COXe’s TRAVELS IN RUSSIA.

701

admired in this country, though not congenial to the tafte of the Emprefs, are fufferedto remain in their prefent ftate ; as during fummer Her Majefty principally refides atTzarlkoe-Zelo, where the grounds are difpofed in a more modern and pleafing manner.I fha.ll not detain the reader with a defcription of filver dolphins and gilded ftatues,which are fcattered in great profufion ; but I cannot omit a childifh conceit of two gla-diators placed in a bafon of water ; they are reprefented, not with the antient weapons,the fword and buckler, but with the more modern inftruments of war, a brace of piftols,which they level at each other in hoftile attitudes, and the water rufhes impetuoufly fromthe barrels.

Part of the garden lies between the palace and the gulf, and contains, among otherbuildings, a houfe fituated on the margin of the water, which is worthy of particular ob-fervation, becaufe it was the favourite retreat of Peter I. As the houfe and furniturehave been preferved with religious veneration in their original ftate, we can form fomeidea of the plain and frugal fimplicity in which that great monarch was accuftomed tolive. This houfe being built foon after his return from Holland, and fitted up in thetafte of that country, was known by the appellation of the Dutch houfe t he ufed alfoto call it Monplaijir , the name by which it is now diftinguifhed. Being fubjefft to fe-vers, he imagined the fea air * beneficial to his conftitution, and for that reafon caufedthis fmall houfe to be placed clofe to the Gulf of Finland . It is of brick, of one ftory,and roofed with iron, the windows reach from the ground to the top, which, added tothe length and lownefs of the building, give it the appearance of a green-houfe. Thehabitable part confifts of a hall and fix fmall rooms, which are furniftied in the neateftand plaineft manner. The mantle pieces are ornamented with curious old porcelain,which he greatly prized as being brought into Ruffia when the communication was firftopened with China. The bed-room is fmall, white-waflied, and the floor covered witha coloured fail-cloth. It contains a barrack bedftead without curtains, and I obfervedthat the Iheets were remarkably fine. The galleries on each fide, and two fmall rooms,are hung with pictures of the Dutch and Flemifh fchools,; among thefe were feveral por-traits of himfelf under the charader of rnafter Peter, when he worked at Sardam ; andone of his favourite miftrefs, the beautiful Dutch girl.

Being anxious to vifit every remarkable place in the neighbourhood of this city, Iwent to Schluflelburgh ; a fortref's often mentioned in the Ruffian hiftory, and cele-brated for the number and rank of the ftate prifoners who have been there confined.

Schluflelburgh is forty miles from Peterfburgh^ the road runs the whole way by thefide of the Neva, which flows with a full ftream in a broad and winding channel; thebanks, which are fteep and high, are ftudded with villages, and country houfes impend-ing over the water. The village of Schluflelburgh, which is fituated on each fide ofthe Neva, contains three hundred wooden houfes, and two thoufand eight hundred-inhabitants.

The fortrefs is built upon a fmall ifland of the Neva, at the point where it iflues fromthe lake Ladoga . The,breadth of the ftream is three quarters of.a mile, .and the currentremarkably rapid.

* “ Lcczarprit a Riga une forte attaqr.e de fievre chaiide Pour s’en remettre, il feiogea -une hnitairie•de jours dans un vaiffeau A fon avis, Pair des eaux reftaurait ia fante Peu de jeornees paftees fans i#refpirer. Se levant .au point du jour, et dinant a onze heures du matin, il avait coutume de faire un fom-meil apres le repas. Un lit de repos pour cet ufage etait drt fle dans la fregatte, et il y allait en toute faifo.n.MSmc lorfqu’il fejournait en ete a PeterihoiF, Pair des valtes jardins de ce palais lui femblait etoulFe. et ilcouchait a Manplaifir, maifoo, dont les dots des la mer la vent un cote, et dont 1’autre confine au grand parede Peterlhoff. C^etait fa retraite favorite. Il 1 ’avait meublee de tableaux flamans. reprefentant des•feenes champetres et maritimes, piaifantes pourla.plupart.” Baffevitz, in B. H, M. IX. p. 339.

According