestgaard,  237,  245 

Vestnoes,  235 

Viasma,  603 

French  at,  603 


Viasniki,  597 

Viborg,  94,  373 ;  Description 
of,  373;  Post  House,  373; 
Restaurants,  373;  Port  of, 
373;  Tower,  373;  Finnish 


index. 

VICTOR. 
Passport,    374;     Cataract 
near,  377 
Victor,  Marshal,  604 
Vidostern  Lake,  337 
Vie,  202 
Vienna,  622 
Vigedalsoren,  187 
Vigeland,  193 
Vigesaae,  194 
Viig,  220 
Vikersund,  180 
Vikor,  188 
Vilkofski,  586 
Vilkomir,  585,  595 
Villa  Elv,  226 
Village,  Tartar,  614 
Vindeby,  81 

Vines,  Collection  of,  619 
Vinje,  167,  187 
Vinstra  Elv,  225 
Virboklen,  586 
Vishni  Volotchok,  534;  De- 
scription of,  534;    Canal, 
534 
Vismund  Elv,  232 
Vissenberg,  76 
Vistula  River,  591 
Vitepsk,  587 
Viuls  Elv,  159 

Vladimir  I.,  the  Great,  419, 
544,  589,  590,  616 

II.,    Monomachus, 

420,  548 

Grand  Duke,  588 

Dukes  of,  595 

Town  of,  595;  Ca- 
thedral, 596 

Vladislaus,  Prince,  426 

Vocabulary,  Norwegian,  115; 
Swedish,  261;  Russian, 
412 

Vodka,  Corn  Brandy,  402 

Vojakola,  245 

Vola,  543,  595 

Votchova  River,  531 

Volga  River,  535,  598,  601 

» Steamboats  on  the,  535 

Volkof ,  Artist,  522 

Vollum,  226,  238 

Volotja,  606 

Voltaire,  648 

Volu  Lake,  222 

Vordal,  201 

Voring-fos,  169 

Vormen  Elv,  233,  239 

Vossevangen,  169 

to  Bergen, I7I 

VretaKloster,  Church  of,3l7 


W. 

Woehr,  93 
Wadeacka,  334 
Wadstena,  313 


FINLAND,    AND    RUSSIA. 


637 


I 


Waivara,  579 

Wald.  the  Printer,  361 

Waldemar,  II.,  362 

Waldemar's  Castle,  81 

Walk,  580 

Wall,  331 

Wanas,  Fortress  of,  318 

Wandsbeck,  37,  68 

Wanberg,  344 

Warnaby,  340 

Warsaw,  432,  548,  595,  605; 
Description  of,  591;  First 
View  of,  591 ;  Suburb  of 
Praga,  591;  Palaces,  592; 
Zamek,592;  Hotel  deVille, 
592;  Jardin  de  Saxe,  592; 
Statue  of  Copernicus,  593 ; 
Restaurateur,  593;  Uni- 
versity, 593;  Botanical  Gar- 
den, 593;  Churches,  593; 
Tombs  of  Masovian 
Princes,  5.93 ;  Monument 
toJohnSobieski,593;  Ujaz- 
lov,  594;  Castle  of  Willa- 
now,  594;  Villa  Lazsinsky, 
594 ;  Jablona,  594 

Wasa,  377 

Wassmolosa,  340 

Waterfalls.— Hone-fos,  159; 
Keel-fos,  169;  Sevle-fos, 
169;  Voring-fos,  169; 
Skyttie-fos,  17O;    Rembis- 

fos,  170 ;  Ostud-fos,  17O; 
Riukan-fos,  183;  Larbro- 
fos,  182;  Hel-fos,  192;  Fis- 
kum-fos,  202;  Hunne-fos, 
220;  Leir-fos,  231;  Sarps- 
fos,  247;  Trolhattan,  320; 
Viborg,  377;  Narova,  579 

Wattjom,  325 

Waxholm,  288,  357 

Weberod,  342 

Weda,  327 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  454 

Wenern  Lake,  319 

Wenersborg,319,  346 

Wermelen  Lake,  332 

Wernamo,  337 

West  Fiord,  212 

Westerns,  330 ;  Cathedral, 
330 ;  Castle,  331 ;  Library, 
331 

Westerwik,  288,  239 

Westgaard,  250 

Wettern  Lake,  318 

Wexio,  338,  339 

Wiborg,  40 

Wida,  339 

Wifsta,  327 

Wik,345 

Wilna,  595;  University  of 
595 

Wilson,  General,  507 

Mrs.,  398,  408,  529 


ZORITZ. 


Wines  of  the  Don,  403 
. — Crimean,  403 


Winterasa  Sanna,  331 

Wisby,  287;  Antiquities,  287; 
Churches,  288 

Wiske  River,  .344 

Witte,  Count  de,  614 

Wolmar,  581 

Wolves,  attack  by,  162 

Woronzoff,  Count,    Ambas- 
sador, 557 

Michael, 


610,612,  613,614,615 

Chateau  of,  614 

—  Count       Simon, 


619 
Wreta,  335 
Wretstorp,  333 
Wrigsta,  338 
Wrongs  Elv,  332 
Wurtemburg,  King  of,  583 
Wylie,  Sir  James,  404 


Y. 

Yagers,  405 
Yalta,  613,  614,  619 
Yamen,  Rocks  at,  615 
Yarimovo,  596 
Yaroslofl.,  420 

II.,  421 

Grand  Duke  of,  589 


—  Town  of,  426,  597 


Yatshera,  585 
Yausa,  River,  559 
Yeames,  Mr.,  612 
Yeni  Kale,  613,  614 
Yfre,  324 
Yngsjo,  341 
Ystad,  285,  338 

■ to  Malmo,  341 

to  Helsingborg,  342 


Yursuf,  619 
Yury  I.,  420 
II.,  421 


Yuryvitch,  Roman,  424 
Yushka,  the,  397 


Zamek,  592 

Zamosk,  548 

Zamoyski,  Count,  592 

Zaraisk,  602 

Zealand,  Island  of,  82 

Zenghis  Khan,  420 

Zetland  Islands  (see  Shet- 
land) 

Zimagoria,  Description  of, 
532;  Fish,  533;  Biscuits, 
533;  Brass  Bells,  534 

Zoritz,  General,  587 


G.  Woodfall  and  Son,  Printers,  Angel  Court,  Skinner  Street,  London. 

F  F 


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