106 NORTHERN RUSSIA. 



summit of the tower is reached yet the least of them 

 great.' 



When the summit is at last attained, let a cursory 

 glance only be given at the Kremlin below, and at Moscow 

 beyond, through the clear, transparent, and brilliant 

 atmosphere, and then, perhaps, for the first time, one 

 feels amply repaid for coming so far to gaze on such a 

 peculiar and wonderful spectacle. 



Immediately below is the flat summit of the low hill 

 which is properly called the Kremlin or fortress, and 

 which occupies about a mile square. Rising out of this 

 flat plateau, and without apparent order, but closely 

 grouped together, are about sixty gilded domes, marking 

 the oldest and most revered churches in Russia with 

 palaces for metropolitans, bishops, and czars, old as the 

 Tartars, and modern as Nicholas ; with treasuries, 

 arsenals, and nunneries. And then there are the walls 

 of all the buildings whitewashed with snowy whiteness, 

 topped with coloured roofs of every hue ; the vacant spots 

 and small squares dividing the closely-packed buildings, 

 occupied by thronging worshippers, soldiers, monks, nuns, 

 and pilgrims, all clearly denned in their many shadows 

 in the pure atmosphere ; while the visible portion of the 

 wall, which bounds the view on two sides, is so singularly 

 picturesque in old, curious watch-towers, mouldering 

 turrets, all covered with coloured tiles all making up a 

 most remarkable picture. But when the eye passed from 

 the more immediate objects beneath, and took in the 

 rude panorama beyond, the spectacle was magnificent. 



