Born 1741.--Died 1811.
This traveller, whose works are comparatively little known in England,
was born at Berlin, September 22, 1741. His father, who was an
able surgeon, entertained the design of educating him for his own
profession; and at the same time caused him to learn several languages.
At a very early age he was able, therefore, to write the Latin, the
English, the French, and the German. His retentive memory rendered
these acquirements so easy, that his great success in this department
of knowledge scarcely at all interfered with his progress in others;
so that he is said to have likewise maintained among his schoolfellows
the pre-eminence in all their various studies. He was, in fact, by no
means satisfied with what was taught him by his different masters, but
employed his leisure hours in the study of natural history; and at the
age of fifteen he had already imagined ingenious divisions of several
classes of animals.
Having attended at Berlin the courses of Gleditsch, Mekhel, and
Roloff, and those of Vogel and Rœderer at Göttingen, he proceeded
to Leyden, to finish his studies under Albinus, Gaubins, and
Musschenbroeck. The rarest productions of nature had been for two
centuries accumulating in Holland by the commerce of the whole world;
and it was therefore impossible that the ardent passion of Pallas
for natural history should not be still further excited by living
in the midst of them. But perhaps we attribute too much influence
to the force of circumstances. The soul, with all its tastes and
passions, is far more independent of external things than is generally
supposed. Concomitance is not causation. The energy of the mind derives
sustenance, as it were, from circumstances; but the effect of this
nourishment is determined by its own original character, just as it is
determined by the innate qualities of the scorpion, or the bee, whether
the vegetable juices which they extract from the plants of the field
shall be converted into poison or into nectar. However this may be,
Pallas afterward visited England, where a commerce more extensive than
had ever been carried on by any other nation, ancient or modern, must
likewise have collected immense treasures in natural history, which
afforded him a fortunate occasion for improving his knowledge. The
sight of these scientific riches seems, in reality, to have determined
him to waive all claim to professional emolument or honours, for
the purpose of devoting himself entirely to natural history; and he
obtained his father’s permission to settle at the Hague, with a view of
continuing his studies.
Here, in 1776, he published his “Elenchus Zoophytorum,” the first of
his “great works,” to adopt the expression of M. Eyriès, which, for an
author of twenty-five, was a remarkable performance. The “Miscellanea
Zoologica,” which was published the same year, still further augmented
his reputation. This work (I still borrow the language of the French
geographer) threw a new light upon the least known classes of the
animal kingdom, those which had hitherto been confounded together under
the name of worms. These two publications carried far and wide the
name of their author, and several governments sought to monopolize his
talents. He would probably have given the preference to that of his
own country, had he received from it the least encouragement; but, as
too often happens, says M. Cuvier, it was at home that he was least
respected. He therefore resolved to desert his country, and accepted
a place in the Academy of St. Petersburg, which was offered him by
Catherine II. Pallas’s private circumstances are nowhere, so far as I
have been able to discover, properly explained. I know not, therefore,
whether extreme poverty or vulgar cupidity determined him to take this
step; but I cannot, without pain, contemplate men of abilities running
about the world in search of wealth, ready to snatch at it from any
hand, and no less ready, however base may be the donor, to repay the
dishonourable obligation by despicable flattery and adulation. For this
reason, in spite of the profound veneration with which I regard every
thing like genius, which appears to be a spark of the Divine nature
fallen from heaven, I cannot help considering Pallas as a learned and
ingenious slave, cringing at the foot of power, and willing to perform
all things at its bidding.
Catherine, it is well known, was desirous that some of her own
barbarians should observe in Siberia the transit of Venus over
the sun’s disk in 1769, and not, as in 1763, leave the honour to
foreigners. She therefore selected a number of astronomers from the
Academy of St. Petersburg, and joined with them several naturalists,
whose business it was to examine the nature of the productions and soil
in this remote province of the empire. They were, in fact, instructed
to make the most exact researches on the nature of the soil; on that
of the waters; on the means of cultivating the deserts; on the actual
state of agriculture; the diseases which chiefly prevailed among men
and beasts; the means of curing or preventing them; the manner of
rearing bees, silkworms, and cattle; minerals, and mineral waters; the
arts, trades, and other industrious processes of each province; the
plants, animals, the interior and the form of mountains; and, in short,
on all the objects of natural history. The geography of the country,
the manners of its inhabitants, and the traditions and monuments of
antiquity were likewise included.
