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Before we retired into our rooms we took leave of Marbois, to whom our feparation was a painful facrifice, and who confidered this as our last hour. The clock ftruck nine, the laft we heard at Sinamary, and Dofsonville, who was upon the watch, gave us all notice to begin our enterprize; upon which we went out and affembled near the gate of the fort, of which the draw-bridge was not yet up. All was fleep and filence. I mounted the baftion of the guard-house with Pichegru and Aubry, and went directly to the fentinel (the contempti ble drummer who had fo often tormented us), and asked him the hour. He made no answer, but fixed his eyes upon the ftars; upon which I feized him by the throat, while Pichegru difarmed him, and we dragged him along, throttling him fo as to prevent his crying out. We were now upon the parapet, and he struggled fo violently that he got away from us and fell into the river. We then rejoined our companions at the foot of the rampart, and, perceiving no one in the guard-house, ran in and took arms and cartridges. We then went out of the fort and flew to the canoe. Berwick was already there, and helped us to get into it. Barthélemy, who was very infirm and lefs active than the reft of us, fell, and funk in the mud; but Berwick caught hold of him and faved him, and, having put him into the canoe, cut the rope. Berwick now took the helm, while we, motionless and filent, went with the ftream. The current and the tide bore our light bark rapidly along, and we heard nothing but the murmurs of the waters and of the land breeze, which fwelled our little fail and wafted us from our tomb of Sinamary."

But their dangers were not yet paft. Their canoe was fo fmall and light that the had nearly been overfet feveral times. by the violence of the waves, and was not unfrequently half filled with water. They were moreover expofed to the almoft intolerable rays of a burning fun, and were left deftitute of food. As they lay, in this dreadful fituation, becalmed, on the 6th of June, Ramel tells us that they "fwore, in the prefence of the Almighty, never to bear arms against their country." If they meant by this to declare their determination to remain paffive fpectators of the miseries of their country, and to leave the regicidal ufurpers, whofe conduct they themselves reprobate in the ftrongeft terms, in quiet enjoyment of the fruits of their ufurpation, and to tyrannize at their pleasure over the hapless people whom they have reduced to the lowest ftate of degradation and mifery, their oath betrayed lefs the facrifice of their vengeance than the unfoundness of their principles, and their fecret attachment to a caufe which they openly reprobated.

In the afternoon of the 8th, in fteering towards fhore, in order to avoid the effects of an approaching ftorm, their canoe was overfet, but they contrived to reach the land, where they remained, in a moft dreadful ftate, till the morning of the 10th M m

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of June, when they were discovered by two foldiers belonging to the Dutch garrison of Monte-Krick. They were soon after conveyed to Fort Orange, and from thence to Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam, where they arrived on the evening of the 14th of June. Here they experienced, from the governor and the principal inhabitants, every attention which their fituation required; and the gratitude which the author displays whenever he met with hofpitable treatment, certainly does credit to his feelings. During their ftay at this fettlement, difpatches were received by the Governor, from Jeannet, infifting that the ftate prifoners, as he termed them, fhould be fent back to Cayenne; but the Governor treated his demand with proper contempt. On the 30th of June, Ramel, Pichegru, Willot, La Rue, Aubry, and Doffonville failed from Paramaribo; (Barthelemy, being ill, was left behind with his faithful fervant Le Tellier, but he has fince reached this country) and arrived at the Dutch fettlement of Berbice, then in poffeffion of the English, on the 1ft of July; thence they proceeded to Demerary, where four of them embarked for England, the other two being attacked with a dangerous illness; and on the 21ft of September 1798, the anniversary of their departure from Rochefort, anchored in Deal Roads. After a ftay of three weeks in London, Ramel left this country for the continent, and arrived at Hamburgh on the 20th of October.

