LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM { PRICE TWO SHILLINGS.] Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/lettertorightrevOOking A L E T T E R T O THE RIGHT REVEREND The LORD BISHOP of DURHAM. CONTAINING SOME OBSERVATIONS C L I M A 0 N T H E T E of RUSSIA, AND THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES. WITH A VIEW of the FLYING MOUNTAINS at Zarsko Sello near St. Petersbourg. FROM JOHN GLEN KING, D. D. F. R. S. and A. S. LONDON: Printed for J. DODSLEY, Pall-Mall. M.DCC.L XXVIII. - A LETTER T O THE RIGHT REVEREND The LORD BISHOP of DURHAM, &c. MY LORD, I T AKE the liberty to lend your Lordfhip a few remarks I made, during my relidence in Ruffia, on the cold in that country ; particularly, with re- fpedt to the means by which the inhabitants of thofe northern climates are enabled not only to protect themfelves from fuffering by its inclemency; but to turn it to their advantage, and even to en- joy amufements peculiar to it. Which will juftify A the [ 2 ] the obfervation of our excellent philofophical poet, who fays, “ What happier natures fhrink at with affright, “ The hard inhabitant contends is right.” Essay on Man. If I could have communicated any experiments which might have helped to difcover the natural caufe of f reezing, and have ferved either to con- firm fome of the feveral theories already given of this phenomenon, or to eftablilh a new one ; I fhould have thought my remarks more worthy your Lordfhip’s attention, and have long fince put the loofe notes, which have lain by me, on this fubjedl, into fome form. But though I made many experi- ments in freezing feveral fubftances, I cannot pre- tend to have found any thing new or fingular to remark as to the nature of congelation. Yet ftill, I hope it may afford your Lordfhip fome amufe- ment to obferve the fagacity and addrefs, which the human mind exerts, in the application of the pro- per means of felf-prefervation : and the confedera- tion of the wonderful provifion which the wifdom and goodnefs of Divine Providence has fuited to the [ 3 ] the peculiar wants of his creatures, I am fare, your Lordfhip will always look upon as the moil intereft- ing part of natural hiflory. It is neceffary for me to premife, that in the courfe of thefe obfervations I may be obliged to repeat feveral things which have been faid before ; but, I flatter myfelf, I may be able to fet fome of them in a new light, and to add others which have been overlooked or omitted. I muft firfl: obferve to your Lordfhip, that the cold in St. Peterfbourg, by Farenheit’s fcale, is, during the months of December, January, and February, ufually from 8 to 1 5 or 20 degrees below o ; that is, from 40 to 52 degrees below freezing point : though commonly, in the courfe of the winter, it is for a week or ten days fome degrees lower. It is almoA difficult for an inhabitant of our temperate climate to have any idea of a cold fo great ; it may, perhaps, help to give fome notion of it, to tell you that when a perfon walks out in that fevere weather, the cold makes the eyes water, and [ 4 ] and that water freezing hangs in little icicles on the eye-lafhes. As the common peafants ufually wear their beards, you may fee them hanging at the chin like a folid lump of ice. Yet, by the way, the advantage of the beard, even in that Hate, to protect the glands of the throat, is worth obferva- tion: and the foldiers, who do not wear their beards, are obliged to tie a handkerchief under the chin to fupply their place. From this account, it may eaflly be imagined, that the parts of the face, which are expofed, are very liable to be frozen ; and it may feem ftrange, what is a certain fad:, and has been often obferved, that the party himfelf does not know when the freezing begins ; but is commonly told of it firft by fomebody who meets him, and calls out to him to rub his face with fnow, the ufual way to thaw it. It is alfo remarkable that the part, which has once been frozen, is ever after moll liable to be frozen again. In fome very fevere winters, I have feen fpar- rows, though a hardy bird, quite numbed by the intenfe cold, and unable to fly. And I have heard that the drivers, who fit on their loaded carriages, have fometimes been found frozen to death in that pofture. [ 5 ] poflure. The feafons however are feldom fo fe~ vere, and that feverity lafts but a few days ; though it is not unfrequent, in the courfe of a winter, that fome poor wretches, getting drunk with fpirituous liquors, fall down by the road-iide, and perifh by the cold before any one finds them. I dare fay, your Lordfhip begins to fhiver at this relation ; but I will foon carry you into one of the houfes of the coun- try, where I will promife you, you will find it fufficiently warm : yet I will firft beg leave to mention a few experiments with regard to freezing fubftances, fome