Such was the enterprise to engage in which Pallas was invited into
Russia. In the midst of the numerous preparations required for so long
and arduous a journey, he found leisure to compose several new works
(for he possessed, and was vain of, a great facility in writing),
which, in the opinion of naturalists, were full of interesting views;
among others he presented to the academy his famous memoir on the bones
of large quadrupeds discovered in Siberia, in which he proves that the
remains of elephants, rhinoceroses, buffaloes, and many other kinds of
animals now peculiar to the south, were found in those northern regions.
The expedition was composed of seven astronomers and geometricians,
five naturalists, and several pupils, who were to direct their course
in various directions over the immense country which they were about to
explore. Pallas left Petersburg on the 21st of June, 1768. The great
road to Moscow, which traverses a part of Ingria, affords nothing
interesting either to the traveller or the naturalist. Having passed
Tosna, they entered a forest of pines and birch-trees, where, owing
to the marshy nature of the soil, every spot which had been cleared
of wood swarmed with gadflies. He passed through, but made no stay at
Novogorod, and then pushed on to Bronitzkoi. The river which passes
through this town abounds in salmon-trout, which descend from the lake
of Ilman, visible from the neighbouring hill. The road here affords a
view of several ancient tombs, which our traveller did not pause to
examine.
At a short distance beyond Saisovo, he crossed the Jemlin, in which
pearl-muscles are found; and, hurrying along impatiently, arrived at
Moscow on the 4th of July. This city, which had so often been visited
and described by others, possessed so few attractions for him that
he would willingly have quitted it immediately; but his vehicles,
shattered by the badness of the roads, paved in some instances with
trees, and cracked by the heat of the sun, required reparation; other
causes of delay occurred, and he was therefore detained here many days.
To amuse himself a little, and blunt the point of his impatience, he
made several short excursions in the environs, where he was greatly
struck at finding on all sides numerous petrifactions of marine
substances. The river Moskwa produces an abundance of marine sponges,
with which the Russian women rub their cheeks, instead of paint.
Attempts were even then making to raise the genuine rhubarb in the
environs of Moscow.
From this city he set out for Vlodimir. But little care was then taken
in Russia to provide travellers with good horses, since even the
members of this expedition were sometimes scarcely able to proceed on
account of the badness of their beasts. Vlodimir, formerly an extensive
city, according to the traditions of the country, is picturesquely
situated upon several small hills, and surrounded by cherry-orchards,
the produce of which is the chief means of subsistence possessed by
the inhabitants. At Kassinof Pallas found the descendants of several
Tartar princes, who were now engaged in the fur trade, and possessed of
considerable riches. They were of the Mohammedan religion, and were at
that time rebuilding a fallen mosque, by permission of the government.
At a small village on the banks of the Oka he saw a great number of
goitres, whose deformity he supposed to arise from the quality of
the water. On the banks of the Piana he found, in a small scattered
village, several descendants of the Mordwans, who, having been
converted to Christianity, had lost almost all traces of their ancient
manners. These, according to Pallas, were at that time the filthiest
people in the Russian empire, which was a bold thing to say; but they
were good husbandmen, and their women, though ugly, were exceedingly
laborious, which our traveller, no doubt, regarded as a superior
quality to beauty.
