Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Pages ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
COXE’S TRAVELS IN RUSSIA. Jor
admired in this country, though not congenial to the tafte of the Emprefs, are fuffered
to remain in their prefent {tate ; as during fummer Her Majefty principally refides at
Tzarfkoe-Zelo, where the grounds are difpofed in a more modernand pleafing manner.
I fhall not detain the reader with a defcription of filver dolphins and gilded ftatues,
which are fcattered in great profufion; but I cannot omit a childith 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 in{truments of war, a brace of piltols,
which they level at each other in hoftile attitudes, and the water rufhes impetuoufly from
the barrels.
Part of the garden lies between the palace and the gulf, and contains, among other
buildings, 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 furniture
have been preferved with religious veneration in their original ftate, we can form fome
idea of the plain and frugal fimplicity in which that great monarch was accultomed to
live. This houfe being built foon after his return from Holland, and fitted up in the
tafte of that country, was known by the appellation of the Durch houfe: he ufed alfo
to call it Monplaifir, the name by which it is now diftinguifhed. Being {ubject to fe-
vers, he imagined the fea air * beneficial to his conftitution, and for that reafon caufed
this {mall 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 to
the length and lownels of the building, give it the appearance of a green-houfe. The
habitable part confifts of a hall and fix fmall rooms, which are furnifhed in the neateft
and plaineft manner. The mantle-pieces are ornamented with curious old porcelain,
which he greatly prized as being brought into Ruffia when the communication was firft
opened with China. ‘The bed-room is fmall, white-wafhed, and the floor covered with
a coloured fail-cloth. It contains a barrack bed{tead without curtains, and I obferved
that the fheets were remarkably fine. he 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 charaéter of mafter Peter, when he worked at Sardam; and
one of his favourite miftrefs, the beautiful Dutch girl.
Being anxious to vifit every remarkable place in the neighbourhood of this city, I ,
went to Schluffelburgh; a fortrefs often mentioned in the Ruffian hiftory, and cele-
‘brated for the number and rank of the ftate prifoners who have been there confined.
Schluffelburgh is forty miles from Peterfburgh; the road runs the whole way by the
fide of the Neva, which flows with a full ftream in a broad and winding channel ; the
banks, 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 of
the Neva, contains three hundred wooden houfes, and two thoufand eight hundred
anhabitants.
The fortrefs is built upon a fmall ifland of the Neva, at the point where it iffues from
“the lake Ladoga. ‘Thebreadth of the flream is three quarters of a mile,.and the current
remarkably rapid.
* « Le ezar prit a Riga une forte attaque de fiévre-chande. Pour s’en rémettre, il fe logea une ‘huitaine
-de jours dans un vaifleau. A fonayts, ]’air des eaux re{taurait la fanté. Peu de jowrnées paflées fans le
refpirer. Se lévant au point du jour, et dinant a onze heures du matin, il avait coutiime de faire un fom-
meil aprés le répas. Un lit-de répos pour cet ufage était dreflé dans la frégatte, et il y allait en toute faifon.
Méme lor{qu’il fejournait en été a Peterfhoff, Pair des valtes jardins de ce palais lui femblait étouffé, et il
couchait 2 Monplaifir, maifon, dont les‘fiots des la mer lavent un coté, et dont autre confine au grand parc
de Peterfhoff. C’était fa rétraite favorite. Il l’avait meublée de tableaux flamans. répréfentant des
eénes.champétres et maritimes, plaifantes pourla plapart.”? Baffevitz, in B, H. M. IX. p. 339. :
According
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
