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he flept the night preceding his depofition, being removed. The bedftead was fur*nifhed with curtains of pink and filver brocade, ornamented with plumes of red and■white feathers, and the coverlet was of white fatin. Adjoining is a neat cabinet, hungwith light brown filk, upon which Were feveral figures worked by the Emprefs.
From the fortrefs we were conduced to a large gallery of pictures, collected by theEmperor . Among feveral portraits of that unfortunate Prince, one was pointed out toto us as a ftriking refemblartce; he is painted in his Holflein uniform, the complexionis fair, and the hair light; there is no expreflion in the features, and the countenance iseffeminate.
In the garden is an elegant pavilion, conftrudted by order of the Emprefs when GreatDuchefs; it contains eighteen apartments, each furnifhed in the ftyle of different coun-tries, and is fituated in the midfl of a thick plantation. The approaches being circular,we had not the lead glimpfeof the building until we arrived; and as it generally caufesan emotion of furprize, it has, for that reafon, received the appellation of Ha !
In the gardens of Oranienbaum is an extraordinary building, denominated the Moun-tain for fledges, called alfo by fome travellers the Flying Mountain, It hands in themiddle of an oblong area, enclofed by an open colonade half a mile in circumference,fupporting a flat roof, which is railed for the accommodation of fpeftators. The flyingmountain is a long wooden ftrufture, fupported on brick walls, reprefenting an undu-lating furface of ground, or a mountain compofed of three principal declivities, gradu-ally diminifhing in height, with intermediate fpaces refembiing rallies : from the fum-mit of the ftrucfure to the further extremity is a floored way, in which three parallelgroves are formed. A fmali carriage, containing one perfon, being placed in the cen-tre groove upon the highefl point, ruflies with great rapidity down the firll declivity ;the velocity acquired in the defcent carries it up the fecond and third, and it glides fwiftlyto the extremity of the area ; it is then placed in one of the fide grooves, and drawn upto the fummit by means of a windiafs. To a perfon unacquainted with the mechanifmof this Angular flru&ure, this entertainment would appear tremendous ; but as thegrooves always keep the carriage in a due equilibrium, there is not the leaffc danger ofbeing overturned. At the top of the flying mountain are handfome apartments for theaccommodation of the court and principal nobility, and there is alfo room for manythoufand fpedlators within the colonade and upon the roof. Near the flying moun-tain # is a fpacious amphitheatre, in which tournaments are ufually exhibited.
Peterhof is feven miles from Oranienbaum, and twenty from the capital: the palacewas begun by Peter the Great , and finifhed by Elisabeth. It is feated upon an emi-nence, and commands a fuperb view of Cronftadt, Peterfburgh, the intervening gulf,and the oppofite coaft of Carelia; it is magnificently furnifhed, and the fuite of apart-ments is princely. The prefence-chamber is ornamented with the portraits of the fove-reigns who governed Ruffia fince 1613. The mofl confpicuous is a whole length ofCatharine the Second, making her triumphant entry into Peterfburgh, the evening ofthe revolution which placed her upon the throne. She is reprefented dretTed in theuniform of the guards, with a branch of oak in her hat, a drawn fword in her hand,and mounted on a white fleed.
The gardens of Peterhof have been celebrated for tafle and elegance ; and from thenumber of jet d’eaus, fountains, bafons, cafcades, and parterres, have been compared tothofe of Verfaiiks. Thefe gardens, which at the time of their formation, were greatly
* Dr. King, in his Effay on the Effects of Cold, hasdefcribed another kind of Flying Mountain, whichwas cre&ed at Tssafffcoe Zelo ; it was taken down when I faw the place.
a .admired