About the middle of September the cold was already considerable, rain
and snow were frequent, and the severe frosts commenced. Having passed
the Soura, they entered into an immense forest, where he observed wild
cabbages on the banks of the river. Here they saw the beehives of the
Mordwans, which were left all the winter in the forests with a very
slender covering; and, among their flocks, several mules produced
between the goat and the sheep. The peasants of these woody districts
were principally employed in making tar. On the 22d of September
they reached Simbirsk, on the Volga, where they were detained within
doors for some days by a tremendous storm. They then issued forth
upon their various pursuits; and, among other places, Pallas visited
the sulphurous springs which are found near the Sargout. One of those
springs was formerly of considerable extent, and furnished large
quantities of sulphur, but it had then disappeared. The other formed
a little marsh on the left bank of the stream. Even in the depth of
winter, the water of the spring never froze, and at all times a thin
sulphury vapour hung like a light cloud over its surface.
The season being now too far advanced to allow them to proceed on their
journey, they determined to pass the winter at Simbirsk, from whence
they departed on the following March towards Siberia. In fact, they
were weary of their residence at Simbirsk long before the winter was
over; and Pallas, having been given a charming picture of the environs
of Samara, removed thither with his companions on sledges. Near this
town, in the bed of a small stream which falls into the Sviaga, were
found numerous remains of the skeletons of elephants, among which were
several tusks very slightly injured by time, from the ivory of which
various beautiful articles were wrought. Here our traveller continued
during the whole month of April, in which time he examined whatever
was remarkable in the environs; and then, on the 2d of May, proceeded
towards the south, to Sizran on the Volga.
The heat at this place during almost the whole of May was nearly
insupportable; the clouds gathered together, and, extending themselves
in a thick canopy over the sky, appeared to promise rain, while the
thermometer continued rising from 105 to 110 degrees in the shade; so
that, in a place situated in the same latitude as Caernarvon in North
Wales, a heat equal to that of Calcutta in July was experienced in the
spring. So high a temperature of the atmosphere was probably unusual,
as it alarmed the peasantry for their crops; and processions, offering
up solemn prayers for rain, were beheld throughout the country.
Proceeding thence towards Perevoloka, our traveller beheld on the way
a village which on the evening before his arrival had been nearly
unroofed by a hurricane. The vast chalky plains on the banks of the
Volga had now been almost entirely stripped of vegetation by the sun,
and the heat in those places which were bare of trees was tremendous.
At the foot of a small range of hills which traverse these stepps
Pallas conjectured that the vine would succeed admirably. On drawing
near the Volga they found numerous lofty hills, some of which were
exceedingly well wooded, while barrenness dwelt upon the others; and
the narrow defiles which divided them were filled with tarantula-holes,
and the burrows of the marmot, which was seen sitting at the mouth of
its retreat uttering piercing cries.
On a solitary spot at a short distance from the Volga Pallas visited
a large tomb, which he found had formerly been opened by avaricious
treasure-seekers; but their excavations, like the tomb itself, were now
covered with a thick underwood, and were therefore of ancient date. The
excursions of our traveller in various directions from Samara, which
was his head-quarters, were numerous, and his discoveries in natural
history would seem to have been no less so; but he passed from place
to place with the utmost safety and despatch, as we travel from London
to Bath; and therefore, however valuable may have been his scientific
labours, the events of one day too nearly resembled those of the
preceding not to cause the utmost monotony in his history.
Near Bouzoulouk, on the river Samara, were found numerous ancient tombs
resembling those of the Grecian heroes on the shores of the Hellespont.
Copper or golden-headed arrows were sometimes found on opening these
burrows; and on one occasion the treasure-seekers were rewarded by
the discovery of a chain of gold round the neck of a skeleton. The
bones of the dead indicated a gigantic stature. On arriving at one
of the principal fortresses on the line of the Jaik, Pallas visited
the Bashkir and Kalmuc camps, where he was amused with a concert in
the old national style. The songs of the Kalmucs, like those of more
refined nations, were chiefly of love. Their instruments, though
rude, were not unpleasing. They likewise exhibited their strength in
the wrestling-ring, and their dexterity in the use of the bow. The
Bashkirs also displayed their skill in archery, and danced several
Tartar dances. Here Pallas observed the largest marsh-flies he had
ever seen,--six inches in length by three and a half in breadth. In
travelling along the Jaik it was found necessary to move under the
protection of an escort of Cossacks, as the Kirghees, a hostile nation,
were encamped in groups along the banks of the river. On the 1st of
July, 1769, he arrived at Orenburg.
