THE ENGLISH PRISONERS IN RUSSIA. UC-NRLF B 3 ISO Sfl5 A PEESONAL NAEEATIYE THE FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. ALFRED ROYER, Lieut. R.N. THIRD EDITION. o CO ^ SHARp'5 ^^/ib Subscription L/BRAR'^ 4. BERKELEY SQUARE. BERKELEY LIF'RARY UNf/Et'^IfY Of CAUPOKNIA / THE ENGLISH PRISONERS IN RUSSIA. A PEESONAL NAEEATIYE OF THE FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER; TOGETHEE WITH AN ACCOUNT OF HIS JOURNEY IN EUSSIA, AND HIS INTERVIEW WITH THE EMPEEOE NICHOLAS AND Wo^z ^Principal Persons in tje lEmpire. BY ALFRED ROYEE, Lieut. E.N. THIRD EDITION. LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 1854. The Author reserves the right of Translation. PHINTED BT JOHK EDWABD TAYLOE, LITTLE QUEEN STBEET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. COPYADDifD IiK^{r OHiG^NAL TO BC R 7 RETAINED |?54 PREFACE. The present Work has been written witli no po- litical object, but simply with a view to record the Author^ s impressions of a country which he has recently visited, under circumstances of no little interest at the present moment, and to sa- tisfy in some measure the curiosity naturally felt by the British Public, with regard to all events connected with the scenes of the War in the East. London, September, 1854. 204 Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/englisliprisonersOOroyericli CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Fogs in the Black Sea. — The Tiger aground. — Discovery of our situation. — Russian ladies witnesses of the catas- trophe. — Their danger. — Signals to the consort ships. — Attack of musketry. — Exertions to hghten the ship. — Eire of the Artillery. — The guns cast into the sea. — The Russian red-hot shot pierce through the hull. — The vessel on fire 1 CHAPTER II. Captain Giffard vrounded by a shell from a twenty-four- pounder. — The firing ceases on both sides. — The Tliird Lieutenant sent on shore, — The First LieiTtenant follows, and is detained by the Russian General. — Osten Sacken's questions. — The wounded conveyed to the hospital. — Comp lim ents paid by the Russian General to the bravery of the enemy. — Quarantine regtdations. — "Libre Pra- tique." — Men landed VI CONTENTS. CHAPTEE III. PAGE The Vesuvius and Niger open fire. — The crew of the Tiger continue disembarking. — The consort ships retire. — Ef- forts to save the vn:'eck. — Robberies committed. — The fire continiies to smoulder in the ship,- — An explosion on board.- — The crew marched olF to Odessa. — Halt near the city. — Sympathy of the inhabitants . . . .16 CHAPTER IV. The Quarantine EstabHshment. — Russian allowance to pri- soners increased. — Signor Anuibale Cambiaggio, the In- terpreter. — Quarantine Guard. — Two shipmates buried. — General Osten Sacken. — His religious turn of mind. — Madame Osten Sacken. — Her kmdness and sympathy. — General Annenkoff". — General Krusenstern. — Baron RoUsberg 23 CHAPTER V. Permission to communicate with the fleet by letter. — Re- moval to a convenient house. — Scanty supply of water at Odessa. — The sailors form a Band. — Uncertainty as to our fate. — Instance of the Russian soldiers' forbearance. — Regulations to keep order. — The head Guardian of Quarantine presented vnth a ring by the crew. — The fleet expected to avenge the capture of the Tiger. — Arrival of two Enghsh steamers. — Letters from home. — Chevaher Ceschini, Austrian Consul- General. — Captam Gifiard m a precarious state ........ 30 CHAPTER VI. More hbcrty allowed. — A Greek thief. — Foolish restrictions of Quarantine. — The Quarantine Board. — Dr. Tovey and CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Mr. Coruthers. — Dr. Arpa. — Dr. Pogoschof. — A wound- ed Scotchman saved by the Russians during the Bombard- ment. — A headless body discovered on board the Tiger. — The head found. — Message from the GeneraL — Our ex- planation. — Reports in the Enghsh newspapers. — Number of guns on board the Tiger . . . . . . 39 CHAPTER YII. Second arrival of the Furious and Yesuvius. — Two Russian brigs taken. — Exchange of prisoners offered. — Liberahty of the Russian authoi'ities. — Colt's revolvers. — Russian ar- mourers. — Censorship. — Quarantine probation lengthened. — Hopes of an exchange of prisoners. — Apprehensions of having to pass the winter in Russia. — Civilized enemies and barbarian allies 45 CHAPTER YIII. Death of Captain Giffard.— Dr. Domville, the Medical Offi- cer of the Tiger. — The funeral conducted with militaiy honours. — The Russian Generals attend the ceremony. — Orders of the Emperor respecting the officers and ci*ew. — Midshipmen ordered to proceed to the University of Mos- cow. — Despondency of the crew. — Exchange of prisoners 52 CHAPTER IX. Pratique. — Baron Rollsberg. — Signor Luigi Mocclii. — The Emperor's hberality. — Attentions of the Russian Officers to the Officers of the Tiger. — Description of Odessa. — Bust of the Duke de Richelieu. — Imitation Palais Royal. — Opera. — Performance of Ycrdi's ' Rigoletto.' — The two factions. — La Cardosa. — ' La Domia e mobile ' . .59 VIU CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. The Officers dine with Chevaher Cesclaini, — Raihoad from Moscow to Odessa. — Prince Woronzoff. — Commercial prosperity of Odessa. — Rescript of the Emperor. — Inter- view with General Osten Sacken. — Madame Osten Sacken. Visit to Grenerals Annenkoff and Krusenstern. — My tra- velling companion. — Start for St. Petersburg. — Take leave of my messmates ..*«.««. 65 CHAPTER XI. We start in a Tarantas. — Contradictory reports^ — Our sup- ply of provisions. — Mr. Maberly. — Bad weather. — The Russian Samovar. — Its usefulness. — Tea in glass ttun- blers. — Cross the river Boug. — Nikolaiev Dockyai'd. — Russian Squadron in the Boug. — The Russian and Dutch flags. — Hotel de Londres. — Manner of washing . . 72 CHAPTER XII. Leave Jfikolaiev. — Post-houses improve as we approach Moscow. — Ehsavetgrad. — Prairie land. — Timiuh. — Boundless plains or steppes. — The Yamtcliik. — Way- posts. — Rate of travelhng in Russia. — Waggons. — Rus- sian words for directing the driver. — Nature of the country 84 CHAPTER XIII. Alexandi'ia. — Farm on the road. — Environs of towns and villages. — Our stock of wine. — Water-tanks on the tops of the houses. — The river Dnieper. — CivHity of the chief of the Post-house. — Krementchoug. — The country north of the Dnieper. — Young plantations. — A Russian Courier proceeding to Odessa. — The Telega ... .92 CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER XIV. PAGE Poltova. — Style of building. — Kharkov. — Carriages made to hold beds. — Bielgorod Nunnery. — Drvmkenness not pre- valent in Russia. — Nearly upset. — Recruits. — Russian Mihtary Colonies. — Pilgrims to Moscow. — Respect of the populace 100 CHAPTER XY. Koursk. — A dirty inn. — Our carriage repaired. — The G-o- vernment high-road to Moscow. — Pilgrims tripping. — G-reat concourse of people. — The Russian Clergy. — Bi- shops. — Orel. — Churches in Russia. — Toula. — Cavalry horses. — Turkish prisoners content to remain in Russia. — An Enghsh engineer. — Armourers of Toula . . 108 CHAPTER XVI. Farm-house on the road. — Kvass. — Religious feeUngs of the people. — First view of Moscow. — Comparison of Moscow and Constantinople. — Hotel d'Angleterre. — The Kremhn. — University College. — The Head Professor. — -The Bazaar. — The railway to St. Petersburg. — One train a day. — Comfortable carriages. — Leave Moscow .... 117 CHAPTER XVII. Fever on the road. — Tver. — Numerous chm'ches. — An ac- quaintance. — Refreshment-rooms at the Stations. — Meet tliree Enghsh residents in St. Petersbui-g, proceeding to Moscow. — Mr. Sharman's dehcacy of proceeding towards me. — Time allowed at the Stations. — Regularity in the ar- rival of trains. — Deliberate movements . . . .125 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XYIII. PAGE Arrival at St. Petersburg.— G-eneral Sitinin.— Hotel De- mouth. — Colonel Montandre. — The Minister of War. — EngUsh uniform. — The War Office. — Ante-room of the . Minister. — Interview with Prince Dolgorouki. — Remain at the hotel.— Return of the ague. — The Emperor's orders respecting me 130 CHAPTER XIX. Mr. MiUer, the British Yice-Consiil. — The Nevskoi-Pro- spekt.— Toleration in Russia.— The Kazan Chwch.— The Admiralty. — Droshkies. — The Rev. Dr. Law.— The Aca- demy of Ai'ts. — The Gardens at St. Petersburg. — Mili- tary Bands.- The twilight.— Statue of Peter the Great.— The Senate House.— The Russian Synod.— Canals.— The Winter Palace and the Hermitage 140 CHAPTER XX. The fever and ague again. — A Russian physician.— Panaceas. — The Emperor commands me to proceed to Peterhof. — Leave St. Petersburg by steamer. — Batteries. — The Rus- sian Fleet at Cronstadt. — Second interview with Prince Dolgorouki. — Gardens at Peterhof. — Residence of the Cesarovitch. — Private Residence of the Emperor . . 149 CHAPTER XXI. Proceed to Strelna, — Alexandi'ia. — The Ducal drawing-room. — The Grand Duchess Alexandra Josefowna. — Her affa- bility. — Her Ladies-in- Waiting. — Arrival of the Grand Duke Constantine. — His conversation. — His acquamtance with naval affairs 154 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XXII. PAGE The exploits of the Arrogant and Hecla. — Remarks and questions of the Grrand Duke. — The Grand Duchess. — Her love of the English language. — First view of the Emperor. — Summoned to his presence. — Prince Lichtenstein. — The Grrand Dukes Nicholas and Michael .... 161 CHAPTER XXIII. The Emperor Nicholas. — The Order of St. Greorge. — Per- sonal appearance of the Emperor. — His kindness of man- ner. — He grants me my Uberty. — Prince Dolgorouki's con- gratulations. — The Royal Chapel. — Music. — Sir Charles Napier near Cronstadt. — Russian Recruits. — The grounds at Peterhof 168 CHAPTER XXIY. Interview with Prince Dolgorouki. — Return to St. Peters- burg. — Greneral Sitinin. — Visit of Colonel Montandre. — Another attack of fever and ague. — Leave St. Petersburg. — Preobrajenskaja. — Degouzy. — Concourse of people on the road. — Nature of the country. — Kovno. — Itinerary of the route from St. Petersburg to Warsaw, — Expenses of travellmg ......... 176 CHAPTER XXY. Enter Poland. — DeUberate travelling. — Grreat demand for horses. — A Russian Officer proceeding to join his regiment. — Lomza. — Interruptions on the road. — Arrival at War- saw. — Cross the Vistula. — Count Riidiger. — Arrangements for departure. — -Searcli for my passport. — Take leave of Mr. Sharman 183 XU CONTENTS. CHAPTEE XXYI. Leave "Warsaw. — An officious fellow -passenger. — ^Petrikaw, — Czenstochowa. — A spy. — Custom-house. — Export of silver. — The Pohce Agent. — Szczakowa. — Mislowitz. — Breslau. — The Opera there. — Mdlle. Wagner. — Berlin. — Hanover. — Cologne. — Calais. — Old England . . . 189 NARRATIVE OF THE FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. CHAPTER I. Fogs in tlie Black Sea. — The Tiger aground. — Discovery of our situation. — Russian ladies witnesses of the catastrophe. — Their danger. — Signals to the consort sliips. — Attack of musketry. — Exertions to Hghten the sliip. — Fire of the Artillery. — The guns cast into the sea. — The Eussian red-hot shot pierce through the hull. — The vessel on fire. Early in tlie morning of the 12tli of INIay, 1854_, three weeks after the bombardment of Odessa, in which Her Majesty^ s steam-frigate the Tiger had taken an active part, we found that our noble ship had grounded at about a hundred and fifty yards from the shore, four miles south of Odessa. We had parted from the Admiral and the fleet at noon on the previous day, in company with the Vesuvius and the Niger, on a cruise along the coast. B ^ NARRATIVE OF THE During one of the dense fogs so prevalent in tlie Black Sea at that season of the year^ we had lost sight of our consorts ; and although our course had been shaped with care to avoid danger^ strong currents had carried the ship considerably to the westward of her reckoning. No land was visible; indeed we did not expect to see any, for we sup- posed we were much nearer to the Tendra Spit than to the mainland. Fogs like that in which we were lost occur sometimes off the coast of Ire- land, but I have never seen anything to be com- pared with them in the Mediterranean. When I state that the end of the jibboom could not be seen by a person standing on the after-part of the deck, some idea may be formed of the visible dark- ness that surrounded us. Happily the weather was calm, so that the shock of the vessel, in striking upon, or rather between, two rocks (as was after- wards discovered by Russian divers) , was so slight, that it was scarcely felt, and we imagined she had grounded on a sand-bank which we knew lay to the east of our course. Our anxiety to avoid this danger had induced us to bear more to the west- ward. Under the above impression, we did not anticipate much difficulty in releasing the ship from her position. It was about half-past five o'clock when we ran aground; shortly after, the fog seemed to grow thinner under the influence of the sun's rays, and revealed, to our astonishment, high land on our FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 6 left. We then understood tlie critical position into which we had fallen. As the fog cleared^ we could distinctly see_, under the curtain as it rose, the ripple of the limpid waves that broke upon the beach ; and a small boat with two oars pulled across our bows close along- shore toward the citVj, evidently intent upon giving notice of the catastrophe ; while just above, on the cliff, through the slowly disappearing fog, we could discover the well-known figure of a Cossack on horseback, with long lance in hand, no doubt me- ditating on the expediency of galloping off to an- nounce the news to his superiors, of the grounding of a steamer on the coast. To increase, if possi- ble, the interest of the scene, we could discern two ladies, with pink parasols, promenading in their garden, which reached the edge of the cliff; and these ladies, with many others who joined them later, were witnesses of all that occurred during the day, — looking on whilst the firing took place between us and the Russian troops. It may be well conceived that we had too much gallantry to fire upon the ladies, and that we di- rected our guns solely against those who attacked us. But as the bright colours of their parasols were but dimly seen, they were once mistaken for fresh troops, and ran great risk of being sliot at by our riflemen. Fortunately the officers on duty made the discovery in time to avert the danger from the ladies, who, following the bent of their 4 NARRATIVE OF THE natural cm'iosity_, were desirous of witnessing the attack. Little thought they that morning, on rising from their slumbers, what a scene of blood- shed and destruction was to be enacted that day, almost under their very windows, — which however could not be seen from the ship, on account of the height of the cliff. It was superstitiously imagined in Odessa that our misfortune was a judgement upon us, for the recent bombardment. The Cossack rode off, but the ladies remained, — the former to collect the enemy's troops against us, the latter to witness the result of the combat. Let us charitably hope that the ladies had a further object in view, namely, that of rendering assist- ance to the wounded, and thus evincing that kind hearts exist in Eussia, as all over the globe. It was necessary to give notice of our situation to the consort vessels, and warn them of the dan- ger they were approaching, as they were doubtless steering the same course. We therefore made the fog signal, by firing guns in quick succession, to inform them of om^ position; and it is possible that the first intimation of what had taken place reached the ears of the Governor of Odessa with the sound of our own guns. As may be imagined, it was with no pleasant feelings that we contemplated our situation ; for we were so close in shore, and so firmly aground, as to be deprived of the power of movement or resist- ance. We felt convinced that we should soon be FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. O attacked by overwhelming numbers of artillery and musketry. The attack was begun by the latter, the number of which we could not ascertain, as the Russians fired from under a bank, on that part of the cliff nearest to the ship : the balls came chiefly through the rigging, so that at the onset no one was killed. During the firing the boats were lowered, and an anchor laid out, in order to draw the ship off after she had been lightened. Every exertion was made, and many things thrown overboard; but she was too firmly fixed on her rocky bed to be dislodged. There were a hundred and fifty men at work at the capstan; and this compact mass would have formed an excellent target for the musketry, but fortunately it was not visible from the shore, so that the fog was, to a certain extent, of use to us. The cable being hove as taut as was prudent, without having moved the vessel, it was deemed expedient to prepare for resistance to the artillery, which we expected would soon open upon us. The head of the vessel was the part nearest the shore ; we stood pointing, as it were, with our jib- boom to the cliff, the shore bearing away to our left. It was therefore requisite to form a kind of rampart in the front part of the vessel : this was done by hanging the hammocks of the men, con- taining their beds and blankets, to a stout rope, from the rigging to the fore-stay on each side. b NARRATIVE OF THE thus intercepting the line of fire from the cliff above. The hammocks afforded protection from the fire of the musketry, whilst our men were free to fire from below them. Many were the anxious looks we cast upon the standard compass, to discover the least symptom of movement in the vessel, consequent on the strain of the cable, which we kept at the highest point of tension. But, although the sanguine hopefully cheered, and cried, ^' She moves !^^ thus encourag- ing the exertions of the seamen at the capstan, we were soon made aware of the fallacy of our ex- pectations. About half-past nine the guns of the enemy opened lire. They consisted of eight twenty- four- pounders, which had just arrived from Odessa; they W'Cre placed in a position nearly ahead of us on the cliff, so that their shot could rake the ship fore and aft, our guns at the same time being useless, as they could not be trained sufficiently forward to bear on the shore. It was therefore deemed expedient to send the men below, to cast the guns, now become useless implements of war, into the sea, in order to lighten the ship, and en- able her to respond to the force applied by the cable and capstan on the anchor laid out to the southward. The men were also thus kept out of unnecessary danger below the upper deck, while they effected the object we had in view, — that of lightening the vessel, — by throwing sixteen guns FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 7 overboard. Stilly to our great disappointment, tlie vessel did not move. In the meanwhile we had contrived to bring one of the guns on deck, to bear upon the cliff, from under the hammocks, in response to the ar- tillery opened upon us from above ; but it may be easily imagined how useless was the firing upwards in such a situation. The firing of the Russians, before it obtained the proper range, was chiefly in the rigging, which was much cut up by it. Soon however it began to tell upon the hull of the ship with terrible effect, each discharge either lodging the balls in her, or passing clearly through into the sea. If the vessel had not been already resting upon the ground, she must have sunk by reason of the many shot-holes, which we could not have plugged up fast enough to counteract the effects of the enemy's fire. Red-hot shot now began to be thrown into the hull, and we soon discovered that the vessel was on fire in two places ; — in the pinnace, which was in the centre of the ship, and had not been let down ; also in a very dangerous position below. The ball that took effect had entered through the starboard or right-hand bow of the ship, and lodged in the store-rooms, leaving a clear round orifice, through which we could see the land as through a port-hole. As the store-rooms adjoined the fore-part of the powder-magazine, it was necessary to make every 8 NARRATIVE OF THE possible exertion to extinguish the flames ; so that we had to call ofiF all the men that could be spared from other duties to man the pumps. Four of these were worked without intermission_, and suc- ceeded in partially subduing the fire; three of the pumps were then turned to play into the powder-magazine ; and these continued to the last a work which is not so easy as may be imagined. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. CHAPTER II. Captain Giifard wounded by a sliell from a twenty-fom'-pounder, — The firing ceases on both sides. — The Tliird Lieutenant sent on shore. — The First Lieutenant follows, and is detained by the Russian General. — Osten Saeken's questions. — The wounded conveyed to the hospital. — Compliments paid by the Russian General to the bravery of the enemy. — Quarantine regulations. — " Libre Pratique." — Men landed. At a quarter-past ten o'clock a sliell from a Russian twenty-four-pounder struck the bow-port close by the only gun that could be brought to bear upon the shore^ and exploded, disabling a midshipman and three of the men serving the gun. Such was the effect of the bursting of this shell, that, in addition, it carried off the left leg of Captain Gif- fard, who was standing by the gun, and wounded his right leg. One of the pieces of metal broke the telescope that he held under his arm, and ten or eleven other pieces cut his clothes and inflicted severe bruises. The midshipman, poor young man ! had both his legs carried off, and lived only a few hours after an amputation had been effected by the surgeon on board : he died on shore whilst being trans- 10 NARRATIVE OF THE ported to the hospital : he was a distant relation of the Captain, and bore the same name. WilKam Trainer, the captain of the gun, lost his left leg, and died whilst being removed to the hos- pital, after proper attention had been paid to him on board. WiUiam Tanner, serving at the gmi, was severely wounded in the thigh, but recovered after being some time at the hospital. Thomas Hood, the powder-boy, about fourteen years old, received a severe wound in the stomach, and lived only a few days after reaching the hospital; he had already been wounded by a stray shot, but continued to serve the powder from the magazine. Thus disabled, our firing ceased ; upon which the Russians discontinued their fire. The wounded were taken down to the gun-room, to be attended by the medical ofiicers ; and the Captain, who re- tained his faculties, ordered the Russian ensign to be hoisted, in token of surrender. The Third Lieutenant was next sent on shore with a flag of truce, to communicate to the ofl&cer commanding the Russian forces the fact of our having struck; as, in consequence of the fog, the flag was not dis- cernible from the shore. On landing he was signalled back, as if he was infringing the laws of quarantine ; and, being un- able to make himself understood by the officer in command of the party on the beach, he sent back the boat for some one acquainted with the French language. I, as Commanding Officer, then FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 11 landed^ in order to come to an understanding with the General. I was received on the beach by a junior officer, and allowed to proceed, under a strong escort, along the path leading to the cliff, where stood General Osten Sacken. The General was closely attended by two foot- soldiers and one quarantine guard, who was provided with a brace of pistols, to prevent contact. Osten Sacken, mistaking the Uussian flag for a signal to our consorts, asked what the flag was for, and was informed that it was the sign of surren- der. His next inquiries were regarding the force on board, the number of the wounded, where the steamer had been bound to, and whether we had formed part of the bombarding squadron on the 22nd. To all these questions he received satisfac- tory answers, except to that regarding the destina- tion of the ship. I informed him that the Cap- tain was severely wounded, and that I was not acquainted with the orders under which we were sailing. Application was forthwith made for convenience to transport the wounded to the hospital. The General immediately complied, despatching an officer to hasten the arrangements; and in less than half an hour a car and some easy-chaii's ap- peared, which probably came from the villa of Mr. Cortazzi, the Mayor of Odessa, on whose grounds the battery and troops were posted, to the sad de- struction of his flower-beds. 12 NARRATIVE OF THE These troops were about three thousand in num- ber, and consisted of a battalion of infantry and some squadrons of cavalry Lancers; but their ap- parent number was very much increased by an im- mense crowd of people, who hurried doAvn from the city in all kinds of conveyances, and whose curiosity and ignorance of the danger they were incurring led them into contact with the horrors of war. The General took an opportunity of passing a high compliment on the bravery of the Captain, officers, and crew, and, of his own accord, granted them permission to land any private property they might possess ; urging the necessity of immediate compliance, under the apprehension of a rescue from the consort ships, which, he imagined, might have been apprised of our situation by the signal guns we had fired in the morning. Indeed he must have thought the whole fleet was at hand, as he was most pressing, and declared that he should be compelled to open fire again if the men were not landed forthwith. I wrote a few lines with a pencil to the com- manding officer on board, requesting him to land at once. A Russian junior officer thrust his sword through the note, conveying it in this manner to the beach, with all the due forms of quarantine regulations, and there consigned it to another Russian officer, who spoke English, and who had made his appearance after my landing, having been FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 13 stationed tliere as a medium of communication between the troops and the crew. Strange to say, this note never reached its destination. But in the meanwhile I was enabled to communicate the Generars orders from the top of the cliff, about thirty yards from where the General stood, and whence I could be heard by those in the vessel. General Osten Sacken could not for some time conceive what I could mean by a request that I made, that he would set aside the encumbering rules of quarantine : he imagined such a step to be perfectly impossible; and, wdien awake to the real truth that such a desire was expressed, as a means of facilitating further communications, his astonishment vented itself in an assurance that the Emperor himself would be compelled to sub- mit to the stringent laws of this tyrannic power over the liberties of every new-comer into the country. The request I made was that we might be allowed " libre pratique ;" these two words the General kept repeating several times, — " Libre pratique? libre pratique ?"— knitting his brows, as if he wished to summon his faculties to the comprehension of the phrase, which had no place in his understanding. At last, turning to some of his aides-de-camp and the quarantine authorities standing by, he repeated, for the tenth time, " Li- bre pratique ?^^ as much as to say, "What is 4ibre pratique/ gentlemen ?^^ Some one spoke to him 14 NARRATIVE OF THE in Russian^ on which he appeared to understand, and gave me the above assurance. Ostcn Sacken appeared satisfied on seeing the boats put off from the ship with some of the crew on board ; but he kept anxiously peering through his opera-glass into the fog, with an expression of apprehension, lest the fleet should come to wrest his prize from him. The two paddle-box boats brought on shore about a hundred and eighty men, but w ere not allowed to return to the ship ; although at first the General had expressed a wish that some of the men might be retained for the service of the boats. The General put some questions regarding the calibre of the guns on board, and turned to an artillery officer, to ask if they could indeed be of the size mentioned; he then commanded him to take a party of Russians, and go on board. This booted and spm-red field officer, who was not a young man, was very awkward in executing the order ; he however contrived, somehow or other, to get into one of the two boats, which stood rather too high on the beach for one to stride into mth straps to his nether clothing. When he had cleared the shore, with a crew of about forty or fifty Russian infantry, and was " well at sea," and while they were counting the men that had been landed, the fog cleared up a little, and two dark objects were seen approaching the scene of action, at a distance of about half a mile. The FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 15 consternation of the Russians may be imagined; the boat was immediately hailed to return, and the prisoners were marched off under a strong guard towards Odessa,, the latter operation being far the easier of the two. The Niger and Vesuvius now came to the rescue. 