Thus have we given a brief sketch of a Narrative which, though it must be read with caution, contains many interesting anecdotes, and many ftrong facts; all of which tend to pla e the conduct of the French ufurpers, and their deteftable agents, at home and abroad, in the most odious point of view. The book ends with a declaration of the author, that his arm and his blood shall be devoted to the prefervation of his country's independence, and the rights of his fellow-citizens; a declaration, which, confidered in the abstract, is certainly deferving of praise; but which, we confefs, appears to us incompatible with the oath which he had before taken, in his voyage to Surinam. At least, we wish he had explained, whether, in his opinion, that independence and thofe rights of which he profeffes himself the champion, are most likely to be preserved by the army of Condé, or the confcripts of the Directory?

ART. IV. Bemerkungen auf einer Reife in die Südlichen Statthalterschaften des Ruffifchen Reichs, &c. i. e. Remarks on a Journey to the Southern Governments (Provinces) of the Ruffian Empire, in the years 1793 and 1794. By P. S. Pallas,

Counfellor

Counsellor of State to his Majefty the Emperor of Ruffia, Knight, &c. Vol. I. 4to. Pp. 516. befides 24 pages of dedication, preface, reference to the plates, &c. With coloured plates, vignettes, maps, &c. Leipzig. Martini.

1799.

THIS

HIS fplendid and interefting work is, within our knowledge, the firft that has been dedicated to his present Ruffian Majefty, in the German language, and printed in a foreign territory. The illuftrious author takes this opportunity of reminding the Emperor Paul, that his health has been much impaired during the long biennial journey, undertaken chiefly for the benefit and improvement of his extenfive and partly unexplored dominions. He remarks, that several of his patriotic fuggeftions here offered, have already been realised fince the first theets of this work were printed; and that his Imperial Majefty will doubtlefs adopt many other ufeful hints given by the author; as the reign of Paul I. is entirely devoted to juftice, order, and the glory of his empire.

In a fhort preface M. Pallas modeftly observes, that he was induced to publifh these travels partly with a view to render the accounts of several objects alluded to in his former works more complete, and to point out the new order and state of things which he observed in different provinces of Ruffia, and partly to communicate to the world a faithful defcription of thofe remote fouthern provinces, which have not before been vifited by travellers. He has carefully avoided mentioning whatever appeared to him immaterial, or not of fufficient moment to the difcriminating reader; while he has adhered to the invariable rule of inferting in his journal only those particulars which are not to be found in former travels.

In the fecond volume, which is to appear in 1800, the author promises to prefent us with a defcription of the Taurian peninfula known by the name of Crimea, and to accompany it with a variety of profpects of that delightful country. From this delineation we fhall learn the natural conftitution, the advantages, and whatever is remarkable in that finall but long celebrated peninfula.

To gratify the curiofity of the reader, with respect to the contents of the first volume of thefe magnificent travels, we fhall attempt to extract and tranflate, from the original, those paffages which appear to us the most curious and inftructive.

Having left St. Petersburgh at the early hour of 2 o'clock, on the first of February, 1793, our author arrived, after a tedious journey of nearly ten days, at Mofco, the largest city in the Ruffian dominions. On the road from Mofco to Novo grod,

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grod, he takes notice of the following monuments of antiquity:

"The ancient fepulchral hillocks (tumuli) on the heights of Valda attract the eye particularly in winter, when the whole furface is covered with fnow; they are ftill more confpicuous on the heights near the rivulets Cholova and Polomet, because they exhibit, with the fir trees on their tops, a picturesque winter landscape: and for this reafon I have prefixed a drawing, which reprefents one of those hillocks, in a vignette.

"Thefe hillocks of interment, for notwithstanding their magnitude they cannot be confidered as the productions of nature, are generally on the fummits of mountains, exhibiting a moft airy and beau tiful profpect; and I have likewife obferved in Siberia, that the ancient cemeteries are invariably in the most pleafing fituations. It were much to be wifhed, for promoting the knowledge of the antiquities of Ruffia, that fome of the landed proprietors would cause those venerable monuments to be carefully explored, and that their discoveries might be communicated to the world."

