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HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

greater part of his crew, were murdered, and the rest completely dispersed.A principal shipwright alone, a Hollander, named Brandt, remained in Russia,and lived for many years in great obscurity in Moscow, till a singular eventraised him into a public character.

Previous to this time, except in the instances of the two vessels just men-tioned, the Russians appear to have been almost totally ignorant of the useof sails : but Peter, as it is reported, being one day walking near the palaceof Ismaeloff, met with the remains of a small sloop which had been built inEngland. T he difference existing between this vessel and those that werethen known in his country, was too great to escape the observation of hisall-penetrating mind. He immediately interrogated a person of the name ofTimmermann, a native of Germany, who then acted as his mathematicalmaster, what could be the occasion of such a variation ? the German an-swered, that the vessel in question was intended to use sails as well as oars.The novelty, and apparent spirit of enterprize attendant on it, naturally in-duced Peter to inform himself of a theory, with which he was, till thatmoment, totally unacquainted. After some, and indeed rather tedious, search,for a person who could cause the vessel to be properly refitted and equippedfor service, Brandt himself was discovered, in his poverty, at Moscow. Theorders of the prince were executed without delay, and the czar saw, with asto-nishment, the effects of an operation which, hitherto, had never perhaps en-tered into his thoughts. Such was the origin of the immense marine afterwardsraised by Peter. It may be naturally supposed the indulgence of his curiositywas immediately followed up by real exertion; and it appears that he instantlycaused his new Dutch architect to contruct two frigates and three smallervessels, which were launched into an immense lake in the neighbourhoodof the convent of the Holy Trinity. Having acquired the art of navigatinga vessel, he quickly afterwards pursued his project still farther ; and havingjourneyed to Archangel, the Dutchman just mentioned being his companion,he caused him to build a small vessel, in which he resolutely launched intothe frozen ocean, a sea, which, as it is justly remarked by historians, wasnever navigated by any sovereign before himself. This expedition was con-ducted with a degree of pomp and solemnity extremely proper to create aveneration for the project in the minds of the Russian grandees. A Dutchship of war, which happened to be in the harbour at the time, attended himas his escort; and all the commercial vessels belonging to different nations, that

were