TSARSKOSELO. 
pier-glasses, looking upon a terrace, near which 
is a covered gallery above two hundred and 
sixty feet long. There are various statues 
about the house and gardens, in marble and 
in bronze, all without merit. The chapel is 
entirely of gilded wood, and very richly or- 
namented. 
A small flower-garden leads to the bath, 
which is ornamented with jasper, agates, and 
statues and columns of marble. The grotto is 
also similarly adorned with a number of beau- 
tiful minerals, wrought as columns, busts, bas- 
reliefs, vases, &c. ; among others, there is a 
vase composed of the precious stones of 
Siberia. From this grotto is seen a lake, on 
which appears the rostral column to Orlaf; 
erected by the Empress in honour df the 
naval victory he obtained over the Turks at 
Tchcsme. 
After we left Tsarskoselo, the snow diminished 
very fast, and our fears of reaching Moscow 
upon sledges increased 1 . But during the night, 
and part of the morning of the 4 th of April, 
(l) The carriage-road from Petersburg to Moscow, a distance of 
near 500 miles, consists, in the summer season, of the trunks of trees 
laid across. In consequence of the jolting- these occasion, it is then 
one of the most painful and tedious journeys in Europe. 
