aded to change his lodgings to more
suitable apartments, though he still wore his workman's dress and
toiled in the ship-yard with energy, and also with skill which no one
could surpass. The extraordinary rapidity of his motions astonished
and amused the Dutch. "Such running, jumping and clambering over the
shipping," they said, "we never witnessed before." To the patriarch in
Moscow he wrote,

"I am living in obedience to the commands of God, which were spoken to
father Adam: '_In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread._'"

Very many anecdotes are related of Peter during this portion of his
life, which, though they may be apochryphal, are very characteristic
of his eccentric nature. At one time he visited a celebrated iron
manufactory, and forged himself several bars of iron, directing his
companions to assist him in the capacity of journeymen blacksmiths.
Upon the bars he forged, he put his own mark, and then he demanded of
Muller, the proprietor, payment for his work, at the same rate he paid
other workmen. Having received eighteen _altins_, he said, looking at
the patched shoes on his feet,

"This will serve me to buy a pair of shoes, of which I stand in great
need. I have earned them well, by the sweat of my brow, with hammer
and anvil."

When the embassadors entered Amsterdam, Peter thought it proper to
take a part in the procession, which was arranged in the highest style
of magnificence. The three embassadors rode first, followed by a long
train of carriages, with servants in rich livery on foot. The tzar,
dressed as a private gentleman, was in one of the last carriages in
the train of his embassadors. The eyes of the populace searched for
him in vain. From this fete he returned eagerly to his work, with saw,
hammer and adz, at Zaandam. He persisted in living like the rest of
the workmen, rising early, building his own fire, and often cooking
his own meals. One of the inhabitants of Zaandam thus describes his
appearance at that time:

"The tzar is very tall and robust, quick and nimble of foot, dexterous
and rapid in all his actions. His face is plump and round; fierce in
his look, with brown eyebrows, and short, curly hair of a brownish
color. He is quick in his gait, swinging his arms, and holding in one
of them a cane."

The Dutch were so much interested in him, that a regular diary was
kept in Zaandam of all he said and did. Those who were in daily
intercourse with him preserved a memorandum