16 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER III. The Vesuvius and Niger open fire. — The crew of the Tiger con- tinue disembarkuig. — The consort ships retire. — Efforts to save the wreck. — Kobberies committed. — The fu-e continues to smoulder in the sliip. — An explosion on board. — The crew marched off to Odessa. — Halt near the city. — Sympathy of the inhabitants. The firing from the Vesuvius and Niger began about half-past eleven or twelve o'clock_, and was returned from the shore, whilst the disembarca- tion of the remainder of the ship^s company con- tinued. The officers on board the steamers could not distinguish,, in the crowd on the beach, their fel- low-countrymen, who were bravely carrying up the wounded in the midst of a shower of shells, which burst in all directions : to avoid which, the Russians had been trained to lie down flat, on a signal being given them to do so; and occasion- ally the remarkaijle scene was exhibited, of the jolly tars proceeding on their route up the cliff, regardless of the explosions and shot from the ships, whilst several thousand Russians were lying flat on their faces. The firing from the consort ships still continued_, FIRST LIEUTENxVNT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 17 without doing any material injury, after the whole of the crew, with the wounded, had been landed and marched off to the Quarantine establishment. When however the true state of the case was discovered by the officers of the Vesuvius and Niger, they retired to make their report to the Admiral : they perceived that it was impossible to get the ship off, and useless to expend ammuni- tion on a bare cliff; for the Russian troops had now retired, being of no further service, and the artillery only remained. AVlien the firing had ceased on both sides, the Pilot of Odessa, Luigi Mocchi, was sent on board, to su]3erintend the disembarcation of everything that could be got on shore. He had previously rendered assistance in landing the Second Lieu- tenant and some of the few hands that remained on board waiting for the return of their own boats. All the vigilance of the Russian authorities was insufficient to prevent the depredations of fellows who found their way on board and ransacked the ship; so that, when the professed restoration of the private property of the officers and men took place, little or nothing of value was forthcoming. As a proof of the violent hands of these robbers, it may be mentioned that a desk, Avhicli had been left open, was broken up, but the pieces, religiously smoked, were delivered to the owner, minus the con- tents, which consisted of some money, and docu- c 18 NARRATIVE OF THE ments of use only to tlie proprietor. A box too, with a B ram all lock, had been forcibly opened, and only pieces of the sides, which were also per- fumed in quarantine, restored, — a proof that the articles had been destroyed by thieves, and not by the fire in the ship. The Captain^ s plate-chest, which was landed with his servant, was forcibly taken from the latter on the beach, and could not afterwards be traced, although Major Arcoudinski, the chief of the po- lice at Odessa, made every inquiry regarding it. The Pilot, employed in getting up the guns and clearing the vessel, repeatedly brought various ar- ticles to the Quarantine Mole; and these, after fumigation, were handed over to those to whom they belonged. As the fire had not been perfectly extinguished, it continued to smoulder; and in the evening, about seven or eight o'clock, when we were lodged in the Quarantine establishment, we heard an explosion, which we hoped would have deprived the Russians of their booty. It was however only partial, as there remained but a small quantity of powder in the magazine in an ignitable state. The vessel con- tinued burning to the water's edge, leaving only its two funnels as gaunt evidence of its identity, in the sad scene of destruction. The crew was formed into a long column five or six deep ; and, accompanied by a strong guard, we started on our march to the Quarantine esta- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 19 blisliment^ which appeared much further than it really was, and took us upwards of two hours to reach, although only about four miles in a straight line ; the weather being oppressively hot, and all hands much excited and fatigued. We had been without refreshment of any kind since the previous evening ; nor was it till seven o^ clock that we had our first meal in captivity. Besides our escort of mounted Cossacks, with their long lances, we were accompanied by a great many droshkies on each side of the road, filled with fair ladies and bearded gentry, who did not allow the lower classes to monopolize the curiosity of the country, and crowded as near to us as the troops would allow them. The \dllas on each side of the road also swarmed with eager faces as we passed ; but they abstained from every expression pf exul- tation or triumph. Our guard, in addition to the mounted Cossacks, consisted of about two hundred men of the 31st Regiment of Infantry: these poor fellows were so overpowered by fatigue, that it was found requi- site to halt on the way for some time, to give the troops and the prisoners a little rest. The former, indeed, required repose more than the latter, for they were so encumbered with the knapsacks con- taining their extra clothing, their great- coats, belts, ammunition, swords, and muskets, their heavy boots, and long thick coats reaching to their ankles, that they were not in a condition to march quickly 20 NARRATIVE OF THE over the ground in such sultry weather, and were really as much to be pitied as their prisoners. On oiu' way to Odessa, we met a battery of twelve large guns (twenty-four-pounders proba- bly), with all their ammunition- waggons, advanc- ing to the scene of action, where we could still hear the cannonading in the distance. Although each gun and waggon was drawn by four horses, and accompanied by horsemen, they proceeded at what appeared to us an extremely slow pace, con- sidering the excitement by which they might have been supposed to be actuated. Our halting-place was an open space in a field, on the left of the road, near the rampart of a rumed fortress, in which is situated the Quaran- tine establishment; close to us were the acacia- trees, which form a continuous avenue round the city. The crowd still pressed on the troops sur- rounding us; and here we first experienced that kindness of which we afterwards received so many proofs, during our residence among our little- known enemies. An old officer, accompanied by some ladies, came forward, and, taking possession of the baskets of the cake-vendors and of those selling bread, handed the contents to our men; and, at the request of the First Lieutenant, water and wine were procured, with which the men were refreshed. Whether the cakes were paid for, of course we cannot say ; but of this we may bear witness, as a fact, that as the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 21 bearers went away^ others came with fresh sup- plies of pastry^ which, however palatable, was not sufficiently substantial to appease the hunger of so many beef-eating Jack Tars, who required some- thing more solid after so desperate an engage- ment. The example of the old officer was followed by many others, who kindly came forward with what- ever cakes they could procure from the crowd, and distributed them among the men. One, in parti- cular, offered to the officers of the ship the brandy and water which he carried with him for his own use; but, as the weather was sultry, they pru- dently refused it ; he then sent off to the nearest house, which was within a few hundred yards, and procured some light wine instead. Cigars and ci- garets were handed round in abundance to all who chose to smoke ; but care was taken, in allowing the prisoners to light them, that the regulations of quarantine should not be infringed by the con- tact of the paper cigar ets. While thus halting, a piece of paper on which we had written a list of the crew that were pre- sent, and which was no longer needed, was torn up and thrown to the mnds. One of the Russian officers, percei^dng this, gave orders to a sergeant, who selected one of the soldiers, and, causing him to give up his accoutrements, sent him amongst us to pick up all the little bits of paper, lest con- tagion should be communicated, either physically 22 NARRATIVE OF THE or politically. And thus this man had to per- form quarantine the same number of days that we had, although, without any undue assumption or harshness, we might have been ordered to pick up the pieces ourselves. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 23 CHAPTER IV. The Quarantine Establishment. — Eussian allowance to prisoners increased. — Signor Annibale Cambiaggio, the Interpreter. — Quarantine Guard. — Two shipmates biu*ied. — General Osten Sacken. — His reHgiovis turn of mind. — Madame Osten Sacken. — Her kindness and sympathy. — General AnnenkoiF. — General Elrusenstern. — Baron KoUsberg. Having halted for half an hour^ we proceeded to the Quarautine-ground, which is built with much more regard to the comfort of its imprisoned oc- cupants than many such places in Europe. It is situated on the top of a cliflP upwards of a hundred feet in height, facing the sea, within the ruined citadel, of which traces still exist ; it is within a quarter of a mile of the town of Odessa, which lies on the same level to the northward. One of the wings faces the east, and the other the south, so that both have a beautiful view of the sea from the top of the cliff. A zigzag road leads doAvn the cliff to some magazines near the beach, in connec- tion with the Mole and Custom-house ; the latter is between the Quarantine establishment and the harbour, from which seven English merchantmen escaped, and went out to join the fleet, during the 24 NARRATIVE OF THE bombardment. The rooms are good^ and^ what is more remarkable^ well furnished^ the chairs being of damask;, covered with chintz ; there were sofas, bedsteads, and card-tables, and, in short, we were provided with every convenience. The Captain had one of the wards, consisting of four rooms, which he shared with the medical officers; and eleven other rooms were allotted to the remaining officers, twenty-two in number, mth eight ser- vants. The men were stowed in the wing facing the south, and in a vacant powder-magazine which had belonged to the uncompleted citadel. There were rows of acacia-trees and lilacs, that enlivened the grass-plot, and rendered the place very agree- able at that time of the year, with spring in all its freshness. In the evening we usually left our rooms to enjoy the cool air upon the grass-plot, drinking and smoking at leism^e, and counting the days of our probation, which were restricted to twenty- one. So large a number of occupants had no doubt put the quarantine authorities out of their usual routine; and it was not one of their least diffi- culties to provide so many mouths with sufficient and suitable supplies. The Government had, in the first instance, to find a person w^ho would contract to furnish the necessaiy rations to the men ; but as the Govern- ment allowance for prisoners was calculated on a scale adapted only to satisfy Turks, it was insuf- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 25 ficient for tlie artificial wants of more ci^alized beings. On the first evening the men had only wine and bread^ both of which however were sensed out in sufficient abundance and of excellent qua- lity. The table of the officers was more liberally supplied with meat and vegetables. In the meanwhile the Government decided on increasing the amount of allowance to each man. The contractor was soon enabled to establish a regular and liberal provision of meat^ soup_, and bread^ with which the men were perfectly content, although no wine or grog Avas allowed. Fifteen kopeks (sixpence) a head per day was what the law allowed for the food of each prisoner, of all grades. But the Council decided on raising this sum to fifty kopeks {Is., Sd.) for each officer, and half that amount for each seaman. In a coun- try where provisions are comparatively cheap, this was sufficient for every requirement. I am happy to have this opportunity of ex- pressing our obligations to Signer Annibale Cam- biaggio, who was appointed interpreter by the Go- vernment, and whose kind and gentlemanly at- tentions relieved us of many difficulties in which we might have been placed, without his opportune and willing assistance. He is an Italian, and well acquainted Avith several languages, in which English and French are included.. Acting up to the or- ders he had received from his superiors, he deemed that he would be best fulfilling their wishes by a 26 NARRATIVE OF THE genial consideration for all our little wants. A per- fect gentleman^ and highly educated, he considered no trouble too great that would conduce to our comfort. The estimation which he enjoyed with. the Generals tended greatly to facilitate any ar- rangements that he might deem requisite, in fur- therance of his object ; and he secured by his as- siduity the gratitude and esteem of all the persons under his charge. It may be conceived that, after all the fatigues we had undergone that day, sleep was not long in closing our eyelids on the straw bedding provided for usj and we awoke the next day to the con- sciousness of our situation, and to the sad duty of interring our two shipmates who had died on the previous day, fighting in vain, alas ! for their liberty. The quarantine guard was composed of old pen- sioners or invalided soldiers ; many bearing medals for service done in the days when they were in the prime of their faculties, and for deeds of bra- very against the Circassians. Some of them were selected for " guardians '' in the different wards ; others mounted duty as sentries, porters, messen- gers, etc. by day, and were relieved at night by younger troops of the line, who were better adap- ted to endure fatigue and exposure to cold. To this conclusion we were led by tlie vigorous lungs we heard exerted during the night in communica- ting to each other that all was well ; for sounds so FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 27 continuous and clear the sexagenarians could never have emitted. The guard was changed after dark, so that we had no opportunity of seeing the men to whose care our persons were entrusted during the night ; and the next day we could only see our old men lounging al^out, as if they had been on watch for some hours. About a dozen of these men accompanied the procession to the burial-ground, which is a grass field surrounded by high brick walls, to the south of, and adjoining, the Quarantine-ground. As the only Protestant clergyman at Odessa was a Lutheran, and could not speak English, we de- cided upon adopting the usage on board ship, and the burial ceremony was performed by me, as com- manding officer. It may afibrd some gratification to our friends to know that, in the confusion of disembarking, many had brought away with them their Prayer-books and Bibles, in preference to other property which remained on board. On our return to the establishment we were visited by some of the Russian generals and officers, who came to inquire after our welfare. General Osten Sacken paid daily visits to the Captain and officers, and to the hospital. Pie was much gratified at seeing William Tanner (who had been wounded, and who recovered) occupied, when- ever he visited him, in reading his Bible ; and he expressed great approbation of his conduct, lacing himself of a religious turn of mind. Indeed, ty^ J^^^ouy 28 NARRATIVE OF THE such were his kindly feelings and his religions tendency of thought^ that he never visited the es- tablishment without going to the graves of his enemies,, where, absorbed in meditation, he might be seen crossing himself and offering up prayer to the Lord of Hosts. Madame Osten Sacken, his amiable consort, vied with the General in at- tentions and kind consideration for the prisoners and the wounded, whom she supplied with jellies and delicacies from her own house ; and when it pleased God to take the powder-boy, Thomas Hood, to himself, she caused an iron railing to be placed round his grave, and planted trees to overshadow it. Such Avas her consideration, and the vivid feelings which she had lately experienced at the loss of a son, of the age of Thomas Hood, that she appeared to feel the more deeply for the parents of the lad, and of the young midshipman Giffard, to whose mother she sent a gold locket containing some of his hair, — a sad consolation in her bereavement. General Annenkoff, the Governor- General of Odessa, and General Krusenstern, the son of the celebrated na\agator of that name, and Military Governor of the place. Baron Rollsberg, Governor of the fortress, and many other officers, whose names it was impossible to retain, but of whom we have the most vivid and grateful recollection, were unremitting in their considerate and solici- tous attentions; and if any difficulties were ex- perienced, these arose more from the many orders FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 29 given by them^ and from their over-anxiety to use the powers allowed tliem by their position to promote our comfort^ than from any kind of for- getfulness or neglect. 30 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER V. Permission to communicate with the fleet by letter. — Kemoval to a convenient house. — Scanty supply of water at Odessa. — The sailors form a band. — Uncertamty as to our fate. — Instance of the Russian soldiers' forbearance. — Regulations to keep order. — The head Guardian of Quarantine presented with a ring by the crew. — The fleet expected to aA'enge the capture of the Tiger. — Arrival of two English steamers. — Letters from home. — Chevaher Ceschini, Austrian Consid- General, — Cap- tam Gifiard in a precarious state. General Osten Sacken^ of his own accord^ granted us permission to communicate with our friends by- writing, provided all the letters were sent open, through the authorities, and did not touch upon politics ; we had thus a great source of comfort in hearing directly from those most dear to us. A few days after our landing, as the empty powder-magazine was not considered by the Me- dical Board to be a healthy residence, the men were all removed to a large house which had been oc- cupied by a school, and was capacious enough to accommodate the whole of the ship^s crew. The scholars had been transferred to the country, in the environs of the city. This establishment was about a quarter of a mile from the place still occupied FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 31 by the officers, and outside tlie ruined fortress_, at the foot of the glacis ; it formed the corner of a large street in the suburbs of the city. Sentinels were posted in front of the two sides, and a strong guard was established on the opposite side of the street, facing the entrance. There was abundant room in this building, one floor remaining un- occupied; and the courtyard before the house af- forded space in which the men could take the air, and exercise themselves with the school-boy games of their early days. One great comfort was a pump of good water, which gave the men an advantage over their officers, the latter being provided with this element in casks brought to them daily. The town of Odessa is scantily sup- plied with good water, which the inhabitants are obliged to buy from carriers, who bring it in bar- rels from some little distance. The scholars' bedsteads, although rather short, were not otherwise objectionable to the men, who accommodated themselves to them, being accus- tomed to shorten their stature when sleeping in their hammocks. A piano, found in one of the rooms, was soon taken possession of by those who could play on it; and, with the assistance of a violin bought by subscription from a player in the or- chestra at the Opera, and a flute that one of the men had brouglit away with him, a smart little band was organized, to which they danced merrily of an evening, whilst enjoying their pipes ; and thus 32 NARRATIVE OF THE wiling away the time, like true Jack Tars, made the best of their inaction. As a remarkable j^roof of the power of excite- ment on the physical strength of the sailor, it may be stated, that often, after a hard day's work, the sound of the fiddle will bring out some young votary at the shrine of Terpsichore, who will go through such rapid evolutions with his feet as to astound the looker-on, persisting therein for twen- ty minutes or half an hour, as if his very life de- pended on them, and concluding without evincing any over-fatigue after such violent exertion; and others will then get up and emulate, if not sur- pass, the first dancer. It was fortunate that the men could have recourse to such innocent and healthy diversion, as it checked any tendency to brooding over their fate, and useless longing after their homes. We were critically situated, as we could not be informed of the probable duration of our deten- tion; and were thus left in a blank state of mind, easily conceived by any one who has felt the emp- tiness of uncertain expectations. As no Russian prisoners of war had at that time been made by the English, we had no reason to hope for release by exchange of prisoners. The good effect of habits of order and discipline was strikingly shown, and in a manner very credi- table to the men. As they were deprived of the surveillance of their officers, who were in another FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 33 building, at some distance, and could not see them without a written permission, they appointed, of their own accord, one of the petty officers, who could speak French, as Superintendent; and he, in conjunction with the others, established regula- tions for the cleanliness and order of the rooms, arranged the messes, abolished smoking in the bedrooms, and prescribed the extinction of lights at ten o^ clock at night. These arrangements, — which tended greatly to their personal comfort, and secured the goodwill of those to whose care they had been consigned, — were submitted to me for my approval, and any infringement of the rules was reported to me. Culprits might have been treated according to the Russian scale of punish- ment; but the authorities kindly permitted the officers to impose such penalties as they thought sufficient. It was found that exclusion from the society of their messmates for a few days was suf- ficient to bring any of the men to a proper sense of their misconduct. The quarantine regulations rendered solitary confinement impossible, as a guardian must always be in the same ward Avitli the guarded. Besides the sentries stationed in front of the building, there were always a great many of the people of the town hanging about till a late hour, to satisfy their curiosity by the sight of the pri- soners. Among these many kind-hearted women brought bouquets of flowers, throwing them into D 34 NARRATIVE OF THE the rooms, to tlie great amusement of the men, and establishing a telegraphic communication by signs and the recondite language of flowers. As an instance of the forbearance and good-nature of the Russian soldiers, I may relate that on one oc- casion, as the women pressed too near the building, at the windows of which the men were standing, they were ordered off by the sentry, and the men were signed to retreat Avithin : one of them did so, but returned with a glass of water, which he poured over the astonished functionary, much to the amusement of the by-standers. One might have expected some disturbance or remonstrance on the part of the soldiers ; but no notice was taken of the affair, either by them or by the ru- ling authorities, who attributed the deed rather to Jack Tar's inherent delight in a joke, than to any malicious or improper feeling. As an instance of the satisfaction the men felt at the kindly manner in which they had been treated, I may mention the fact of their ha\ing, at the end of their twenty-one days^ probation, subscribed, of their own accord, to present a ring to one of the Commissaries of Quarantine, — a fine, hale old man of eighty-four, who had spent his life in that branch of the service. The natural expectation of the Russian autho- rities was, that the Allied fleet would come to re- venge the destruction of the Tiger by bombarding Odessa a second time ; and they were kept on the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 35 alert by constant telegraphic signals from different points on tlie coast. We could often see anxiety portrayed in tlie faces of officers who came to look out from a ruined tower within the Quarantine enclosure^ for the appearance of vessels in the dis- tance. We were thus kept in a constant state of excitement by the expectation of rescue. About the 16th of May, Signor Cambiaggio brought us the welcome intelligence that two English steamers were in sight, and that he was going out to meet them ; and about the same time Count Maidhem, one of Osten Sacken^s aides-de-camp, was sent by the General, to advise us to prepare our letters for our friends on board the fleet. About ten o'clock, after partaking of as much breakfast as our anxiety would permit, the two telescopes saved from the Tiger were put in requisition, and many an anxious gaze was directed toward the horizon. At last, much to our gratification, two vessels were seen steaming round the point : they had been visible for some time from the Russian look-out on the coast, although not in sight of the Quarantine establishment, before which they now stopped, to communicate with the shore. We soon discovered them to be the Furious and the In- flexible, carrying the Russian flag at the main, and a white flag of truce at the foremast. A boat sent out by the Russians, with Signor Cambiaggio on board, met the boat of the Furious half-way between the vessels and the shore ; a short parley 36 NARRATIVE OF THE was held, and the boats then separated, and re- turned. After the due formalities of perfuming and opening and inspecting the letters and despatches, they were delivered to us. Happy were those (and few the disappointed) who received kind letters and messages from their friends in the fleet, and were re-assured, in their confinement, of the sympathy of their fellow-countrymen ! ^ye owe to the officers of these vessels a debt of gratitude we shall not easily forget, for the liberal manner in which they contributed to our wants, by supplying us with clothes and money. The latter was collected by subscription among them, and freely sent to us, without any stipulations. I trust our pecuniary obligation will some day be cancelled; the recollection of their generosity will be indelible. We w ere informed that we should have a further opportunity of communicating with the steamers by letter, and were allowed to prepare our answers ; but a personal interview between the captain of the Furious and the officers of the Tiger was inter- dicted, for political reasons. In the course of the afternoon the First Lieute- nant of the Furious landed, with a large stock of blankets, flannel, cloth, soap, tobacco, etc., which were admitted without demur into the fumigating room, and duly consigned to us. Among other things, a cask of cocoa had been sent, by mistake. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. .3/ for a cask of soap : this caused us some inconve- nience^ as, not having sugar enough to sweeten the cocoa, we could not use it, and yet were unalile to dispose of it. The Russians were much struck with the great care taken of the men by their superiors, when they saw the abundance of materials landed for their comfort; and it consoled the men in their isolation, comdncing them that they were not for- gotten, or likely to be neglected, by their country. The receipt of the above-mentioned articles gave occupation to the men in their inactivity; and they were soon enabled to appear in decent apparel, made by themselves. The Admiral also sent me permission to draw- bills on England for paying the wages of the men, and for the purchase of any necessary articles of clothing. The bills were negotiated by the Che- valier Ceschini, the Austrian Consul- General, to whom, at the AdmiraFs request. Prince Leiningen (a relation of Her Majesty, serving as a mate on board the Britannia flag-ship in the Black Sea) wrote in German, to give the necessary credit, as we had no representative at Odessa. We experi- enced no difficulty in these money transactions, having merely to pay one and a half per cent, for discounting the bills. The Chevalier kindly afforded us his assistance in negotiating private drafts on our friends at home; although, for political reasons, he was 38 NARRATIVE OF THE obliged to be circumspect in his demeanour to- ward us ; and I shall have further occasion to mention his polite attentions, as far as he could prudently exercise them. The two vessels steamed away about six o^ clock that evening, to rejoin the fleet, and left us sad at our separation from active duties, which we were all longing to resume. Our friends on board were much afflicted at having to report the precarious state in which our beloved and respected Captain was lying, with great uncertainty as to his future fate. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 39 CHAPTER VI. More liberty allowed. — A Greek tliief. — Foolish restiietions of Quarantine. — The Quarantine Board. — Dr. Tovey and Mr. Coruthers. — Dr. Arpa. — Dr. Pogoschof. — A wounded Scotch- man saved by the Russians during the Bombardment. — A headless body discovered on board the Tiger. — The head found. — Message from the General. — Our explanation. — Re- ports in the Enghsh newspapers. — Number of guns on board the Tiger. A FEW days after the visit of the steamers. Signer Cambiaggio represented^ to the authorities the in- convenience felt by the officers on account of the limited space allowed them for exercise : this con- sisted only of the yard in front of the building allotted to us; now however we were allowed to pass into the grass-plot in front, which is bounded by the cliff. No one who has not experienced the irksome restraint of quarantine regulations, can imagine the pleasure we experienced at this exten- sion of our lilicrty ; limbs and lungs had now free play, as we could enjoy a lengthened promenade, with fresh air, in front of the establishment ; and here, as already observed, wc used to sit in the evenings and sip our tea, discussing the events iO NARRATIVE OF THE that came to our knowledge, and the news con- tained in the recent letters from our friends. It was amusing to see the shifts to which the guardians were put in keeping quarantine ; but the utility of their precautions was by no means always clear to our apprehension. For instance, when money was brought to us from the city, in return for our bills, it was put in water before being con- veyed to us ; and when we had any document to deliver to the " clean '^ guardian, he would not take it directly from our hands, but did not mind picking it up with his hands if w^e placed it on the ground, proceeding with it then to the fumigating house !^ In one instance, a little dog belonging to the Captain, having run at one of the guardians, seized him by the skirt of his coat : upon this the man had to take oif the garment, to be fumigated ; and the little dog w^as carried into the yard and washed * A ludicrous circumstance occurred, which amused us much at the time. A Grreek, who had contrived to steal some tilings from on board the Tiger, was caught in the streets of Odessa wearing a pair of trousers belonging to one of the officers, whose height was at most four feet six inches, and whose corpulence i-endered his shape more like that of a top than anything else. Let the reader fancy these inexpressibles on the body of a lank, thin fellow, at least six feet high ; the waist of the garment being tliree times the size requisite for his body, and the length barely reaching below his knees ! I do not know what penalty was awarded to the tliief, but he was no doubt severely punished ; indeed the laws of quarantine wotdd have permitted of his being shot. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 41 all over ! After this we were careful to restrict the motions of poor Toby, in order not to be led by him into an infringement of quarantine; for this might have caused a further detention^ tlirough coming in contact with persons who had begun their days of purification after us. Of these there were a few, consisting of passengers who had ar- rived in neutral vessels^ or captains desirous of en- tering the city after conforming to the require- ments of the quarantine laws. The latter were under the direction of a Board^ among the mem- bers of Avhich w^ere two Enghshmen, who had been established many years in Odessa, — Dr. Tovey^ of Manchester_, who had married a Russian lady, and Mr. Coruthers, brother of the English Consul at Taganrog. These gentlemen were as kind to us as they could be under the restraint of quarantine regulations. The chief medical man is Dr. Arpa, a Maltese, who was assisted by Dr. Pogoschof ; these gentle- men rendered every assistance to om* medical of- ficers in succouring the sick and wounded. Ano- ther instance of the humanity of the Russian au- thorities was aJ0Porded by their kind treatment of a Scotchman whom we found in the hospital; he belonged to an English merchant ship, and had been severely wounded by a stray shot from one of our vessels at the bombardment of Odessa. During the action^ the authorities, on hearing of his mishap, Vrcre considerate enough to send a party of soldiers 42 NARRATIVE OF THE to convey him to the hospital, where every possible care was taken of him. He had had the inner part of his thigh carried off, and was labouring under the effect of a partial lock-jaAv. On our landing he was made over to the care of our medical officer, was fast recovering when we last saw him, and was eventually cured. About the 20th of May a circumstance occurred which I must stop to relate : it will serve to give an idea of how little is known in Russia of English laws, and of the manner of administering punish- ment in the hslyj. Sign or Cambiaggio called, by desire of General Osten Sacken, to inquire whe- ther we had decapitated the pilot of our ship for having run her ashore. We could scarcely under- stand what he meant, until he explained himself by stating that a headless body had been found after we had left the ship, dressed in an English sailor^ s clothes. Nothing had been said on the subject until, about a week after, the head was discovered in another part of the vessel. Signor Cambiaggio expressed a kind of apology on the part of the General for making the inquiry ; he said that " of course we had every right to exer- cise the powers which our laws might grant in de- capitating the man ;" all he was desirous of know- ing was, whether such had been the case. We as- sured him that this could not be, and that it must have been the body of some one who, having been successful in robbing the vessel, had retm-ned to FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 43 it in the garments he had contrived to carry off, and in search of fresh plunder ; he must have been overpowered by some competitor^ who had killed and decapitated him. It was some time before the Russian authorities could bring their minds to ac- cede to this explanation. All that we could do, we did, by pointing out the pilot, who was a Turk, and was in quarantine with us ; and to certify that none of our men were missing. Still, we were constantly cross-questioned on the subject by other Russian officers, who imagined that we had some object in concealing the fact. Such are the circumstances which led to certain reports on this subject in the English newspapers, and which we are anxious to rectify, as they caused much pain to the relatives of the Captain, by im- putations on his character, which will be contra- dicted by all who knew the gentleness and huma- nity of his disposition. Many were the stories promulgated at the time by the minor members of the press, anxious for anything to attract readers. Among these I may mention one statement, wholly destitute of foun- dation, in which it was asserted that, previous to his death, the Captain had called the officers and all the crew around him, and, expressing his re- gret at having struck his flag, declared that, under other circumstances, he would have blown up the ship rather than be made prisoner, or something to this effect. 