CHAPTER XIX.

Rising of the Neva-Academy of sciences-The reviewCadet corps-Pelisses-Country palace of Zarsko Zelo -Another bust of the British Demosthenes misplaced Canine tumuli-Imperial pleasantry—Gatchina—Pauvoloffsky-Anniversary of a favorite saint-More

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SHORT time before I left Petersburg, the inhab→ itants were apprehensive of a terrible inundation of the Neva, in consequence of the wind blowing very fresh at south-south-west, which forces the waters of the gulf of Finland against the river, and prevents the stream from finding its level. The guns of the Admiralty fired, and in the evening four lights were raised upon its church spire, the usual warning upon such occasions to the people, to take care of themselves and their property, and a general consternation spread through the city. About eight o'clock at night a part of the Galeernhoff was five feet under water, and the bridges of pontoons rose to a considerable height, so that the planks which connected them with the shores, presented on each side a formidable acclivity, which carriages of every description surmounted by the uncommon skill and energy of the drivers and horses: their mode of reaching these almost perpendicular ascents was effected by lashing the horses, at a considerable distance, into a full gallop, and by a great number of police officers and soldiers, who always attend at the bridges on these occasions to prevent accidents, running behind and propelling the carriage, or saving it from being dashed to pieces, by its not being able to turn the summit. Luckily the wind, the Neva, and the public apprehensions, subsided together, without any damage being done.

The change enabled our party to visit the Academy of Sciences, a noble building, situated on the north side of the Neva, in Vassilli-Ostroff. After passing through the library, whose damp walls were feebly lighted from above, and where there is nothing but some Tartarian

manuscripts worthy of detaining the attention of a traveller, we entered the museum of natural curiosities, in which the principal objects were various parts of the human frame, fœtuses, miscarriages, and births, from the first impregnation to perfect birth, monsters human and animal, and a variety of most odious and disgusting et ceteras, in pickle. The skin of the Heyduc, or favorite servant of Peter the Great, is here, stretched upon a wooden image of his size, which shews that the man must have been six feet and a half high, and that nature had furnished him with a skin nearly as thick and impenetrable as that of the rhinoceros's hide. In the gallery above was a Lapponian dog-sledge; the habiliments of a Siberian magician, or gipsey, principally composed of a great number of iron rings and drops placed upon a wooden statue; several presents from the undaunted and enterprising Captain Cook, and a variety of stuffed birds and animals. In the room of Peter the Great was a wax figure of his height, which was above six feet, resembling him in form and face, and dressed in one of his full suits in an adjoining cupboard were his hat, pierced with a bullet at Pultowa, breeches that wanted repair, and stockings that required darning. In another room were his turning machines, with which he used to relax himself; cupboards filled with brazen dishes of his embossing, and spoons and platters of his turning in short, all the curiosity which the merest trifles of great genius generally excite, is, in this instance, destroyed by their abundance. In every public garden, or building, there is a profuse display of his clothes, arms, or culinary utensils if a twentieth part of them were burnt, the remainder would be more worthy of notice. How singular is it, that cotemporary genius never excites our attentions, and awakens our feelings, so forcibly as that which is departed! In contemplating a great man, the mind's eye reverses the laws of vision, by magnifying the object in proportion as it recedes from it. Upon the basement story is a very curious mechanical writingdesk, by Roentgen, a German, of Neuwied, presented to the Academy by Catherine, who gave twenty-five thousand rubles for it. Upon touching a spring, a varie

ty of drawers fly out, a writing-desk expands, and boxes for letters and papers rise. A part of the machinery may be set so, that if any person were to attempt to touch any of the private recesses appropriated for money, or confidential papers, he would be surprised by a beautiful tune, which would give due notice to the own er. We were told that, in the Academy, are to be seen moon-stones, or blocks of native iron, which, it is conjectured by the learned, must have been cast from the volcano of some planet. They were not shewn to us : but several of these phenomena are to be met with in different parts of Russa. It seems hostile to the laws of gravitation, that a single atom should be able to swerve from its planet.

Adjoining the Academy is a pavilion containing the Gottorp globe, eleven feet in diameter from pole to pole: the concavity is marked with the stars and constellations, and is capable of holding several persons: as some ladies of our party ventered in, upon the exhibitor turning the globe on its axis, we were more sensibly impressed with the idea of the motion of the heavenly bodies.

