ST. PETERSBUBG. 



uneven stones, full of mud or dust-holes, open water- 

 ways, and undulations, excruciating to the miserable 

 travellers in a drosky. This sadly mars the general aspect. 



The vast majority of the palaces are mere brick and 

 stucco, with a very decayed, shabby look about them, 

 while the immense space seems to dwarf every building 

 into paltry dimensions, and themselves to appear empty 

 of people, who are but dots on their acres of surface. 



The Nevskoi Prospect has nothing very striking in it, 

 except its breadth and length. The shop-windows are 

 small, owing, I presume, to the necessities of winter ; 

 the show of goods is commonplace ; the pavement, 

 wretched and uncomfortable, made up of round, flinty 

 stones, or uneven blocks of wood ; the equipages are 

 mean ; the passengers, on the whole, poor looking ; while 

 every street seems to end at last in wretched houses, 

 dreary spaces, with horses, carts, and all sorts of rubbish; 

 and, finally, to be lost in "nowhere," unless in the 

 primeval forest or morass. 



Then there is the absence of monumental interest. No 

 doubt, to the native of Russia, many " vitches," and 

 " ditches," and " offs," are full of patriotic remem- 

 brances. But most travellers, like myself, have never 

 heard of these names, or the deeds which have made 

 them illustrious, performed beyond the Caucasus. 



The Czars are, in fact, the nation to a stranger. One 

 knows and hears only of them the great, the mad, the 

 bad, the murdered, from Peter down to our late enemy 

 Nicholas, who combined not a few of these characteristics. 



