56 
MOSCOW. 
chap, we were absent, and gave our servant sufficient 
in ' ; employment to prevent them from indulging 
a strong national tendency to pilfer ; a species 
of larceny which actually took place afterwards, 
committed by persons much their superiors 
in rank. 
The accommodations for travellers are beyond 
description bad, both in Petersburg and in Mos- 
cow. In the latter, nothing but necessity would 
render them sufferable. Three roubles a day 
are demanded for a single room, or rather a 
kennel, in which an Englishman would blush 
to keep his dogs. The dirt on the floor may 
be removed only with an iron hoe, or a shovel. 
These places are entirely destitute of beds. 
They consist of bare walls, with two or three 
old stuffed chairs, ragged, rickety, and full of 
vermin. The walls themselves are still more 
disgusting, as the Russians cover them with 
the most abominable filth. 
In thus giving the result of impressions made 
on entering this remarkable city, we might 
appeal to some of the first families in the 
empire for the veracity of the statement ; but 
such a test of their liberality would materially 
affect their safety. We shall therefore un- 
reservedly proceed to relate what we have 
