PETERSBURG, ST. the capital of the Russian empire, is situated at the eastern extremity of the Gulf of Finland, at the mouth of the river Neva, in 59° 56' 23" of north latitude, and 30' 25' east longitude. It is built partly on islands formed by the Neva, an.' partly on the continent on both sides of that river ; and the ground which now constitutes the site of this large and elegant city, was for merly a vast neglected morass. The situation is so low and so level, that the town has not uufrequentiv been visit ed with considerable inundations, caused when the tides are high by a strong westerly wind blowing up the Gulf of Finland. These inundations have, at some former pe riods, been so formidable as to threaten the capital with complete submersion; hut of late years they have been almost totally obviated by a large wall of hewn granite, with which the river has been embanked.
This capital was founded so lately as the year 1703, and derived its name from Peter the Great, to whom it owes its origin. Having wrested ingria from the Swedes, and extended his conquests to the shores of the Baltic, this illustrious person was induced, to secure the territories he had thus acquired, to erect a fortress on an island at the mouth of the Neva. in five months this fortress was com pleted, in defiance of obstacles and difficulties, which, to ordinary minds, would have appeared perfectly insur mountable. The marshy nature of the ground, the intense rigour of the climate, the almost total want of implements and materials for building, the deficiency of provisions, and the great mortality among the workmen, seem only to have rendered Peter more inflexibly fixed in prosecut ing his intention. The work was still carried on with unabated spirit, and most complete success. The place of those (about 100,000) who fell victims to the hardships just mentioned, was immediately supplied by new levies. The emperor, who now availed himself of the knowledge he had acquired in Holland, and the various countries he had visited, superintended in person, and directed every operation. By his order morasses were drained, dykes were raised, causeways constructed, and roads, communi cating with the city, were opened through forests and marshes, till that period deemed impervious. In little more than one year 30,000 houses were erected ; people of every description,—scholars, merchants, mechanics, seamen, were invited and encouraged to settle in this new metropolis ; and in eleven years from the first com mencement of the work, was the seat of empire trans ferred thither from Moscow, the ancient Russian capital. Nor did Peter yet regard his undertaking as finished. The buildings, with few exceptions, had hitherto been formed of earth or wood ; and in 1714, he issued a man date, declaring that every house, erected after this date, should be constructed of brick and timber ; that every large vessel navigating to the city should bring thirty stones, every small one ten, and every waggon three; that the tops of the buildings should no longer be covered with birch-planks and bark, so dangerous in case of fire, but with tiles, or any substance made of clay. It was also enacted, that each of the nobility and principal merchants should be obliged to have a residence in this new capital. By such means as these, the progress of the city was extremely rapid ; and its founder, before his death, which took place in 1725, had the satisfaction of seeing his fa vourite city flourish, and, in spite of much opposition on the part of his subjects, fully recognized as the capital of the empire. Under the patronage of the various sove reigns who have since filled the throne of Russia, it has gradually increased in size, in elegance, and wealth; and it may now with propriety be regarded as one of the most important and interesting cities in Europe.
In giving a description of Petersburg, the Neva, on which it is built, must hold a prominent place. This river, though it runs a course of only thirty-five miles, between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland, varies in breadth from 300 to 400 yards; the water is perfectly pure and transparent; the current is considerably rapid ; its banks, as it pastes through the city, are adorned with rows of elegant buildings; and its surface, almost com pletely covered with vessels of every variety of size, pre sents a most busy and animated appearance. Its main stream flows in a straight line nearly through the centre of the city ; but two branches, diverging from it on the north, form the two islands on which the northern parts of the capital are built. The southern portion of the city is divided, not by the river, but by canals, (of which that named Fontanka is the finest,) which gives the Russian metropolis much the appearance of a Dutch town, particu larly T he south bank of the Neva is em banked for three by a wall, parapet and pavement of hewn granite. This structure, which constitutes the Quay, is one of the most striking and stupendous works by which Petersburg is characterized. Some of the ca nals which pervade the city have also been embanked in a similar manner. The depth of the river, and the vast masses of ice which, in winter, are hurried down its stream, will, it is evident, never admit of a stone bridge being erected over it. About fifty years ago, however, a peasant of great mechanical genius, but of no learning, proposed a wooden bridge to be thrown over it, similar to the cele brated one over the Rhine at Shaffhausen. Of this arch. of which the artist executed a model, the length was to be. 930 feet, and the height above the surface of the water 163. This extraordinary project was not reckoned alto gether impracticable ; it has never, however, been put in execution ; nor indeed is it probable that any arch, except perhaps one of iron, will ever be stretched across the Neva. The communication between the opposite divisions of Petersburg, has hitherto been effected by pontoons or bridges of boats, which, however, in the beginning of winter, before the river is completely frozen, and in the thaw of spring, it is necessary to remove, to avoid their being destroyed by the alarming shoals of ice with which the Neva abounds. The ice in winter, which continues for five or six months successively, forms the communi cation between the different quarters of the city, and thus supersedes the necessity of the pontoons; and during this time the Neva affords one of the most lively and striking objects connected with the Russian capital. It is the great centre of idleness and of amusement ; and the cele brated annual fair, held early in January, which continues for three days, and which is meant to supply the capital with provisions for the remaining months of winter, is held on the ice. " Many thousand raw carcasses," says Mr. Coxe, who was present at one of these fairs, " of oxen, sheep, hogs, pigs, together with geese, fowls, and every species of frozen food, were exposed to sale." No incon siderable proportion of these provisions are brought by land carriage from very distant quarters of the empire, even from Archangel, a place about 800 miles distant from Petersburg. Before they are fit for dressing, they must be thawed by being immersed in cold water.