of which I made myfelf, and others I have had well authenticated. When the thermometer has flood at 25 degrees below o, boiling water thrown up into the air by an engine, fo as to fpread, falls down perfectly dry, formed into ice. I have made an experiment nearly like this, by throwing the water out of a window two pair of flairs high. A pint bottle of common water, I have found frozen into a folid piece of ice in an hour and a quarter. During the opera- tion, I have obferved the fpicula flying towards the exterior part of the water, full an inch, or an B inch [ 6 ] inch and. half long, where they form the chryftal- lization ; the great length of thefe fpicula is re- markable, and feems to be caufed by the intenfenefs of the cold. A bottle of ftrong ale has been frozen in an hour and half ; but in this fubftance there is always about a tea-cup full in the middle unfrozen, which is as ftrong and inflammable as brandy or fpirits of wine. I never faw good brandy or rum freeze to folid ice, though I have feen ice very thin in both, when put in a fmall flat phial : the phials, I made ufe of for the experiment, were the common bottles in which there had been lavender water. It may not be foreign to thefe inftances to men- tion an experiment made by Prince Orloff, mafter of the Ordnance to her imperial Majefty, which I had from him, though I was not a witnefs of it my- felf. He filled a bomb-fhell with water, and then flopped up the hole very clofely with a plug ; and, as foon as the congelation began, the contents of the fhell fwelling ifllied out by the fide of the plug, like a fmall jet d'eau , or fountain. He then made a fcrew to fatten up the hole of the bomb-fhell, after it was filled with water j and in twenty minutes the froft r 7 i frofi burA the fhell with home degree of violence, fo that fome of the pieces flew to the diftance of four or five yards. Severe, however, as the cold in this climate is, it is feldom any body fuffers from it, fo eafy are the means and fo plentiful are the provifions to guard againA it ; befides the inconveniences of the excefs of cold are much lefs than thofe of the oppofite extreme, in countries fubjedt to an excefs of heat. Indeed, jufi in St. Peterfbourg, the poor fome- times fuffer ; as in all capitals the hardfhips of the poor are greatefi ; but, for others, they are fo well protected, both without doors and within, that you feldom hear them complain of cold. It is well known that in Ruflia the method of warming the houfes is by an oven conArudbed with feveral flues, and that the country abounds with wood, which is the common fuel ; however, thele ovens confume a much fmaller quantity of wood than could be imagined, and yet they ferve at the fame time for the ordinary people to prepare their food by. They put a very moderate faggot into them, and fuffer it to burn only till the thickeft black finoak [ 8 ] fmoak is evaporated ; they then ftiut down the chimney to retain all the reft of the heat in the chamber, which keeps its heat twenty-four hours, and is commonly fo warm that they lit with very little covering, efpecially children, who are ufually in their fhirts. The windows in thefe huts are very fmall, as it is obvious that part muft be liable to be coldeft ; in the houfes of perfons of condi- tion the windows are caulked up againft winter, and commonly have double glafs frames. In fhort, they can regulate the warmth in their apartments by a thermometer with great exaCtnefs, open- ing or fhutting the flues to increafe or diminifh the heat. In the fevereft weather a Ruffian would think it ftrange to lit in a room where the cold con- denied his breath fufficiently to render it vifible, as it commonly does in England in frofty weather ; and furely it is agreeable to have the warmth equal in every part of the room. It might perhaps be thought that the air, in apartments fo clofe, muft needs be very unfit for refpiration ; but the faCt is full againft the conjecture ; for Peterlbourg is reckoned [ 9 J reckoned as wholfome a place as any city in Europe ; probably, the natural elafticity of the air is fo great, in all thofe high latitudes, that it is not eafily deftroyed. Thus the inhabitants fuffer no hardffiips from the cold within doors ; I will venture to affert not fo much as the inhabitants of England, where the duration of fevere cold is fo ffiort, that it is hardly an objedt of attention to guard againft it, either in their dwellings or their apparel. Whereas the Ruffians, when they go out, are cloathed fo warmly they bid defiance to froft and fnow ; and it is obfervable, that the wind is never violent in the winter, and in general there is very little wind : but when it does happen to blow the cold is exceedingly piercing. The animals naturally require warm cloathing in thefe fevere climates, man is therefore enabled readily to fupply himfelf