ld
smoke as many cigars on the water as I pleased, although it was
forbidden in the streets on account of the danger of fire; but that,
in any event, I would merely have to pay a fine, as people were only
sent to Siberia for capital crimes and political offenses.

We got a boat down near the Custom-house, at a point of the Vassoli
Ostrou, called the Strelka, and were soon skimming along through a
small branch of the Neva, toward the island of Krestofskoi. The water
was literally alive with boats, all filled with gay parties of
pleasure-seekers, some on their way to the different islands, some to
the bath-houses which abound in every direction, and all apparently
enjoying a delightful time of it. Passing to the right of the
Petrofskoi Island, whose grass-covered shores slope down to the water
like a green carpet outspread under the trees, we soon reached the
Little Nevka, about three miles from our starting-point. We
disembarked on the Krestofskoi Island, near the bridge which crosses
from Petrofskoi. On the right is a beautiful palace belonging to some
of the royal family, the gardens of which sweep down to the waters of
the Nevka, and present a charming scene of floral luxuriance.
Gondolas, richly carved and curiously shaped, lay moored near the
stone steps; the trestled bowers were filled with gay parties;
pleasant sounds of voices and music floated upon the air, and over
all a soft twilight gave a mystic fascination to the scene. I thought
of the terrible arctic winters that for six months in the year cast
their cold death-pall over the scene of glowing and tropical
luxuriance, and wondered how it could ever come to life again; how the
shrubs could bloom, and the birds sing, and the soft air of the summer
nights come back and linger where such dreary horrors were wont to
desolate the earth.

[Illustration: FISH PEDDLER.]

The constant dread of infringing upon the police regulations; the
extraordinary deference with which men in uniform are regarded; the
circumspect behavior at public places; the nice and well-regulated
mirthfulness, never overstepping the strict bounds of prudence, which
I had so often noticed in the northern states of Germany, and which
may in part be attributed to the naturally conservative and orderly
character of the people, are not the prominent features of the
population of St. Petersburg. It appeared to me that in this respect
at least they are more like Americans than any people I had s