AT Trepenhoff we were obliged to wait all night, for want of horses, and here passed a most unusual scene. One room alone was to be had for our party, and the bedding was laid upon some hay on the floor, excepting one bedstead, which I and my baby occupied : the rest of the party were laid down to sleep, when they brought in a broad long form, upon which a soldier's cloak and a pillowwereplaced : I had put on my night-cap (the only change of course made in my dress), and was going to lie down, when, to my surprise, a young officer walked in, and very quietly took his station on the wooden bench, which his cloak and pillow had converted into a couch for that night's repose. For some time I sat musing withastonishment, and doubtful whether, with this addition to our party, I could prevail upon myself to rest ; but fatigue pleaded with a rhetoric I could not withstand, and I soon followed the example which had been given me. Since then I have been so accustomed to the same scene, that I could now lie down and sleep very quietly, with the addition of half a dozen or more to our party.
It would be in vain to attempt giving a description of the misery and dirt in which the people live; they all lie down to sleep in their clothes, taking off only the upper garment, and throwing overthem either a sheep skin shube, or pelisse, ora cotton quilted coverlid : theyswarm withevery sortofvermin, the naturalconsequence ofwant ofcleanliness in themselves, theirclothes, and their houses. Unhappily for thoseoftheEnglishwho travel on theContinent, theyare so used to allthe comforts ofcleanlinessanddecency, that it is impossible not to feel extreme disgust and abhorrence at this barbarous race ofbeings, who in all respectslive more like herds of swine, than like rational creatures : in the houses of the Jews in particular, they live together in swarms like bees, though not like them for the purposes of industry; their little dirty children run about the housealmost naked, or with onlyone garment on, a large long shirt; the children and the servants seldom wear stockings, and with the little idea they have of cleanliness in their houses, it is not likely that they can walk about their filthy clay floors with feet unsoiled.
The want of horses detained us here throughout the following day also ; andwe were advised to remain there another night, as many robberies had been committed by deserters from the army, who had secretedthemselves in the woods, and had intercepted several passengers. Our party,however,beingsonumerous, thegentlemen took the precaution of going well armed, and prepared for defence, and we set out from Trepenhoff about nine in the evening. We reached the following station without being molested, and taking coffee, proceeded to Diinabourg, where we arrived about nine in the morning.
The country through which we have travelled from Riga hither, is most of it extremely wild, and many parts beautiful and romantic. Immense forests bounded our road on either side, and we have journeyed fifty or a hundred versts together through avenues of trees, principally the fir, the birch, and the lime : the route lay nearly along the course of the Dvina, which we had twice to cross, and which frequently presented itself to view in some very delightful landscape : the soil, however, is barren, and its inhabitants but thinly scattered, so that scarce any signs of cultivation are seen.
The peasants hang their bee-hives in the woods, that the bees may have the first flowers ofthe lime, whence they make very fine honey*. * For a curious account of the wild bees of the forests of Russia, and themethod ofmanaging them, seeTooke's Survey, vol. iii. page 388.
" Next to the birch, the linden is in the greatest abundance, from which likewise Russia derives more benefit than is done any where else. The thick bark is usually made iato baskets for carriages and sledges ; into boxesand trunks; into coverings The bark of the lime, or linden-tree, is manufactured into several differentthings : Ihave already mentioned the peasants' shoes ; ropes are made of it, and it is used in making their sledges : there are eight or ten more purposes to which it is applied, insomuch that the owners of forest wood complain exceedingly, of the depredations committed by the peasants in stealing the bark and injuring the trees.