It is highly worthy of admiration to observe the marked difference between the appearances of the people of these countries. In West Prussia, the women are particularly fair, and even pretty. From Elbing to Memel, every stage exhibits coarser features, both in men and women: there seems to be a progressive increase of ugliness; and, from Konigsberg to Memel this ratio still further holds good.

CHAP. III.

St. Petersburg, July, 1814.

On reaching Memel, we learned that our passports, from St. Petersburg, had not arrived, and that we might probably remain several weeks in the expectation of them. No stranger is admitted into the Russian territory, without a passport being regularly procured from the metropolitan police. It is necessary that a traveller should write to St. Petersburg for a passport, several weeks before he reaches the Russian frontier, otherwise he is placed in a very awkward situation. During the war, it required several months before they could be obtained; and they were, it is said, sent to the emperor, when he was in France, for his signature.

Our passports from Hamburg were made out to Memel and St. Petersburg. The Russian consul at Memel particularly assured us, that they were a sufficient protection to our entering St. Peters

burg, if we went by sea, and that they did not require his signature. To avoid this detention, as well as the disagreeable sensation of continuing in a place void of every attraction, and without society; we resolved on taking the advantage of a small Prussian galliot on the eve of sailing to Cronstadt. Before we sailed, another cause of regret occurred; we were expressly assured that we could not take our English carriage with us, by sea, without its being seized by the officers of the custom-house: in consequence of this information, we were obliged to leave it behind.

The Christina being a small galliot, scarcely of an hundred tons burden, could not accommodate so many passengers in the cabin; besides, it only contained one sleeping place for the captain. A second cabin for the sailors was situated on the deck, in which the apparatus of cookery was placed. The vessel carried no cargo; and, as a substitute for a cabin, the hold was allotted to us, as our apartment. We had the advantage of four small hammocks, slung from the beams, but which were unprovided with either beds or blankets. The cross beams of the deck formed the ceiling, not more than six inches above us, while the sand-ballast, and coiled cable formed the floor. The motion of the vessel rocked us from side to side, and the bubbling

noise of the passing wave, lulled us to sleep. Even on the plainest couch, a mind at ease will sink to rest, and forget the inconveniences of the moment. When the morning dawned, we were awoke with recruited spirits, by the cackling noise of some fowls, which roosted in the same apartment.

There were neither tables nor chairs on board,in short these are often unnecessary luxuries at sea, as, not unfrequently, the floor of the cabin, or deck, proves the most comfortable; as a substitute for a table, a large box was used. Ease and freedom were here triumphant; there was no ceremony as to precedency; no formality as to places; no delicacy nor fastidiousness. Necessity compelled us to relish what, under other situations, might have been felt as a punishment,-so true it is, that self-punishment and privations are comparatively easy to those really severe, when inflicted by

others.

The tedious operation of breakfast being over, that of dinner soon followed. The kitchen of the Christina was enriched with only one pot; it was the general cauldron of the captain's feasts, and the sailors' mess. Its hungry cavity daily received the salted ribs of Lithuanian pork, or the less savoury junks of Courland beef. The presiding Comus of this Pandemonium was one of those

abortive imps, which required only to be seen, in order to derange the internal economy of the stomach. Apollo had not smiled at his birth, nor had the Graces hailed his entrance with any approbation;-deformity claimed him as her own, and the extremes of filth, and littleness of mind, formed his character.

The voyage along the gulf of Finland, though pleasant in summer, must, in stormy weather, prove both intricate and dangerous. The gulf is extremely narrow, and, along its course, are scattered several small islands and rocks, rendering the navigation often hazardous. On many of these islands are erected light-houses, which tend greatly. towards assisting the course of the mariner.

The water of the gulf is extremely light and clear, of sparkling appearance, and perfectly sweet and fresh to the taste. The Baltic is less salt than the ocean, and which, from the Sound, increases in freshness towards the extremities of the gulfs of Finland and Bothnia.

The Baltic sea being of so small an extent, compared to the ocean, and having no tides, and constantly supplied with so vast a number of large rivers, may be the principal cause of its freshness. In short, the Baltic may almost be called a large lake. During the intensity of the frost,, in Ja