anks. And then I
would mount to the heights adjacent. On one side the horizon was
bounded by the sea and I could distinguish the sails lit up by the
sun. Here a silence reigned that was disturbed only by the song of a
thousand birds, or sometimes by the sound of a distant bell. The pure
air and the wild, picturesque place enchanted me. My faithful Peter,
who warmed up my little dinner or picked flowers of the field for me,
made me think of Robinson on his island with Friday.

The heat being considerable, I often went with my daughter for early
walks on the island of Krestovski. The extreme point of this island
seemed to merge into the sea, on which large vessels were navigating.
Sometimes we went there in the evening to see the Russian peasants
dance, their national dress being very picturesque. I remember, on the
subject of the excessive heat often prevailing at St. Petersburg, a
certain day in the month of July of some year in which that month was
hotter than in Italy. On this day I saw Princess Dolgoruki's mother,
Princess Bariatinski, who was once as lovely as an angel, and whose
clever and spontaneous wit rendered her one of the most fascinating
women of St. Petersburg, established in her cellar, with her lady's
companion seated on the bottom step, very quietly reading to her from
a book.

But to return to the island of Krestovski. Taking a row in a boat one
day, we came upon a crowd of men and women all bathing together. We
even saw from a distance young men naked on horseback, who were thus
bathing with their horses. In any other country one would have been
shocked by this, but the Russian people are really primitively
ingenuous. In the winter husband, wife and children sleep together on
the stove; if the stove is not large enough, they lie on wooden
benches lining their hut, wrapped up simply in their sheepskins. These
good people have kept the customs of the ancient patriarchs.

A walk which pleased me particularly was one on the island of
Zelaguin, which, though it had once been a very handsome garden, was
now deserted. However, there remained some lovely trees, charming
avenues, a temple surrounded with magnificent weeping willows, flowers
to please the eye, little running streams, and bridges after the
English fashion. In order to enjoy this walk to the full, I took a
little house opposite on the bank of the Neva. The advantageous
situation of my cottage was combined with pleasing diversion, due to
the f