men-such as Galitzin's and Chérimétieff''s; in the former of which, in 1822, 558 men and 443 women were admitted—and, what is more singular, they almost all lived to come out again. This establishment forms a very striking picture in the view from the Kremlin. To these charities may be added

the hospitals of the emperor Paul and Catherine, the military school, the foundation of which was laid by Peter the Great, and the school of education for young ladies of the nobility. Barracks are numerous now, although, until the reign of Paul, the troops were always lodged on the inhabitants.

The knout is the principal instrument of punishment in Russia. The handle may be two feet long, a little more or less, to which is fastened a flat leather thong about twice the length of the handle, terminating with a large copper or brass ring; to this ring is affixed a strip of hide about two inches broad at the ring, and terminating, at the length of about two feet, in a point: this is soaked in milk, and dried in the sun to make it harder, and should it fall, in striking the culprit, on the edge, it would cut like a penknife. At every sixth stroke the tail is changed, a plentiful supply of these being always kept ready, and wrapped up with much greater caution and care than the executioner's children, and certainly kept much cleaner. In the hands of a stranger, it would be a most innocent weapon; nor could I, after a quarter of an hour's practice, make any considerable impression on the snow, while the executioner will leave a pretty fair mark on a deal plank; and this is sufficient to prove how hard the hide must be which inflicts the punishment, and how tough a hide it must be to resist it.

A coachman, a slave of prince Jablonosky, a Polish nobleman, having murdered his master, re

turning from count Strogonoff's country-seat, finding means to escape, was pursued and taken at Novogorod, brought back to Petersburg, and there sentenced to receive 150 strokes of the knout, to have his face marked with a hot iron, his nostrils torn out, and, if he survived, to inhabit Siberia for the rest of his life.-[This was on September 17, 1806, and I have chosen this punishment to show, hereafter, how far punishments of this kind have been softened.]— On the 2nd of October, the sentence was carried into execution in the following manner :— -He was taken from the prison about nine o'clock in the morning, and conducted to the police-office gate, whence the police-master, with the police-guards on horseback, conducted him to the place of execution, about two English miles, the beast market being at the end of the Newski Perspective, where such punishments are inflicted. There is always some ceremony observed, common as these punishments are, and there were several police-guards to clear the way; then came the head police-master, attended by several district policemasters, and, after them, a detachment of police-guards on horseback. Next, surrounded by a number of the same guards on

foot, walked the criminal, bareheaded, with fetters on his legs, and handcuffed. He was a bearded peasant, dressed in the long blue habit which is commonly worn, with striped pantaloons. Behind him walked the two executioners, with the knouts under their arms. When arrived at the place of execution, a detachment of regular troops kept the mob clear of the block and boards upon which he was to be fastened.

The dreadful ceremony began with a short prayer, then the culprit was stripped naked to his waist, and laid down upon the board: his neck was strapped down to a groove, as were his arms, to blocks upon each side. The first executioner, taking the knout, began by raising himself on his toes at each stroke, taking, as it were, correct distance-at each blow wiping the blood off with his fingers from the thong, observing an interval of two or three seconds between each stroke. After giving six lashes, he was replaced by the other executioner, who gave the same number as the former, thus changing every six cuts, and at each time taking fresh thongs. On receiving the first stroke, the culprit shrieked violently; but nature soon gave way, and, after six cuts, the criminal, had not a slight tremor of his fingers indicated life, might have been believed dead.

On this occasion, the culprit was unable to receive more than fifty; the executioners untied him, and raised him on his legs, the one held his hands behind the man's head to support it; the other took the marking iron, with the letters Vor (thief) cut thereon. This instrument is composed of a number of iron spikes on a flat piece VOL. LXXII.

of wood, precisely the same as is used by rope-makers when they clear the hemp: it was fixed in a round wooden handle. Striking the handle with his hand, the sharpened irons were driven to the wood, on the forehead and the two cheeks of the culprit. After that he took a pair of pincers, like sugar-nippers; he put one side of them into the inside of the nostril, and the other the outside of the skin of the nose, and, with a violent jerk, he tore out the nerve; he then repeated the same operation on the other side, and the criminal's torture finished for that day. The poor devil was then placed in a cart, and conducted back to prison.