In this city our traveller enjoyed an opportunity of observing the
manners of the Kirghees. These people purchased annually from the
Russians a number of golden eagles, used by their hunters in the chase
of the wolf, the fox, and the gazelle, and would sometimes give a horse
in exchange for one of these birds, while others were hardly valued at
a sheep, or even a small piece of money. During his stay at Orenburg he
visited the great salt-mines of Hetzkain, and learned the laborious and
ingenious methods by which the fossil salt is extracted from the bowels
of the earth. The mines are chiefly worked in summer, and the salt,
being left to accumulate until the winter months, is then transported
to distant places by the peasantry. In these solitary regions he saw
a caravan of thirty camels returning from China, having crossed the
vast deserts of Central Asia, where both men and animals had nearly
perished for want, in consequence of the excessive heat of the summer.
From thence he proceeded to the Jasper Mountains, where many stones
were found beautifully variegated; some representing, when split,
the figures of trees upon their surfaces, while others were dotted
with spots of different colours. On the summits of these mountains he
beheld numerous Kirgheesian tombs constructed with prodigious blocks of
jasper, with more than imperial magnificence.
From Orenburg he descended along the course of the Jaik, through a
mountainous country, intersected by numerous ravines, and of a wild,
desolate aspect. Near Kalmikova, on the eastern shore of the Jaik, he
saw a Kirghees camp. When the party drew near, about the close of the
day, the Kirghees seemed terrified at their approach; but were soon
reassured upon observing their pacific disposition. They then crowded
round them with joyful faces, and, bringing forth their koumiss,
or prepared mare’s milk, enabled several of Pallas’s attendants to
steep their senses in forgetfulness. Still, our honest travellers,
conscious, perhaps, that the Kirghees had some injuries to revenge
against the Russians, were fearful of passing the night in the camp,
and therefore hastened to return before dark to the city. Thence he
continued proceeding in a southern direction to the ruins of Sarai, of
which the ditch and the rampart are nearly all that now remain. It sunk
gradually with the decay of the Tartar power, until the inhabitants
at length emigrated to Chiva, and allowed it to fall entirely. The
road from thence to Gourief, on the Caspian, lies over a dry marsh,
where nothing but a few red wild-flowers meet the eye. Here Pallas
embarked in a boat with a Mons. Euler, in order to visit a small island
in the Caspian, the waters of which were of a grayish green, though
the sailors assured them that the colour farther out at sea was a
greenish black. It was said, that during summer phosphoric fires were
occasionally beheld upon its waves.
Having examined the embouchure of the Jaik, and the neighbouring coast
of the Caspian Sea, Pallas returned northward, and set up his quarters
for the winter of 1769 at Oufa, situated on the river Belaia. Here he
employed the time not spent in travelling in working up his journal.
The winter unfortunately happened to be peculiarly bad; and this,
united with the melancholy situation of the city, and the bad air
which prevails there, prevented him from deriving all the advantages
which might have been expected from so long a residence. To increase
the dulness and insipidity of his stay, he was kept almost a prisoner
in the city until the month of May by continual inundations. In all
other respects, likewise, the winter was unfavourable. It commenced
with September, and continued increasing in rigour until the end of
November, when they were visited by terrible tempests, in which several
travellers perished on the downs of Orenburg. These continued during
the whole of December. January was less severe, and February mild. The
winter ended in March, the thaw commenced with April, and then the
country was overflowed.
