Cochrane s Jouraey to the Fi 



or impassable country, wlien even the 

 blind can traverse it in sai'etj ? 



MOSCOW. 



I regretted qiiitlino; the hospitable 

 and friendly society of Moscow, which, 

 in my opinion, is superior and more re- 

 fined than that of its sister capital, and 

 ^vhif•!), pio!)al)Iy, arises from the cir- 

 cumstance (if its beiu^ exclusively in- 

 liabilcd by Russians, many of wiiom, 

 after ha%injj filled with credit and 

 honour the first offices of the Empire, 

 retire to Moscow, there to pass the re- 

 inaindcr of tlieir days in peace, tran- 

 quillity, and good society, as that 

 capital is much more free, iiidcpendent, 

 and unshackled by the police than St. 

 Petersburg. In Sloscow ol)servations 

 are openly made on any unpo[)ular act 

 of the government ; its senators have a 

 very superior voice, and great attention 

 is f>aid by the ministers to their repre- 

 fsentutions. The nobility of Russia 

 j)ossesi very extensive privileges and 

 power, and if the government must be 

 called a military despotism, it is a well 

 regulated one, and hap])y are the 

 peo|)fe, when it is governed as now, by 

 a prii;ce as unambitious as he is 

 Inimane. It is true, that its immense 

 standing army, near a million of men, 

 in the hands of a prince differently in- 

 clined, would be a terrible engine of de- 

 struction, as well of the lives as of the 

 liberties of Eurojie. The power of 

 Russia is still more formidable when it 

 is considered that (he army is composed 

 of hardy, bold, enterprising, and needy 

 men : who, go where they will, must be 

 better off eitlicr as to climate or produc- 

 tions, than at home. The jjrescnt military 

 exjjenses amomit, I understand, to two 

 hundred and Gfty millions of roubles per 

 annum, a stmi almost equal to two 

 thirds of the revenue, for an army far 

 surpassing what may be deemed truly 

 necessary in times of profound |)eace; 

 the expense of which will be consider- 

 ably diminished, if what I have heard 

 be correct, viz. that three hundred 

 thousand men are to be reduced. 



CONCLUSION. 



There is so little of interest in Siberia, 

 Belittle to be seen, that it is hardly |)os- 

 sible to form an interesting work on that 

 topic, unless the traveller be a botanist 

 or naturalist,' or otherwise versed in the 

 mysteries of science. Siberia is, in fact, 

 ono immense wiUlerness, whose inha- 

 bitants are so scattered, that live and 

 six hundred miles are passed by the tra- 

 veller wrihout seeing an individual, 

 iDUch Ion an) cuitivRtion, or any works 



o-.cn Sea and KamUTuttka, 



635 



of man at all worthy of description. 

 The matmers, customs, and dress of 

 most of tiie inhabitants are the same. 

 The severity of the climate is in most 

 places co-equal, and in general pro- 

 ductive of the same results. 1'lie matter 

 of interest is to be compressed in a small 

 space, and all that I may be said to have 

 done may consist in the fact of sliowin;; 

 others that man may go where he cliooses 

 as long as his cojidncl corresponds with 

 his movements, and that he may fear- 

 lessly and alone as safely trust himself 

 in the hands of savages as with his own 

 friends. 



I feel convinced that compassion is 

 the leading characteristic of what are 

 termed barbarians, and that man, in a 

 state of nature, will freely give to the' 

 distressed that bread whi<!h he would 

 not sell for money. I am confident 

 that man is really humane, and that he 

 gives more from the dictates of a good 

 heart than from ostentation. I have re- 

 ceived food from a family who were al- 

 most in a starving slate, and am there- 

 fore justified, by griitefnl experience, in 

 affirming that those |)e(iple who are the 

 most ignorant and uncivilized are the 

 most hospitable and friendly to their 

 fellows. 



SIX MONTHS' 

 RESIDENCE AND TRAVELS 



IV 



MEXICO ; 



CONTAIXIXG 



REMARKS ON THE PRESENT STATE 



OF NEW SPAIN, 



Its Natural Productions, State of Society, 



Manufactures, Trade, Agriculture, and 



Antiquities, &c. 



with plates and maps. 



By W. bullock, F. L. S. 



Proprietor of the late London Museum. 



[There are few persons living who have 

 afforded more rational gratification to 

 the public than the Author of this 

 volume. Mr. Hullock lias devoted an 

 active life to the service of science and 

 his country ; and as no man deserves 

 more solid rcconiptnse, we hope lie will 

 not be disappointed. As soon as Mexico 

 was open to foreigners, Mr. 1$. deter- 

 mined to visit it, and to transport its 

 curiosities of nature and art to I'.ngland. 

 This he has pleasingly effected ; and the 

 prt sent vohmie gives a clear and very 

 intelligent account of his voyage and 

 tour; serving at once as a valuable 

 addition to the library, and as a key to 

 the interesting exhibition of Mexican 

 curiosities, now open iu Piccadilly.] 



VERA 