with covering from them: the wolf and the bear lend him their fur, as well as feveral other creatures ; the fox, the fquirrel, and the ermine : but none contribute fo much to fupply this want as the hare and the ffieep. With regard to the hare one mull not omit to remark, that the better to conceal fo timorous and weak an animal C from [ 10 ] from its enemies, Providence has wifely ordered that in countries like thefe, which are covered with fnow, the fur of this creature changes in the win- ter to white ; it being in fummer brown, the na- tural colour of the ground : and its fur is much longer, and confequently warmer than in more fouthern latitudes. The poorer women commonly line their cloaks with Karc-fkin ; and the men for the mod; part have a drefs made of flieep’s fkin with the wool turned inwards. On their heads they wear a warm fur cap, and they are very careful to cover their legs and feet not only with warm dock- ings, but with boots lined with fur, or a quantity of flannel which they wrap feveral times round them. Yet, in the fevered; cold, you will fee them go with their neck and bread: quite open and ex- pofed. This feems a kind of natural indindt, the parts neared: the heart, where the blood receives its fird impulfe, being perhaps lefs liable to be in- jured by cold than the extremities of the body. Or does fuch pra&ice depend intirely upon cudom ? For we fee in our own country that cudom will do a great deal ; at the fame time that the men with us guard their bread with the warmed part of their drefs, the mod delicate lady expofes her bofom quite [ II ] quite uncovered ; as well as her whole perfon in a garment fo thin, that few men would think fuffi- ciently warm even in the mildeft weather. It mull be confeffed, the winters feem very long and tedious in thefe northern climates, the whole furface of the ground being covered with fnow for fix months or upwards ; and the eye is, at leaft my eye was, tired with the unvaried fcene, where Nature herfelf feems dead for half the year. How- ever, ufe makes even this much more tolerable to the natives, as well as their happy ignorance of better climes : and it is certain they enjoy many advantages which are peculiar to the nature of their fituation. The firffc advantage I fhall mention is the facility of tranfport, and in confequence expedition in travelling. Their carriages for the winter fea- fon, it is well known, are fledges, made with a frame at the bottom fhod with iron like fkates. The friction and refinance are fo fmall on the ice and hard frozen fnow, that when one pulls one of thefe machines, with a confiderable load on it, on level [ 12 j level ground, we feem furprized to find we can move it, with almoft as much eafe as we move a boat in Hill water. The confequence of this is a ready and cheap communication from one place to another ; for a fingle horfe will draw a great load in proportion to his ftrength, and in parts difcant from the capital, they do not keep any road with the fledges, but make their way indifferently over rivers and bogs, and fometimes I am told they tra- vel by a compafs. It may not perhaps be unworthy obfervation to remark that the roads over the rivers near Peterlbourg are fet out by large boughs of fir trees planted on each fide, forming an avenue; for the tracts of the carriages are very flight, and thofe foon covered by drifted fnow or a frefh fall. Near the capital, where the traffick is naturally the greateft, the roads are kept in repair in winter with the fame attention as in fu miner ; when a thaw happens to injure them they are mended with frefh ice laid in the holes and covered with fnow, and water thrown upon it to freeze again. Such precau- tions are neceffary as thefe roads ferve half the year: if the ice on the river be cracked, by a fwell in the water, a bridge of planks is laid over it. It may be be added that the firong northern light and the re- flection C 13 ] fledion of the fnow, generally afford a light fuffi- cient to travel by, when there is no moon. It is obvious to imagine that with fuch means wealth and luxury would find out very commodious methods of travelling. The late Emprefs Eliza- beth had a fledge, which I have feen, made with two complete little rooms in it, in one of which was a bed. I can believe the motion in fuch a vehicle not to be greater than in a fliip, when the fea is tolerably fmooth. The common travelling equi- page, for perfons of condition, is made large enough to lie at length in, and when the bed or matrafs is rolled up it makes a feat to fit upon. I need not take notice of the great expedition with which people travel, as it is fo notorious ; I mean with horfes, for I am unacquainted with thofe parts where rein-deer are ufed. The accommodations on the road are, indeed, very poor ; but travellers want them but little, as they ufually take their