FROM MOSCOW 
chap. C otta vases; particularly upon a fine one be- 
, longing to the Collection of the late Sir William 
Hamilton, where a female figure appears most 
gracefully delineated, kneeling upon one knee, 
with her right arm extended, the palm down- 
wards, and such small bones ranged along the 
back of her hand and arm. She seems in the act 
of throwing them up, in order to catch them. In 
this manner the Russians play the game. But 
they have another method, corresponding with 
our game of marbles, and which probably afforded 
the origin both of marbles and of nine-pins: it 
consists in placing several larger bones, in a 
row, upon the ground ; a contest ensuing, who 
shall beat them all down with another bone 
from a given distance, in the smallest number 
pf throws. 
It is a pleasing sight to see the young vil- 
lagers return in the evening from their labour. 
They move slowly up the village, with flowers 
in their hats, singing a kind of hymn. In these 
carols, each person bears a separate part ; and 
by the exactness of the Russians in observing 
time and tune, the effect is very fine. Vege- 
tation had been rapid, in the short interval of 
our journey from Moscoiu ; but in the garlands 
of the peasants, and among the plants found 
near the road, we observed only the earliest 
