b o o k t f t e remainder. It is difficult to afcertain the precife quan-
i— ,__« tity o f this paper currency. The officers o f the bank informed
me, that each note which was iffued had its equivalent
in copper money: that the Bank o f Affignation had,
befide the building at Peterfburgh, another at Mofcow : that
the former contained £2,800,000 in copper coin; and
£100,000 in gold and filver fpecie ; that in the latter
£1,200,000 in copper was already depoiited, and that
£200,000 were then coining for that purpofe. According
to this account, in 1 7 7 9 , hank notes had been circulated to
the value o f £4,200,000. It is fuppofed, however, that
this ftatement o f the paper currency is under-rated; and
many perfons pretend to affert, that the notes iffued by government
amount to at leaft £10,000,000.
Upon the firft appearance o f this paper, it was received,
particularly in the remote parts o f the empire, not without
difficulty, and the difcount againft it was commonly about
. 3y, and in fome places even 6 per cent. But its obvious advantages
over copper money foon recommended it to general
ufe ; and it has been found fo beneficial to commerce, that
the difcount in favour of filver fpecie is only one per cent,
and it bears a premium o f one and an half per cent, over
copper money.
The debts o f Ruffiain foreign countries amounted, at the
conclufion o f the laft war, to only £2,000,000, which was
almoft difcharged; but the fame fum has been lately borrowed
in Holland; and probably the prefent armaments
againft the Turks will have much increafed the publick expenditure.
CHAP.
C H A P . II.
Admiralty.— Expedition to Cronftadt.— Befcription o f Cron-
ilot and the citadel; o f the ijland Retufari; and the town
o f Cronftadt.— Its harbours and dock.— Navy. -Remarks
upon Ruffia conjidered as a maritime power.— General ob-
fervations oh the Ruffian army.
r I "'HE Admiralty *, which ftands on the fouth bank o f the c h a p .
Neva, oppofite to the fortrefs o f Peterfburgh, was built
by Peter the Great; and is a large building ot brick, fur-
rounded with a rampart and ditch : it is the great receptacle,
for fhips’ ftores ; and contains large magazines o f cordage,
fails, malls, anchors, which are fent to Cronftadt for. the
equipment o f the fleet. A large area, which lies between the
front o f the building and the Neva, is ufed for the conftruc-
tion of veffels : when I was at Peterfburgh,. five men.of war
and two frigates were upon the flocks K
I have already obferved, that in our expedition to Peterliof
and Oranienbaum, we vifited Cronftadt, a, defcription of
which I referved for the prefent occafion..
concave, ihaped fo as to-embra ce th e h u ll
o f a ihip on-both frdes.. E a ch , p a r t has a.
fmall cab in w ith fixteen pumps and ten ,
plugs-, and contains tw en ty men . T h e y are
braced to a ihip. underne ath, b y means o f '
ca b le s , and en tire ly inc lofe its iides and
bottom ; b e in g then ,towed? to the. b ar, the
plu g s are opened, and th e w a te r admitted^
until the fcameel finks with- the- ihip and
runs a-groutid. T h e n , th e /w a te r b eing
pumped out,* the kameel rifes,' lifts up the
veffels and-the whole is towed over the bar.
T h is machine can raiie the ihip e leven feet
o r , in o th e r words, m a t e it. cl raw eleven. ,
feet lefs w ater .
Cronftadt,
* I am informed, th a t th e A dm ir a lty is
intended.to b e removed to Cron ftad t j- and.
that a b u i ld in g fo r that pu rpofe is a b fo -
lutely begun.
+ T h e men o f w a r w h ich are framed in.
this dock are, in th e irp a fla g e to-Cron ftad t,
lifted over the b a r b y means-- o£ K am e e ls :
thefe machines were o r ig in a lly invented by
the celebrated D e Witt-,, fo r the-p urpofe o f
conveying larg e veflels from A-mfterdam over
the P am p u s ; and w e re introdu ced into
Ruffia by P eter th e G re a t , who ob ta in edth e
model o f them, when he worked in H o llan d
as a common-ihipwright. A kameel-is com -
pofed o f two fepara te p a rts , whofe outfules
are perpendicular,, a n d whofe infides are