pro- vifions with them, and travel by night as well as day. Another advantage peculiar to the northern cli- mates, is the preferving provifions by the froff. D Froff [ *4 ] Froft may certainly be looked up as the beft pickle while it ferves ; that is, it alters the quality and tafte of whatever is preferved by it lefs than any other. It is evident, the three common preferves, fugar, vinegar, and fait impart their refpedive taftes fo ftrongly, that very few things fo preferved retain the leaf! of their natural flavour. Whereas froft feems only to fix the parts andjuic.es, and by that means to prevent fermentation. I fhall mention a fa6 ] mentation, and almoft a fudden putrefadfion : but when produced by cold water, the ice Teems to be attracted out of the body, and forms a tranlparent incruftation round it. This I have conftantly Teen round grapes, when thawed, which looked as if fet in glafs. Nay, I have thawed a bottle of water, when frozen to a folid piece of ice, by this means without breaking the bottle, and the ice has formed an incruftation round it, in the manner I defcribe. The fame thing may be obferved if a cabbage which is thoroughly frozen be thawed by cold water, it is as frefh as if juft gathered out of the garden ; but if it be thawed by fire or hot water, it becomes fo rancid and ftrong it cannot be eaten. Thefe, my Lord, are folid advantages derived from the nature of the coldeft climates. It might appear trifling after them to mention others of a lefs ferious kind, and yet fome of their amufements are alfo peculiar to the climate. One of the chief is that of riding in a light open fledge for pleafure, which is very common, becaufe very agreable when the weather is not too fevere. Skating may be mentioned as another ; but the weather is often too fevere [ >7 ] fevere for that, and therefore it is by no means fo general in Ruffia as in milder climates, fuch as Hol- land, Germany, &c. But of all the winter diver- lions of the Ruffians the moft favourite, and which is peculiar to them, feems to be that of Hiding down a hill. They make a track on the fide of a fteep hill, mending any little inequalities with fnow or ice, then at the verge of the hill, fitting on a little feat not bigger than, and much refembling, a butcher’s tray, they defcend with aftoniffiing velo- city. The fenfation is indeed very odd, but to rnyfelf, for I have often had the curiolity to try it, I cannot fay it was agreeable ; the motion is fo rapid it takes away one’s breath : nor can I give an idea of it, except deliring you to fancy you were to fall from the top of a houfe without hurting your- felf, in which you would probably have fome mix- ture of fear and furprize. The Ruffians are fo fond of this diverfion, that at Peterlbourg, having no hills, they raife artificial mounts on the ice on the river Neva for the purpofe of Aiding down them, parti- cularly on holidays and feftival feafons, when all the people, young and old, rich and poor partake of the fport ; paying a trifie to the perfons who conftrud- ed the mount, each time they defcend. E I call [ 18 ] I call this peculiar to Rullia as a diverlion: for though it is pradtifed at the place known by the name of the Ramajfe , the defcent of Mount Cenis to Lanebourg, which at fome feafons of the year is in a ftate that admits of travellers Aiding down it in the fame method, as is defcribed in moil books that treat of the Alps, yet this may be conlidered rather as neceffity or convenience than merely amufement. The late Emprefs Elizabeth was fo fond of this diverlion that, at her palace of ZARSKO SELLO, fhe had artificial mounts, of a very lingular con- ftrudtion, made for this purpofe, of which I here give your Lordfhip a plate. Thefe have been called, by fome Englifhmen who have vilited that country, The Flying Mountains , and I do not know a phrafe which approaches nearer to the Ruffian name. You will obferve that there are live mounts of unequal heights : the firft and higheft is full thirty feet perpendicular altitude ; the momentum with which they defcend this carries them over the fecond, which is about live or lix feet lower, juft l'ufficient to allow for the fri&ion and reliftance ; and [ *9 ] and fo on to the lad, from which they are con- veyed by a gentle defcent, with nearly the fame ve- locity, over a piece of water into a little illand. Thefe hides, which are about a furlong and half in length, are made of wood, that they may be ufed in fummer as well as in winter. The proeefs is, two or four perfons lit in a little carriage and one hands behind, for the more there are in it the greater the fwiftnefs with which it goes ; it runs on cahors, and in grooves to keep it in its right di- rection, and it defcends with a wonderful rapidity. Under the hill, is a machine worked by horfes for drawing the carriages back again, with the company