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In the evening after the opera, a party of us set off to camp, and passed the night in our carriage, in order to be present at the review, which commenced the next day at eight o'clock. After getting a comfortable breakfast in a Cossac hut, we proceeded to the ground. The manœuvres commenced in a village about three miles off, where a sharp cannonading took place. The contending armies, consisting of about fifteen thousand men each, the one headed by the Emperor, and the other by General -, began to move towards each other, in a vast valley, and halted within half a mile of each other, when a tremendous discharge of artellery took place, and firing of different parties was kept up all the time, at distances of five and six miles. Here the manœuvres of that day concluded, and we returned home to a late dinner.

It was now the second of September, N. S. and the summer began to give tokens of rapid decline: the lamps but feebly supplied that light which, not even many days before, gave to the evening the character of a mild midday.

We were much gratified in visiting, by an express appointment, a nursery of future heroes, called the second Imperial Cadet Corps, in which seven hundred children are educated and maintained, as gentlemen, for the profession of arms, at the expense of the country. The governor, a nobleman of high rank, and several of the officers attached to the instiution, attended us through the progressive schools. Every child follows his own religious persuasion, for which purpose there are a Lutheran and a Greek church under the same roof: the latter is singularly elegant. The dormitories, as well as every other part of the establishment were remarkably clean and handsome, the pupils having separate beds. In the store-rooms each boy's change of linen and clothes were very neatly folded up, and his name marked upon a tablet over them. At one of the doors we saw some of these soldiers in miniature relieve guard. In the schools are taught mathematics, gunnery, mapping, French, German, and Russian; fencing and dancing, and every other science and accomplishment which can complete the soldier and the gentleman. We were present at their dinner, which is served at half past twelve o'clock. The dining-hall is two hundred feet long, by forty broad. Every table held twenty-two boys, for each of whom a soup and meat plate, a silver fork, knife, and napkin, and a large slice of wholesome country bread, were laid; and at each end were two large silver goblets filled with excellent quass: they have four substantial dishes three times a week, and three on the other days. All the boys, after marching in regular order from the respective schools, appeared at the several doors of the dining-hall, headed by their captains: upon the roll of the drum, they marched in slow time to their respective tables, forming three companies of two hundred each (the fuzileer company, composed of the sons of the soldiers, did not dine till afterwards); at the second roll they halted, faced, and sat down all their dishes appeared to be excellent their uniform was bottle green, faced with red. Great attention appeared to have been paid to their manners, by the decorum and urbanity which was displayed at their tables. The kitchens for soup, boiling, and roast

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ing were remarkably neat although we saw them just after dinner had been served up. There are several other cadet corps upon the same princely establishment, and create in the mind of a stranger a high idea of the wealth and patriotic spirit of the empire.

A foreigner should not quit Petersburg without seeing the cabinet of jewels and furs, contained in a superb building in the Grand Perspective: here the clocks, gilded and bronze ornaments of the palace of Saint Michael, are deposited, all of which are very magnificent; there are also massy balustrades and tables of solid silver. Amongst the jewellery I was much pleased with several beautiful watches, upon the backs of which were little figures, some in the act of angling and drawing up little fish; others cooking meat, pumping, and rocking cradles; in others little cascades of glass were set in motion. There was a profusion of magnificent diamond snuff-boxes, stars, &c. for imperial presents.

In the apartments below was the museum of furs, where we saw several pelisses made of tiny dorsal slips of the black fox, valued each at ten thousand pounds. This animal, a native of Siberia, is so rare and so small, that one of these pelisses cannot be made in less than ten years, and they are then paid to the Emperor in lieu of money, as tributes from different provinces. These are generally presented upon some great national occasion to crowned heads. There are also fine collections of sables and other furs, many of which are annually sold.

As I have mentioned these tributes, it may be proper here to observe, that the imperial revenues chiefly arise from the poll tax, the crown and church lands, the duties on export and import, profits of the mint, the excise upon salt, the sale of spiritous liquors, post-offices and posting. The proprietors of houses, as well natives as foreigners, pay in lieu of all other taxes, and in discharge from the odious burthen of maintaining soldiers, to which they were formerly liable, a duty of one half per cent. ad valorem, upon the house, and a ground rent