start from St. Petersburgh at about eight or nine o'clock in the evening, the thermometer being, probably, at the time as low as five or six, and perhaps more degrees below the freezing point, and travel about fifteen, twenty, or thirty versts, so as to arrive early in the field the following morning. The track guides them to the spot, and the animal is generally found lying quiet and passive. Both men, and dogs are then employed to rouse it; the hunters at the same time watching its motions. The bear at last starts up at this intrusive and irritating treatment, and looking round with eyes of fire, selects one from among his enemies, and darts towards him as fast as its ponderous body will permit. At this juncture, the intrepid sportsman waiting for its near approach, fires at it, and quickly re-loads his gun. If it still advances, or the gun has either missed fire, or done but little execution, a second and a third sportsman are ready with their weapons to protect their friend, and with a surer aim bring the animal to the ground. It is seldom indeed that the bear breaks away altogether from the hunters; on the contrary, it will advance boldly towards them, and receive the fire with a deep groan. It is then sent as a present for the sake of the skin, and the paws; the latter having the reputation of being delicious morsels for the table; equal, as I heard a noble epicurean observe, to the best palais de bœuf. The sportsmen are dressed for the occasion in a huntingjacket, lined with fur, and wear water-proof boots, with another inside pair of flannel boots, which, while they allow of a full free motion of the feet, also keep them dry and warm.

Bear-hunting takes place about half-a-dozen times in the season; and although general prohibitory game laws were introduced in Russia last year, this sport has been left unfettered; the bear being justly considered a very pernici

ous animal, and one which ought to be exterminated. These animals are so numerous in some parts of Russia, and the facility with which they are destroyed by some of the country people is so great, that a patient of mine, Count de B-, learning that I originally intended to go to Moscow, in doing which I should have had to pass through the immediate neighbourhood of one of his estates, was anxious to procure me the luxury of having a bear-skin for the feet in my carriage, and gave me to that effect a letter for his steward, thus laconically worded: “The bearer will wait at the post-station for an hour: kill a bear, and take to him the skin and the paws." Apropos of game-laws; while a great deal has been said on that subject in this country, and a great deal done to get rid of them,-in Russia fresh measures have been taken, within the last eighteen months, to control the chase by the proclamation of an ukase of the Emperor, which puts in force two old decrees of 1740 and 1763, and which places this question precisely on the same footing as it is in England, except as to the penalty attached to persons guilty of contravention to the game-laws. Instead of fees, or imprisonment, or transportation, the Imperial law against poachers, with a humane spirit consistent with the principles of the existing form of government, condemns such persons to furnish a military recruit to the State; and if in indigent circumstances, to serve themselves as privates in the army. None can shoot or hunt within a circle of thirty versts around St. Petersburgh and the Imperial country residences, without a regular license from the Grand Veneur, which is charged with a fee of forty roubles for a single gun and a dog.

I ought to have said something about the horse-races which have regularly taken place for some years past near St. Petersburgh, and which are very much patronised, on the

sound principle of encouraging the good breed of horses; but I am not in possession of sufficient facts on the subject. Some of my readers may yet, probably, recollect an account given of a race which took place near that capital, between some English and Cossack horses, to the advantage of the former. That single event has given a spur to similar exhibitions in other parts of Russia, as well as in or near the two capitals. Count Matussevitch, in St. Petersburgh, and Count Woronzow, in his extensive government, are known warmly to promote, by the foundation of stakes and cups, a system of horse-racing similar to that which prevails in England. These measures will do a great deal of good in a country where the inhabitants are very much attached to horses, of which they have some excellent breeds, and who may be said to be tolerably well versed in the art of managing them. Nothing, I thought, could equal the beauty of some of the black and bay horses of one or two of the regiments of the Guards, over whose stables I went one day, after visiting their barracks. Comfortable as the latter appeared to be, the state of the stables was even more soigné and pleasing to contemplate. Some of the Colonels of Regiments of Horse Guards have organized their stables in such a manner, that, in winter particularly, they form an agreeable lounge.

Though I saw but little of the pleasure-boats on the Neva, before the freezing of that noble stream, yet I have received such full accounts of them from some of the English as well as Russian residents in St. Petersburgh, that I regret I did not see more of them. The resemblance of St. Petersburgh to Venice, is to be found not only in several points which have been already mentioned, but also in the appearance and number of the pleasure-boats, which glide gaily along the blue bosom of the majestic waters of the Neva,

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 MIAS Noï Rynok. - Ukraine Oxen. —Slaughtering. The TOLKOUTCHOI 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. — Financial Regulation. Le Tailleur par excellence, and les meilleures Modistes. The Fur Shops. The Linen Trade. Expenses of

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