in them. Such a work as this would have been enormous in moh countries for the labour and ex- pence it coh, as well as the vah quantity of wood ufed in it. At the fame place, there is another arti- ficial mount which goes in a fpiral line, and in my opinion, for I have tried it alfo, is very difagreable ; as it feems always leaning on one fide, and the per- fon feels in danger of falling out of his feat. In winter no work can be done in agriculture, as may eafily be imagined, the ground being faffc- ened [ 20 ] cned by the frofl as well as covered by fnow. The (economical bulinefs, therefore, which conftitutes the employment of the common people in this fea- fon, is, belides the threfhing the corn, manufac- turing their cloaths, for the peafants in the villages make their own wearing apparel of every fort, felling timber for building or other purpofes, and cutting wood for fireing. They are able alfo to go out a hunting, and- as the country abounds with game it furnilhes a large part of their provilions, during the feafons when they are permitted to eat it ; for the falls of the Greek church taken together interdict animal food full half the year. The method the common people ufe in hunting is with fnow fhoes, which are nothing more than a piece of wood half an inch thick, live or lix feet long, and about four inches broad, turned up at the end, which they fallen at the bottom of their feet, and by means of them they run or rather Ikate over the fnow, with a pole in their hands, f after than the hare or any game they purfue, which are apt to link in. They [ 2 * ] They enjoy alfo the the profitable diverfion of fifhing, notwithftanding the water’s being covered with ice ; and one manner of it, with a drag-net, is very particular, though I doubt if I fhall be able to defcribe it fo as to give your Lordfhip an idea of it. •There is a hole about four feet by two cut in the ice, to let down a common drag-net ; oppofite to this, at the diftance they mean to pull up the net, is another hole, about four feet fquare : they then cut a number of fmall round holes at about four yards difiance from each in a circular form, from the hole, where the net is let down, to that where it is taken up. At the ends of the two firings, that is the upper ,and lower firings which drag the net, long poles are tied : thefe poles will reach from one round hole to another, where they are directed and pufhed under the ice, as they fwim at the top of the water, till they come to the biggeft fquare hole, at which they draw them out, and by this means the net, inclofing the fifli it has furrounded ; for the upper part of the net is floated at the top of the water under the ice, and the lower part of it funk by leads, in the fame manner as when the river is open : the ingenuity of the opera- F tion [ 22 ] tion conlifts in the contrivance of dragging under the ice. Thefe, my Lord, are fome of the peculiarities of the northern climates in winter ; they have their inconveniencies, but they have their advantages too. In fummer they differ much lefs from fouthern climates. To balance the long abfence of the fun in the former feafon, they enjoy a larger fhare of his influence in the latter ; which caufes vegeta- tion to be exceedingly quick ; otherwife the fhortnefs of the feafon would not fuffice for the neceflary bufinefs of fowing the land, for the growth of the corn, and for gathering it in. Some perfons reckon the light nights in fummer an agreeable circumftance, and thefe are very re- markable even in the latitude of St. Peterfbourg, which is 6 1 degrees : this arifes not only from the fun’s being fo fhort a time under the horizon, but from the ftrong reflection of the atmofphere, which caufes fo great a brightnefs one may fee to read and write at midnight, unlefs it be cloudy, for full two months. I have C 23 ] I have now finifhed this account which has no- thing of fancy in it to enliven it : it contains merely matters of fa£t, which could not efcape my obfer- vation during a refldence of eleven years in that country. Indeed, Ruffia is a country fo riling and flourifhing under the aufpices of the Sovereign who now reigns there, and encourages, in the moil diifin- guifhed manner, every endeavour to improve and exalt it, by patronizing all liberal arts and fciences, that it muil attract the attention and admiration of mankind in many moil important points of view. Yet if ill I flatter myfelf this fhort relation of the peculiar qualities of its climate may afford fome reflections not unworthy a philofophical mind : I therefore prefume to prefent it to your Lordfhip, and fhall eileem myfelf very happy if it affords you any entertainment. I have the honour to be, with the greateil reipedt, My Lord, Your Lordfhip’s moil obliged, moil faithful, and moil obedient humble fervant, Blackheath, January 22, 1778* JOHN GLEN KING. 1