B?uK an<^ a P^ate ° f fweet-meats was- handed round to the com-
— , > pany. About fix we took leave o f our friendly hoft, and returned
to our inn, i f it may he called by that honourable appellation.
This inn, which was the beft, for it was the only
one in the town, was a wooden building, in a very ruinous
ilate, formerly painted on the outfide. T h e apartment which
we occupied had once been h un g with paper, as appeared from
fome torn fragments that here and there covered a fmall
portion o f the wainfcot, which was a patch-work o f old and
new planks. Its furniture was two benches and as many
chairs ; o f the latter, one was without a bottom ; and the
other without a b a c k ; the only table was an old deal box.
W e were inclined to conjecture there was a heavy tax upon
air and light in this cou ntry ; for all the windows were
nailed u p with planks, except one, which could not be
opened, and it could fcarcely be feen through, on account
o f the dirt with which it was incrufted. In th e inventory
o f thefe valuables I ihould not omit a couch upcn which I
f le p t : it had been fo often mended, that, like Sir John Cutler’s
ftockings, immortalized in Martinus Scriblerus, we could
not diitinguiih any part o f the original materials. It may
perhaps appear furprizing, that in a town like Smolenlko
there ihould be no tolerable inn ; but the furprize will ceafe,
when we reflect that few ftrangers pafs this w a y ; and that
the Ruffians themfelves carry their provifions with them,
and either continue their journey through the night, or are
received in private houfes.
Auguft 25. We quitted Smolenlko, crofled the Dnieper
over a wooden bridge into the fuburbs, and purfued our
journey for fome way through a valley o f fine pafture watered
by the Dnieper, fpotted with underwood, and terminating
on each fide in gentle eminences clothed with wood.
1 As
As we advanced, the country became more abrupt and un- CHA1>-
even, but no where rofe into any confiderable hill. Near'— , •
Slovoda a large ftraggling village, where we flopped for a
few hours during the darknefs of the night, we again crofled
the Dnieper upon a raft formed of trunks of trees tied together
with cords, and fcarcely large enough to receive the
carriage, which funk it fome inches under water; this machine
was then pufhed from the banks until it met another
of the fame kind, to which the horfes ftepped with great
difficulty; and the diftance of the-two rafts from each
other was fo 1 confiderable, that the carriage - could fcarcely
be prevented from flipping between them and finking into
the river.
The fecond poft from this primitive ferry was Dogoro-
bulh, built upon a riling hill, and exhibiting, like Smolenfko,
though upon a lefler fcale, an intermixture o f churches,
houfes, cottages, corn-fields, and meadows; fome o f the
houfes, which had been lately conftruited at the emprefles
expence, were o f brick covered with flucco, and had the
appearance o f fo many palaces when contrafted with the
meannefs o f the furrounding hovels. This place was formerly
a ftrong fortrefs, and frequently befieged during the
wars between Ruffia and Poland : the ramparts and ditches
of the antient citadel flill remain; from them we commanded
an extenfive view o f the adjacent country, which
was a large plain watered by the winding Dnieper, and
bounded by diftant hills. From Dogorobuih we proceeded
about 24 miles to a fmall village called Zaratefh, where we
thought ourfelves very fortunate in being houfed for the
night .in a tolerable hut, which afforded us a rare inftance
of accommodation in thefe parts, a room feparate from that
ufed by the family. Our hoftefs was a true Afiatic figure :
K k 1 fire