With refpect to the grand Ruffian metropolis, the author makes the following obfervations:

"Mofco has, during the last twenty years, not only been much improved in the magnificence of its buildings, and the refinement of manners, but the tafte and luxury of its inhabitants have also increased. The high price of all the neceffaries of life, and the profufion of dainties, which, though formerly rather fearce in this great city, are now principally imported from foreign countries, formed a remarkable contraft with its ftate at the time aforementioned. Horticulture has within these few years been brought to fuch perfection that all kinds of vegetables and fruits are in fuperabundance; being the only productions of the country that are fold cheap, and which will probably become cheaper every year. The longest thoots of afparagus are pro duced here in the midst of winter in hot-beds, and in fuch abundance that they are exported to St. Petersburgh. Early fruit is neither fcarce nor dear in Mofco; it is not inferior to that of England; and in fummer the moft delicious fpecies of cherries, apricots, peaches, pears, and apples, nay, even pine-apples, are fold at a reasonable price. All thefe improvements, made fince the year 1770, are chiefly the effects of perfevering industry. The numerous private orchards, kitchen-gardens, and hot-houses lately established by the nobility and gentry, have contributed much to produce a great abundance of vegetables. It deferves to be recorded here, that the late Prokop Akirrfievith Demidof, counsellor of ftate, by his patriotic example, in imper.ing at his own expence many foreign fpecies of fruit trees, and liberally bettowing the treafures of his gardens, has been principally inftrumental in promoting this beneficial branch of industry. The inland provinces of Ruffia are alfo indebted to this beneficent man for introducing feveral ufeful fpecies of grain. But, alas! his patriotic

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ipirit

fpirit no longer animates the labours of the hufbandman; his beautiful botanic garden, which I defcribed in the year 1782, is now defolate; the fearce plants which he had procured at a great expence from England, and bequeathed to the Univerfity of Mofco, are scattered, info. much that scarcely a veftige of his donation remains.

"Some German game-keepers have difcovered truffles in the vicinity of Mofco, and they are fold in the market through the whole fummer, in a fresh state, and at a very moderate price.

"Every object we behold in Mofco is, like the city itself, in a certain degree, of a gigantic appearance. Several palaces, in particular, are of a vaft fize; they refemble caftles, and are inhabited by hundreds of fervants who are born in a state of vaffalage. The Foundling Hofpital is one of the moft extenfive charitable inftitutions in the world. Some of the country refidences are planned and the architec ture finished in a magnificent ftyle; but the inftitution particularly. deferving of notice is the new Affembly of the Nobility, which during winter is vifited by at least one thoufand perfons of both fexes, who appear at the balls, and mafquerades, in very fuperb dreffes. This is undoubtedly the most numerous private affociation of the kind, and their grand affembly-hall is one of the moft fpacious rooms in Europe."

When fpeaking of the two villages Tolfkoi and VafilefMaidan, fituated on the road between the towns of Lukoyanof and Saranok, the author justly exclaims:

"With great indignation I obferved here in every direction the remains of large oak forefts in a defolate ftate, and producing only indifferent brushwood which grew out of the ftumps of that magnifi-" cent tree. All the timber used for wheels, carts, and the implements of hufbandry, is fupplied by the oak; and even each gate of the moft wretched farm-yard deftroys two of the thickeft and ftraighteft oaktrees, which the Ruffian boors cut down without hesitation, instead of referving them for more important purpofes. Wherever I turned my eyes, I difcovered numbers of broad and thick oak planks (two of which only are ufually fplit from the trunk of one tree) which every boor claims a right to fell and take to the neighbouring town for fale, and which are ufed for the flooring of dwelling-houfes. On the whole road to Penfa we found in every place reafon to complain of this unpardonable wafte of that noble tree,

"In the whole government of Penfa beneficent nature has not been' parfimonious in bettowing luxuriant forefts of oak; and I likewife obferved on the banks of the rivulet Atma, and its collateral branches,' feveral young forefts of oak belonging to noblemens' eftates. Thefe forefts appeared to be in a flourishing itate, but planted too thick for the production of full-grown timber. They extend over dales and rifing grounds to a great distance, and impart true pleasure to the patriotic obferver. How mournful, on the contrary, is it to remark in many other places, efpecially in the vicinity of the Imperial do mains, that the young ok-trees have been cut down and the stumps

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