44 NARRATIVE OF THE Another affair on which we were cross-ques- tioned by the authorities was regarding the ap- parent inaccuracy of our statement of the number of guns which the Tiger carried. It was observed to us^ that we had declared they were sixteen, while the port-holes were of a greater number. We had to explain that some vessels are pierced for more guns than they carry, in order to af- ford opportunities of moving them into favourable positions, when required. This answer satisfied his Excellency General Osten Sacken ; but I am not aware whether the whole, or any, of the guns were got up by the persons employed to bring to Odessa all that could be saved from the wreck. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 45 CHAPTER VII. Second arrival of the Furious and Vesuvius. — Two Russian brigs taken. — Exchange of prisoners offered. — Liberahty of the Rus- sian authorities. — Colt's revolvers. — Russian armourers. — Censorship. — Quarantine probation lengtliened. — Hopes of an exchange of prisoners. — Apprehensions of having to pass the winter in Russia. — Civilized enemies and barbarian allies. About the 25th, we were again gratified by the sight of the English flag, on board the Furious and Vesu\dus. At the first visit the bkie ensign had been hoisted at the peak; this time, in conse- quence of the promotion of the Admiral in the in- terval, it was the white ensign. This excited some curiosity in the Russian officers, who were not aware of the distinction,"^ but were satisfied by our explanation. The steamers brought us letters from home, and a stock of clothing for the officers and men, together with plenty of soap and tobacco; but what gratified us most w as the intelligence that * The smallest circumstance is not considered too trivial to be made the subject of a despatch ; in a conversation the WTiter afterwards had with the Grand- Duke Constantine, he stated that it had been reported to him tliat Sir Charles Napier car- ried a blue flag at the main, instead of at the fore, the usual position of a Ticc- Admiral's flag. 46 NARRATIVE OF THE two Russian brigs had been taken off the coast of Circassia_, on board of which were a hundred and seventy-nine soldiers and nine officers. The Ad- miral had offered to General Osten Sacken to ex- change these for a part of the crew of the Tiger. As he had already liberated upwards of a hun- dred Russian merchant- seamen without ransom^ he naturally inferred that the arrangements pro- posed w^ould be acceded to by the Russian Govern- ment. General Osten Sacken made no objection,, but was obliged to wait for further instructions from St. Petersburg. As the boats that landed the letters were not allowed to stay ashore^ and as the Russian boats paid only one ^dsit to the Furious^ we had no op- portunity of writing our answers^ or of giving in- formation respecting the state of the Captain and men, except by such letters as were ready when the boat arrived ; these were taken off at once, and the vessels steamed away again to join the fleet. Among the articles landed from the Furious for the officers, were two boxes which had been trans- ferred from on board the Britannia, and addressed by friends in England to two of the young mid- shipmen. The contents of these boxes might very properly have been confiscated, — one of them con- taining a sword and a revolver ; the other, one of Coitus revolving pistols. The Russian authori- ties hoAvever, considering them private property, and knowing that they had not been sent as con- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 74 trabancl of war, decided upon detaining them only so long as the owners were in captivity ; and Ge- neral Krusenstern ordered them to be sealed up until the young men should be free to take them away with them, and gave a receipt, identifying them in the number of the register. The w^ea- pons were much admired by the Russian officers, among whom we saw none who possessed any like them; but these arms have, no doubt, since be- come more common, as there were many of them on board the Tiger, and they will have been imi- tated at least, if not equalled, by the Russian ar- mourers. Russian manufacturers are competent to make good arms, and usually do so when specimens are required to be submitted to the authorities; but, in consequence of the peculation which pervades many departments of the Government, very in- ferior articles are supplied to the troops. In one instance I w^as shown an officer^ s sword bent in a circle, which he unbent again as if it had been made of pewter or tin. All the books found on board the Tiger were taken to the Censor^s office at Odessa. A dis- pute however arose between this official and the clerks of the Custom-house, as to whose duty it was to decide upon the expediency of their being restored to us ; and wc did not obtain possession of them until we were liberated from quarantine. Some works of light reading, which were ad- 48 NARRATIVE OF THE dressed to the officers by friends in England, were forwarded to St. Petersburg, and never readied the persons to whom they were sent, some time being required for them to pass the ordeal of ex- amination established by the censorship. It may be as well here to warn those who may have friends in Russia situated as we were, of the disservice they may render them by sending news- papers containing political matter. In the box containing the books just mentioned, which had been forwarded to the capital for examination (at least so we were informed), there were a number of papers, chiefly of the ^ Times,^ and one local pe- riodical; these were fumigated, and delivered to the person to whom the box was addressed, as waste-paper, having served merely to fill up the spaces between the books. On pratique being given, the Custom-house officers, when examining our effects, discovered these papers, and were dis- posed to make them the cause of a dispute. If I had not applied to the quarantine authorities for evidence of these papers having been received through the proper channel, an unpleasant di- lemma might have resulted;"^ for, as it happened, one of the scraps contained a severe stricture on * A copy of the ' Illustrated London News,' wliich contained a plan of the fortress of Sevastopol, from the able sketch of Lieutenant O'Reilly of the Retribution, had been mutilated by the authorities, one-half being cut off befoi'e it was dehvered to the person to whom it was addressed. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 49 tlie conduct of the Emperor of Russia. Quires on quires would liave been wasted in reports on the subject^ and much trouble occasioned to the qua- rantine authorities^ as well as to the person in whose possession the paper was founds had not the matter been hushed up. At first we were led to expect that our quaran- tine would be only of fourteen days^ duration ; but before that time had elapsed, we were in- formed that three weeks would be the period re- quired; an answer from St. Petersburg could not be expected in less than that time, when the will of the Emperor would be known respecting our future destination_, which now became a matter of great interest and discussion. A doubt was expressed whether we should be re- moved from Odessa, as there was some prospect of an interchange of prisoners. Still, as it was pos- sible that we should have to travel into the interior of the country, we all occupied ourselves in making the necessary preparations : it was amusing to see the number of needles at work; even among the officers ingenuity was greatly in request, to increase their scanty stock of apparel. The prospect of passing the winter in we knew not what part of Eussia, was far from cheering; and our apprehensions as to the cold to which we should be exposed were by no means allayed by an examination of the kist of one of the guardians. This man was airing his traps, and displayed to E 50 NARRATIVE OF THE our astonished \dew articles for covering the head, nose, and chin, of which we before had no concep- tion, and which we certainly did not imagine could be required so far south. How much worse would it be if we were taken into the interior, to say no- thing of the dreaded steppes of Siberia ! But such apprehensions were vain ; the kindness we had al- ready experienced sufficed to assure us that no un- necessary harshness or severity of treatment was intended by our civilized enemies. At first, unacquainted with the Russian charac- ter, and apprehensive of ill-treatment in case we were removed to some out-of-the-way place in the interior of the country, the officers resorted to va- rious ingenious contrivances to secrete the spare money they possessed. Some sewed it in the stiff collars of their jackets; others wore the coin in belts round their waists, etc. But that such pre- cautions were perfectly needless, will be * seen in the sequel. I afterwards traversed the whole of Russia, often leaving my portmanteau in the car- riage upon the high-road, while reposing at the inn during the night, without losing the smallest trifle. Indeed the sympathy everywhere shown us was remarkable ; and the conduct of our civilized enemies afforded a striking contrast to that of our barbarous allies, to whose assistance our country has generously proceeded. While staying at Con- stantinople we were often spat upon in the streets by the Turkish children, who certainly would not FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 51 have felt such an abhorrence of us_, if it had not been instilled into them by their parents, who no doubt expressed in private the feelings which were thus aped and reflected by their little counter- parts. 52 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER VIII. Death of Captain G-iffarcI— Dr. Domville, the Medical Officer of the Tiger; his scientific operations. — The funei'al conducted ■\Yith inihtary honours. — The Eussian Grenerals attend the cere- mony. — Orders of the Emperor respecting the officers and crew. — Midshipmen ordered to proceed to the University of Moscow. — Despondency of the crew. — Exchange of prisoners. On the 1st of June^ about half-past seven in the morning, we had the misfortune to lose our beloved and much-lamented Captain, who sank under the effect of his wounds. His death had been foreseen by the surgeons, as the wounds had never shown a disposition to heal, although every means had been used to effect that object. The medical officer of the Tiger, under a sense of his responsibility, and with a deske that the friends of the Captain should be assured that every exertion had been made to save him, requested the General, a fortnight previous to his decease, to appoint a consultation of the first medical men in Odessa. This took place about the 20th ; Dr. Wagner and several others met in the Captain^s ward, and ap- proved of all that had been done, as well as of the measures proposed to be adopted. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. OO It will doubtless be satisfactory to those inter- ested in the fate of the persons who lost their lives on board the Tiger, to be informed that one of General Osten Sacken^s aides-de-camp, Baron Grothus, casually informed me that the medical men of Odessa had visited, in the dead-house, the bodies of those who had died of wounds, and had expressed to the General their admiration at the scientific manner in which the necessary amputa- tions had been performed. I have said that our lamented Captain was be- loved by all on board ; he was not less esteemed and regretted by the officers of the fleet, who all deplored his loss. To the last he was cheerful, although it was evident that he had little hope of recovery. Dr. Domville read to him portions of the Scriptures daily, at such times as he thought him in a fit state to listen ; this evidently afforded him great consolation, and in his last moments rendered him more resigned to his fate. The sad intelligence of his death was immedi- ately communicated to the General, who sent an aide-de-camp to assure us that every regard should be had to our desires in paying the last honours to his remains. At first, being in quarantine, we supposed that the funeral would have been of a private nature ; but as the General expressed a wish to evince, by a public demonstration, his regard for the Captain, who by his gallant conduct had secured the es- 54 NARRATIVE OF THE teem of his enemies^ it was decided that the burial should take place with every honour due to his rank, and the General intimated to us that he would comply with any arrangements we might deem expedient. Having brought on shore with us a white ensign, we were desirous of using it for a pall, as is cus- tomary on such occasions in honour of an officer of the Captain's rank; the General acceded to our request, but, on second thoughts, sent an aide-de- camp to request we would waive this point of eti- quette, as he was apprehensive the troops might make some demur at firing the three volleys in honour of the deceased, if they saw the English flag ; we of course complied, on this appeal to our consideration for the prejudices of the people. The Government furnished us with a handsome cofiin, which was mounted on a platform, fitted to a field-carriage, and drawn by four horses. In consequence of the roughness of the weather, the funeral did not take place the next day; in the in- terval, a guard of honour was posted at the doors by the authorities, the sentinels standing with arms reversed ; and all the Generals and officers of the army at Odessa paid a visit whilst the corpse was lying in state. On the 3rd of June, about nine o'clock in the morning, the troops assembled at the gate of the Quarantine establishment, and formed in the order of procession. All the officers and men of the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 55 ship's company attended^ following immediately in the rear of the car, and a fine body of cavalry pre- ceded it; next came the Russian Generals, with a brilliant staff of aides-de-camp, and other offi- cers ; after them followed a regiment of infantry, with arms reversed, preceded by their band play- ing some Russian hymn ; and the procession was closed by a battery of horse artillery, drawn in honour of the occasion. Although we had had pratique on the 2nd, we had not yet left the Quarantine establishment, so that we had a long walk round the ramparts of the city to reach the cemetery, in a secluded part of which the grave had been prepared. The weather was extremely sultry, and the inhabitants of Odessa crowded round the procession, although the Cos- sacks did what they could to keep the road clear : but there was not the least expression of exulta- tion on the part of the multitude ; on the contrary, sympathy was everywhere manifested. The service was performed by myself, the re- sponses being given by the officers and men ; and a Lutheran clergyman attended, who closed with a prayer in German. Three volleys of musketry were fired by the infantry regiment, as is usual at military funerals; and the troops returned to their quarters, leaving only the guard to accom- pany the prisoners back to their quarantine resi- dence. The officers remained to see the grave closed, and covered in with stones, which had been 56 NARRATIVE OF THE prepared, and made to fit together^ so as to sustain the weight of any monument that may hereafter be erected ; and we then took a long and sad fare- well of the remains of our lamented Captain^ ho- ping that we might each fall as honourably^ in the service of our country. About this time we were made acquainted with the decision of the Emperor regarding us. I was ordered to proceed to St. Petersburg; the other two Lieutenants and the Doctor were to follow me a few days after as far as Riasan, a city about a hundred miles to the south-east of Moscoav ; and the remaining officers and men, divided into two companies, were to follow to the same place. The officers were to be conveyed in vehicles ; the men were to proceed on foot, by slow marches, by which they would accomplish the journey in about a month. The Emperor directed that the four youngest midshipmen should be sent to the University of Moscow, where they would be provided with every- thing requisite, and were to be placed under the especial care of the Director of the College ; it was supposed that they would there meet with the con- genial society of youths of their own age, who be- longed to some of the first families in the empire, this University being under the special patronage of the Royal Family. Such were the intended arrangements, which however were afterwards in some respects changed by circumstances. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 57 The Russian authorities, conceiving that the men might be in want of sufficient clothing (although the officers had declared that they were fully satis- fied with the state of their apparel) _, ordered that each man should have allotted to him a great-coat, such as is worn by soldiers in Russia, of coarse grey cloth, reaching to the ankles, and double- breasted, together with a pair of thick loose boots, in which to make the journey; and, as it might be expected that sailors, from their cramped-up life on board ship, would not be able to undergo the fatigues of this long tramp without some casual- ties, waggons were to be pro\dded to carry the baggage of the crew, and to assist those who might be unable to support the fatigue of a journey of so many hundred miles. Many of the men, in fact, were very desponding, as they were ignorant of the nature of the country, and of the distance they would be required to travel daily ; indeed, the con- templation of so long a march was not cheering, as they apprehended that the kind treatment they had hitherto experienced might be diminished when separated from their officers. Their appre- hensions however were needless, as the offer on the part of the English Admiral, for an exchange of prisoners, had been accepted ; and the men were detained in the building they had hitherto occupied, only until the arrival of the Russian prisoners. This took place about a month after, and all re- ceived their liberty, with the exception of thii'ty. 58 NARRATIVE OF THE for whom no equivalent could be offered, and who were removed to Riasan, as had been originally intended,, where they will await the chances of war. Doubtless, now that so large a number of prisoners have fallen into our hands by the taking of Bomarsund, they will soon be restored to their friends. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 59 CHAPTER IX. Pratique. — Baron Eollsberg. — Signer Luigi Mocchi. — The Em- peror's liberality. — Attentions of the Russian Officers to the Officers of the Tiger. — Description of Odessa. — Bust of the Duke de Richeheu. — Imitation Palais Royal. — Opera. — Per- formance of Yerdi's ' Rigoletto.' — The two factions. — La Car- dosa. — ' La Donna e mobile.' As we were now in free pratique^ it was requisite that the officers should be removed to the city, to vacate their quarters for others who might require them. Baron Rollsberg, the Governor of the for- tress, called upon me, and took me in his carriage to view several houses which had been offered to the Government, giving me my choice. The house selected by me was the one nearest to that occu- pied by the men, — in an adjoining street, not more than a hundred yards distant. This house was in a fine open situation, and had in front of it a church and a nunnery; the occupants of the latter had been removed fifty miles into the country at the time of the bombardment of Odessa. At the back of the premises, which were provided with every convenience (a well included), there was a rather extensive garden; the whole was the property of 60 NARRATIVE OF THE the pilot before-mentioned^ Signor Luigi Mocchi, a man of considerable property, and well deserv- ing of the consideration he enjoyed in Odessa. On our release from quarantine, Signor Mocchi paid us an official visit, on which occasion he wore two large gold medals, presented to him by the Emperor, in token of commendation for his in- trepidity in saving the lives of a large number of men who were in danger of wreck on the Mole. On one occasion he carried out, in a large boat, anchors and cables, and enabled fourteen vessels to ride out a heavy gale, in which they incurred great risk of running on shore. These exploits were hieroglyphically chronicled in a series of rude drawings, hung round the apartments of our house ; but the tale they told had been previously related to me by impartial friends of the old pilot at Odessa. Thus we see that, in Russia, not only are de- ser\dng foreigners recompensed for their services, but allowed to enjoy the fruits of their industry unmolested by the Government; and not unfre- quent is the notice bestowed by the Emperor upon the most humble individual in the army or navy whose good conduct may merit reward. We fre- quently saw privates bearing several medals, be- stowed on them for meritorious deeds or long services : they received a double encouragment, by houom*s conferred upon them and by gratuities in money, of all of which due notice is given in the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER, 61 official Gazette. This system tends to attach the men to the service and person of the Emperor^ to whom they look up as the unbiassed umpire in their emulation for distinction. A guard was posted at the door of the house, with orders to go on any message we might de- sire; and, whenever we wished to visit the town, one or the other of the aides-de-camp of General Osten Sacken was immediately ready to accom- pany us in a carriage which he would provide for the occasion. This ready compliance with our slightest intimations, by gentlemen of high stand- ing, like the two brothers Barons Grothus, w^as irk- some, inasmuch as we felt ashamed to put their good-nature to the proof; still they were unre- mitting in their kindness, and took us wherever we wished to go. We were thus enabled to see some- thing of the town. The city of Odessa, although only of some sixty years^ standing, has been transformed, in that short space of time, from a fishing village into one of the most wealthy and populous seaport towns in Europe. There are many churches (Greek, Lu- theran, and Roman Catholic), an Opera-house, a Bank, Exchange, Barracks, and other Government buildings ; and the streets are long, straight, broad, and generally at right angles to each other. The largest Greek cathedral has a spire about a hun- dred and fifty feet high, and is covered with blue glazed tiles, which give it a remarkable lustre, and 62 NARRATIVE OF THE preserve it from the effects of the climate. All round the city are boulevards, planted with a hardy kind of tree, the only one that will grow in this bleak district ; it is of the family of the acacia, and very ornamental, although small, barely attaining a height of thirty feet. This is the customary promenade of the inhabitants, who resort also to the public gardens on the cliff, in front of some of the best houses of the city, where the military bands play of an evening in fine weather. Leading down to the Mole, are flights of steps along the face of the cliff. At the top, in an open space close to the gardens, a bust of the Duke de Richelieu has been erected on a pedestal, which was pointed out to us as having been much injured during the bombardment, to the regret of the inhabitants, who respect the memory of the Duke as one w^ho was instrumental in the improvement of their city. There is at Odessa an imitation of the Palais Royal of Paris, in which are many shops, well furnished with the luxuries and necessaries of civi- lized life, and first-rate cafes and places of refresh- ment. Near this is the Opera, which we visited, and were accommodated in the Governor's box ; here we had the satisfaction of looking at the ladies through the identical opera-glass that had been used by his Excellency Osten Sacken, when watching the progress of the attack on the luck- less Tiger. As may be readily imagined, we Avere not the least observed among the observers. The FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 63 audience was cliiefly composed of the military^ and among them was pointed out to us a yoimg man who had recently been raised three grades in the army for his heroic defence of the battery at the Imperial Mole, which the Emperor ordained should henceforth bear his name; unfortunately I am not able to remember this appellation_, but it will doubtless hereafter be familiar to every inha- bitant of Odessa. The Opera was sustained by a very fair com- pany of Italian singers, who performed, on the borders of the Black Sea, Verdi^s ' Rigoletto,' much to the enjoyment of the listeners, who, as is always the case, were divided in two factions, each main- taining the superior excellence of the favourite Prima Donna assoluta. La Cardosa's Gilda had real merit, which was much enhanced by the peculiar circumstances un- der which we heard her in this remote part of the globe ; and to this day the refrain of her solo in the First Act, — " E pur r ultimo sospir, Caro nome, tuo sara," still rings in our ear, and recalls the kindness we experienced at the hands of our enemies. The finale of the Duke, ' La Donna e mobile,' sung by a pretty good tenor, seemed to form part of the atmosphere as we left the theatre ; it resounded all around us, — seeming to pervade the minds of the company as they dispersed. 64 NARRATIVE OF THE I am not aware whether the Government sup- ports the Opera by a special stipend to the mana- ger; but we were informed that the person who was fortunate enough to obtain the Government contract for supplying the Quarantine establish- ment with provisions^ is required to take charge of the Opera. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 65 CHAPTER X. The Officers dine with Chevalier Ceschini. — Eailroacl from Mos- cow to Odessa. — Prince Woronzoif. — Commercial prosperity of Odessa. — Eescript of the Emperor. — Interview with Grene- ral Osten Sacken. — Madame Osten Sacken. — Visit to Grenerals AnnenkofFandKrusenstern. — My travelhng companion. — Start for St. Petersburg. — Take leave of my messmates. On the 6tli of Jime^ Chevalier Ceschini, the Aus- trian Consul- General, imited the Officers and the Doctor to dine with him ; and, to prevent '' mys- tification/^ he also asked two of General Osten Sacken^s aides-de-camp, the brothers Barons Grot- hus, to meet them. The usual dinner-hour was four o'clock, but as on this day I was to take my departm^e for St. Petersburg, the guests were invited for an earlier hour. The party consisted of the father and mother of the lady whom the Consul- General had lately married, in addition to the guests above alluded to. Of course political matters were avoided, as dan- gerous ground. The conversation tm-ned chiefly on the great advantages that would accrue to the country in general, and to indi^•idvlals in particu- lar, by the laying down of a raili'oad from ^los- F 66 NARRATIVE OF THE COW to Odessa ; this sclieme was so far advanced tliat it only requii'ed the Emperor^s signature^ for the contractors^ Messrs. Fox and Henderson^ to commence it. The Emperor had postponed the enterprise during the war, although it was said that these gentlemen had agreed to disregard po- litical differences. Another interesting subject was the recent bom- bardment of the city, which was depicted in lively colours by Madame Ceschini, who informed us that her house was in the way of receiving much in- jury, but had fortunately escaped scatheless. Prince A¥oronzoff, who had been Governor-Ge- neral of Odessa, and who is known to be a great friend to the English, had a house on a point of the cliff nearest to where the Allied squadron was firing : his house received no fewer than thirty shots, and was much damaged ; he was thus one of the greatest sufferers in property, although, for- tunately, he was himself absent, having retired to his estates. The city of Odessa, in consequence of its in- creasing prosperity, is said to be regarded with jealousy by the people of St. Petersburg. The latter are apprehensive of losing in some degree their pre-eminence, in favour of a place which, on account of its local advantages, appears to draw much of the commerce of the country, and which, being a harbour for large shipments of grain, has attracted considerable wealth. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 67 During our stay the authorities of Odessa re- ceived a Rescript from the Emperor, to which all due honours were offered : the troops turned out, salutes were fired, and bells were rung, in celebra- tion of the Emperor^s expressing his approval of the conduct of the inhabitants during the sad events attending the bombardment of the city. After dinner the gentlemen proceeded to some gardens about a quarter of a mile distant from the Consulate. Here was a large cafe, in which was a huge barrel-organ, that played some fine pieces of music selected from different operas ; it was an admirable means of regaling the guests with music second only to that of a perfect band. "VYe here took leave of our amiable and intelligent host, regretting that circumstances prevented us from seeing more of him and his family : he kindly placed his carriage at our disposal, to take us home that evening. On reaching our residence I was informed that General Osten Sacken desired to see me, at a villa belonging to General Liiders, which he was now occupying, close to the Boulevards. I forgot to mention that, on the previous day, we had called on the General to express to him the thanks of the officers and crew for the many kind and delicate at- tentions shown us by himself and his amiable lady. It was then that we had had the pleasure of being introduced to his son, who was just returned from a visit to Silistria, whither he had been sent by the OO NARRATIVE OF THE War Office at St. Petersburg^ in Avliich he was an employe. This gentleman was a young man of very pleasing manners^ and spoke English perfectly. Madame Osten Sacken, of whose kindness we can- not speak too warmly, was indisposed; she was however able to see us, and she expressed great satisfaction at ha\dng in any way been able to ren- der our stay agreeable to us. She is a lady of high intellectual attainments, and still retains traces of great personal attractions, which long suffering from ill-health has not removed. She was much pleased with the youngest of the midshipmen who accompanied us, and spoke to him in his native tongue with all the facility of an English lady, in- quiring after his family and relations, and inter- esting herself in anything that might please him. On the same day we also called on the other Generals, Annenkoff and Krusenstern, to take our leave and express our acknowledgments for their assiduous attention to all our wants. They were pleased to compliment us on the defence we had made, and they trusted that we should be satisfied with their treatment of us during our further resi- dence among them. General Krusenstern offered to write to his friend the Governor of Riasan respecting us. He assured us that we should have every reason to be satisfied with him, and gave us a glowing descrip- tion of Riasan and the country around, holding out the prospect of good sport in fishing in the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 69 streams^ for which we were provided with tackle. Our conversation with these gentlemen was carried on principally in French, it being chiefly among Young Russia that the English language is spoken with fluency. The Russian noblesse have for the last twenty years made a point of having English nurses for their children, thus instilling into their minds from their earliest infancy the language of a people they admire, and with whom they regret to have had any rupture of amicable relations. But to return. On descending from the Che- valier's carriage we found Count Maidhem, one of General Osten Sacken's aides-de-camp, at our resi- dence ; by him I was introduced to Mr. F. Sharman, of the corps of Feldjager, who had been selected to be my companion in my future peregrinations in Russia, and who was to take charge of me. This gentleman informed me that the General was wait- ing to see us ; we started off" together in the car- riage which had brought us. On entering the GeneraFs residence I was im- mediately ushered into his presence, and found him seated at a desk, in the corner of a dark room, holding in his hand a large square despatch, and waiting to consign it to my companion. He rose on my entrance, and expressed surprise at my being in uniform, as he expected to see me in travelling costume. I told him that we had just returned from Chevalier Ceschini's dinner party. He desired to know how soon I could be ready to 70 NARRATIVE OF THE starts and I stated the hour of half- past nine. The General then_, wishing me a pleasant journey, dis- missed me with a brotherly kiss on each cheek, in token of goodwill ; this is an honour which I ge- nerally contrived to avoid during my stay in Rus- sia, but was sometimes taken unawares, and not able to escape the infliction. The day appointed for my departure w^as the 7th of June ; but as the General had stated in his despatch that I should start on the 6th, we were compelled to leave before midnight, in order to act up to the letter of the Genera? s statement, — such being the rigorous requirements of official routine. My preparations were therefore not quite complete, as I had expected to start twenty-four hours later ; but, by the assistance of the servant I had selected, Francis Domech, a Maltese, one of the crew of the Tiger, I was soon enabled to pack up the few^ things I required for the journey. On the previous day I had paid a visit to the men, and charged them to continue in their good behaviour and keep up their spirits ; I now took leave of my messmates, who remained at home to see me start, — all except two, who could not with- stand the temptation of a party at General Rolls- berg^ s, to which they had been incited, and where one of them fell under the artillery of Russian ceillades, in spite of the protection he might have received from his elder and equally susceptible, but more prudent companion. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 71 The Austrian Consul- General^ Chevalier Ceschini, and the brothers Grothus, aides-de-camp of Ge- neral Osten Sacken, called to see me before I left; and having shaken hands with the whole party as- sembled, among whom was our good old friend Signor Cambiaggio, we entered the carriage punc- tually at the appointed hour. 72 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XI. We start in a Tarantas. — Contradictory reports. — Our supply of provisions. — Mr. Maberly. — Bad weather. — The Evissian Samovar. — Its useftdness. — Tea in glass tumblers. — Cross the river Boug. — Nikolaiev Dockyard. — Russian Squadron in the Boug. — The Evissian and Dutch flags. — Hotel de Londres. — Manner of washing. Mr. Sharman and myself occupied tlie interior of tlie carriage, whilst my servant sat outside with the coachman. This vehicle, called a " tarantas/' had been purchased by the Government expressly for the purpose of taking us to Moscow, from which place it had only just arrived. It consisted of a coupe, to hold two persons, and a box in front for the driver and servant. These vehicles are strongly built, and not hung on springs, this being con- sidered to render them less liable to accidents. Unfortunately, ours was much worn, and, as will be seen, broke down more than once before we reached our destination. This springless barouche is drawn by three horses abreast, which are changed on the road, the length of the stages varying from ten to eighteen miles. The poor animals are small, and, as the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 73 French would say^ '^^Ne paient pas de mine;^^ but we found them_, as John Bull would say_, ''^good ones to go.'' I must here stop to remark on the very contra- dictory statements that were made to me when en- deavouring^ at Odessa_, before my departure^ to ob- tain information regarding the arrangements ne- cessary for my voyage ; and that too by people who declared that they had just traversed the very same road. For instance, I was strongly urged to lay in a good stock of tea and sugar, as I should not find any on the way; and yet throughout I was enabled to procure them at every post-house. Then, again, I was advised by an officer, who had just arrived from Moscow, to buy a chain, to se- cure the luggage behind the carriage; as, if I used the cord, with which it was lashed, I must expect to have the portmanteaus stolen, which he seemed to think would occur even on our way out of the town. At the first large town (Nikolaiev) we ac- cordingly bought a chain, which however, as it broke, was never used; yet, so far from having anything stolen from us, we never missed the smallest article, although (as has already been mentioned) our effects were left in the hind part of the carriage, which stood in the road in front of the post-house, while we slept mthin. I at first felt nervous about them, as the trunks contained money, and examined them every morning and evening; but at last I gained confidence by free- 74 NARRATIVE OF THE dom from molestation, and no longer felt anxiety on the subject. It is difficult to account for tliis incongruity in the reports of individuals who could have no interest in deceiving me, and who evidently were desirous of giving me the best advice their ex- perience could suggest. Among other comforts of which we laid in a stock, such as Bologna sausages, cheese, white bread, caviar, etc., there was a dozen of good sherry in stone bottles, with which our very kind friend Mr. Maberly, an English merchant at Odessa, had presented me. This gentleman, whose acquaint- ance I had the pleasure of forming during my re- sidence in the town, on hearing me express a wish to obtain a Prayer-book, gave me his own; and I was furnished with a small Testament by Mr. Melvin, who supplied the loss of the fifty copies of the Bible which the Society, whose agent he was, had sent from Constantinople for the use of the crew of the Tiger. We had had beautiful weather up to the time of starting, and anticipated clear moonlight nights for our journey; but unfortunately the weather changed, and it began to rain previous to om' de- parture, and continued unfavourable for several days. This was inconvenient, as we had made no arrangement to take the servant into the carriage with us, and he passed the first night wrapped in my grego over his own clothes, which saved him FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 75 from being wet, altliough liis post was not the most agreeable. The next day we were enabled to take him inside_, by stowing away in a different manner the boxes entrusted to Mr. Sharman for the Grand Duke Constantine_, which contained various articles taken from on board the Tiger, such as the open list of the ship^s company, and Massey's Patent Sounding Machine. Om^ first check was at the barrier, which is at the entrance and sortie of every town ; here Mr. Sharman had to show his passport, and we were questioned as to whether we had any contraband goods. Lace was one of the articles specified, and strange to say, I might have had some, if the box, the fragments of which had been restored to me, had not been plundered, as I had had occasion to purchase some at Malta. We were at last outside the gates of Odessa, and pursuing our route along the shore of the Bay. During the night we had to cross several small in- lets of the sea ; these were very shallow, but ex- tended some distance into the country. On one occasion the servant, much alarmed, awoke me, exclaiming, "^ Mr. Royer! Mr. Royer ! the horses are galloping forward as fast as they can, and the carriage is going backwards !" The fact was, that, as it was blowing pretty hard at the time, the wind drove the surface of the water past the car- riage in the direction we were going, which had the effect of making the servant, who was half- 76 NARRxVTIVE OF THE asleep at the time^ imagine that our progress was in the opposite direction to that which we in- tended ; and the splashing of the horses in the water_, made them appear to be going faster than they really did. We changed horses several times during the night, and at six o'clock in the morning stopped at a little post-house, standing bleak and soli- tary ; the wretchedness of the scene was much increased by the heavy rain that was falling. To attempt to retain the names of the post-houses on the road would be an impossibility, if not an ab- surdity. Considering the peculiar position in which I was situated, a natural delicacy prevented my keeping any strict account, particularly of places not even marked upon the postal maps supplied by the Government. Here however we breakfasted, our tea being soon made Avith the assistance of the samovar. This is one of the most useful of Russian domestic im- plements, and very superior to our English urn. So common is it in Russia, and in such general use, that at the Exhibition of 1851 it was neglected to be produced among the objects worthy of notice. A funnel that passes through the centre of the urn, serves as a chimney to produce a draught of air, ^ so that three pieces of charcoal, which are lighted outside the apartment, soon bmm brightly, and in less than ten minutes the water boils, and is kept at the boiling-point as long as required. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 11 This is a much more simple and easy contrivance than onr English urns, which require the water to be boiling, and a large fire to be ready to make the iron red-hot ; even then the water is not kept long in ebullition, and the whole requires much time and trouble : to say nothing of the additional advantage of being able, at the same time, to cook an Q^^, or even a chop, or at least to keep your toast warm on the top of the funnel. It is very desirable that the samovars should be introduced into this country ; and I feel sure that any one who will undertake to place them fairly before the public, and within reach of persons of moderate means, mil add much to our home comforts, and will be amply repaid for his pains. No danger need be apprehended from the effects of the charcoal, as the smoke of three pieces (all that is required) is very trifling; and besides, as I have already ob- served, the fire being lighted outside the room, no evil efiects could arise from it. The fact of their being in such universal use in Russia speaks volumes in their favour. As I am on the subject of tea-making, I will remark, that in Russia, where so much importance is attached to this beverage, the teapot is placed on the funnel of the samovar, to keep the tea as hot as possible ; and in some instances, when the samovar was in use in another room of the hotel, Ave were furnished with two teapots, one fitting on the top of the other, that the lower one, hold- 78 NARRATIVE OF THE ing hot water, might keep the upper one hot, which contained the tea. Another observable circum- stance is the Russian custom of serving tea in glass tumblers. Glass retains the heat better than earthenware, and this perhaps is the reason of its being preferred; with us however this would really be an objection; many a time have I bin^ned my fingers, and wished I could be accommodated with a teacup, an article I never saw during my stay in Russia except at an English house. As milk is not generally used by the Russians, who say that they leave such slops for the women, perhaps they prefer glass because it enables them to see the colour of the beverage they consume. Instead of milk, the juice and small slices of lemon, with an enormous quantity of sugar, are mixed with the tea; to which they occasionally add rum or brandy ; so that, after all, it becomes in fact a glass of punch. After smoking a cigar we proceeded on our jom*- ney. The roads had become very muddy, and the two outer horses, on each side of the one which bore the shafts of the carriage, splashed us in such a manner that we regretted not having brought veils with us, as had been suggested; for so fre- quently were dabs of mud thrown in our faces, that we at last desisted from wiping them off, wait- ing until we reached some place w^here we might perform a regular ablution. The people of the country generally have cur- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 79 tains to tliis kind of veliicle, and on my return from St. Petersburg the carriage in whicli I was conveyed was provided with them ; but as the wea- ther was then suUry, we preferred the clouds of dust to the confined air within the carriage, and drew them back. As we proceeded the weather cleared up; and about two o'clock we reached a pretty little village on the right bank of the Boug, where we had to cross over to Nikolaiev in a ferry-boat. The cottages in this village were built with some pretensions to taste, and had gardens, with flowers ; acacia and poplar trees also helped to render the scene attractive, after a drive through a district only partially cultivated, with a few corn-fields here and there, and the country extending for miles without a bush or hedge. Now and then we had passed a farmhouse or two; but generally there had been an absence of any signs of life. The appearance of a Government courier gene rally quickened the senses of the people at the post-houses, nor was the influence of authority lost upon the boatman at the ferry ; who, on see- ing the aiguillettes worn by my companion, soon cleared the boat of other carriages which he was about to convey over the river, in order to for- ward ours without delay. That portion of Nikolaiev which we saw was built on high ground close to the river. This town was once a place of consequence ; but its commer- 80 NARRATIVE OF THE cial prosperity must have been sapped by the ri- valry of Odessa. Line-of-battle ships are still built here, and I had read in the papers of one having been launched soon after the battle of Sinope, and named in honour of that exploit ; but I much doubt the truth of the report_, as there did not appear to be any activity in the dockyard, and I saw the ribs of a large man-of-war, which would have taken more time to erect than had elapsed since the other was said to have been completed. I only saw at Nikolaiev a small steamer under repair. It took us about half an hour to sail across the river. We passed six Russian men-of-war moored across the stream below the town ; higher up there was a small Government schooner, and closer to the shore two Austrian merchantmen. This Rus- sian squadron consisted of some frigates and cor- vettes in an efficient state, if we may judge from their appearance aloft. They carried the ordinary Russian flag, which consists of three colours, white, blue, and red, horizontally,^ and not that usually borne by men-of-war. I cannot account for this apparent deviation from the general rule, but will relate the explanation given me by an officer at Odessa, on my inquiring how it was that none of the * The Dutch flag has precisely the same colovu's, but the order is different, having the red first, white next, and the blue at the bottom. The Clmstians of Turkey say that the Russians place tlie red beloiv, in order to imply that they keep the Tm-ks under. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF 11. M.S. TIGER. 81 forts at Odessa or Eupatoria hoisted any flag at all, even during the bombardment of the former city. He said that these places were simply com- mercial cities, and not allowed to hoist the Im- perial colours, which they were not capable of defending. The Imperial ensign is white, with a blue dia- gonal cross extending from corner to corner. I imagine that the squadron lying at Nikolaiev had not its full complement of men, and that this was the reason of its flying the national colours in- stead of the Imperial flag, which was carried by the schooner. On landing, we found to our astonishment that no post-horses were to be had. We therefore left the carriage and luggage to the care of a soldier, and proceeded in search of the Hotel de Londres, which we had some difficulty in finding, as it w^as in the town, at a distance of a mile from the dock- yard. We however enjoyed the walk, which af- forded us relief, after sitting in a close carriage so many hours. The town of Nikolaiev is regularly built, as in- deed are most modern cities in Russia ; the streets run at right angles to each other, and their width, length, etc., are fixed, by decree of the Govern- ment, which takes all these matters under its espe- cial care. While dinner w^as being prepared, we enjo\ed the luxury of a good wash, of which, as may be 6 82 NARRATIVE OF THE supposed^ we were much in need^ cooped up and splashed as we had been on the journey. The in- difference of the people of this countrj^^ generally, to the use of water, appeared to me most singular ; indeed I have sometimes fancied that they have an objection to it^ for, instead of properly w^ashing themselves, I have often seen them satisfied with taking a mouthful of the element, which they would spurt out upon their hands and then rub over their faces. There must of course be many persons in Russia who form exceptions to this un- cleanly neglect of the use of water ; but I speak only from the observations I was enabled to make during my personal experience in the country : even in the hotels_, where they profess to give you the conveniences of a washhandstand, the basins are of the size and shape of a pie-dish, and the ewers like large English milk-jugs. I called the place an '' hotel, ^' at which we put up ; this title however it did not assume, but was satisfied with the more modest denomination of "^traktir de Londres^^ (which is, I suppose, a cor- ruption of the German "traktirhaus^^), as it only professed to provide refreshments. It was some time before dinner could be prepared, so that we had time to take a nap, which greatly refi'eshed us. It was here that my companion purchased the chain I mentioned in a preceding chapter, which we had been recommended to procure for securing our luggage behind the coupe. He was FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 83 asked by the people^ who had crowded round him, whether he intended to put it upon the prisoner ; he was much amused at this supposition_, and came and detailed the anecdote to me with much glee and good-humour. 84 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XII. Leave Nikolaiev. — Post-houses improve as we approacli Mos- cow. — Elisavetgrad. — Prairie land. — Tumuli. — Boundless plains or steppes. — The Yamtchik. — Way-posts. — Rate of tra- veRing in Russia. — Waggons. — Russian words for directing the driver. — Nature of the country. We left Nikolaiev about five o^ clock, and soon afterwards came to a bridge thrown over a small river that falls into tbe Boug. Here, to our left, we saw four dismantled steamers, which I recog- nized as the boats that used to carry the mails between Constantinople and Odessa -, they bore the blue flag with a red horn, by wdiich they were al- ways distinguished. The communication between those places being now interrupted by our blockade, the steamers were rendered useless, and removed to this spot inland. We proceeded through a perfectly flat country, partially cultivated, for seventy versts (about forty- seven miles, counting three versts to tAvo miles), without meeting with anything worth notice. At half-past twelve we reached a station, where we re- solved to remain till the morning; so, wrapping our cloaks around us, wx lay down to rest as we could. The post-houses along this part of the road FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 85 do not afford much accommodation to travellers; but_, when within a couple of hundred miles of Moscow^ where the traffic is greater^ we found the stations built upon a regular plan^ similar through- out^ having bedrooms and other necessary conve- niences^ a pretty garden attached to each^ and stabling for upwards of a hundred horses. We continued our way the next morning (the 8th of June) at about half-past seven; the roads were heavy and the weather unfavourable. About five in the afternoon we reached Elisavetgrad. The general character of the vast tract we tra- versed was that of prairie-land, — rich and verdant meadows, with here and there pieces of cultivated land along the road. The surface was everywhere flat, not a single elevation occurring to afford us an extensive prospect. Raised slightly above the ground in our carriage, we could look over the level expanse as over the sea, the horizon being unbroken except occasionally by distant grass- covered tumuli, which seemed to render the scene even still more lonely. These remains of days long past have been con- jectured by many to be of antediluvian origin. However this may be, they are remarkable and interesting as monuments fruitlessly raised by a people to commemorate their existence : their names and history are now lost to the world for ever. It would be idle to form conjectures re- specting these extraordinary remains; nor will I 86 NARRATIVE OF THE stay to detail the various theories I built up, as I contemplated the solitude and desolation to which they are reduced. Once, doubtless, they were surrounded by a teeming population, — pos- sibly the forefathers of the Huns, who afterwards overran Europe, and overwhelmed the South with the warriors from whom the Osmanli sprang. Wherever these tumuli are opened, they prove to have served as mausoleums ; and lately, in one excavated by Mr. Calvert (the English Consul at the Dardanelles) in the plains of Troy, the interior was found to be built up with stones, in a circular form, enclosing a quantity of white dust, some feet in depth, supposed to be the calcined bones of men who had been sacrificed to the manes of the per- son interred beneath, whose bones were found un- consumed. The monotony of these boundless plains was not relieved even by the sound of the wheels as they rolled over the unbeaten path, where the grass grew as luxuriantly as elsewhere. The yamtchik, or coachman, seemed to feel the loneliness of the scene, and endeavoured to break the silence by talking to his horses. On inquii^ing what was the purport of his address to his compa- nions, I was told that his monologue was to the following effect. Assuming that the unpronounce- able Russian names of the horses may stand in English for Faith, Hope, and Charity, this would be the burden of his apostrophe : — '' Well, Faith, FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 87 what^s that ^vLicli Charity has been tellmg you ? Don't believe a word of it. Come^ Hope^ step ont ; and don't be led by that faithless Charity^ or I shall touch you up, lass ;" and so forth, througli- out the whole stage, without intermission. At every verst there is a tall post nearly twenty feet high, on which is inscribed the distance from the last stage, and that to the next; these posts are necessarily high, as in winter the ground is often covered with snow several feet deep; and they then afford direction to the traveller, who can see from one to another as he drives in his sledge — which is esteemed a more agreeable mode of conveyance than wheeled vehicles. We have heard a great deal about the rapidity of travelling in K/Ussia, which, before railways were established, was supposed to surpass every other in Europe. For my own part, I do not recollect having ever gone faster than ten miles an hour, and gene- rally seven ; sometimes even, when the roads were bad, still less. Now and then we saw, to the right or left of the road, herds of cattle and horses, apparently without a keeper ; and near the farm-yards, flocks of geese and sheep, and droves of enormous pigs, attended by such tiny children, that I was surprised they Avere not attacked by these huge and vora- cious animals. Occasionally avc met a few waggons loaded with wine or other provisions for the troops at Odessa, 88 NARRATIVE OF THE and di'awn hj bullocks ; at other times we passed them encamped at the side of the road^ giving their cattle time to repose and graze around them. Each waggoner carries with him duplicate portions of his vehicle^ to guard against accidents. Wlien traversing a country^, a traveller learns certain words by hearing them constantly repeated, let the language of the people be ever so difficult. The word bakshish^, for instance_, resounds in the ears of every one landing at Alexandria. Another word is bookra (tomorrow) : whatever you want done is deferred till " tomorrow.^^ The words with the Turks are '' InshalW^ (if it please God), and '' Buccaluni'^ (we will see) . In Russia, whatever request you make of a Rus- sian, you are answered, " Set chas '^ (immediately) ; but which you may infer to mean just the con- trary, as the people are most dilatory in their ope- rations ; and often, when rendered impatient by waiting, I have repeated the words sei chas to ex- press my feelings, or, when asked for anything, I have withheld it, echoing their exclamation, Sei chas ! They have smiled to find I had discovered their inveterate habit of procrastination, which is * Balcshisli means present : and little childi'en tliat can scarcely walk are taught to shout, " Baksliish !" after the Eui'opean passer-by, although they may not anticipate compliance mth then* boisterous requests. I have often fancied that they do it as much to vex and laugh at the Frank, as with the hopes of obtain- ing charity. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 89 SO peculiarly characteristic of Orientals, and which seems also to have pervaded the more northerly inhabitants of Europe. When driving, there are certain words with which it is very necessary to be acquainted ; for, although there is a rule as to which side of a road a carriage should keep, — ^just the opposite of our own, but which is the same all over the Continent, — Russian drivers do not appear always to conform to it j for I used frequently to hear our coachman call out to the carriages or waggons that we met, "Na prava P' (To your right !), '' Na leva r (To your left!). If a waggoner chanced to come too near, or appeared to disregard the admonitions of our post-house man (who considered himself of no little importance as the driver of a Government courier), the latter would beat the man with his whip en passant, or jump oifthe coach-box, pursue him, and "lay it into him^^ most unmercifully. Nor did the men thus treated ever retort, such being the subserviency to authority in Eussia. When however we came into Poland, on our return from St. Petersburg, this spirit of submission was not so apparent : I observed that the driver did not give himself such airs to people " below him." In one instance, my companion, Mr. Sharman, being vexed with a post-boy, boxed his ears, upon which the latter turned upon him very indignantly, and cre- ated a disturbance, such as an English lad might be expected to raise on similar treatment. Besides 90 NARRATIVE OF THE the above-mentioned Russian words, which I could not help learning, there are three more which are particularly useful to a traveller, and which I will here record: — 1. ^' Priama,'' go straight on; 2. " Stojjjn'^ go on, proceed; 3. " Sto'i/' halt, stop; — these are useful in directing the yamtchik, or whipper of the horses. Travelling in Russia reminded me much of that in Ireland, where the ragged post-boy always re- serves ^' a gallop for the avenue ;" so it was with the Russ, who always contrived to go up at full drive to the post-house, sometimes much to the detriment of the carriage, and giving our bones a terrific shaking over the paved way near the sta- tions. At Elisavetgrad we dined, and resolved that, on our departure, we would take five horses instead of three, as the roads were so heavy that the wheels sank eight or ten inches in the mud, quite unim- peded by stones. It may seem almost incredible that the water which had fallen during the conti- nuous rains of the last few days still lay on the ground, the surface being so flat as not to allow of its running ofi". The alluvial deposit on each side of the road was of a black colour, and consisted of a rich mould, which required no manure. It was a remarkable circumstance, that at a certain depth below the surface, the ground was hard; for the horses, although wading through water, did not seem to sink in it, but only required the moderate FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 91 exertion necessary to surmount the impediment of the mud in order to proceed on their way.^ * In some flat plains and deltas, particularly those of the rivers Cydnus, Sarus, and Pyramus, this is not the case ; and after rain the roads become impassable except to buffaloes, whose great strength enables them to draw the carts or clumsy waggons of the coimtry. 