ut the better sort have them of
silver or gold.

In my several rambles over various parts of the Continent I have
scarcely ever found any difficulty with a little knowledge of the French
language in making myself understood, but here it was very different; in
vain we addressed many respectable persons we met with in the streets
respecting some public buildings, and we found every droshky man quite
uncommunicative, so that directions had to be given at the hotel of our
intended route, and if we changed our driver we managed to return by
pointing the way, right or left. All this might have been obviated by
the use of a few Russian words, but our time seemed too short to look
into the vocabulary.

Our first drive was past the statue of Peter the Great, near the
Admiralty, St. Isaac's Cathedral, and along the Nevskoi Prospect, the
Regent Street of St. Petersburg, three miles long and very wide, having
in some parts the advantage of a wooden pavement. In this street are
numerous shops with large signboards containing some letters of an
unusual form, but rendered more intelligible by drawings of some of the
articles to be sold.

In the same street, on the opposite side, are also to be seen houses, or
rather palaces, so large that fifty extend over an English mile.

At the end of this street is situated the monastery of St. Alexander
Nevskoi, one of the most celebrated in Russia, containing within its
walls towers, churches and gardens, with many paintings, and a very
remarkable monument of Alexander Nevskoi, of massive silver, which,
with its ornaments, weighs 5,000 lbs. of pure metal.

There is a library containing many valuable manuscripts, also a cemetery
of such great repute that large sums are said to be paid for permission
to repose in its holy ground.

Our second drive was to the Summer Gardens, which are laid out in long
avenues of fine old trees, interspersed with varied walks, flower beds
and numerous beautiful marble statues, forming a delightful retreat, but
attended with an enormous expense, as many of the tender trees and
shrubs, and even statues, require a careful covering through the winter.

From the gardens we proceeded to the original wooden palace, or cottage
of Peter the Great, situated on one of the islands.

It consists of three small rooms, one his bedroom, another his reception
room, and a third his chapel, where the pictures he worshipped are
carefully preserved. Many relics are still to be