ON THE VICINITY OF ST. PETERSBUKGH. 
239 
of the face with delicate hoar-frost, the sparkling lustre of which is in curious 
keeping with the natural complexion. When the thermometer stands at—25°, 
should there happen to he wind, which is not often the case, it is considered 
unsafe to travel. Even when enveloped in skins, the drivers of sledges have been 
frequently frozen to death on their seats, and sometimes the travellers themselves. 
At St. Petersburgh not a Winter passes without some deaths of this kind, but 
they occur for the most part amongst the Mochicks (peasants), who fall down 
intoxicated upon the snow, and perish victims to Bacchus. In January, 1836, 
the driver of a Russian gentleman’s carriage, who was waiting for his master at a 
party, and who forgot to send the vehicle home, which is always done in severe 
weather, -was found dead and stiff on his seat; the thermometer stood at—20° 
when this occurred. Yet it would appear that in most instances the danger 
arises from the neglect or carelessness of those exposed to the cold, and that the 
Russian and English residents make more fuss about it than is really necessary. 
We know that Capt. Back, during his journey in 1820, to and from Athabasca 
Lake, to Fort Providence, a distance of 1,104 miles, had no other covering than a 
blanket and Deer-skin, with the thermometer frequently at—46°, and once—57° 
Fahrenheit ; and what must have rendered him more incapable of bearing cold, 
was that he sometimes passed two or three days without provisions. It is well 
known that intense cold produces drowsiness, which is dangerous to indulge in, as 
it may be considered the precursor of death; yet, strange as it may seem, the 
Russian women, when their children are fretful, will sometimes expose them to 
it till this symptom supervenes, when they take them into the house, and the 
children fall asleep. Perhaps this custom is not more pernicious than that 
practised by English nurses, of pouring bountiful doses of syrup of Poppies and 
other “ distilments” into their young charges, to obtain the same end. 
The atmosphere is usually clear during January, with a mistiness hanging about 
the horizon; the nights are mostly serenely bright, and the moon seems invested 
with a splendour which is never witnessed in England. The degree of cold 
depends upon the quarter which the wind may chance to occupy. Should it be 
in the North, an almost Arctic climate prevails, and its variation two or three 
points from that quarter is appreciable in the change that it brings. The West 
and South-West are the warmest winds that blow, and a steady current of air 
from those quarters in January, will invariably send the thermometer up to ten 
and sometimes five degrees Reaumur ; and seldom fails to pack the Welkin with 
snow clouds, which profusely scatter their contents upon the earth. From the 
North and Easterly quarters snow seldom falls, but sheets of dark grey clouds 
(called nimbus if I do not err) frequently obscure the sun. The snow does not 
accumulate much on the surface of the plains; being generally frozen, it flies 
before the wind, in fine sparkling powder, like the sand on the sea shore, stops 