92 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XIII. Alexandria. — Farm on the road. — Environs of towns and vil- lages. — Our stock of wine. — Water-tanks on the tops of the houses. — The river Dnieper, — Civility of the chief of the Post-house. — Krementchoug. — The country north of the Dnieper. — Young plantations. — A Eussian Courier proceed- ing to Odessa. — The Telega. Leaving Elisavetgrad about six o^ clocks we passed through Adjamka_, a village on the road, and reached Alexandria about two o'clock after mid- night, glad to put up at the post-house^ and be relieved from the inconvenient crowding of three persons into a carriage intended only for two. The country we traversed was of the same description as on the previous day^ — flat and boundless^ and without interest for the traveller. I believe it ex- tends in the same way upwards of a hundred miles, to the Dnieper, and it must, geologically speakings have been formed by the overflow of that river in ages long before the creation of man. At the post-house there were sofas^ on which we lay for the rest of the night; and the next morning we breakfasted heartily before starting, at eight o'clock. My companion generally took FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 93 bread and cheese with his tea ; this I did not like, but, as there was always abundance of eggs, milk, and cream, I did not fare badly. Strange to say, butter was generally a rare article of food : why, •I know not, as cream and milk were rich and plen- tiful. Sometimes not even the black bread of the country was to be had ; but om^ wants were then supplied by rice cakes, not unlike the Scotch bar- ley cakes. My companion invariably paid for every- thing we required on the road, before starting; this exactness on the part of a Government courier savoured more of European order than might have been expected among a people whose habits and ideas partake so much of an Eastern character. In Asia, the smallest man in authority never dreams of paying for anything, and considers that the man who has afforded him shelter and food may think himself lucky to remain unmolested. I believe this was the case also in Russia, until the Government put a stop to snch exactions by establishing post-houses and inns, where the tra- veller may obtain what he requires by paying for it. About ten o^ clock (June 9th) we approached a village on the left bank of the river Dnieper. The environs of most towns and villages in Russia are rather ornamental, being planted with rows of trees ; ])ut unfortunately the roads are worse there than in the open country, doubtless in consequence of their being more used by the inhabitants. In this place we had to wade tlirough water and mud a 94 NARRATIVE OF THE distance of a hundred yards at a time_, for more tlian a mile_, before we reached the bank of the river, much to the detriment of our luggage, as the water reached above the axle-tree. When we got upon hard ground the postilion began to gal- lop, as usual ; and the jolting on the rough pave- ment broke five out of the six stone bottles of sherry, much to the vexation of my servant, who had assured me that they were safely packed. There now remained only one bottle out of the dozen given me by our worthy friend Mr. Maberly. It must not be imagined, however, that the wine had been selfishly drunk amongst us : the post-masters and travellers whom we met all partook freely of our store, which had now come to such an untimely end. At this place I first observed the curious contri- vance which the people have for protectmg their houses from destruction by fire ; I afterwards found it to prevail all over Russia. On the roof of every house is a large tub, kept full of water, with a mop; and a foot-board is fixed all round on the sloping part of the roof, to enable a person to stand near the tub, and pour the water down the chimney or upon any part of the building that has caught fire. The houses are generally of wood, and, not being painted, they soon rot and become like touchwood. There appeared to be great activity among the inhabitants of this little place, as we had some dif- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 95 ficulty in reaching the ferry in consequence of the crowd. It is here that goods which come down the Dnieper are disembarked, to be forwarded by land to Odessa. This being the point of the river nearest to that city, and on the high road, the in- habitants derive great commercial advantages from the situation of their village, wdiich accounts for the flourishing state in which ^ve found it. There were a great many large barges, gaily painted, and carrying flags of all colours, moored along the shore ; altogether it was a lively scene, — particu- larly so to us, who had been traversing such soli- tary regions. We embarked on board a large flat boat, which was rowed up the river against the tide close in shore, before we crossed, in order that the current might not take us too low down the river. We observed that there were several mills built a few yards from the shore, the w^heels of which were turned by the stream. The point of the land here must necessarily ])e slanting, as might be con- cluded from the strength of the current ; but the banks on both sides being rather flat, it was not very observable to the eye. The width of the river here is about a mile. We had discharged our horses and driver before entering the boat, so that on reaching the opposite bank we had to wait until a relay could be brought ; and presently a sorry set of horses made their ap- pearance, who dragged us as well as they could 9G NARRATIVE 0¥ THE through the market-place up to the hotel, which we reached about one o'clock, having lost time in embarking and crossing. AVe at once ordered dinner; and soon after we had discussed it, an employe of the Government, probably a clerk of the post-master, arrived, and informed us that his superior, an old retired Colo- nel, hearing of my arrival, had prepared a colla- tion, to which he invited me ; unfortunately I had abeady dined, and had to apologize. When we started again, we were surprised at the contrast the nice horses, and the driver and postilion in green uniform, bore to the sorry turn-out in which we had entered the town. We were informed that these had been provided by the Colonel, in honour of the English prisoner; and I regretted that I had not an opportunity of seeing him, to thank the kind old gentleman personally for his civilities. Krementchoug is a place of some importance, and appeared to be thickly inhabited. The streets are broad, like those of all the principal towns in Russia, and some of the houses are of stone. . We left it about two o'clock (June 9th) on our way to Poltova. The country, on the north bank of the Dnieper, is undulating, and has a pleasing appearance, owing to its unevenness and the variety of trees, such as oaks, firs, poplars, etc.; and here and there are country-houses, the number of which increased as we advanced towards Moscow. W^henever we FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 97 reached an eminence we had a view of distant churches and villages, of young plantations and cultivated land, in all directions, which enlivened the prospect. I said " young plantations/' because, in this part of the country, I observed that all the fir-trees had the appearance of saplings ; they were planted so close to each other that they grew up straight and lank, and forced the oaks to follow them, as they left these naturally wide- spreading trees no room for their branches. The only way in which I could account for the smallness of these trees, was by supposing that they were cut down as soon as they reached a certain size (about ten inches to a foot in diameter) , — a supposition in which I was confirmed by seeing immense loads of wood in boats on the rivers. As no coal is con- sumed, the demand for wood must be great. At the second station from Krementchoug, as we drove up, we found a Russian courier on the point of starting for Odessa. He delayed his de- parture to have a chat with my companion, his brother officer Sharman; and I remarked at the time, that it was not unlikely that he was the bearer of the Emperor's order for the exchange of prisoners. The courier was travelling in a kind of vehicle called a "^^ telega,'' which is much used in this country. Imagine a cask six or seven feet long, and of proportionate diameter, sawn through length- ways, and one half placed upon four wheels, without H 98 NARRATIVE OF THE springs. In front is a board for the driver to sit on, and the traveller can lie at full length inside, either upon straw or bedding, covering himself up with his cloak; so that in reality it requires no hood, although it is sometimes furnished with one. These conveyances are changed with the horses, from station to station; they are very light, and afford the great convenience of lying down in them to any one travelling day and night. I tore a leaf out of my pocket-book, wrote on it a few lines to my messmates at Odessa, and con- signed it to the courier. In the note I mentioned the place I had reached, and named the stations at which I thought they would get the best accom- modation. When travelling in Russia I was often asked by the landlord or landlady of the inn to give them a certificate, stating the quality of their accommo- dations; and in one instance, at Valki, where we dined, I could not refrain from observing in my testimonial, that the landlady had acted up to the real and full meaning of the words " Sei chas/' as we had had a good dinner, eoopeditiously served. Taking leave of the courier, we continued our journey, and at twelve o^ clock reached a station within sixteen versts of Poltova, where we put up for the night. On our way the driver missed the road, and we had to get out and grope about in the dark tiU we discovered the track again. This is not an unfrcquent occurrence in countries where FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 99 the roads are without hedges. This mishap ren- dered us anxious to avoid the like in future, and after this we travelled more by day and less by night. It also caused a delay_, which prevented our reaching Poltova that evening_, as we had antici- pated. 100 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XIV. Poltova. — Style of building. — Kharkov. — Carriages made to hold beds. — Bielgorod jSTuunery. — Drunkenness not prevalent in Eussia. — Nearly upset. — Kecruits. — Eussian MHitai-y Colonies. — Pilgrims to Moscow. — Eespect of the populace. The next morning (lOtli June) we resumed our journey, and reached Poltova for breakfast, it be- ing only one stage from wliere we had slept. We were driven to a very large and new hotel, bearing an unpronounceable name, which of course I can- not remember. In the street where our hotel stood there was, on one side, a row of houses two or three stories high, nicely built, the ground-floor serving for shops; on the other side were shops only, with no rooms above them, and forming a kind of bazaar ; they had large panes of glass of an inferior kind. Poltova covers a considerable space of ground, but did not appear to be densely peo- pled. Its streets are clean and paved, and the houses well built. I observed some ladies walking with parasols in their hands, but without bonnets : they wore instead a light veil hanging from the top of the head, but by no means so graceful as the Spanish mantilla. They had servants following them^ so that I could not mistake thcu' rank. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 101 While breakfast was being prepared we strolled into the city^ and soon got into the main street, at the top of which is a crescent with an enclosed circular garden, having in the centre a bronze column with an eagle on the top, erected in 1809 in celebration of the centenary of the battle of Poltova. The eagle holds in its claws a wreath of laurel, and faces the Military College, which is in the centre of the crescent. The rest of the buildings are occupied as residences by the military governor and public officers. We were soon surrounded by a number of Jews, who were anxious to be our cicerones, to conduct us to the tomb of the Swedes who fell on the battlefield of Poltova; but we resisted their im- portunities, as it Avould have caused us to lose some time, the place being a mile or two out of the town. We were anxious to proceed on our journey, as we were tired of bad roads; and we knew that after a certain distance we should reach a regular high-road, which the Government was making, and of which we had already seen por- tions, not yet completed. We therefore set out at ten o'clock, and tra- velled with five horses, at the rate of about eight or nine miles an hour, till we reached Valki, be- tween four and five p.m., to dinner. I could not help noticing to my companion how many new houses were everywhere building in the villages through which we passed, and that others 102 NARRATIVE OF THE were crumbling to pieces and required to be re- newed, altliough evidently not of long standing; and I remarked that the builders must be very clumsy in tlieir work. He assured me tbat_, on the contrary, the carpenters were very handy with theii' tools. With the exception indeed of a hand- saw and gimlet, they use but one tool, which is like a common hatchet, only smaller, with a short light handle, which they wield very dexterously: one end serves for a hammer, and with the other they plane and fashion all their wood. As already observed, the outside of the houses not bemg painted (with the exception of the win- dow-frames, which are daubed with gaudy green and red), the sun, which is very powerful in sum- mer, warps the boards, while the continued rains and cold of winter doubtless contribute to their decay. Besides this, the builders have an awk- ward method of erecting houses, which contributes greatly to their dilapidation. When requii'cd to construct a house on the slope of a hill or on slightly uneven ground, instead of levelling the space and forming a foundation, they lay one end of the lower beam, upon which the wall is to stand, on the surface of the ground, and rest the other end on a large stone, so as to keep it horizontal, and then erect the wall upon it. The consequence is, that in course of time the rains wear away the lower side, the stone gives way, and the wall starts and loses its perpendicular; so that in a village you FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 103 may see houses nodding to eacli other at all angles. In cities the houses are of course built Avith greater care. The plan of joining logs together, one over the other, as practised in Canada, is doubtless a very good one; and, though consuming a great deal of wood, houses are quickly built. The walls are covered with boards or with mud, and in both cases are affected by heat and cold. It was amu- sing to see, about this time, when the people were preparing for some festival, how busily they were occupied in replastering their houses. The mud in the streets seemed to afford the requisite material; the women and children were wading in the mire barefooted, mixing it, and repairing the damages caused by the rain. It was here that the promptitude of the land- lady elicited from me a certificate of her having used the words " Sei chas/' and acted up to their meaning. We saw nothing of any consequence at Valki, where we only dined. We next proceeded to Kharkov, where we arrived about one o'clock in the morning, and put up at the station, which was also an hotel, and afforded accommodation to a large number of travellers, who arrived during the night in their carriages, going on to their comitry- seats. I observed that the carriages were made longer than ours in England, and some of them con- tained mattresses, so that the ladies could recline in them ; a very convenient manner of travelling a great distance, the occupants being enabled to sleep 104 NARRATIVE OF THE at ease en route, wliicli it is impossible to do in an English vehicle. There was a great conconrse of people in this hotel, as Kharkov is at the junction of several roads, and people seemed to be travelling to their estates. We were accommodated with a sofa to sleep on, this being the general custom in the country ; regular beds and bedrooms appear to be provided only in the hotels of Odessa, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, where the concourse of Europeans is greater and these luxuries are required. We left Kharkov early the next morning (11th June) on oar route to Bielgorod, which we reached that evening, having been twelve hours travelling seventy-five versts (fifty miles) , the roads being very heavy, and the rain falling all the time. The inn at Bielgorod is kept by a German, who was absent ; but his wife entertained us, and 1 made interest with her to procure some extra covering for my servant, who had an attack of ague. The landlady spoke French, and gave us the pleasure of her com- pany while we were at tea. The days lengthening as we proceeded northward, it was not dark when we finished our meal, and we could see from the window the buildings in front of the house. I was struck with the deference which the people manifested on passing the gates of the nunnery and church on the opposite side of the street ; and although some were not very sober, it being Sunday night, the greater part stopped FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 105 to cross themselves before the painting that hung over the door, and all ceased their shonting and noisy exclamations while they were passing the sacred edifice. It is but justice to observe that drunkenness is by no means so prevalent in Russia as it is sup- posed to be : at least, I came to this conclusion from my personal observation ; for during my stay in the country I saw very fcAv instances of in- ebriety, and even in those it did not lead to any excesses, but only produced a little hilarity. I rose next morning at five o'clock, and before starting amused myself with looking out of the window. I saw the people, as they went to their work, each contribute their mite to a bag held at the convent-gate by an old nun clothed in black. She seemed to have kept her eye on my move- ments, determined to give me an opportunity of bestowing alms and increasing her collection. As soon as the carriage came to the door and I was about to enter it, she crossed the street as rapidly as her age would allow her, and thrust her bag forward at the end of a stick ; I of course acceded to her request. I saw nothing of Bielgorod except the street running through it, which was broad, and the houses detached, with apparently extensive courtyards behind. The road from Bielgorod (12th June) was still very heavy, not having yet been laid down by the Government ; and in one place the dri^•cr, taking us 106 NARRATIVE OF THE a short cut over very rough ground^ would have upset the carriage, had he not jumped off the box, and with the assistance of my servant restored the equilibrium of the vehicle. We overtook today a great number of recruits. I could not help observing the paucity of regular troops, although we were constantly passing mili- tary colonies built by the side of the road, which however seemed to be deserted by all except the women and children. These colonies appeared to be laid out with order and regularity, the cottages being all of one size and plan, and ranged in a square, with intervening gardens. The male inha- bitants might have been in the fields at their la- bour; but the general absence of troops in this part of the country was striking; indeed, we did not see more soldiers than if we had been travelling in England. The recruits had small one-horse carts to carry their traps ; they were very young, and were es- corted by a guard of soldiers in regular uniform. On one occasion I observed several small carts laden with some thirty boys, about ten years old, evidently of Jewish origin, and was informed that they were intended to be brought up as musicians. We also overtook a great many women of all ages, but some very old, miserably dressed, having straw sandals on their feet, with an extra pair hanging by their sides. Some carried bundles, con- taining anything they might have for sale in the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 107 large towns to wliicli they were proceeding ; some were pilgrims bearing tlieir oiferings ; but all ap- peared equally poor; and as we overtook a great many of this description, all proceeding in one di- rection,, until we reached Moscow, I concluded that that was the goal to which they w^ere all pressing. All whom we met or overtook invariably bowed or expressed their respect to the uniforms they saw in the carriage, without knowing who it might be to whom they were thus submissive. The country here, and all the way to Moscow, had the appearance of being regularly cultivated, as far as I could see, on both sides of the road ; and I now observed manure used in the fields, the land not being so rich as that which I had crossed on the other side of the Dnieper. The surface was not hilly, but undulating ; and there were a vast number of churches and villages in the distance, interspersed with plantations of trees and fields of wheat and barley. 108 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XV. Kom^sk. — A dirty inn. — Our carriage repaired. — The Grovem- ment high-road to Moscow. — Pilgrims tripping. — Great con- course of people. — The Russian Clergy, — Bishops. — Orel. — Churches in E-ussia. — Toula. — Cavalry horses. — Turkish prisoners content to remain in Russia. — An Enghsh Engineer. — Armom'ers of Toida. We reached Koursk at a late hour of the nighty passing through dirty streets^ innocent of anything like order or pavement^ and put up at one of the filthiest of Russian inns^, which are usually none of the cleanest. I recollect that on one occasion, being disgusted with the wretched state in which we found one of these houses of " accommodation/^ we returned to our carriage to proceed to the next station, much to the disappointment of the host, who expected to make something by us, and who followed us to deprecate our disgust, saying that he had been only a twelvemonth in possession of the place, and had not found time to make the servants clean it. Here however there was no avoiding the fate of famishing food to the vermin of the place, and we had to make the best we could of our situation, by reposing on the sofas of a room FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 109 from which a smoking and drinking party had been ejected to make way for ns. We slept however, in spite of all inconveniences and the lacerations of the minute population. On waking (13th June) we were informed that the carriage needed repairing, in consequence of the damage it had received from the rough road over which we had passed the previous night. It was fortunate that this discovery was made at so convenient a place. By eight o^ clock all was ready for our departure, and we proceeded leisurely through the town, over the rough stony streets, but feeling little confidence in the strength of our vehicle. Koursk is a considerable place; the streets are broad, but the houses irregularly built, and it did not present so modern an appearance as the other towns I had visited. On emerging from the city, we passed through the gate, outside of which are two columns, erected in commemoration of some local event. Here we entered upon the chaussee, which is built in one continuous straight line, all the way to Moscow — upwards of four hundred miles. It was marvellous to see, from the top of a hiU, one uninterrupted line through the country, as far as the eye could reach. My servant, who was a Maltese, was particularly struck with this boundless extent, comparing it with the views on his OAvn little confined island, upon which he could scarcely see a few miles ahead of him. He was 110 NARRATIVE OF THE sure, he said^ liis countrymen would not believe him if he described to them what he now saw. The road is macadamized, and excellent in every respect. It has a ditch on each side ; its Avidth how- ever is hardly sufficient, as three carriages could not freely pass at a time. This narrowness of a road in a country where the streets are so broad is remarkable, but may be accounted for by the cir- cumstance that, in so great a length, the width for two carriages to pass freely is, strictly speaking, sufficient ; and the expense of forming the road is thus diminished, the materials having to be brought from some distance. On each side are placed large stones, to keep the carriages in their proper limits ; outside these stones, there is a width of four feet, on which foot-passengers walk. It cannot how- ever be styled a footpath, because it is inconve- nient for the pedestrian, being traversed by smaU cuttings, to let the water run oiF the road into the ditch. These cuttings occm- at every two or three yards, and are about a foot deep, so that they compel the weary pilgrim to keep his eyes always on the ground, for fear of putting his foot in one of them as he proceeds on his way, which gives him a very pensive appearance. It was amusing to see, as we passed, a string of pilgrims turn round on our overtaking them, their curiosity getting the better of their prudence; and, as they looked back, one or other of them would be sure to stumble, and become a stumbling-block to those FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. Ill following witli their heads turned back ; so that we sometimes saw several sprawling on the gromid together. Although we had now only three horses,, we pro- ceeded at a rate of ten or eleven miles an hour. The road was good, and the men determined to show how fast they could go ; when we had to de- scend a hill, the coachman would gallop the horses down it at a tremendous speed, gaining an impetus that would carry us over any bridge that might be at the bottom, and half-way up the next acclivity. The hills are too steep, and form one of the de- fects in this fine road, consequent on its being per- fectly straight; to cut through the hills in order to form a level would have been both expensive and difficult, and the road is not allowed to wind round them. The bridges are chiefly of wood, and where they cross any considerable stream, there are wooden buttresses to protect them from the force of the current ; on each side is a strong rail, and on the sides of the road for some distance are placed posts a yard asunder, to keep the carriages, on such ungovernable occasions as those described above, from falling ofi* into the ditch. As already observed, the traffic on the road in- creased as we approached Moscow. On this day we met the diligence from the metropoHs, — a huge lumbering vehicle, with five horses, and loaded with passengers. Some conception may be formed of the demand for this mode of conveyance in 112 NARRATIVE OF THE Russia, when we state that, at St. Petersburg, on my requirmg to take places for a journey to Warsaw, I was informed that every seat was en- gaged for the next eleven days. An English om- nibus company would best meet the demand, by starting vehicles to run every five minutes. We met many carriages of all kinds; in one was a fat priest, dressed in a violet-coloured gown, buttoned up to the neck, and extending down to the heels. He had a large, broad-brimmed hat, from which his hair hung down upon his shoulders ; his beard was long and venerable, and he appeared quite at his ease in his carriage. From what I could learn, during my residence in Russia, I do not imagine that the clergy have much influence. They are, of course with some exceptions, very ignorant ; and it appeared to me that they were more on sufferance, for the position they hold as ministers of grace, than as teachers of the people, by whom they are treated kindly, but that is all. The priests are divided into many classes, and I observed that they wore various colours, — such as black, violet, grey, and dark blue. But I do not imagine that any distinctions were denoted by the colour of their gOAvns. They are all allowed to marry ; at least, a married man may become a priest, but once having taken orders he cannot take a wife also, and if he should lose his wife he must remain single. A bishop may have been a FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 113 married man either before or whilst in orders, but he cannot be raised to wear the mitre unless he is single at the time. Most bishops however devote themselves to celibacy from the beginning of their career, by which course they gain a reputation for sanctity and learning, which may lead to their pre- ferment. The country we were traversing was richly cul- tivated, and dotted with farmhouses and villages, forming everywhere pleasing landscapes. The weather was charming, but very warm. About six o^ clock in the evening we reached Orel, hav- ing travelled 158 versts (106 miles) in ten hours. The high-road runs through this town, which ap- peared pleasant and clean. We merely staid to dine at the inn attached to the post-house, and then proceeded to the first station beyond Orel to sleep. We were now getting nearer to the metro- polis, as was shown by the better appearance of the station, which had been built under the direc- tion of the Government, and was kept clean ; we slept, as usual, on sofas, without undressing. We started the next day (June 14) at half-past five, but discovered before long that our carriage was giving way ; we had therefore to stop to have the necessary repairs made Avhile Ave breakfasted. The villages seemed to increase in number as we proceeded northward. The churches had a very picturesque appearance, and were in some villages very numerous. The country churches were built 1 114 JOURNAL OF THE chiefly of wood, and whitewashed. They were ge- nerally similar in construction, consisting of one large cupola, with four smaller ones in the shape of a cross; and on the top of each cupola was fixed a cross of iron, gilt and ornamented. In many instances the cross w^as made to stand on a cres- cent reversed upon the cupola, emblematical of the ascendancy of the Cross over the Crescent. In the villages and country towns the cupolas were painted green, but in the cities they were often gilt, which gives them a brilliant and striking ap- pearance. Not far from Toula we overtook a large body of cavalry horses (about five hundred), all of one colour (bay) , attended by men who were driving carts, to each of which were attached be- hind three horses, and between each horse trailed a young fir-tree, about fifteen feet long, — no doubt intended to prevent the horses from kicking at each other. These beautiful creatm-es formed a great contrast with the clumsy animals which drew the waggons ; the latter were probably used to carry provender for the horses. A.t Toula, which we reached at four o^ clock p.m., and where we merely remained to dine before pro- ceeding on our way, we were visited by four Turk- ish officers, who had been taken prisoners in one of the packet-steamers on the Black Sea, between Trebizond and Constantinople ; this was the place appointed for their residence. The report soon reached them that the first Eng- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 115 lish prisoner of war had arrived^ and they naturally thought it their duty to call and pay their respects to their ally in misfortune. One of them spoke a kind of broken English, which he may have picked up when acting as Clerk to the Embassy in Eng- land. They had been about three months in this place,, and evinced no desire to return to their country, expressing themselves quite satisfied with the friendly treatment they experienced at the hands of their enemies. Indeed I have since been assured that one of these men, at St. Petersburg, actually burst into tears when his release was an- nounced to him ! I also received a visit from an Englishman who had been forty years a resident in Russia, and who held a situation here as superintendent of a manu- factory of arms and general engineering work, of which there were evidences in iron bridges, etc. This gentleman kindly offered me letters of intro- duction, with which I was akeady well provided. I believe he is a naturalized Russian subject, and heard that he had children in different departments of the R^ussian service. There are many armourers in Toula, chiefly oc- cupied in repairing arms ; they also assist in making new ones in the Government manufactory; I be- lieve they do not sell any to the people. There were however arms for sale in the shops; but I imagine that they are bought only by persons con- nected with the Government, who alone are per- 116 JOURNAL OF THE mitted to bear arms. It is not likely that they would be purchased by other people^ who would be liable to have them taken away by the Govern- ment, which occasionally calls in the arms ; I was informed by a lady, whom I met in Russia, that her estate had been rendered defenceless by this measure. