during the summer season. Like their brethren of the Adriatic queen, the Russian gondoliers deck their boats and their persons in rich and fantastic colours; invite, by their cheerful countenances and expressions of cariño, the passengers to get into their skiffs, and lull them into soft reflections, and perhaps to sleep, by their national songs. It is one of their indispensable qualifications, besides those of being stout, good-looking, and expert rowers, that they shall be masters of all the popular songs and tunes of the day. Occasionally there is an accompaniment to the voice with the rojok, or reed-pipe, a tambourine, and two wooden spoons, with bells at each end, which are struck together. The effect of this concert is said to be exceedingly pleasing when heard from the shore, or from a distant boat, during the twilight of a summer evening, as the sound is wafted over the sparkling waters by the refreshing breeze from the islands. These boats have from two to six pair of oars, besides the steersman; and the charge, I was informed, is moderate. They are much resorted to by all classes of people; but the great have, as at Venice, their own gondolas, which are distinguished by the rich liveries of the rowers. CHAPTER XV. PICTURE OF ST. PETERSBURGH. --- - The Markets. The SIENNAÏA, or Hay-market. — Frozen Fish and Frozen Flesh. Hay Sledges.· The Round Market, or KROUG LOÏ Rynok. Fish peculiar to Russia. - Black and Red Caviar. The Floating Fish-markets. Summer and Winter Fishing, near St. Petersburgh. - Ice-Breakers. Phenomenon on breaking the Ice. Market for Frozen Provisions. Price of Provisions during the Winter Season. Milk and Milkmaids. - The MIASNoï Rynok.— Ukraine Oxen. —Slaughtering.— The TOLKOUTCHOÏ Rynok, or General Market.—Voltaire in a Russian Market. The Fruit and Bird Market. Live Birds. Profusion and cheapness of Poultry. - Sbitene and Sbitenistchick. Kvass and other National Beverages. - Pivo. Spirituous Liquors.- Kabacks and Gin Shops. Drunkenness in St. Petersburgh and Drunkenness in London.— Wines. - Water of the Neva. - The Chelsea Dolphin. Russian Tea-Drinking. — Shops of St. Petersburgh. The GOSTINNOï DVOR. The Drug Shops. Russian Materia Medica. - The English Magazine.-Clothing. Le Tailleur par excellence, and les meilleures Mo Expenses of Living at St. Petersburgh. - Rasnostchick. Winter and Summer Carriers. Appendix. I HOLD it to be a duty which ought not to be overlooked by those who undertake to describe the capital of a large Empire and its inhabitants, that whilst telling us of their institutions, churches, palaces, trades, and places of education, they should not forget also to inform us how the population is provided with the means of subsistence. A romance writer never thinks of giving a dinner, or any other repast to his hero; and most of the poets, notwithstanding the better example which Homer has set them, too frequently regard the homely occupation of eating and drinking, as beneath their notice: but we travellers must proceed upon other principles. Our heroes must be fed; and we must say whence the necessaries of life are to be obtained. In St. Petersburgh there is no difficulty in procuring them, and what is more, they are very cheap. The markets in the " Imperial residence" are very numerous. Not only is there a neat and commodious market (Tchastnoï Rynok) to each principal section (kvartald) of every district; but there are, moreover, other well-noted markets for the sale of specific articles, which cannot fail to present a very interesting sight to a stranger. In matters connected with the comforts, accommodations, and provisions for the middle and lower classes of the people, I am, and ever have been, a very Paul Pry; and on the occasion of my visit to St. Petersburgh, I evinced my inquisitive disposition to its utmost extent, as the younger son of good Mr. Anderson, the merchant, can fully testify, having been sadly tormented by my questions and inquiries, as well as by my desire to be conducted to all the markets in that city. However, he did it all most good-naturedly, and I hope without very serious inconvenience. To him I am indebted for having been able to rummage every shop, and every stall, putting questions to every one who had any thing to do with them, and writing down the information I obtained through my young friend's interpretation. It is curious that some of the most noted markets to which I allude are more, or at all events as much, frequented on a Sunday, as on any other day. This is the case, in particular with the Siennaïa or Hay-market, to which I repaired on one of those days, and where the same bustle was found to prevail, which exists at Covent-Garden on a Saturday morning. But the similarity between the two markets goes no farther. The St. Petersburgh Siennaïa is an oblong square of great dimensions, or about three times the size of Leicester-square, and has not a shelter or a single shade in the centre. The buildings around it are handsome private houses, with one or two public edifices, and perhaps as many churches. I know not whether I ought to invoke a Teniers, a Wilkie, or a Schneider, to assist me in describing the curious sight which this place presented; but certainly there were subjects for each of the artists upon which to exercise his talents. Both live boors and dead game of every sort, are to be found here, the first for Teniers and Wilkie's pencil, and the second for Schneider's. The sum, however, of all I have to say on the subject is this snow was on the ground, and pretty deep too; and so it was, I imagine, all over Russia at the time, a circumstance which had materially tended to enliven the scene before me; for sledges had come to the market brimful, and in some instances piled up mountains high, with frozen flesh and frozen fish from every lake and every river in Russia, and even from Archangel. These were arranged in several rows the whole length of the market, leaving wide alleys between them, through which we walked at our leisure, inquiring, not only as to the price, but as to the locality and quality of the fish, having some smattering of the natural history of a few of them. My readers will be apt to think that I carried my science to a wrong market; but I can assure them, that not only did I get a great deal of information on the subject from apparently uncouth boors, but also that the manner in which I obtained it was in every respect gratifying. For, instead of sulky answers and uncivil proceedings, I met with good-natured readiness, and, in many instances, with an earnestness of disposition to afford me every information respecting the precise locality of the fish, names and quantity, mode and season of fishing, manner of preserving, expense of conveyance, and general profit derived from the sale, together with every other particular I required, which was the more remarkable, as they must have perceived that I was but a very sorry customer to them. I never saw better disposed people in that class of life any where. They did, indeed, once or twice indulge a sly titter at my shrivelled figure and blue stiff fingers trying to hold the pencil and note-book (temperature eighteen degrees below freezing!) in committing to paper the answers they gave me; but that was a fair subject of merriment for them, and they availed themselves of it with civility. I do not pretend to say what reception a foreigner would meet with at Billinsgate or CoventGarden, if he were to go thither with an interpreter poking his fingers into every basket, holding up each article for contemplation, asking its price, its origin and peculiarities, and having made a low bow, with a "thank ye," proceed to the next stall to repeat the farce: if John Bull suffered him to leave the market sound of limb, or without some pelting, it would be somewhat "against the course of nature." Every species of fish I saw here was at the very lowest price: pike, trout, and soudag in abundance, of the largest size, at 2d. the Russian pound (143 oz. of the English weight); and when of smaller size 1d.; a salmon from Archangel, weighing five pounds, for 8d. There was at that season of the year, in this great market, a sea-fish brought also from Archangel, much esteemed by the gourmands, and at the bare mention of whose name I heard them smack their lips. This is the Navaga: I have tasted it, but cannot share in the enthusiasm of the Russian connoisseurs; but on the subject of sea-fish they are certainly not good authorities, except when they have travelled. Only fancy that they never taste cod, sole, haddock, and whiting unless they go abroad for them! Some think that the flavour of two of those sea-fishes, the cod and the haddock, |