The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

340 RUSSIA IN EUBOl'E.the sea, and commanding an extensive view of the roadstead and wooded shoresof Finland. This was the favourite residence of Peter the Great, and west ofit is Oranienbaum, another imperial chateau surrounded l>y pavilions and villas,over against the island of Kotlin and the formidable granite batteries of Kronstadt.Previous to the reign of Alexander II. upwards of £8,000,000 had been expendedon this bulwark of the capital, and since then hundreds of thousands have beenspent in adding to its defences, including two revolving turrets doublystrengthened with iron plates and teak. Kronstadt is mainly a military town,and most of its inhabitants are employed in its arsenals, forts, and navy. Therest are engaged in the transhipment of goods between the lighters from thecapital and the large vessels from the high seas. In winter the ice becomes thehighway of traffic. A temporary hotel is erected midway, with intermediatestations to succour travellers overtaken by the fogs or arrested by fissures inthe ice. In 1881 the two cities will be connected by a railway running along theembankment of the Kronstadt Canal.In the interior are other towns, palaces, chateaux, villas, pleasure grounds,dependent on the capital. Amongst them is Tzarko'ie-Selo, the " Imperial Village,"15 miles to the south, the favourite retreat of Catherine II., around which anindustrial town of some importance has sprung- up. In the north-west is thePulkovo Observatory, on an eminence 245 feet high, through which is drawnthe Russian meridian.* This observatoiy, associated with the observations ofStruve, will soon boast of the largest telescope in the world, which is now beingconstructed at Cambridge, near Boston. Another observatory, sj^ecially devotedto the study of meteorological and magnetic phenomena, has recently beenfounded near Pavlosk, south of Tzarko'ie-Selo.* Longitude of Pulkovo, 30° 19' 36" E. Gr. ; latitude, 59° 46' 19" N.