THE NEVA. 7 



Glavno Stab. Beyond the palace, and connected with it, 

 is the Hermitage, containing a valuable collection of 

 articles pertaining to Peter the Great, the founder of the 

 city, and an invaluable collection of paintings by ancient and 

 modern artists, of coins, of cameos, and of other gems. A 

 little way brings us upon the Champs de Mars, an exten- 

 sive plain devoted to reviews of the troops, dominated by 

 palaces, among others that erected by the Emperor Paul, 

 and in which he met his death. In front are the Summer 

 Gardens, studded with statuary. Leaving the Champs de 

 Mars, we pass a statue of Kotussof, and passing in front of 

 the Summer Gardens we pass a shrine for prayer, erected 

 on the spot where was made the first attempt to assassinate 

 the late Emperor Alexander II. Passing onwards between 

 a noble quay or line of palatial residences and the river, 

 and passing the entrance to a noble granite bridge 

 spaning the Neva, and leading to the Finnish railway, and 

 the country beyond, we reach at length the quay from 

 which the steamers for Lake Onega take their departure. 



The commencement of the voyage is through miles of 

 urban scenes houses, churches, manufactories, and wharfs ; 

 but tbese past, the rural scenery is reached. Here 

 the banks of the Neva present aspects differing greatly 

 from those of the Saima Canal in Finland : there the 

 banks are wooded to the water's edge, approximating and 

 receding, and branching off into numerous lakelets, and 

 presenting in front ofttimes a wooded barrier against 

 advance, which, however, is found practicable by some narrow 

 outlet in a concealed corner ; here there is a broad expanse 

 of river, winding indeed, but never so as to conceal what 

 is ahead. Both banks of the Neva, from St. Petersburg 

 upward, for a considerable distance, are crowded with 

 timber yards and manufactories of different kinds, and not 

 until Alexandrof, eight or nine miles distant by road, has 

 been left a considerable way behind is it otherwise. 

 Beyond this the banks are studded with villages, with 

 * datches ' or villas, and with churches admirably located 



