﻿Prof. Milne — Across Europe and Asia. 339 



In addition to tlie jewels which may be seen at the School of 

 Mines, there are others in various buildings and museums in the 

 city, all of which are accessible to visitors. At the Winter Palace 

 I saw the collection of Crown jewels. For size and number the 

 display of diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires is perhaps uni'ivalled in 

 any other court in Europe. A large spinel or ruby in the Imperial 

 Crown is very conspicuous. The great Orloff diamond, weighing 

 194:f carats, is also here. It has been suggested by Mr. Tennant 

 that it once formed part of the same stone as the Koh-i-Noor. Its 

 brilliancy, however, is not so great as might perhaps be anticipated ; 

 but this may, in part, be due to the form in which it has been cut. 



Whilst looking at this rich and varied collection of gems, I was 

 forcibly struck with the poor manner in which they are displayed. 

 The rooms are bad, and generally'' ill lighted; whilst the cases, which 

 were in accordance, afforded no protection whatever to their con- 

 tents. By the taking of your hat and passport at the entrance to 

 the building where these valuables are stored, one could not fail to 

 remark, that any visitor who wished to make a sudden exodus, either 

 from the room or from the capital, would be sorely inconvenienced. 



In the city numbers of fine buildings meet the eye at every turn. 

 Many of these, especially the churches and palaces, give some 

 wonderful examples of modern masonry. The most conspicuous 

 of these is St. Isaac's Cathedral. Here there are four porches, 

 each of which is supported by double rows of tall cylindrical 

 columns capped by Corinthian capitals. These columns, which 

 are composed of red granite, are each 60 feet high and 7 feet in 

 diameter. The steps leading up to these porches, each a single 

 mass of granite, are equally striking, from their megalithic pro- 

 portions. Inside the building there are many tall columns of 

 malachite and several of lapis lazuli. These, however, are only 

 columns with an external coating of those minerals ; nevertheless, 

 when they are seen, they serve to give an idea of the quality and 

 quantity of these substances which have been obtained from Eussian 

 mines, and also serve to remind one of the insignificance of the 

 displays of similar minerals in our own and other countries. 



Although many monoliths have been used in the building of this 

 Cathedral, isolated specimens of stone may be seen which are even 

 larger. For example, there is the Alexander Column, which is a 

 single shaft of granite 84 feet in height (originally 102 feet), and 

 l-i feet in diameter. This, standing on a huge pedestal, and with 

 its crowning capital, both of the same material, presents an ap- 

 pearance not less imposing than Pompey's Pillar at Alexandria. 

 Besides this column, there is a block of granite on which rests an 

 equestrian statue of Peter the Gi"eat, also remai'kable for its size. 

 It is calculated to weigh 1500 tons, and its original dimensions were 

 45 feet in length, 30 feet in height, and 25 feet in width. Its 

 dimensions have, however, been somewhat reduced. This block, 

 and many others which are to be seen in St. Petersburg, occurred 

 as erratics in the vicinity of the town, very similar to those which 

 I have referred to as being so plentifully distributed over Finland. 