Now, the unfortunate wretch doomed to suffer for his crimes, has no longer his nose lacerated; this is entirely obliterated, and the branding alone remains: besides, the criminal, if he has money, can always bribe the judge and the executioner. Here I agree with Clarke.

In Moscow, in 1828, a man convicted of the murder of a female of eighteen years of age, after having violated her, was sentenced to receive 150 lashes of the knout, and to have the usual pleasant accompaniments of branding and exile, if he survived. The whole city of Moscow had heard of this crime, and public opinion was pretty freely expressed when it was known that the executioner had been bribed. Every Thursday, at one o'clock, is the day and time fixed for these punishments in Moscow; and all the other days of the week, as time and circumstances will admit, are witnesses to the same punishments within the walls of the prison. As my informer now resides in Russia, 2 K

mentioning his name might subject him to the chance of being better acquainted with the pain which he has so often seen strongly marked on the faces of the culprits. The ceremony was exactly the same as above-mentioned; the culprit only received thirty lashes the first day; and, in consequence of the bribe, it was not the intention of the executioner to dispatch him entirely. I saw this man the day after his first punishment, in his bed, and apparently unable to move. By his side was a young lad of fourteen, who had been

knouted the day before for robbing a church; he had only received nine lashes, and had been branded. I closely examined the marks of the iron; the inflammation, the necessary consequence of rubbing gunpowder over the wounds, had nearly subsided, and the young urchin in crime declared that the pain was not very violent. His back was another subject, on which he expressed himself very differently; and the nine strokes he had received would have kept him out of the habit of purloining, without his going to Siberia.

The Glacier de Bois, about a mile and a half from the town of Chamouni, fills up a deep and narrow cleft between the Montanvert and the enormous bare and pointed rocks, the Aiguille Dru, and Aiguille Vert, which shoot up into the very skies, and seem to rival the "Monarch Mountain" itself. The top of the Glacier, before it turns over into the valley, is the part, from its rugged appearance, called the Icy Sea, or Mer de Glace: and, to attain a level with this, it is necessary to climb the Montanvert, about 3,000 French feet above the valley; and, according to Keller's map, 4,360 feet above the level of the lake of Geneva.

We left Chamouni at seven o'clock in the morning, which promised to be clear and fine; my companion was a young medical student, a stout fearless being, who had been rambling on foot all over Switzerland for the three months past, dressed like a French peasant, vigorous, and accustomed to

fatigue. I was provided with a pole, about six feet in length, armed with a spike at the end, to steady myself with on the ice; my companion preferred a walkingstick.

Our path, abrupt and angular, wound directly up the mountain's side, through a forest of firs; and, though steep and tiresome enough, not dangerous. In our ascent, we caught occasional glimpses of Chamouni, Mont Brevent, and the opposite range, pretty enough certainly, but, I think, greatly exaggerated in the guidebooks.

On gaining the summit, we found a small hut, the "Hospice," where two men from the village of Argentiere are stationed, and where coffee, bread, and brandy may be procured. From this spot the view is singularly beautiful; the Mer de Glace lies immediately beneath you, and, at this distance, appears like a frozen cataract; the horrible chasms, so deep and terrible when near, look only like the furrows of a ploughed field, whilst,

on the opposite side of the glacier, are the needles of Mont Blanc; pyramids of rock, so bare and pointed, the eagle finds no footing, the drifting snow no resting-place. The Mer de Glace descends from Mont Blanc itself, and its length (from the Hospice to where it turns abruptly into the awful recesses of the mountain) is reckoned to be four hours, or twelve miles long it is not, however, so much, but may be about eight; and, in the easiest part, a league across, though, from the immense height of the surrounding mountains, it appears to be much narrower.

At the end of this valley, the mountains are covered with eternal snow, and, indeed, including Montanvert, form part of the base of Mont Blanc, although the top cannot be discovered from this place on account of the enormous rocks which bound the glacier (of perhaps 10,000 feet in height) intervening. No description can do justice to such a scene; there was an unearthly stillness, and, even where we were, the clouds were rushing swiftly past our faces in misty streaks-such is the view from the Montanvert !

