NICOLAIEFF. 
15 
cular attraction of the spot; the country around being almost 
barren of trees, and very few presenting themselves even on the 
margin of the river. The palace and its grove, stand about a 
couple of wersts from Nicolaieff, across a sandy plain, which 
the inhabitants of the town are obliged to traverse daily for every. 
drop of water they consume. —All other water, rivers included, 
in the neighbourhood, excepting this one solitary fresh spring 
in the governor’s grounds, are so brackish as to be nearly unfit 
for domestic use. The palace was built by order of Prince Po¬ 
temkin ; and occupied by him during the long siege of Otchakoff. 
The road from Nicolaieff, towards Kherson, is excellent. The 
views around are all steppe ; but vast tracts being sown with 
grain, its flourishing growth gave an air of cheerfulness to the 
poor little villages through which we passed. Were this road 
even a desert, it must ever possess a peculiar interest in the eye 
of an Englishman ; for it holds the remains of our truly great 
Howard, the friend of the captive and the miserable. 
The evening was drawing to a close when I approached the 
hill, in the bosom of which the dust of my revered countryman 
reposes so far from his native land. No one that has not ex¬ 
perienced “ the heart of a stranger” in a distant country, can 
imagine the feelings which sadden a man while standing on such 
a spot. It is well known that Howard fell a sacrifice to his 
humanity; having caught a contagious fever from some wretched 
prisoners at Kherson, to whose extreme need he was administer¬ 
ing his charity and his consolations. Admiral Priestman, a 
worthy Briton in the Russian service, who was his intimate 
friend, attended him in his last moments, and erected over his 
remains the monument, which is now a sort of shrine to all 
travellers, whether from Britain or foreign countries. It is an 
