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mention these things minutely that you may look in upon us & see how we are. The balcony in front of the house has a most magnificent view. The river about 50 rods wide is before us, its banks walled on both sides with, heavy cut granite—^a parapet all along, about 3 feet high—& winding granite steps at small distances to go down to the water—Immediately be-neath us in the street lively with multitudes of Droshkies (some of them very beautiful) the walks, especially the one next the water, exhibiting the various spe-cimens of Russian humanity from the serf to the noble—Directly opposite lie the Emperors [bayes?]—Elegant gilded little steamboats ^{+ vessels with sails} about a hundred feet long—8 or 10 of them–Their decks clean as a polished table & guarded by soldiers in Russian uni-form—Just below lie the Emperors Hire ships,—opposite ^{on the other side of the river} are the steamboats which ^{connect with those at Cronstedt going} to London Hull [Subedt?] +c, beyond is the city, as well as on our side, with its ^{turrets &} spires & domes ^{in any of them} glittering with gold—(being covered with solid plating of it)—you look down the river + for a mile there is an unbroken ^row of palace looking buildings—you look up, for 2 1/2 miles, + there is one continuous line of Palaces in reality—Three bridges with from 8 to 12 arches each—+ of from 15 to 100 feet span rise one above the other in beautiful perspective—Each bridge about 1/2 a mile apart & still beyond rises a magnificent range of public Edifices ^{brought in sight by a bend of the river—They appear} diminuative indeed in the distance, but making the picture very perfect Little boats are plying in all directions—(we have taken a sail in one of them up as for us we go under two of the bridges, one of which we found to be of solid iron & granite, called the bridge of the Annunciation. Every thing [here?] almost having a sacred name) On our own side the river bends so as to bring in sight the Admiralty with its 1/2 mile of front. The Emperors winter palace, said to be the first in Europe & giving us a side long view of a great many other things—^{all this from the front of [Mils?] [Bausous?] + The whole city is nearly square.} Here again you see I have been particular for I wish you to see with your own eyes,—^How I wish you was here to see in re-ality, you would, (a lover of sights as you are) enjoy it so much—my hostess is [amiable?] ^{lady of 57} & I am forming some pleasant acquaintances—Have dined out once—by invitation from a Mr [Munhis?] to whom I [had?] a letter. Have been abroad evry day of course + seen a great many ^{beautiful objects}—but cannot describe them now—Ezra who is a [scubbly?] [officer?] who has just looked at his watch says we only have only 5 minutes more to write—^{if we go by the steamer today} my health is not as good as I wish it was, but better than when I last wrote