We descended by a narrow rugged path to the ice, which took us fully a quarter of an hour to gain; we found this part of the glacier composed of hillocks of ice, separated from each other by deep seams, widening, in many instances, into awful chasms, some only two or three feet wide, others twelve or fourteen, and so deep, the eye could not fathom their profundity; the surface of some of these blocks were flat, others rising abruptly into points or cones, whilst the sides of either yawning abyss were transparent, and of a greenish hue

this ice had been the accumulation of ages.

We were now 3,000 feet above the foundation of the glacier, and these seams had riven it to its very core. The surface was dirty, and covered with small pebbles, blown from the surrounding mountains by the violent hurricanes to which these regions are subject. When the ice is partially melted by the sun, these stones sink down, forming holes which fill with water, and thus working themselves lower and lower into the solid block, it soon cracks, and, from the pressure below, speedily widens into a chasm. In many places, we could hear the water gurgle, as it rushed through its subterranean channels, making, where it fell, the seams deeper. As this effect occurs in ten thousand places at the same moment, these various streams, unable to penetrate the rocky soil on which the glacier is based, unite below, and, overcoming every obstacle, burst forth into the river Arve.

The edges of this icy sen were smoother than towards the middle, where the scams were widest and deepest, and, at intervals, cracked with a fearful sound.

My companion proposed to visit a spot at the farthest end of the glacier, called the "Garden;" it was on the opposite side, and about four hours' walk from where we were, easily accomplished in fair weather, and attended by guides— we were to go alone. The guides, when they heard of our intention, said it was impossible to accomplish it by ourselves, as we should meet with difficulties we could not overcome, and might besides be lost, should we be overtaken by any of the dense mists which not unfrequently envelope the wanderer, even on the brightest days.

To these remonstrances my companion paid but little attention, supposing, naturally enough, they wished to discourage people making the attempt, unattended by one of the "caste;" as, were it done with impunity, their occupation would fail them. I confess I thought so too, yet inclined to pay some attention to what might be the consequences. We were going far away from the habitable world, and all assistance, should it be required. Were we to encounter a. storm, there was no shelter. How ever, my friend prided himself on his acquaintance with glaciers, and I trusted to his experience, so, after a few misgivings, I agreed to go.

The day was clear, and the sun shone brightly: the guide, shaking his head at our temerity, pointed out the path: a sort of sheep-track leading down to the edge of the glacier, and along the bottom of the mountains which bound the valley on the Montanvert side. We were now left to ourselves, and creeping along the base of rocks, which rose ten thousand feet above us, our path, rugged and uneven in itself, was strewed with blocks of granite; torn from the parent soil by avalanches, they lay high and unwieldy; some we had to clamber over, others to creep under and between; at times we ascended fifty feet above the glacier, and then descended even to touch the ice; our progress was, of course, but slow, and we were obliged to be cautious where we placed our feet; sometimes a stone would roll from under us, or come scampering down from above, to the manifest danger of our heads-a common occurrence in these regions, in consequence of the scanty soil in which huge stones are em

bedded having been softened by the rain. Indeed it not unusually happens, immense rocks, of many tons weight, are detached from the higher regions, and, rushing down with inconceivable violence, gather force as they come, whirling from point to point, and carrying down every thing they come in contact with, bound into the very middle of the glacier, where their progress is stopped by some enormous chasms, whose icy jaws receive them, but, being too large to swallow, here they stick, and form, in many instances, the only mode of communication from one berg

to another.

Picking our way in this manner for some time, we came to a startling difficulty, namely, an immense rock, round whose smooth face it was necessary to pass.-We had been gradually mounting for some time. It rose fully five hundred feet above us, and below us sunk sixty; it was nearly perpendicular. Here we lost all path, of course, and the only possibility of crossing it was by a ledge, a few inches wide, barely sufficient to hitch one foot on whilst we put the other forward; its stony surface did not afford a shrub or blade of grass to steady oneself by. We crossed it by cautiously placing one foot before the other, and, as it inclined a little by leaning inwards, rather a delicate operation, as the slightest awkwardness would have overbalanced us, and nothing could have prevented our pitching at once to the bottom. At last we came to a cursed gully, over which it was necessary to step, and then mount about four feet to regain the ledge: my companion took the lead and climbed up; I followed and accomplished it with much difficulty, my progress being im