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 117 CHAPTER XVI. Farm-house on the road. — Kvass. — Rehgious feehngs of the people. — First view of Moscow. — Comparison of Moscow and Constantinople. — Hotel d'Angleterre. — The Kremlin. — Uni- versity CoUege. — The Head Professor. — The Bazaar. — The railway to St. Petersburg. — One train a day. — Comfortable carriages. — Leave Moscow. We left Toula at five o'clock^ and notliing occurred of any note till lialf-past ten, when we found that the tire of one of the large wheels of the carriage had broken; fortunately we were in the vicinity of some farm-houseSj where a light was visible, which directed us to the spot, and to our joy we were informed that there was a blacksmith's forge on the premises. This was the last time that any mishap occurred to our carriage before we reached Moscow : I mention these circumstances to convey an impression of the state of travelling in Uussia, which must resemble that which existed a century ago in England, such occurrences being at the pre- sent day rarely heard of. As we were to be detained here an hour and a half, while the necessary repairs were executed, my servant turned into the carriage to sleep. Mr. 118 NARRATIVE OF THE Sharman went to the forge to superintend the work^ while I strolled about smoking a cigar. I took a peep into the farm-house, and found the farmer and his wife, with three men and three women, seated at a table taking their supper ; it was in a wooden bowl, and consisted of pieces of brown bread in kvass, a liquor made from rye boiled and allowed to ferment. I had the curio- sity to taste it, and found it of a slightly acid fla- vour and not unpalatable. They did not object to my satisfying my curiosity, nor did they appear surprised at my intrusion. They seemed to be taking their meal in perfect silence. On leaving, I gave the old woman a small piece of silver money, with which she was much pleased. As I had still some time to wait before starting, I walked up and down in front of the house ; and presently the party broke up and came out, distri- buting themselves to various parts of the building. The light in the hall was still bm-ning, and I could distinctly see one of the men go up to the shrine and perform his devotions. There was no ostentation in the act, because he could not be aware of my seeing him. In every house in Russia there is a painting either of the Saviour or of the Virgin and Child, before which a small lamp is generally suspended from the ceiling by a string and pulley. The blacksmith completed the repairs by the time promised, and we proceeded on our way, tra- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 119 veiling all night, to make up for tlie loss of time occasioned by onr break-down. We were anxious to reach Moscow the next day, so that we delayed as little as possible on our route, which became more and more interesting as we approached the metropolis. About noon on the 15th of June I obtained my first view of the city of Moscow, from an emi- nence over which the road passed. It rivals the far-famed view of Constantinople in the number of its towers, spires, and cupolas, some green, some of variegated colours, some gilt or covered with sheets of brass. These, shining in the sun and reflecting a variety of tints, looked like bright spots of fire over the dark edifices, which they seemed to crown with a glory. As we drew near, the view expanded before us, and the beauty of the scene bore a closer inspection^ without suffer- ing from the scrutiny of the traveller. This is more than can be said for bright and gorgeous Stamboul, the position of which is so favourable, and the merits of which are enhanced by its poli- tical importance. For many miles before we reached Moscow, the country teemed with population. A continuous line of houses bordered the road for some distance at a time, farm-houses and fields filling up the in- tervals. I could not resist again making the com- parison so disparaging to the rival city, Constan- 120 NARRATIVE OF THE tinople^ at whose very gates is a desolate and bar- ren desert^ but wliicli might be made a fertile and populous country. On passing the barrier_, we delivered our pass- port to the official on duty, who forwarded it to head-quarters, whilst we proceeded to take up our residence at the Hotel d^Angleterre ; and I here obtained the luxury of a bath and a good shave, of which I was much in want. Having dined about six o^ clock, and been re- freshed by a nap, we proceeded to pay a visit to the Governor of Moscow, whom however we did not see. We drove in a droshky through the gates of the Kremlin, which, I need not tell my reader, is a fortress in which are to be found palaces, churches, nunneries, and buildings of va- rious kinds, in grand confusion. The view of the city and surrounding country from one of its ter- races is magnificent and imposing; but the variety of interesting objects that attracted my notice was too great, and my time for surveying them too short, to admit of my doing justice to this far- famed structure. At the office, where we saw only some clerks seated at their desks, we found our passport ready and vise; and, pocketing this, we quitted the Kremlin, and presented ourselves at the Univer- sity College, which was not far from our hotel. I was anxious to see the Director or President of FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 121 this establishment^ as the Emperor had ordered that the four yoimgest midshipmen of the Tiger should be placed under his direction. This gen- tleman received us very cordiaUy_, and showed us the apartments that had already been prepared for the reception of my young friends. The rooms were remarkably clean and airy, and the beds made up ready to receive them. The amiable Pro- fessor, who spoke French with fluency, assured me that he had received the Emperor's orders to be particularly careful of the young men, and that he would carry out his Imperial Majesty^ s orders to the letter. I have no doubt he will keep his word. Having fulfilled this duty, we proceeded to the Bazaar to make a few purchases. Although I walked a quarter of a mile in this extensive place, I do not believe I went half over it. It is in the form of an arcade, with rows of shops on each side of the walk, all protected from the inclemency of the weather. We then returned to our hotel for the night, where I was very comfortable; and, for the first time since leaving the Tiger, enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in a bed undressed. Moscow being so vast a city, the inhabitants had little opportunity of hearing of my arrival, so that no great sensation was created by the " first English prisoner in Moscow." A few persons, hearing from the servants of my being in the hotel, collected at the door to see me; but, find- 122 NARRATIVE OF THE ing that their curiosity could not be satisfied_, as they were not admitted within the court-yard_, they soon dispersed. On the next morning (16th June) a few people assembled to see us start; which we did in two droshkies, one for ourselves,, and one for the lug- gage and servant. As we traversed the city to the railway- station^ the strangeness of my uniform^ here as elsewhere in Russia^ attracted attention. A gold -lace naval cap had perhaps not been seen before in this inland metropolis. At the station^ the officials being informed who I was^ whispered it to their friends ; and^ during an hour and a half that we had to wait for the starting of the train^ several persons passed and re-passed before me, under pretence of business, to look at me ; some who knew English came and spoke to me, and all behaved with urbanity. They said they were sure I should be satisfied with my treatment at St. Petersburg, and that in all pro- bability, on being presented to the Emperor, his Majesty would grant me my liberty ; but I scarce- ly ventured to anticipate such a happy result. In- deed, I all along imagined that after the Emperor had seen and cross-questioned me, I should be sent to join my messmates at Riasan until the conclusion of the war: the sequel will show that I did not correctly estimate the generosity of his Imperial Majesty. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 123 The railway terminus at Moscow is magnificent ; the hall is spacious, and adapted to contain a vast number of people,, and the waiting-rooms are ex- ceedingly clean and neat ; the furniture appeared quite new, although it had been in use three years. As yet, only one train leaves Moscow for St. Petersburg per day, so that there is no chance of collisi5n on the road. All the arrangements ap- pear to be perfect, and order is maintained by a very fine body of men, the gendarmes, who mount guard there daily. The employes have most of them military titles, and the director is an old general officer; the latter was remarkably attentive and kind to me, and, during the quarter of an hour that we had to wait after taking our seats in the carriage, he came repeatedly to see if I had all I required. The carriage allotted for my special use was about ten feet square ; it was fornished w ith two sofas and chairs, a small card-table, and two side- tables. On the sofas I could have reclined at full length, a convenience very desirable, and generally denied us on English railways; the sofas and chairs had air-cushions, and were very comfort- able. I looked into several first and second class carriages, and they all appeared nicely fitted up, although not like the one assigned to me : the second class carriages had seats and cushions su- perior to those of the first class on English rail- 124 NARRATIVE OF THE ways, and afforded plenty of room to eacli indivi- dual, allowing of his sitting without cramping his knees upon those of the person opposite to him. We left Moscow at eleven o'clock precisely, — Mr. Sharman, my servant, and myself occupying this little room to ourselves. Our luggage was stowed away in another carriage. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 125 CHAPTER XVII. Fever on the road. — Tver. — Niunerous churches. — An acquaint- ance. — Refreshment-rooms at the Stations. — Meet three Eng- lish residents in St. Petersburg, proceeding to Moscow. — Mr. Sharman's deHcacy of proceeding towards me. — Time allowed at the Stations. — Regularity in the arrival of trains. — Dehbe- rate movements. The excitement of the journey had tended to keep off a fever which I had felt about me for some time, but which now attacked me with some violence. As I had not anticipated such a circumstance, I had packed up all my extra clothing with my luggage, so that I suffered from cold in the first paroxysms, until the guard lent me a thick fur coat. The people at the station where we stopped, and the passengers, did not seem to know what ague was ; for they appeared much alarmed, and crowded round me, expressing their astonishment at my shaking fit. Even Mr. Sharman attached more importance to my indisposition than it deserved, and every one seemed anxious to contribute to my relief, offering me tea, or anything else I might wish to take. The fever did not cease till eleven o'clock that 126 NARRATIVE OF THE niglit^ during all wliich time I lay in that uneasy state between waking and sleeping, of the discom- fort of which no one who has not experienced it can form an idea. It will not therefore be ex- pected that I should give the reader any informa- tion respecting this part of my route ; I only recol- lect that in one place at which we stopped (probably at Tver), I looked out of the windows, and, at a little distance from the railway, I could see and count twenty-two churches in a large town situ- ated on a low plain. I believe the railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg runs generally through a level country^ in many places very swampy ; and I observed that on each side of the road, for a considerable distance, there was a footway constructed of planks, through extensive marshes. On the railway, wood, and not coal, is used for the engines ; and as they might sometimes be short of wood between the stations, I observed that there were provisions of this fuel in little houses on the way, where there was a guard, who presented him- self as the train passed, and bore a flag, to notify that all was right ahead. The engines on this line are provided by an American Company, which has a contract with the Government. This I learned from an Englishman, whom I had previously seen at Woolwich, and who recognized me and came to speak to me at one of the stations, where he was employed as one of the working engineers ; he had FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 127 been tempted to enter the Russian service with the hope of bettering his condition^ but he did not seem quite satisfied with the change. The up and down trains run on different sides of the stations^ so that one refreshment-room serves for both. In one of these_, at a late hour at night, I was sitting and taking some soup, when I felt the weight of a great brawny hand fall upon my back, accompanied by a voice that could only have belonged to such a leg-of-mutton fist, exclaiming, "Well, countryman, how are you?" I turned round, and saw three large, powerful men standing behind me. They informed me, in as brief a way as they could, that they had been some years in the Russian service as engineers, and, in conse- quence of the war, had given in their resignation ; this had at first been accepted by the Government, which, however, on second thoughts, had deemed it better that they should be detained ; and they were now under the charge of a gendarme, who was conducting them to Moscow, the place allotted for their residence, until further orders. They requested me to call on their families and friends in St. Petersburg, and inform them of their safety. In case this work should fall into the hands of any of them, I take this opportunity of letting them know that I was not able to keep my promise, being prohibited, at St. Petersbui'g, from communicating with the English residents there; but I did all I could to serve them, and requested 128 NARRATIVE OF THE the Britisli Vice-Consul (whom I saw before this prohibition on the part of the Russian Govern- ment) to see their friends for me. Although these men were apparently inconvenienced by their de- tention, they parted from me with the following assuring expression, which needs no comment from me : — " Never mind, old chap ! come what may, they will be sure to treat you like a gentleman." I observed that, whenever we stopped at a sta- tion_, of which there are about twenty in this distance of four hundred miles, the guard who accompanied us walked up and down before my carriage. Now, although I had made no remark upon it, Mr. Sharman, who also perceived him, ordered him off, and was anxious that I should not fancy the man was there as any restraint upon me, and delicately expressed himself to this effect. I w^as pleased to perceive that there was no un- necessary hurry in the railway movements, such as those which annoy the English traveller; plenty of time was allowed at every station to the pas- sengers to take their meals, and in each there was aU that could be required in the way of refresh- ments. The time allowed for the train to pass from one station to another, is carefully fixed for the driver, who dare not arrive a minute sooner or later, so that in some cases we had to go very slowly in order not to arrive before the time. This however is not un- pleasant, as people on the Continent do not give FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 129 way to tliat nervous hurry which fidgets us and shortens our lives. Who in England has time to look around him ? Rich and poor seem to be urged along by an impetus which prevents their thinking of anything except of their next appointment; and as soon as that is kept_, their thoughts fly to the next. 130 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XVIII. Arrival at St. Petersbm-g.— Greneral SitiBin.— Hotel Demoutli.— Colonel Montandre.— The Minister of War.— English uniform. —The War Office.— Ante-room of the Minister.— Interview with Prince Dolgorouki. — Remain at the hotel. — Return of the ague. — The Emperor's orders respecting me. We breakfasted about six o'clock, and I felt re- lieved by the few hours' sleep that I bad bad du- ring tbe night. Punctually at nine we reached St. Petersburg ; the terminus is like that at Moscow. Here we left the servant with our portmanteaus, to be sent for later in the day, and proceeded to the office of the "General de Service/' to report my arrival. This office forms part of a series of hand- some buildings, in a crescent, opposite the Winter Palace. We found that General Sitinui, who, I believe, is the Commander-in-Chief of the troops at St. Petersburg, was absent, and we had to await his return. In the meanwhile I had the plea- sure of forming the acquaintance of the aides-de- camp of the General and of Colonel Montandre, who were very polite to me. The simpUcity of my dress, which was a plain round jacket, attracted their notice, and they wished to know if this was my uniform, and w hether I had FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 131 no other. Eussiau officers never appear but en grande tenue, and I have sometimes fancied that they must sleep in their uniforms. I stated that this was the dress worn on board, as more conve- nient for active service, but that we were provided with a dress of a more official character for parti- cular occasions. The conversation ran on general topics, as to the means of travelling in Russia, etc., until the Governor's return. This gentleman ex- pressed a hope that I had had a pleasant journey, and that I had found everything satisfactory; and then directed Mr. Sharman to return to the station, to convey my servant and luggage to the Hotel Demouth. Colonel Montandre, under whose care I was placed by the General, undertook to accom- pany me to my temporary quarters, where I was to wait until the arrival in St. Petersburg of the Prince Dolgorouki, Minister of War, who would decide as to my future movements. We drove in a carriage to the hotel, where I was shown to a bedroom, in which I shaved and dressed, while the Colonel entered into arrange- ments with the host. In the course of the morn- ing, one of the officers of police visited me, and finding that the room was small and inconvenient, having no bed for the servant, he mentioned the circumstance to the proper authorities; and in the afternoon I was taken over the hotel, and given my choice of the apartments it contained. I se- lected a suite of rooms, consisting of a sitting- 132 NARRATIVE OF THE room^ an ante-room^ and two bedrooms : the whole could be separated from the rest of the establish- ment by closing a door in the corridor. About two o'clock in the afternoon I received an intimation that the Minister of War had retm-ned from Peterhof^ and was desirous of seeing me. My servant had brought away a pair of old epaulettes,, which it is customary to have at hand in case of being suddenly called upon duty ; and with these, and an old undress coat (the only one recovered from the wreck), I was enabled to make an appear- ance in some degree consonant with Russian eti- quette. The Colonel came to take me, and was delighted to see me thus arrayed. Although my epaulettes were old, and had seen much service, they were considered very handsome, as in Russia only general officers wear epaulettes of that size, the rest wearing little things made of silver wire ; and during my stay I received visits from many of the officers, who came expressly to see my uniform, such as it was, and made me put it on. The War Office is situated nearly opposite the Admiralty, in the Square in which stands the statue of Peter the Great. The building is of respectable appearance, without pretensions to any particular architectural beauty: it has two stone lions couchant at the foot of the steps leading to the entrance, and, like most of the public build- ings, has written over it the name of the office which is located in it. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 133 As the Minister was engaged when we arrived^, I had to wait his leisure^ and thus had an oppor- tunity of looking round me. In the hall^ where I was accommodated with a seat, and which was the ante-room to the Minister's apartment_, I saw some thirty clerks seated at separate tables in two rows, with their backs to the wall. They were dressed in blue uniform, with red cuffs and collars, coats buttoned up to the neck, and swords by their sides, with cocked hats within reach. A chief clerk, whose table was nearest the door that communi- cated with the General's room, occasionally brought out papers to be copied by these gentlemen, who maintained a profound silence, except a few who could venture to break through the rules, and who crowded round Mr. Sharman to inquire into the particulars of my story. The aides-de-camp of the General, gentlemen who were not much " affaires,'' availed themselves of the occasion to converse with me directly, as they all spoke French, and some of them English. I remarked two old soldiers, covered with decora- tions, standing at the door of the General's room as porters or messengers. Of these I had seen several at the entrance-hall; and if one is to judge of their merit by the number of the medals they wore, they must have seen much service, and have distinguished themselves ; but, in fact, all persons in the service of the Russian Government ap- peared to me to be decorated. After an interval 134 NARRATIVE OF THE of half an hour. General Sitinin came ont of the Minister's room and beckoned me to approach. Colonel Montandre and Mr. Sharman remained in the hall, in conversation with the aides-de-camp, until my return. I followed the General into an inner room, where he introduced me to the Prince Dolgorould, and retired. The Prince is a man of about forty-five, above the average height, rather stout, with a pleasing expression of countenance, and amiability of manner. He came forward, and, taking me by the hand, addressed me as follows, still retaining my hand : — " Monsieur le Lieutenant, the chances of war have tlirown you into a position which places us now in the relation of friends, and I trust that in our fu- ture intercourse we shall esteem each other as loyal gentlemen. His Majesty has directed that you should be located in an hotel, and every attention paid to your comfort. You will make known to the Colonel any request that you may have to make. I must inform you that your parole will not exempt you from the attendance of an officer, such being the law ; but everything shall be done to render this as little irksome to you as possible. The Emperor is now at Peterhof, and I shall have the honour of communicating to you his Majesty's pleasure when he will be at leisure to see you; and until I can learn his wishes, I must request you not to leave your present abode." We then entered into conversation on general FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 135 topics^ and I took the opportunity expressing ray satisfaction at tlie nnvarvin": kindness I had re- ceived^ and the accommodations afforded me at the hotel. I particularly called to his Excellency's notice the polite and considerate bearing of Mr. Sharman ; upon which he replied^ ^' Oui^ oui^ c'est un brave gar9on." I hope Mr. Sharman has received some advance- ment as a reward for his unremitting attention and delicate conduct toward me. His frank, honest, and gentlemanly demeanour was extremely pleas- ing. He never sought to lead me into any con- versation that might place me in a false position ; indeed, it was only on my alluding to the Tiger during our journey, that he ever spoke of the cause that had led to our companionship. Although de- sirous of knowing the details of an aJBfair on which he was so much questioned, — on which he would be expected to be well informed, — he refrained from putting any questions that might give me the slightest pain. I appreciated his kind forbearance. I afterwards found that he was appointed to be my " aide-de-camp '' during the rest of my stay in Russia. I say " aide-de-camp,^' for his attendance upon me was certainly more in the quality of friend and companion, than in that of keeper or surveil- lant. I was duly dismissed by the Prince, who in- formed me that I should probably hear from him on the following day. I returned to the Hotel Demouth, situated in 13„6 NARRATIVE OF THE the E-ue des Ecuries_, whicli derives its name from the Imperial Stables being at one end of it. It is a fine^ broad street^ wide enough for five or six carriages to drive abreast, and remarkably clean, although there is a regular stand of conveyances for hire. These latter are not placed in the centre of the street, as in England; but there is a trough near the pavement, at which the horses stand, har> nessed to the carriages, with their heads toward the houses. The streets are so broad, that the ve- hicles, when thus placed, ofier no obstruction to the traffic in the centre. Mr. Sharman informed me that, as we were pro- hibited from walking out, he should have to be a close prisoner with me that evening, much to his disappointment, as he had anticipated the pleasure of visiting his wife and family on his return. We passed the evening as agreeably as we could, look- ing out on the street, and criticizing the passers-by. My appearance at the window was always a signal for an assemblage of the curious ; and in order that we should be on equal terms, I provided myself with an opera-glass, which Mr. Sharman obtained for me from his wife, who came to see him the next day ; with this I could scrutinize those who were looking at me. Although I cannot speak much in favour of the beauty of the women I saw, my curiosity was as much gratified as theirs. I had been informed that smoking was not allowed in the streets; so, perhaps to make up for our de- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 137 tention at home, we smoked a few cigars extra that evening. The following day (June 18tli) was Sunday, but I was unable to rise from my bed, in consequence of a return of my ague. Great was the consterna- tion of the landlord on witnessing the paroxysms of the fever ; he fancied I must be labouring under an attack of cholera, and was astonished at the number of blankets required to keep me warm. It was fortunate that some one had been ap- pointed by the Government to look after me ; other- Avise I scarcely know what would have become of me, in a place where every one spoke only Ger- man or Russian. The landlord, the servants of the hotel, the very doctor who was called to attend me, were all Germans; and my sole medium of communication was through Mr. Sharman. I purchased some German elementary books, under the impression that I should remain in Russia long enough to acquire a language so much in use among the inhabitants of St. Petersburg, believing I could learn it much sooner than Russian. During my illness that day I was visited by Co- lonel Montandre, who had received the Emperor's orders respecting the degree of liberty I was to en- joy; but seeing I was not in a state to be spoken with, he did not communicate the contents of the document till the fol' owing day, when, after break- fast, he called and read it to me ; it was to the fol- lowing effect : — 138 NARRATIVE OF THE 1 st. That I was at liberty to go anywhere I pleased about the city_, but was always to be accompanied by an officer. 2nd. That I was not to communicate with any English subjects^ except the Rev. Dr. Law_, the Chaplain to the Embassy at St, Petersburg. 3rd. I was allowed to have any books or papers I chose to ask for^ but all letters that T wrote or received were to pass through the office of the Commander-in-Chief. To crown their liberality^ the Colonel produced a portfolio^ with pen^ ink^ and paper^ which he placed on the table, recommending me to make notes of my residence in Russia. He did not omit to give me two sticks of sealing-wax, although my letters were to be sent open. I did not avail myself of my permission to write to my friends until I had had an interview with the Emperor ; and my letter, which was forwarded to the General four days previous to my departure from St. Petersburg, reached my family as many days after my arrival in London, through the Danish Minister. In this letter I had avoided any express mention of my release, as I could not calculate the time I should take to get home, and was afraid of disappointing my friends, by holding out hopes that might not be realized; this omission no doubt caused General Sitinin to ask me, a day or two afterwards, whether I still wished the letter to be forwarded. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 139 Some of the officers at St. Petersburg, wliom T saw_, were mucli amused at the contents of a letter written at that time by a Turkish prisoner to one of his friends at Constantinople,, in which he stated that the only remarkable thing he had seen since his arrival in Russia^ was a painting in a picture- gallery of some cocks and hens ! 140 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XIX. Mr. Miller, the British Yice-Consul. — The iN'evskoi-Prospekt. — Toleration in Russia. — The Kazan Church. — The Admi- ralty. — Droshkies. — The Rev. Dr. Law. — The Academy of Ai-ts. — The G-ardens at St. Petersbm-g. — Mihtary bands. — The t-tvilight.— Statue of Peter the Great.— The Senate House. — The Russian Synod. — Canals. — The Winter Palace and the Hermitage. Soon after the ColoneFs departure I received a visit from Mr. Miller^ the British Vice-Consul_, whom I requested to call on the families of the English engineers for me; and informed him of the Emperor's command that I should not com- municate with him or any of the English residents at St. Petersburg, requesting he would make this known to my countrymen, to reheve me from any imputation of wishing to avoid their society. Accompanied by Mr. Sharman, I drove out about three o'clock in a droshky, to see the sights of the city. We traversed some of the principal streets, and crossed the Neva to the public gardens, where a military band usually plays in the even- ing. The longest and finest street in St. Peters- burg is called Nevskoi-Prospekt. It is upwards of three miles in length, and broader than any FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 141 street in London. The shops are very fine^ and ornamented with paintings on boards^ represent- ing articles for sale within ; they are not however equal in splendour to the shops in Regent-street^ being quite in a different style, not presenting such large glass fronts. But in one respect this street will vie with any in Europe — for the number of modistes; ladies visiting St. Petersburg need ap- prehend no difficulty in procuring any article they may require_, and that too of the last Paris fashion. There are many churches, of various denomina- tions, in St. Petersburg, where every religion is to- lerated, although no change is permitted except into the bosom of tha Church of the State. For instance, a Protestant would not be allowed to turn Catholic, or a Catholic Protestant ; but either may recant his " errors," and become Greek. One of the Greek churches which I visited, called the Church of Kazan, is very beautiful. It is built in the form of a cross ; in front is a crescent-shaped colonnade, consisting of two double rows of Corin- thian columns, forming a covered way to the cen- tral entrance, where the columns are more nume- rous, perhaps indeed a little too crowded for cor- rect taste. In fr'ont of the crescent, in an open space, there are statues, on pedestals, of Bliicher and Kutusoff. This church is generally used for the military. The interior is of noble proportions ; the columns are of polished granite, and have richly- endowed shrines between them; on the co- 142 NARRATIVE OF THE lumns are suspended tlie keys of various towns taken in former wars from the Turks, and banners captured from various enemies. The flag of the Tiger, which, on our Gracious Queen^s birthday, was paraded in the streets of St. Petersburg with the Turkish flag, was however not among these trophies ; it was doubtless too choice a rehc to be thus disposed of. The interior of the Kazan Church, built after the model of St. Peter^s at Rome, sur- passes in grandeur any idea that can be formed of it from a general description; it is rich with silver, bronze, marble, jasper, and granite. At one end of the Nevskoi-Prospekt is the Ad- miralty, an edifice of considerable dimensions ; and towering far above it is a singular sharp spire, supported on a large number of columns, visible to advantage at the opposite extremity of this long street. The Nevskoi-Prospekt has the disadvantage of being paved chiefly with wood, which does not withstand the climate, so that it has to be con- stantly renewed ; a part is paved with rough stones, which cause an unpleasant jerking in the light droshkies. These vehicles are little in accordance with the general solidity of the structures in St. Petersburg ; they are slight-made and uncomfort- able, afibrd no protection from the weather, and have hardly room for two persons behind the coach- man ; they are very narrow, and the seat for the passengers is the same as that occupied by the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 143 driver. Fancy a bencli two feet wide, by five or six feet long ; at one end sits tlie yamtchik, with his back perhaps to a lady^ who sits close to him on the bench, facing his right ; and beyond her, in close contact, a gentleman with his face to the left, each having a small board to put their feet on, and prevent their falling ofi". There are, how- ever, covered and open carriages for hire, drawn by two horses, and kept very clean. I do not know what is paid for these ; but I believe that for the one-horse droshky, twenty-five kopeks (about a franc) is the charge per hour. The drivers some- times try to impose on a traveller, as our cabmen do, and refuse to take a fare they think not likely to be remunerative; but there is this difference, that if brought before a magistrate, they get the knout for an ofience which would bring on Cabby only the punishment of a small fine. On our return from our drive, having dined, I availed myself of my permission to visit the Rev. Dr. Law, the Chaplain of the Embassy, who has been a resident in Russia some thirty-four years. Great was his astonishment and that of his worthy lady at my unexpected visit ; but on learning who I was, they treated me in the most cordial manner ; and during the rest of my stay at St. Petersburg, they evinced the kindest interest in me, showed me every attention, and afforded me a general welcome and hospitality, of which I shall ever be mindful. I deem it a great advantage to have been allowed 144 NARRATIVE OF THE by the Government to visit them^ and profit by the reverend gentleman's admonition and experience. Dr. Law showed me the chapel, which is on the upper floor of the house he inhabits ; it will hold a thousand persons; the number of the Doctor's congregation is about six hundred. He showed Mr. Sharman the seat that he would appropriate to my use when attending Divine service, so as not to infringe on the Imperial command that I should not communicate with any English subject. Mr. Sharman crossed himself on entering this place of worship, just as if it had been his OAvn church. I had already observed, and it was confirmed to me by those who have resided long in the country, that the Russians are naturally a religious people : they are disposed to reverence everything that is sacred, and appear to feel a superstitious awe to- wards whatever is respected by others. After canvassing the merits of various positions, it was agreed that it would be best for me to sit in the pew of the Doctor's family, with whom alone I was allowed to communicate ; I should thus run no risk of coming in contact with my interdicted countrymen. We then descended to Dr. Law's apartments, and Mr. Sharman considerately re- mained in another room while we took tea, which was also sent to him. About ten o'clock we re- turned to our hotel. The next morning (June 20tli) we visited the Academy of Arts, on the opposite side of the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 145 river ; it contains a kind of museum and library^ besides a large gallery of paintings by modern artists. As it was extremely warm out of doors, we passed tlie greater portion of the day in this gallery. Some of the paintings, by Russian ar- tists, appeared to me to possess great merit; I was particularly struck with those executed by a lady for the new Cathedral of St. Isaac, In the evening we drove to the gardens I have already mentioned, to hear the band. These gar- dens are really pretty, being laid out with great taste, and, strange to say, have trees growing in them with great luxuriance. They are much fre- quented by gay and fashionable people. There is a carriage-drive outside, which enables the rich gentry to come within hearing of the music, with- out leaving their vehicles. On the whole, this place of amusement affords as good an opportu- nity for show and dress, horses and carriages, as Kensington Gardens ; but at this time of the year the higher classes were at their country-seats. The length of the twilight at St. Petersburg was such, that my servant, who had sat up the first and second night in expectation of its getting dark, complained that he did not know when to go to bed. At last he decided on closing the shutters, and retiring to rest at six o'clock, Avithout waiting for the darkness. I have sometimes been able to read in bed till two or three o^ clock in the morn- ing, without lighting a candle. L 146 NARRATIAE OF THE The next day (June 21st)^ Mr. Sliarman having obtained leave to visit his wife and family in the day-time, an officer came to relieve him till the evening ; he was allowed to leave me a few hours every day. As some of the officers who supplied his place could not speak French_, I remained much at home, it being useless to go out in company with persons from whom I could obtain no infor- mation. In the evening I drove to dine with Dr. Law, whose residence is near the river, on the Quay, and has an agreeable prospect. The Neva is a pretty, clean-looking river, and is animated with shipping, boats, and steamers, which ply from the stairs on the opposite side, to Peterhof and Cronstadt. On our v\^ay we passed under an archway, in front of the Winter Palace_, and then by the Ad- miralty, crossing the square in which stands the well-known statue of Peter the Great. He is re- presented on a fiery charger, wild as the Musco^dte nobility whom he succeeded in taming ; he is seated on a bear-skin, indicating the state of barbarism in which he found his people ; the horse is in the act of ascending a hill, the summit of which he is just attaining. The hill consists of an immense piece of granite, said to weigh at least 1500 tons. It was discovered by Falconet, the artist who exe- cuted this chef-d'oeuvre, half-buried in the midst of a morass. Catherine II. ordered the marsh to be drained, and a road cut through a forest, in FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 147 order to bring this stupendous rock to St. Peters- burg, to serve as a pedestal for the statue, emble- matic of tlie difficulties sm^mounted by the civi- lizer of the North. It is supposed to surpass in bulk any of the boasted monuments of Roman grandeur. There is an inscription on the mass of granite, on one side in Latin_, and on the other in Russian. Facing the Admiralty, on the opposite side of the Square, is the Senate House, and the edifice in Tvhich are held the meetings of the Synod ; at the head of the latter sits a General officer, to direct the decisions of the holy men, on the part of the Emperor, who is the head of his Church. The canals form a striking feature in this city ; they have an animated appearance, and are very useful, as they communicate Tvith the streets; so that the latter remain free for traffic, while rub- bish is removed, and furniture, merchandise, and firewood conveyed, by these useful arteries of the metropolis. Near the quays may be seen fish- boats, not unlike our bathing machines ; in them the fish are kept alive, and taken out only when required ; sometimes a line is passed through the gills of the larger kinds, and they are let loose, to be hauled in when a purchaser presents himself. I did not \isit either the Hermitage or the Win- ter Palace; the former is a small house, consist- ing of only three rooms, which Peter the Great occupied whilst the fortress was building, and 148 NARRATIVE OF THE which is on the north side of the river. Peter was founding a city^ and^ regardless where he re- sided,, a hovel answered the purpose of a more regal mansion. In the evening Mr. Sharman came to Dr. Law's residence^ to relieve his brother officer, and re- turned home with me, where we passed an hour or two conversing before we retired to our apart- ment, which contained two beds, one of them oc- cupied by him. