Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

176HOUSES OF RUSSIAN PEASANTS.

it would be more formidable. People say, " To enter Russia the gates are wide, to leave it they become narrow."

Under the guard of my soldier I rapidly followed the banks of the river; frequent views of which, through alleys of birch trees, with the appearance here and there of busy manufactories, and of wooden hamlets, enlivened the landscape, and made the road seem less monotonous than those I had hitherto travelled in Russia; not that the scenery was picturesque in the ordinary acceptation of the word, it was only less desolate than it is on the other side of the city : besides, I have a predilection for melancholy landscapes; there is always a species of grandeur in a scene, the contemplation of which produces reverie. I prefer, as regards poetical effect, the borders of the Neva to the plain between Mont-martre and St. Denis, or the rich wheat fields of La Beauce and La Brie.

The appearance of several villages surprised me ; they displayed signs of wealth, and even a sort of rustic elegance, which was very pleasing. The neat wooden houses form the line of a single street. They are painted, and their roofs are loaded with ornaments winch might be considered rather ostentatious, if a comparison were made between the exterior luxury and the internal lack of conveniences and cleanliness in these architectural toys. One regrets to see a taste for superfluities among a people not yet acquainted with necessaries; besides, on examining them more closely, these habitations are discovered to be ill built.

Always the same taste for that which addresses the eye ! Both peasants and lords take more pleasure