Nothing else worthy of observation occurred until we reached Polotsk. Here we were detained ten days, getting our carriages put upon sledges, without which it was impossible to proceed. The Jews into whose hands we fell, made us pay dear for work that was very ill done, besides the unwelcome delay they caused us. There was little in the town to beguile the time, or attract our attention ; some churches, a monastery (of which its immense kitchen was the most remarkable part, and spoke the easy condition of its owners), and the strong marks which the devastation of war had left in this gloomy and half depopulated town, were the only objects of observation; and these, especially the latter, excited a train of melancholy reflections. Whole streets had been destroyed, houses gutted, and the bare walls still standing, as so many monuments of its present misery.
The weather was exceedingly cold during our stay here, having 27 degrees of Reaumur, and the great rooms of the house where we found quarters, looked like the tenantless chambers of some old castle falling to decay, where Russian warmth would indeed have been welcome, but where it could never come. We were visited by the Gorodnechie, or Mayor of the town, who furnished us with soldiers to guard our carriages, which was here a requisite precaution, though they were within the gates of the yard belonging to the house where we lodged. The inhabitants of this place are chiefly Jews, who form a large proportion of every town and village throughout Poland.
A serious and melancholy accident took place soon after we left Polotsk, and was in great measure owing to the ill construction of our sledges, the inconvenience ofwhich, though we afterwards partly remedied, we felt in some degree throughout the whole time we used them.
The driver ofthe britchka, makingthehorses (as they too generally did) gallopdown a very steep hill, was thrown from his seat, and dragged under the sledge for several yards : one ofour men servants sitting behind, was also thrown off to some distance, and the horses continued to descend at full speed, the carriage swinging from one side to the other, with such extreme violence, that it seemed as if it would be dashed to pieces. We however reached the bottom of the hill in safety, where the horses were stopped. Some of the party then went in search of the poor fellow, who was found, and carried to a house by the road-side, where every care was taken of him that the place would admit ; but he died in a few hours after, having received some internal injury, and being so much bruised, that it was not probable that medical aid (had it been near) could have saved him : the servant escaped unhurt ; and we had great reason to be thankful for our deliverance from a danger that threatened the lives of all in the carriage.
The remainder of this stage was a long and most unpleasant part ofthe journey ; the painful feelings which the accident had produced, were much heightened by our peculiarity of situation.
We had, for the first time, been obliged to divide our party, and now, myself and the children were entirely without an attendant, and apparently left to the mercy of a careless driver, who was twice thrown off his seat, and several times had nearly overturned the carriage. But the same over-ruling Providence which had before guarded us, continued his protecting care! Mr. Y.'s kibitka, which had. previously kept pace with ours, now travelled much slower, from the want of skill in our English servant to manage the horses, he being obliged to drive, after the fatal disaster that deprived us of one of the yemtcheks.
It may well be imagined that I felt no inconsiderable degree of gratitude on arriving safely at the next station, and that I saw the arrival of our fellow-travellers with more than common interest. There are many parts of the journey which have produced an anxiety I could not describe ; but this may easily be imagined to have been throughout a fearful and distressing one; the more especially, as at this time we knew nothing ofthe language.
D2 The road we were travelling presented to us the most beautifulsnow scenes imaginable. The country was extremely wild and woody, and whole days were passed in traversing forests and journeying through avenues of trees ; which, covered with snow, looked bright and dazzling, their glitteringbeing oftenheightenedbytherays of the sun. But the want of population, as well as cultivation, gave an air of wild melancholy to it, occasionally increased by the appearance ofa ruined village, of which sometimes a single house only remained, marking the place where the dreadful ravages ofwar had brought desolation in its train. Between Polotsk and Besankovitch there are several extremely steep hills ; and to descend some of them, it was necessary to take out a part of the horses, and affix ropes to the hinder part of the sledge, which several men held, to prevent the carriage going down too rapidly.
The valleys are extremely wild, and many parts of their scenery partaking more of the sublime than the beautiful.