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 149 CHAPTER XX. The Fever and Ague again. — A Eussian physician. — Panaceas. — The Emperor commands me to proceed to Peterhof. — Leave St. Petersburg by Steamer. — Batteries. — The Russian Fleet at Cronstadt. — Second interview with Prince Dolgorouki. — Gar- dens at Peterhof. — Residence of the Cesaroviteh. — Private re- sidence of the Emperor. On the following day (June 22nd) I was laid up with the ague, and instead of the German doctor who had previously attended me, I received a visit from a Russian physician, who prescribed for me, Sharman being our interpreter. I was well phy- sicked, but to little purpose. Many were the ex- traordinary infallible remedies recommended to me by people who visited me during my stay in this capital. One gentleman said that the fever would be certainly driven away by my eating a Seville orange, rind and all, cut in two and well peppered ; but unfortunately there were no Seville oranges to be had, even if I had been disposed to put his panacea to the proof. Another recommended me to put a live crab in a bottle of brandy, and, after keeping it a week, to drink a glass of the brandy before the attack came on, and repeat the dose 150 NARRATIVE OF THE every few hours. A third, still more absurd, se- riously recommended a poultice of pounded garlic and some other herbs, to be applied to the fourth finger of the left hand ; it was to be bound on with a cabbage-leaf, and would cause so much pain as to counteract the effects of the fever ! A fourth was, to take three raw eggs every morning and evening : this recommendation I followed on my journey home, and must say that I was free from the fever for the time, though I cannot exactly attribute it to the means adopted. On the 23rd I received a visit ifrom Colonel Montandre, who communicated to us the desire of the Emperor that we should proceed at once to Peterhof, to await his Majesty's pleasure to see me. Arrangements had been made to convey us to the Palace, and we started at twelve o'clock in a steamer from the quay I have abeady mentioned, opposite Dr. Law's residence; about two we reached the pier at Peterhof. The steamer was crowded with ladies and gentlemen, who were on a pleasure-trip down the river. Although St. Petersburg is a place of imposing appearance to a person in the city, it has little beauty when viewed from the water ; on the contrary, it appears quite insignificant to any one on board a vessel entering the river: being built on low ground, at first sight nothing is ^dsi- ble but tall factory chimneys and the domes of some of the churches. As we descended the river, I observed several FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 151 batteries at its mouth, mounting a dozen guns each, but apparently not very formidable. Buoys were placed to point out the deepest water ; and I feel convinced that, from the observations I was enabled to make, I could undertake to direct a vessel up the stream without touching ground. At Peterhof I could see the Russian fleet an- chored under Cronstadt, at a distance of ten or twelve miles, — too far to enable me to form any idea of the number of vessels. On landing, one of the Imperial carriages was in waiting to convey us to the apartments which I was to occupy ; these were under the same roof with, and close to, the chambers of the Minister of War, upon whom we waited to announce our arrival. The Prince kindly inquired after my health, and asked whether I came provided to remain several days here. I replied that, being under the impres- sion that I was to wait on his Imperial INIajesty at once, I had not brought my portmanteau with me, anticipating to have to return to my lodgings that evening. An express messenger was immediately despatched, with a letter from me to my servant, desiring him to forward what I might require for a residence of a few days. On returning to our appointed lodgings dinner was served, and, as usual, I fared extremely well, without having the trouble of ordering it; the maitre cVhotel furnishing us with fish, fowl, and 152 NARRATIVE OF THE meat, according to the Trench system of cookery. In the evening we strolled in the gardens of the Palace, which are open to the public, and are visited by parties from St. Petersburg, who come here to pass the day, but whose hilarity is not at all dimi- nished by being under the immediate eye of the Emperor and the Court. As an instance of the close contact into which the people are sometimes brought with the Impe- rial Family and the Cornet, who are by no means hedged in by restrictive formalities, I may state that it came to my knowledge, that, on one occa- sion, a lady having taken possession of a kiosk, where she intended to dine with her children, the servants of the Palace informed her that the Em- press had determined on occupying the place for that day, and politely requested her to move to another part of the ground. The Palace at Peterhof is the summer resi- dence of the Cesarovitch, the Grand Duke Alex- ander. The Emperor leads quite a domestic life at a beautiful private residence called Alexandria, a short distance from Peterhof. There were two bands playing alternately in the extensive gardens at the back of the Palace; and as the music is good, this formed a great source of attraction to the gentry and the people, who, with the number of officers in uniform, contributed to give the grounds a very gay appearance. The wea- ther at this time of the year was mild^ and the FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 153 atmospliere particularly clear; so that the people lingered till a late hour^ enjoying the musiCj which was terminated by a Russian hymn^ upon which all stood up and uncovered. 154 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XXI. Proceed to Strelna. — Alexandria. — The Ducal drawing-room. — The Grrand Duchess Alexandra Josefowna. — Her affability. — Her Ladies-in- Waiting. — Arrival of the Grand Duke Constan- tine. — His conversation. — His acquaintance with naval affaii's. The next day (June 24tli) T was again attacked by tlie ague^ whicli confined me to my room ; and was visited by another doctor^ a German, who spoke Frencb. As I had been informed that I should have to wait on the Grand Duke Constan- tine at Strelna, a little beyond Alexandria, I sti- pulated with my ^sculapius that he should give me no medicines which might disable me from attending the summons of his Imperial Highness. He accordingly gave me only a simple draught, to be taken every hour till seven o'clock; at that time I got up, more dead than alive. Carriages belonging to the Government, stand ready horsed for the use of the Ministers, as well as other vehicles, to convey couriers to all parts of the empire. It is remarkable that horse-riding, either for pleasure or on business, is extremely rare — everybody seems to prefer driving : perhaps the Russians consider this a step in civilization beyond FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 155 their southern iieighboiirs_, whose Avant of roads compels them still to have recourse to riding on horses' or mules' backs to get over the ground. We entered one of the Imperial two-horse car- riages^ and in half an hour reached Strelna, the residence of the Grand Duke Constantine,, the second son of the Emperor. We passed Alexan- dria o^ the left : it is a retired spot_, and we could not see through the trees that surrounded this secluded domain, where^ as already observed, the Emperor enjoys the privacy of domestic life. Both Alexandria and Strelna enjoy a view of the entrance to the river_, which is about half a mile distant, and where there is a pier built for the landing of his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke, whose duties often call him to the fleet. From the windows of these palaces Cronstadt may be seen on the left, with its monster fortifications ; the front is enlivened by vessels passing and re- passing over the tranquil waters of the bay; and to the right, in the distance, stand the spires of the capital. I was shown into a drawing-room, to await the arrival of the Grand Duke Constantine, who had not returned from Cronstadt. He fills the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, lately occupied by Prince Menschikofi", who has been sent to com- mand the fleet at Sevastopol, and who may there one day pay the penalty, in his person, of the war of which he was one of the principal instigators. 156 NARRATIVE OF THE The walls of the drawing-room were covered with oil-paintings, chiefly sea- views, by Russian artists ; and there were many paintings laid against the chairs and sides of the room, and water-colour paintings lying on the table ; the whole having an appearance of elegant neglige, by which I could see that it was used more as a private than as a state-room. An examination of these works of art afforded me some occupation, while I could hear in the distance a band of music playing in the grounds. I was standing, leaning over a chair and looking out of a window, with my back to the door, when I heard these words, in a pleasing tone and in good English, with a slight foreign accent : — " You are waiting for the Grand Duke, I suppose ?" I turned round, and, a little to my confusion, saw three ladies standing close by me. I bowed respectfully to the lady in advance, and replied that I had been directed to meet his Imperial Highness at eight o'clock. The Grand Duchess, for it was no other who now honoured me with her conversation, was accompanied by two of her ladies-in-waiting. Her Imperial Highness said she had heard of my hav- ing been very unwell, and expressed a hope that I was better. I replied, that I had only risen from my bed in obedience to the commands of the Grand Duke. Her Imperial Highness then in- formed me that it was uncertain when the Grand Duke would return ; and added, in the most naif PIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 157 manner^ that I might know who was addressing me^ '^^Even I do not know, and I am his wife!" I again bowed, when she said that she should cer- tainly hear if he was detained, and would let me know; she recommended me, in the meanwhile, to wait, saying that she would send me some tea, and the last English newspaper, which had just come to hand. She then retired, with her attendants, by the door at which she had entered, and soon after returned alone, with a copy of the ^Illustrated London News,^ which she handed to me, saying, " See ! it has not yet been opened, and is the last number received." It was addressed to the Grand Duke, and had not passed under the scrutiny of the Censor; its destination to a member of the Imperial Family being a safeguard from the muti- lating scissors of that important functionary. Her Imperial Highness then retired, and I soon saw her in the garden, walking with her suite. She is a person of very pleasing appearance, rather above the middle height, of sweet and intellectual countenance, and decidedly pretty and engaging. She appeared to be about three-and-twenty, and was dressed with great simplicity in white, with scarcely any ornament except a few tasteful flowers in her white bonnet. The ladies who accompanied her were older than herself; and, although they were certainly beautiful, served to set off her Im- perial Highness to advantage, by the gay colours of their dress, in contrast with the simplicity and 158 NARRATIVE OF THE elegance of hers. They did not speak while in the room, but as soon as they left I heard them say some words in French, and therefore concluded (as I had been assured) that this was the language of the Court. Presently a servant entered with the usual tea apparatus, — one tea-pot over another, as already described. I quite enjoyed this refreshing drink, in the thirst which I suffered from the fever : and it was very apropos, as I had to w^ait till ten o^ clock. At this hour I heard a stir among the servants in the ante-room, and concluded that his Imperial Highness had just arrived. I looked out of the window, and saw a gentleman in uniform with a lady coming through the garden, followed at some distance by an officer in an aide-de-camp's uni- form, with another lady on his arm. Presently the Grand Duke entered alone with his aide- de- camp, and, coming up to me, held out his hand to shake hands ; he addressed me in English, hoped I was better, and regretted my ha^dng had to wait so long. He then motioned me to enter another apartment, the door of which had just been opened by one of the servants. Here we were left alone, and I was put quite at my ease by his Imperial Highnesses affability ; he requested me to sit down, and ordered tea and wine, which were brought and set on two separate tables placed by us : he took some wine, and asked me to help myself, while he smoked the amber-mouthed pipe presented to him by the attendant. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 159 Tlie conversation first turned on the loss of the Tiger, into the details of which he entered mi- nutely ; he was well acquainted with them, having read the official report that I had addressed to the Admiral from Odessa, a copy of which had been forwarded to him ; in addition to this, he had the report of the authorities of that city relative to the circumstances that succeeded. He put a number of questions to me ; among others, he asked why we had not taken to our boats. I replied, that no naval officer ever thinks of abandoning his ship, and that we had defended the Tiger, hoping to the last to get her off the beach, until it was too late to escape in the boats. His Imperial Highness spoke with earnestness of his voyages to England and in the Mediterra- nean, and referred to many naval officers whom he had met, naming them, and mentioning them in connection with circumstances that evinced his clear recollection of them. Referring to Sir William Symonds (whom I think he said he knew), his Imperial Highness remarked that he believed the Russian three-decker the Twelve Apostles was a superior vessel to the Queen, which that officer had built, inasmuch as the defects said to exist in the latter had been cor- rected in the former; the stern, for instance, al- though not so sightly, Avas more useful and effec- tive, as guns could be fired at it, while it is doubt- ful whether the Queen could sustain the shock. He 160 NARRATIVE OF THE also added, that the Twelve Apostles, on repeated trials, had worked to windward, and overtaken their swiftest frigates. His Imperial Highness spoke of many of the ships in both the English and French navies, comparing them with each other, and appearing to be quite au fait on maritime subjects. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 161 CHAPTEU XXII. The exploits of the Arrogant and Heela. — Kemarks and questions of the G-rand Duke. — The Grand Duchess. — Her love of the English language. — First view of the Emperor, — Su mm oned to his presence. — Prince Lichtenstein. — The Grand Dukes Nicholas and Michael. I WAS much pleased with the ingenuoiis manner in which the Grand Duke Constantine spoke of the exploits of the Arrogant and Hecla. He said_, " Have you heard what your countryman has done?" I replied that I had not. "Well/' said his Imperial Highness, '^'^of all bold and seaman- like operations, this of Captain HalFs — taking his steamer seven miles up a creek of intricate naviga- tion, in an enemy's country — is the most daring I could have imagined ; I cannot but admire such gallantry, even in an enemy.'-' His Imperial Highness wished to know how it was that Sir Charles Napier carried a blue flag at the main; "For," said he, "by the despatches, I see that he signs only as Vice-Admiral ; has he been promoted?" He informed me that he had received that very day a report from Finland, stating that the Duke of Wellington and some other ships had stood in to the coast, whence the 162 NARRATIVE OF THE flag he named had been seen at the main. I was not able to account for this circumstance^ and sug- gested that it might have been merely a signal. His Imperial Highness made a remark to which I could give no reply : he said^ " I am sorry the war is not of a more equal character.^^ He then proceeded to complain of the English ships having approached the coast of Finland^ carrying the Russian flag^ and thus deceiving the land-officers commanding the fortresses, who could not be ex- pected to distinguish between the ships of the ad- verse navies. I did not feel called upon to enter into a discussion on the right of using such means for misleading an enemy, — a practice which has so many precedents in war. The Grand Duke will have learned by this time, that, when fighting, our gallant ships hoist their own flag, under which alone we condescend to fight, and never under false colours. We had some further conversation on general subjects relating to our profession; the questions he asked were all of them such as I could satisfac- torily answer. His observations, and remarks on my replies, were such as any naval officer might make, and quite unrestricted by the difi*erence of our positions. I find it impossible to recall to mind many of the questions asked by the Grand Duke, on account of the circumstances under which the conversation took place, the state of mind and health under FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 163 wliicli I was labouring^ and tlie impossibility of taking notes while in tbe country ; there was one however which now recurs to me. His Imperial Highness wished to know whether the Tiger had formed one of the bombarding squadron at Odessa, and whether_, when she struck, we were coming to examine the new batteries that had been erected ; he also asked what two steamers had occupied the inshore position of impunity during the attack. These inquiries showed that he was well acquainted with the position of the new batteries, intended to rectify the errors in the construction of the former ones. While we were thus conversing, the Grand Duchess entered, on which I rose and bowed ; the Grand Duke said, " You have already made the acquaintance of my wife." She came forward and referred to the newspaper she had given me, inquir- ing about its contents. She always spoke to me in English, evincing a desire to acquire that fa- cility of expression which only practice can give ; and on her making a slight and very natural error, his Imperial Highness corrected her, as he is per- fectly acquainted with the language, which, he in- formed me, was taught to him and the Imperial Family by Dr. Law, respecting whose health he made some inquiries, and expressed a great esteem for that gentleman. It was now late (past eleven), and her Imperial Highness doubtless thought it time for our inter- 164 NARRATIVE OF THE view to close. She went round and said something to the Grand Duke^, on which he used the word Stoppi, which, as I have explained, signifies " Proceed/^ i. e. Let us alone. Her Imperial Highness then left us. I observed that she was now in a different costume : she wore a large Leghorn straw-hat, a rich crimson velvet boddice fitting quite close, and a white skirt. Soon after her departure, the Grand Duke rose, and, shaking hands, dismissed me, say- ing he was afraid I must be fatigued. On going out I found Mr. Sharman, who had wiled aAvay the time in conversation with some of the attendants; and we proceeded to Peterhof in the carriage which had brought us thence. When we reached the palace, we observed a droshky near the gate, and, at a little distance from it, a tall figure in military uniform, wearing a long cloak and a white cap. "There,^^ said Mr. Sharman, "is the Emperor !" We passed on; and this was my first view of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of all the Rassias. He was quite unattended ; and my companion assured me that it was his Majesty^ s custom, often to take his walks alone, at night, about the grounds. On alighting from our car- riage, we found that the Chief of the Police had just arrived from St. Petersburg ; and, shortly after we had retired, a carriage drove ofi", bearing the Minister of War, who was proceeding to Alexan- dria to wait upon his Majesty, that late hour of the night being the time at which the Ministers FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 165 transact business witli tlie Emperor. Evidently, no sinecure is enjoyed either by his Majesty or by Prince Dolgorouki. The next morning (June 25th) I requested Mr. Sharman to inquire whether I was to be presented to the Emperor, or whether the examination I had undergone by the Grand Duke Constantino was all that would be required of me. He went to Prince Dolgorouki, and soon returned, saying that we were to wait until the will of the Emperor could be ascertained through the Prime Minister. We therefore waited in my apartments; and, du- ring this interval of an hour and a half, which we wiled away at the window, I saw some of the Finn peasant girls, from a village near Peterhof, passing in groups of a dozen at a time, probably to church. They were dressed in a fanciful costume, the first I had observed since my stay in Russia. They wore red jackets, with white or blue skirts reach- ing a little below the knee ; no shoes, and their legs bandaged as high as the knees with blue and red ribbons, two inches wide ; their heads were bare, and their light hair bound with blue and red ribbons. Expressive features, and bright, spark- ling blue eyes, animated their countenances. They went along laughing and chatting with great good- humour, and with every appearance of content- ment and happiness. I supposed them to belong to the Finn soldiers, who form a regiment quartered at Peterhof. 166 NARRATIVE OF THE About half-past ten a messenger came to inform me that my presence was required at the palace, and that a carriage was waiting to convey us. Al- though we had not a hundred yards to go_, we en- tered the carriage, and were soon at the door of the palace, where I met the Minister of War, who appeared in haste, as if Ave were late. He ushered me upstairs into a waiting-room, where were a great number of superior officers, waiting to ac- company the Emperor and his suite to church. In the hall there were also many officers of a lower rank, belonging to the regiments quartered at Peterhof, and assembled with the same object. The ante-room was of great dimensions, and presented a remarkable appearance, which I had not observed elsewhere in the rooms of this or anv other palace. The walls were covered, from the very top to within five feet of the floor, with paintings of fall-sized female faces, in all atti- tudes, and with every variety of expression. These paintings were in oil, barely three feet by two, placed close together, and without frames, as if let into the wall ; the whole had a very pleasing ap- pearance. Prince Lichtenstein, one of the Em- peror's aides-de-camp, introduced himself to me, speaking very good English, and kindly begged I rt ould apply to him in case I should require any- thing during my stay in Eussia. Several other officers addressed me, whose names I cannot re- member : some spoke French, some English ; but FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 167 all were assiduous in their endeavours to set me at ease by their polite attentions. "While waiting in the ante-room, two fine young men, evidently very tall for their age, and dressed in generals^ uniform, accosted me in excellent Eng- lish. As I was talking to them, answering their questions. Prince Dolgorouki summoned me to the Emperor's presence; nor did I know till after- wards that they were the two youngest of the Grand Dukes, Nicholas and Michael, who had honoured me with their attention. Their questions were such as a kind interest dictated, and merely re- ferred to my stay in Russia, how I liked what I had seen, etc. I followed the Prince into a small, rather dark apartment; he there introduced me to his Imperial Majesty, and then retired a little distance behind. 