b o o k ^ie hatchet, ihould pay a fine of jC6. In confequence of
— v— ’ this decree the officer, who was fent to levy the fine, colle£
ted the firft year^6ooo ; the fecondj^i 500 ; the third
£ 10 0 ; and the fourth nothing. By this judicious regulation
the ufe of the faw has been introduced among 'the Ruffian
Shipwrights, and will probably in time recommend itfelf to
the carpenters and peafants.
The rifing fpirit of commerce has added greatly within
thefe few years to the wealth and population of the town.
It contains at prefent at leaft 10,000 fouls ; and the number
of inhabitants in the government of Tver has increased
in a very furprifing degree; a circumftance which ffiews
the advantages afifing from her prefent majefty’s new code
o f laws. Tver was the firft province of this empire which
was newly modelled according to that code ; and it has already
experienced the beneficial effects of thefe excellent
regulations.
Tver being a large town, we concluded that we ihould
find no difficulty in obtaining the neceflary repairs for our
•carriage, fo as to enable it to carry us two or three days at
leaft without requiring any further affiftance. Trailing,
therefore, to the workmanihip of a Ruffian fmith, we fat off
about fix in the evening with the expectation of reaching
the next poft, where we purpofed to pafs the night, in about
four hours ; but we had fcarcely proceeded ten miles, before
we perceived that the wheel, inftead of being ftrengtliened,
had been weakened by the fmith’s unfkilfulnefs, and feemed
every inftant in danger of coming to pieces. In this fituation
we flopped at a fmall village, where it was not poffible to
procure any accommodation, not even a candle to fmear the
wheel, which required a conftant fupply ofgreafe to prevent
it
T V E R .
it from taking fire; and as the next place in our route, chap.
likely to afford a new wheel, was above fixty miles diftant,
we thought it moft prudent to return to Tver. I confoled
myfelf readily for this delay, as it gave us an opportunity to
pay more attention to the town and its environs than our
tranfient flay had hitherto permitted us. We took up our
abode at the fame houfe we had juft quitted : it was an inn
kept by a German, and Was one of the new magnificent
brick edifices lately conftrucfted, but almoft totally without
furniture or beds.
On the following day we made an agreeable excurfion
into the adjacent country ; we firft croffed the Volga over a
bridge of boats, and the Tvertza over a raft, and rode between
the banks of thofe two beautiful rivers. We then
left the Volga to purfue its courfe towards the Cafpian Sea,
watering, as it pafies, fome of the moft fertile provinces of
Ruffia, and bathing the walls o f Cafan and Aftraehan; and
we made a circuit in the environs of T v e r : we frequently
flopped to admire feveral delightful views of the new town
magnificently feated upon the lieep bank o f the Volga, the
country gently Hoping towards the river.
Tver lies in the midft of a large plain, interfperfed here
and there with gentle acclivities, which can hardly be called
hills ; the country produces in great abundance wheat, rye,
barley, oats, buck-wheat, hemp and flax, and all forts of vegetables.
Its forefts yield oak, birch, alder, poplar, moun-
tain-afh, pines and firs, junipers, &c. The quadrupeds,
which rove is the neighbouring country, are elks, bears,
Wolves, and fo x e s ; wild-goats, hares, and rabbits; alfo
badgers, martens, weafels, ermines, ferrets, fquirrels, and
marmottes, & c . T h e principal birds obferved in this d iftr ia
V ol. I. 1 i i - are