Page:Autobiography of Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes.djvu/83

57 Catherine & where Paul was ass[as]inated. The Museum of the relics of Peter the great was a source of great interest and where is preserved all the articles of his handicraft as well as clothes & accoutrements. Some of the Mids tried on his hats & used his walking sticks. The Museum contains not very Many specimens preserved in spirits, and some that it is a wonder that the good taste of the Russian Govt should not have long since hidden from public view establishing beyond a doubt the cruelty as well as jealousy of their favorite Emperor and are disgusting to behold.

The Govt buildings stand apart from those of the city; the Admiralty, War & civil office extend from the Bridge to the west. On the abutment of this Bridge stands the Rock with the Equestrian statue of Peter the Great. This Rock was brought with great labour from [blank] and when the Statue was placed it was found to be too large and then was cut away until its proportion was suited to the Statue, which is a striking one in bronze, but it greatly disappointed us both in size and effect.

St Petersburg has a pleasing effect upon a first visit. It is built of yellow or rather Cream coloured brick and would on sight be called a city of extended palaces as far as its outward show gives the impression. But it wants the life of a city and the movement and stir of an active population. This is entirely wanting. There does not appear to be any work or employment going on. Each block of houses has its guard house and guard as a police & these are constantly alive turning out the guard for any and all officers who may happen to pass, and this gives a kind of military despotism feeling to the stranger. There is no place which I have visited that so strongly impresses one with the fact of its being a Military Govt. Altho' you see no appearance of outside work or any employment of life, yet entering into the large Gateways, and viewing the surrounding of this large space enclosed, you see the ordinary appearance of a large barracks yard, and the contrast is unfavourable to the idea of St Petersburg being a clean city. I do not believe taking the lower class into consideration there is any city that is so marked in its want of cleanliness when its interior is surveyed and considered. It has Many fine building[s], among the number is the Kasan church with its beautiful colonade.

The suburbs of St Petersburg are by no means inviting, the country being very flat and uninteresting. We made our return by land to Cronstadt by way of Peterhoff, the Royal Summer residence. It lies on the West side of the Bay which is an extensive sheet of water. Its gardens are elaborately laid out and the whole well kept, but the short summers and long winters are not favorable for the cultivation of its grounds. Much expense has been lavished upon it, but the whole effect is an apparent failure. From Peterhoff we crossed in a boat to Cronstadt, a distance of some 6 miles. The waters of this extensive bay are very shallow and there is but a small and contracted channel which the Neva had made for itself; any extraordinary flood serves to divert the waters and open new channels. Cronstadt then may be said to be the