168 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XXIII. The Emperor Nicholas. — The Order of St. George. — Personal appearance of the Emperor. — His kindness of manner. — He grants me my liberty. — Prince Dolgorouki's congi'atulations. — The Royal Chapel. — Music. — Sh' Charles Napier near Cron- stadt. — Russian Recruits. — The grounds at Peterhof. The Emperor was standing in the middle of the room^ dressed in the plain dark-blue uniform of a General-in-Chiefj and wore a simple white en- amelled cross at the bntton-hole on his chest. This^ I believe^ was the cross of the Order of St. George_, an honour conferred only upon persons who have rendered important services to their country. I imagine that his Impenal Majesty has not yet assumed the decoration of the highest class of the Order, which is worn by such men as Paske- witch_, Woronzoff, etc., and which was described to me as different in size from that worn by the Em- peror. I expected to see a fine tall man_, but was not prepared to find his Imperial Majesty so much superior to the generality of men in height and appearance. He certainly did not look more than fifty ; nor were there any particular signs of care on his countenance, at least not more than one sees FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 169 in every man of his age. His features were fine and regular^ his head bald in the centre^ and his eye expressive of mildness, quite in accordance with his words. I was aware that his Majesty spoke both Eng- lish and French, and hoped that he woidd address me in my native tongue. As I bowed and stepped forward, he addressed me as "Monsieur le Lieu- tenant," and inquired after my health, whether I had got rid of my fever, and how and where I had caught it. He asked me about the loss of the Tiger, and inquired why we had not anchored, being so near the land. I replied that the fog was very thick, and that by our reckoning we were some distance from land when the vessel struck. He asked if I was married, made some kind in- quiries respecting the family of my late Captain, and informed me that Mrs. Giffard was gone to Odessa, to join her husband, not having heard of his death. His Imperial Majesty then said, that it had been his intention to grant the Captain his liberty; but as that was now impossible, he would extend that grace to me as the next in command, and asked me how I should like to go home. I was quite taken aback by this announcement, as although I had been told at Odessa that I should have my liberty, still I did not anticipate that it would be granted so soon and so freely. I was therefore unprepared to ansAver the question as to 170 NARRATIVE OF THE my intended route, and said that I really had not thought of it; upon which his Imperial Majesty burst into a fit of laughter, much amused at my surprise and embarrassment, and said, "AUez done, pensez-y, ( Go and think about it,) and let me know this evening, through the Minister of War, what road you would like to take." He then bowed me out of the room, turning to the Prince, to whom he made some remark in Russian, and the latter followed me. When we were in the outer room the Prince shook hands with me, congratulating me on my release, and said, "I suppose we shall not again see you against us?" and on joining the other officers in the hall, I received their congratulations also, one of them telling me that they knew very Avell a week previously that I was to have my release; still it had not transpired, to my knowledge. I gladly accepted the offer of Prince Dolgorouki, to fall in with the cortege of his Imperial Majesty, who was preparing to attend Divine service in the chapel of the palace. As we were conversing, the Emperor, leading the Empress, and followed by the rest of the Imperial Family and their suite, passed on their way to the chapel, and we closed in the procession. I should have felt a delicacy in thrusting myself forward, had not Prince Dolgorouki kindly taken me by the arm and led me into the chapel, in which the Im- perial Family had taken their places^ so that I was FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 171 within twenty yards of tlie altar; tlie rest of tlie officers in attendance were outside, in a room that opens into the chapel by a small door, and where, as I was informed, I should have been unable to hear the music. The Empress occupied a seat to my left ; the rest of the assembly standing during the service. Her Majesty was e^ddently suffering from ill-health, and only rose occasionally during particular parts : the ladies of the Court were behind her and the Em- peror. The Imperial Family were to the right, on the opposite side of the chapel, with the Ge- neral officers behind them ; the Ministers stood in the centre, where I was. Three arches, supported by square columns, separated the Imperial Family from their suites. The service was conducted by two priests, arrayed in gorgeous robes of green and gold, with mitres on their heads. One stood within the screen of the altar, the centre door of which was open ; and the other in the chapel, outside the screen, holding a book, from which he read por- tions of the Scriptures. The ser\dce was chanted, and sometimes sung, by a choir of fifty men and boys of all ages, placed twenty-five on each side of the altar, facing each other. There was no instru- mental music, but it was some time before I could feel certain of this fact ; for such was the intonation, and the various voices were so perfectly harmo- nized, as to imitate the swelling tones of an organ, which imparted a striking solemnity to the perfor- 172 NARRATIVE OF THE mance. At times the screen was closed^ — during the consecration of the Eucharist_, I suppose; at other times two assistants entered from side-doors, with censers of burning incense, which they handed to the priest ; the latter, taking them, swung them three times towards the congregation, who re- peatedly crossed themselves; and this, with the repetition of a few words (Kyrie eleison), was all the part that the congregation took in the service and responses. Once during the service I was honoured with the observation of the Emperor; at another time the eyes of all the persons present were turned towards me : they were, no doubt, prajdng for a release from their enemies. The service concluded, the Ministers and Generals went out of the chapel into the room in which the other officers had remained ; and we all drew up in a line on one side, whilst the ladies formed the other side of the avenue through which the Impe- rial Family returned to their apartments. The courtiers now dispersed, some loitering be- hind; among these was Prince Lichtenstein, who renewed his conversation with me, and, while thus engaged, a gentleman came up and requested to be introduced to me. He was a naval officer and aide-de-camp to the Grand Duke Constantine; I regret to say that I cannot remember his name. He spoke good English, and, after the usual preli- minaries of conversation, said, " Your countrymen are determined to pay us a visit ; they are only FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 173 five miles off/^ This was the first intimation I re- ceived of Sir Charles Napier being so near Cron- staclt. I replied^ that I had no doubt my comitry- men would do their best, and visit them before long; they laughed, l^ut the general feeling among those with whom I spoke during my stay in Russia, ap- peared to be one of regret at the rupture of ami- cable relations. I took leave of these gentlemen, and proceeded with Mr. Sharman to take a walk in the grounds of the palace. Here, drawn up in a line, were some hundred recruits, in the usual great-coat of the soldiers, waiting to be inspected by the Em- peror; I was told that it is his Imperial Majesty^s custom to examine each man, test his physical capabilities by tapping him on the chest, etc., and assign to each that part of the service to which he may deem him best adapted. The coat worn by the soldier conceals his real figure; I am inclined to think that, if deprived of this outer clothing, Russian troops would not present so imposing an aspect as they do on a cursory view. The grounds we visited were at the back of the palace, and were laid out with much care and taste. We next proceeded to the gardens in front, which are separated from the palace by the high-road, running on a terrace some eighty feet above the grounds. From this terrace there is a slope, down which flows a cascade, over blue tiles, and appear- ing to emerge from under the road. The cascade 174 NARRATIVE OF THE is ornamented with gilt figures of Cupid, water- nymplis, etc. Descending by a zigzag patli at the side of the waterfall_, we reached the gardens below. Here is an immense circular basin, in the centre of which, on a small island, is a gilt sculpture re- presenting Samson tearing open the lion^s mouth ; and from the latter issues a jet that rises above the height of the road, even with the palace windows. This jet is surrounded by a great many others, all round the basin, as well as in diiferent parts of the grounds. A canal from the Gulf of Finland com- municates, in a straight line, with the large basin, and on each side of it rise numberless jets. I have not seen the waterworks at Versailles, but I have been assm^ed that these rival them in grandeur. There are also many ingenious contrivances with the water, to amuse and astonish beholders; one of these struck me as quite novel : small pipes are laid along the trunk and branches of a tree, and coloured so as not to be observable ; and from the ends of these innumerable tubes water is suddenly emitted, so that the tree appears to Aveep over the fountain below, shedding tears from every leaf. By another contrivance a globe of water is sud- denly formed over a seat occupied by a chance pas- senger, who looks as if under a glass shade. A third is so arranged, that on a person taking a seat in a tempting spot, his weight presses on a spring, by which water is made to flow upon him in all directions, and he thus gets a shower-bath nolens FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 175 volens. Such practical jokes amuse tlie visitors; the ideas were borrowed from the Italians^ in whose srardens I have seen contrivances of the same kind. At the further end of the grounds^ close to the water^ stands " Mon Plaisir'^ — a very pretty flower- garden^ surrounding the cottage of Peter the Great. In this are religiously preserved all kinds of relics of this Minos of the North. The cottage con- sists of five or six rooms on the ground -floor ; and in it are kept the farniture used by the monarch, his bed and accoutrements, a pair of shoes he made for the Empress, some wooden bowls turned by himself, and other specimens of the handicraft of the Imperial workman. These grounds are en- tirely open to the public, who come from far and near to pass the day in them. 176 NARRATIVE OF THE CHAPTER XXIV. Intei'view with Prince Dolgorouki. — Eeturn to St. Petersburg. — G-eneral Sitinin. — Visit of Colonel Montandre. — Another attack of fever and ague. — Leave St. Petersburg. — Preobra- jenskaja. — Degouzy. — Concourse of people on the road. — Na- ture of the country. — Kovno. — Itinerary of the route from St. Petersburg to Warsavr. — Expenses of travelling. On leaving the palace grounds^ we returned to our rooms and dined ; soon after, I received a message from the Minister of War, expressing a desire to see me. I proceeded at once into his presence. He again congratulated me on my release, and added, that his Imperial Majesty had ordered him to pre- sent me with a sword, which he trusted would not be unwelcome from its being Russian, as they had not an English one to give me in place of mine. He hoped it would serve as a memorial of the treat- ment I had met with in Russia ; and concluded by observing, that he had no doubt I should speak well of them, and assure my countrymen that they were not such barbarians as the papers had repre- sented them. He shook hands with me, making use of some kind and complimentary expressions, in which '^mutual esteem and regard ^^ predomi- nated, and said that I should be duly informed of FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 177 the Emperor's decision as to the route by which I should return to England. He then asked me if I wished to return to St. Petersburg that evening; and on my saying that such was my desire, he re- plied, that a carriage should be ready for me when- ever I chose to go. I took my leave, and about seven o'clock started with Mr. Sharman for our hotel in the Eue des Ecuries. The road is remarkably good all the way, and the country dotted with villas, which at this season were occupied by the gentry from St. Petersburg. On each side of the way, for some considerable distance from Peterhof, are a number of thatched cottages, in which soldiers are billeted ; at the door of each cottage may be seen a long pole, like a fishing-rod, at the extremity of which hangs a hoop, with a number of tufts of straw, denoting the number of men quartered in the house — seven or eight to each. Russia is supposed to swarm with soldiers, yet, strange to say, although I crossed the country from one end to another, I could not help remarking the apparent paucity of troops. I saw a few soldiers here and there, but do not recollect ever seeing as many as three hun- dred together, until we reached the environs of Warsaw, where some regiments were quartered ; there I saw them drilling. On the next day (June 26th) I received instruc- tions to go to General Sitinin, who informed me of the route that I was to take ; which was, by way N 178 NARRATTVE OF THE of Warsaw^, where I should find my passport ready for me^ to cross the Russian frontier into Austria. On making some inquiries respecting the fate of my servant^ whom I supposed to have been libe- rated like myself^ and who was desirous of going to Odessa, whence he could reach Malta sooner than if he accompanied me to England, I was in- formed that the Emperor's grace did not extend to him ; but a few days after, I was told that his Imperial Majesty, in consideration of my ill-health, and the use my servant might be on the road, had been pleased to order his release also, that he might accompany me. As the 28th was the day appointed for my de- parture, we began at once to make preparations for the journey; Mr. Sharman went to look at a carriage which the Government proposed to buy for our use, and in the evening I took tea with Dr. Law, who was delighted to hear of the happy re- sult of my visit to the Emperor. The next day (June 27th), in the morning I made some little purchases, and afterwards dined with Dr. Law. In the evening Colonel Montandre called to see Mr. Sharman, to make arrangements to enable him to leave me the next day, that he might visit his family before we set off. I there- fore took leave of my kind and excellent friends this evening (27th), under the impression that I should take my departure from St. Petersburg on the morrow as appointed, and retired to rest. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 179 On the following morning (28tli) the fever re- newed its attack with its usual violence^ and I was compelled to keep my bed. I was visited by the Colonel and the GeneraVs aides-de-camp^ and a Russian doctor was called in to make his re- port on the state of my health. This was the fourth disciple of ^sculapius with whose visits I had been honoured since my arrival in Russia^ and he decided that it would not be proper for me to be moved that day. Seeing the anxiety of the Colonel and the aides-de-camp that I should de- partj in order that the Emperor's commands should be fulfilled to the letter^ I declared that I should be ready to do so at all events on the following day. On the 29th^ being much better, Colonel Mont- andre, who had ordered dinner to be ready by five o'clock, dined with me, while Mr. Sharman went to take leave of his friends ; this dinner, like every other provided for me during my stay in Russia, was all that I could wish. Mr. Sharman returned at seven o'clock, with his wife, who came to see him ofi"; and precisely at eight we shook hands with the gallant Colonel and entered our carriage, which was of a similar de- scription to that in which we had left Odessa, only larger and more convenient. The road was good, the weather fine, and we started under the best auspices, Avith the intention of travelling night and day till we reached War- 180 NARRATIVE OF THE saw. But on the next day, suffering severely from another attack of fever, I found myself compelled to stop at a village called Preobrajenskaja, eighty miles on our road. Here we remained six hours, to allow the fever to subside, and then proceeded ; but I was so much overcome by the fatigue of tra- velling, and the lassitude consequent on the violent attacks of the fever, that I may well be excused for having no definite recollection of anything on the way until Sunday the 2nd of Julj^, when we reached a place called Degouzy, where was a large post-house and an inn. Here we found that the fore-axletree of the carriage had given way, and that it was necessary to get it repaired. The only man however who could do this for us was absent, and we had to wait till he could be sent for. The repairs of the carriage occupied him till eight in the evening, when we resumed our persevering efforts to reach Warsaw. The road was crowded with carriages of all kinds, going to and coming from Warsaw. Sometimes we met, and sometimes overtook, as many as thirty or forty waggons loaded with provisions and am- munition for the troops, as was evident from a few soldiers who escorted them ; and we frequently saw couriers hurrying to or from St. Petersburg, with the alacrity of men charged with important de- spatches- The country we passed is much more thickly wooded than that between Odessa and Moscow j often we traversed forests, the trees how- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 181 ever being always small. The road was beautifully straight^ and all the way I could see preparations for erecting an electric telegraphy to supplant the old-fashioned telegraphy wdiich w^as still in use to convey important intelligence to St. Petersburg. At the latter stations people are located^ who are charged with keeping the roads in repair ; and at every twenty miles or so we saw a little cottage, pleasantly situated, and surrounded with a small garden, for the residence of the superintendent. Here and there we saw an old soldier overlooking a dozen men, women, and children, employed in sweeping the dust off the road. The country is nowhere dreary, and the land appeared highly cul- tivated; we frequently passed towns, villages, de- tached farms, post-houses, etc. On Monday, the 3rd of July, we reached Kovno, 699 versts from St. Petersburg, and on the fron- tiers of Poland. By an itinerary which I obtained at the Post- office, I "find that the postal regulations are as fol- lows : — Prom St. Petersburg to Kovno, 699 versts, the tariff is 2 J kopeks per horse for each verst, except the first seventeen versts, for which are paid three kopeks. From Kovno to Warsaw the charge is five kopeks per horse for each verst. In addition to these sums the driver receives a small gratuity for his trouble, regulated according to the pas- senger's appreciation of his driving. Two and a half kopeks are equal to one penny English. By 182 NARRATIVE OF THE another reference to this tariff, I find that if three horses be required, the expense of travelling by- carriage is nearly double that which would be paid by railway in Poland. I calculate that in Russia it is 4^6?. a mile for the use of three horses, and in Poland double that rate. But by railway the ex- pense is only 2^d. a mile from Warsaw; and on the road from Moscow to St. Petersburg it is, I believe, only IJc?. a mile. PIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 183 CHAPTER XXY. Enter Poland. — Deliberate travelling. — Grreat demand for horses. — A Kussian officer proceeding to join liis regiment.— Lomza. — Interruptions on the road. — Arrival at Warsaw. — Cross the Yistula. — Count Riidiger. — Arrangements for departvire. — Search for my passport. — Take leave of Mr. Sharman. We crossed the river Niemen by the bridge of boatSj and entered the kingdom of Poland. The country did not appear to be so highly cultivated as that which we had just left^ though we still tra- versed vast forests of small trees, such as we had seen in Russia. The road was equally good, and evidently under the same regulations; here and there were farm-houses and villages. In Russia, when three horses are used, the cen- tre one is between the shafts ; but in Poland there is only one pole to the carriage, on each side of which a horse is harnessed, and the third horse is attached to the left ; so that, the Russian harness differing from that to which the postilions were accustomed, there was always something wrong on oiu' first starting from every post-house, and this considerably delayed our journey. The drivers in Poland carry a bugle, with which 184 NARRATIVE OF THE they announce their approach to the most distant object on the road^ driving up in the meanwhile with all the solemnity possible ; at such times no- thing could arouse them from their apathy. Con- sidering the good road, they might drive at a much more rapid rate without injury to their horses^ but they scarcely ever exceeded seven or eight miles an hour. Perhaps they had good reason to be careful of these poor animals^ as I found them much in request. In one instance^ when we had succeeded in persuading our driver to overtake and pass a carriage on the road, we arrived at a post-house where we found only three horses for relay in the stables. The carriage which we had outstripped also stopped at this place, and two others from "Warsaw, each requiring a change of five horses. The three that were in the stables had been se- cured by us ; the other parties consequently had to seek in the village for a loan of horses to take them the next stage. The post-masters often com- plained that they could not supply as many as were wanted, particularly as of late the couriers had been more frequent in their journeys and more urgent in their demands. When we left St. Petersburg we were accosted by a Russian officer, who, like ourselves, was driving to Warsaw in a carriage, accompanied by his ser- vant, to join a regiment of Lancers, in which he had lately obtained a commission. He told me that he had been in the Russian army before, but FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 185 had retirecl_, and now only resumed active ser^dce in consequence of the war which had broken out. As we were goings the same way, we naturally often passed and re-passed each other. At last, while we were repairing our axletree at Degouzy, he got half a day ahead of us, and we did not ex- pect to see him again ; but somehow or other he too got into difficulties, his carriage having broken down, and we passed him in the night ; so that, on our arrival in the evening of the 4th of July at Lomza, we were surprised to see the well-known vehicle, with the luggage piled above it, make its appearance at the same hotel where we alighted. In this town we saw more soldiers than in any place we had previously passed. A crowd of per- sons collected, desirous of seeing me, and I was accosted by many of the bystanders, who spoke to me in French, and were curious to know the par- ticulars of my sojourn in Russia, and of my release. On the 4th of July, about two or three o'clock in the morning, I was awoke in the carriage, when it stopped to change horses, by the sound of a woman's voice, in a sweet, supplicating tone. I looked out, and found that Mr. Sharman and my servant had already been tempted to accede to the woman's entreaty, which was to buy some trinkets in amber which she offered for sale. I thought her industry in attending at the post-house at so early an hour was deserving of reward, and 1 laid out a few roubles to encourage her. 186 NARRATIVE OF THE On the 5th we overtook several batteries of large guns going to Warsaw. Although we had secured spare linch-pins for our carriage, these were con- stantly breaking; we often found the fore- wheel get loose and roll into the ditch, and had to stop to replace it. With the exception of these mis- haps, which fortunately occurred in the day-time, nothing particular happened until we reached War- saw, about one o^ clock p.m. on the 5th of July. When we crossed the old wooden bridge over the Vistula, I was not at all sorry to see our journey so far accomplished, for the last fifty miles had ap- peared to me interminable. We drove straight to the quarters of Count Riidiger, the Commander- in-Chief of the troops and Governor of the city ; from thence we were sent to the house of an old General, who was charged with the duty of de- spatching me on my way to the frontier. I was informed that there would be a train for Mislowitz in the evening at five o^ clock, and by this I resolved to proceed ; we then went to the police authorities, who promised that my passport should be sent to me in time at the Hotel d^Angleterre, where we put up in the interval. Having taken a hasty dinner, and lost my pa- tience at the non-arrival of my passport, I started with Mr. Sharman in search of it. He, poor man, had throughout the journey evinced an immense deal of patience and forbearance in all my difficul- ties, and was not now wanting in sympathy with FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 187 me. After driving from place to place until past five o'clock, we discovered the important personage to whose care my passport had been confided, but who had forgotten to complete the requisite for- malities of visa, etc. ; he had the document in his pocket, and coolly produced it as evidence of its existence. I was so put out by this useless delay, that I returned to the hotel and took to my bed with vexation, instead of going to the Opera, which I now regret. The Opera had been especially re- commended to me for its ballet, which Mr. Shar- man assured me the Poles are very fond of, — Terpsichore being the goddess to whom they now pay their devotions, for want of a higher source of excitement. The next morning, Thursday, 6th of July, about seven o^ clock, we went to the railway station, ac- companied by a commissary of police, who handed me my passport ; and here I took leave of my ex- cellent friend Mr. Sharman, the companion of my travels over so many miles, and for whose unceas- ing care of me during so many trials I shall ever entertain the most grateful remembrance. He had done everything in his power to lighten and alle- Aiate the tediousness of the road over which we had passed, and was never backward in doing any- thing that could contribute to my comfort. I only hope that his Government will duly appreciate his delicacy of conduct towards one so perfectly a stranger to him ; and that other prisoners in Russia 188 NARRATIVE OF THE may meet with an equally considerate guardian. Jealous as the Kussian Government is supposed to be of the opinion that strangers form of the coun- try, no one could have been better adapted to set their principles of government in a favourable light than Mr. Sharman, who, throughout the intimacy that necessarily accrued between two men li-vdng so much together as we did, never failed to do credit to the Government which had consigned me to his care. FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 189 CHAPTER XXVI. Leave Warsaw. — An officious fellow-passenger. — Petrikaw. — Czenstochowa. — A spy. — Custom-liouse. — Export of silver. — The Police-agent. — Szczakowa. — Mislowitz. — Breslau. — The Opera there. — Mdlle. Wagner. — Berlin. — Hanover. — Cologne. — Calais. — Old England. I LEFT Warsaw at half-past seven in the morning ; the weather was very unfavourable^ as it rained the whole day. The carriage in which I travelled was that in which smoking was permitted ; many gentlemen^ and some ladies who did not mind the smoking^ gave this vehicle the preference because it was not generally so crowded as the others. Next to me sat a person^ not in uniform^ who was par- ticularly civil in his attentions^ and endeavoured with his bad French to lead me into conversation concerning the Emperor, Government, etc., — topics which I religiously avoided during my residence in the country. He was so awkward in his manner of pumping me, that I immediately suspected that he was a spy, who had been sent to see me clear out of the country, and endeavour to ascertain my opinions. Of course I did not allow him to per- ceive that I was on my guard against him ; on the 190 NARRATIVE OF THE contrary^ we talked on as passengers miglit do until tlie train stopped^ when lie got out and pressed me to take some refreshment ; but I thanked him for his politeness^ and declined. At Petrikaw I got out to dine, and contrived to evade him, having my dinner quietly alone, although he sat in the same room. At last the man became so trouble- some that I pretended to go to sleep, to avoid his obtrusiveness. When we reached Czenstochowa he got out of the train to speak to an officer who was standing on the platform, and then returned and asked me if I would step out and be introduced to General Berman, or some such name, with which request I of course complied." We had not much time for conversation, as the train was proceeding ; the Ge- neral entered one of the carriages and went with us as far as Kozieglow, where there was a carriage with four horses and a guard of cavalry waiting to escort him and his staff-officers. The obsequious manner in which I had seen the man addi'ess the General confirmed me in my sus- picions of him ; and when we arrived at the last station on the Russian frontier, all doubt on the subject was removed, by his drawing from a carpet- bag, that he had under the seat, his uniform, which he put on, and which I recognized immediately as that of a police-agent. We reached the frontier station about nine o'clock, and had to remain there until the follow- FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 191 ing morning. My luggage was passed into a room to be examined by a custom-house officer^ and I had to go to look after it ; while so doing, a stranger very kindly offered me assistance in facilitating the examination of my portmanteau_, and I wil- lingly availed myself of his proffered kindness^ in order to avoid the officiousness of the other man. While the custom-house officer was inspecting my luggage_, I entered into conversation with my new friend_, who was a Pole^ and spoke English well ; he whispered to me^ " Do you know who that man is^ close to you ? ^^ I said that I had found him out long ago. "Well/^ resumed this gentleman, "you had better be careful what you say to him." Fortunately the precaution was needless, and the man was quite at liberty to make the most of any sentiments I had expressed, which indeed were ge- nerally favourable, and in accordance with what I have since written, unfettered by Russian surveil- lance. On examining my servant's box, a bag of silver coins was found; and as the export of silver is prohibited in Russia, there was some demur; upon which my Polish friend called out, that it was a " numismatic collection.^' "Well,'' said the officer, "let us see this collection." So I first showed them a Turkish five-piastre piece {beshlic), which they examined carefully ; then an English five-shil- ling piece; and rang the changes with smaller pieces of English and Turkish money, till they were 192 NARRATIVE OF THE quite satisfied. The collection consisted of money which my servant had not spent in Turkey, and which was not current in Kussia; they had there- fore nothing to do with it, as it was not coin of the realm. Next came a large packet of old pri- vate letters, open, which I expected would cause me some trouble ; but my friend exerted himself, and, being a man known there, got me through all my difficulties. I was allowed to take what I required for the night out of my portmanteau, and it was then stowed away in the office till we should start the next day, at five in the morning. I was conducted to the largest hotel in the place, by the Pole, who saw me established in a room with two beds ; he took his leave, saying that he would be at the office in the morning, to assist me in taking out my ticket; and he kept his word. I regret that I was not permitted to know the name of the person who thus gratuitously showed me so much attention. The police- agent took up his abode in a room which opened just opposite to mine. He paid me repeated visits, excusing himself however for de- priving me of his good company by saying he had some friends to supper, and asked me to join them. But I felt I could well dispense with his civilities, and wished him anywhere else. About eleven o'clock he came in again, and asked me, with many expressions of politeness and excuses for disturbing me, if I would allow a bed to be put up for him in FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 193 the corner of my room, as there was no other place in the hotel ! KnoAving who my man was, I of course felt that it would be useless to object ; so I put the best face I could on the matter, and he installed himself accordingly. "When in bed, I saw the man come in (I suspect, not over sober), lock the door, throw himself on his bed in his clothes, and attempt to read; but he soon fell asleep. I then got up, unlocked the door, took the paper out of his hand, and extinguished the light. The next morning (July 7th) I rose at four, called my servant, dressed, and, without waking the police- agent, sallied out and settled my hotel account at the door. The railway station was only a few yards off, and there, according to promise, I met the kind Pole, who procured me the necessary tickets, and we entered the carriage forthmth. Just as the train was starting, I caught sight of my janitor of the previous night, who had just awoke in time to rush to the carriage-door, with his coat hurriedly buttoned over him, and his braces hanging down ; he came to see that I really did leave the territory of his Imperial Majesty the Autocrat of all the Russias. In half an hour we reached a town in the Aus- trian dominions, which I believe is called Niwke, or Szczakowa"^, where our passports were inse, our luggage again examined, weighed, and charged * Sz is pronounced as the English sh, and cz as tch; the name of tliis town is pronounced SMchakova. O 194 NARRATIVE OF THE for. After about an bourns delay^ we proceeded to Mislowitz^ or Mislowici^ in Prussia, Avbere we un- derwent tbe same kind of ordeal, our luggage being examined and our passports vise before we were allowed to proceed. I bad to pay tbe police cbarges, and take fresb tickets, on leaving eacb State. As PoUsb money will not pass in Austria, nor Aus- trian in Prussia, I bad to get cbange at a consi- derable loss, in order to pay tbe officials in tbe coin of tbeir country ; and, on my arrival at Breslau, I bad a bandful of money so useless tbat I got rid of it as I best could; baving also Russian notes, wbicb are probibited in Prussia, I bad to dispose of tbem to money- cbangers for wbat tbe latter cbose to give me."^ We readied Breslau about one o^clock, and re- mained tbere till nine at nigbt. I put myself in tbe bands of a Jew commissionnaire, wbo ciceroned me over tins well-known city, arranging so tbat I could go to tbe Opera, wbicb opens at six, and promised to see my servant and traps in tbe railway station, and call for me in time to start by tbe nine o^ clock train. Tbe station was near tbe Opera, so * It is related that a gentleman, having occasion to travel on the Contiaentj put a sovereign in a purse separately ; and, when he arrived in a new State, he exchanged it for the money of the country, which he put aside to be changed at the next frontier; and so on tQl he returned to England, when he found his sove- reign reduced to fourpence halfpenny : yet he was told that he would gain by taking English sovereigns with him ! FIRST LIEUTENANT OF H.M.S. TIGER. 195 that I was not uneasy^ and quite enjoyed 'Tan- credi/ whicli was exquisitely got up in this charm- ing house. I had the good fortune to hear Made- moiselle Wagner, about whom so much has been said^ and on whose account so much money has been wasted between Gye and Lumley. We reached Berlin at half-past four in the morn- ing of the 8th of July, and left again at seven, passed through Magdeburg, Hanover, and Cologne, reached Calais about two o'clock in the afternoon of the 9th, and thence crossed to Dover, glad to set foot once more in JOLLY OLD ENGLAND ! THE END. JOHN EDWAED TATLOE, PBINTEE, LITTLE QUEEN STEEET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. SJuP60fg)f REG O 1-^ « )IJ15 1960 APW '> H N/ ■ Era - - . .^ SENT ON ILL SEP 7 6 1997 ILC.BPRKPLEY 1 1 LD 21A-50m-4,'60 (A9562sl0)476B General Library University of California Berkeley c.QQn YB 5599 JUST PUBLISHED. iV f. A TISIT TO THE SEAT OF WAR THE NORTH ^ranslatctr from tije (Serman LASCELLES WRAXALL. LONDOF : chxiPxMa.:n' :lNd hall, 193, Piccadilly. 1854. Price One Shilling,