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COXE’S TRAVELS IN RUSSIA. $78
the other without a back ; a deal box ferved the purpofe of a table. We were inclined
to conjecture that there was a heavy tax upon air and light; for all the windows were
clofed with planks, except one, which could not be opened, and could fcarcely be feen
through, on account of the dirt with which it was incrufted. Inthe inventory of thefe
valuables I fhould not omit a couch upon which! flept: it had been fo often mended,
that, like Sir John Cutler’s ftockings, immortalized by Martinus Scriblerus, we could
not diftinguifh any part of the original materials. It may perhaps appear furprizing,
that a town like Smolenfko fhould contain no tolerable inn ; but the furprize will ceafe
when we reflect that few ftrangers pafs this way; that the Ruflians carry their provi-
fions, and either continue their journey during the night, or are accommodated in pri-
vate houfes.
Auguft 25. We quitted Smolentfko, crofled the Dnieper over a wooden bridge into
the fuburbs, and purfued our journey through a valley of fine pafture watered by the
Dnieper, fpotted with underwood, and terminating on each fide in gentle eminences
clothed with trees. As we advanced, the country became more abrupt, but no where
rofe into any confiderable hill. Near Slovoda, a large ftraggling village, where we ftop-
ped for a few hours during the darknefs of the night, we again crofled the Dnieper on
a raft formed of trunks of trees tied together with cords, and f{carcely large enough to re-
ceive the carriage, which funk it fome inches under water: this machine was then
pufhed from the banks until it met another of the fame kind, to which the horfes ftep-
ped with difficulty ; and the diftance of the two rafts from each other was fo confider-
able, that the carriage could fcarcely be prevented from flipping between them into the
Tiver. oe
The fecond poft from this primitive ferry was Dogorobufh, built upon a rifing hill,
and exhibiting, like Smolenfko, though on a {maller {cale, an intermixture of churches,
houfes, cottages, corn-fields, and meadows: fome of the houfes, lately .conftructed at
the Emprefs’s expence, were of brick covered with flucco, and had the appearance of
palaces when contra{ted with the meannefs of the furrounding hovels. This place
was formerly a {trong fortrefs, and frequently befieged during the wars between
Ruffia and Poland. From the ramparts of the ancient citadel we commanded an ex-
tenfive view of the adjacent country, confifting of a large plain watered by the winding
Dnieper, and bounded by diftant hills. From Dogorobufh we proceeded twenty four
miles to a {mall village called Zaratefh, where we thought ourfelves fortunate in being
houfed for the night ina tolerable hut, which afforded a rare inftance of accommodation
in thefe parts, a room feparated from that ufed by the family. Our hoftefs was a
true Afiatic figure: fhe was dreffed in a blue garment without fleeves, which defcend-
ed to the ancles, and was tied round the waift with a red fafh; fhe wore a white piece
of linen wrapped round her head like a turban, ear-rings, and necklace of variegated
beads; her fandals were faftened with blue ftrings, which were alfo tied round the
ancles, in order to keep up the coarfe linen wrappers that ferved for {tockings. :
Auguft 27. Our route the next morning, from Zaratefh to Viafma, lay through a
continued foreft, occafionally relieved by the intervention of paftures and corn fields.
When we reflected that we were in the 5sth degree of northern latitude, we were fure
prized at the forwardnefs of the harvelt: the wheat and barley were already carried
in, and the peafants employed in cutting the oats and millet. Since our departure from
Smolenfko the weather proved remarkably cold, and the wind had the keennefs of a
November blaft : the peafants were all clothed.in their fheep-ikins, or winter dreffes.
At a {mall diftance from Viafma we paffed the rivulet of the fame name, navigable
only for rafts, which defcend its ftream into the Dnieper ; we then mounted a {mall
eminence
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