Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/124

96 with black taffeta, and her simple mantilla, cane and parasol, is superintending the cultivation of her cabbages and turnips, she signs decrees of proscription, confiscation, and banishment to Siberia. We saw only as much of Carskoe Selo as could be seen from the window of the inn, a part of the château, and a kind of triumphal arch raised for Orlow, the Empress' favourite, when he went, at the risk of his precious life, with orders to Moskow during the plague. Close by lies the village Sofijskoy, where the Empress was making agricultural experiments on such productions as the climate allows to be cultivated.

After having spent nearly three hours in this inn, we saw Achmatow arrive at last. He immediately exchanged some words with Titow, then left us again, and we followed slowly, in half an hour after. It is customary in Russia for the post-chaises to have a small bell attached to the pole, to warn the travellers to make room for them on the road. Here, for the first time, they took off that