Pallas had passed so unpleasant a winter at Oufa, that he saw the time
of departure approach with the greatest satisfaction; and, as soon as
the overflowing of the rivers had ceased, despatched a soldier before
him across the Ural Mountains into the province of Isetsk, with orders
to cause the roads and bridges to be repaired. He himself followed on
the 16th of May. The weather, notwithstanding the advanced season of
the year, was overcast and stormy, with a north-west wind; it hailed,
snowed, and rained at intervals; but this did not continue long. In
the course of the day he passed by a vast chasm, formed by the sliding
of strata from their basis, and by the inhabitants denominated “the
bottomless pit.” Here the people had three years before cast the
carcasses of all those animals which had died of the murrain, which
brought thither a prodigious number of famished and furious wild dogs,
and thus rendered the road so dangerous that it was found necessary to
send out an armed detachment against them.
The road now entered an immense forest, in which the Russians, in
imitation of the Bashkirs, kept great numbers of beehives, which were
hollowed out in the trunks of large trees, about five or six fathoms
from the ground. This is intended as one of the means of protecting
the hives against the bears; for which purpose they likewise carefully
cut off all the lower branches of the tree, and smooth every knot.
However, as the bear is too able a climber to be thus discouraged,
they, in addition to these common precautions, fix a kind of circle of
sharp knives or scythes round the tree, a little below the hive, which
either prevents the animal from ascending, or impales him when he would
return. But there are some old bears too experienced to be thus caught,
who strike out the spikes with their paws. Against these other means
are resorted to. In the first place, they fix a kind of catapult aloft
on the tree, with a cord suspended, which, when the animal touches, an
arrow is darted down with great vehemence, which transfixes him in the
breast. Another method is, to suspend a plank horizontally on some of
the long branches by cords, in such a manner that it can be drawn at
will before the mouth of the hive, to which it is fastened by a knot
of pliable bark. Upon this plank the bear seats himself in order to
work at the hive. He then commences by loosening the knot, upon which
the plank becomes what boys call a “see-saw;” and the bear is either
precipitated in a moment to the ground, where he is impaled upon sharp
stakes fixed there for the purpose, or, if he does not fall, he is
compelled to leap, or wait trembling on the plank until the owner of
the hive arrives and shoots him at his ease.
Having traversed the country of the Moursalarki Bashkirs, our traveller
visited a small volcano, around which every thing was in full flower
and further advanced than elsewhere, on account of the internal
heat. This volcano was not of ancient date. Many persons then living
remembered the storm during which a thunderbolt fell upon a great
pine-tree, which, taking fire and burning rapidly to the very roots,
kindled the mountain, which had thenceforward continued on fire. The
neighbouring forests were wholly consumed by the conflagration. At this
time the fire seemed to have retired into the centre of the mountain,
where it raged with prodigious violence, occasionally bursting forth
through the wide fissures of the superincumbent crust, which it was
gradually calcining to powder. The view of the volcano during a stormy
night was sublime. Broad openings or cracks, commencing at the summit
of the cone, spread themselves like the veins of a leaf down the
side, branching forth in many directions, as from a trunk; and these,
contrasted with the dark mass of the mountain, and emitting light-red
flames through all their extent, appeared like so many perpetual
streams of lightning in a thunder-cloud.
In traversing a forest in this district after a terrible hurricane,
Pallas found the ground strewed with small branches of poplar, the
extremities of which furnish a finer and more silky cotton than that of
Egypt or Bengal. Whether the Russian government has ever attended to
the suggestion of this naturalist, in substituting this cotton for the
ordinary species, I have not been able to learn. The route through the
forests and mountains which border the Aural in this direction was by
no means very pleasing. Pallas loved smooth roads, good inns, and good
dinners. He was therefore particularly annoyed when, in making towards
a mountain said to abound in aluminous slate, he found his guide at
fault in the woods, where, after wandering about for some time, they
were overtaken by a tempest. The sky suddenly grew dark, and their way
lying among rugged rocks of enormous magnitude, the passage between
which was frequently blocked up by trees which the hurricane had
overthrown, their horses refused to proceed. Besides, the darkness was
now so great that they could not see before them, and it was therefore
necessary to pass the night where they were. To make their lodgings
as comfortable as they could, they selected the tops of the highest
rocks, which were somewhat drier than the rest of the forest. Had they
possessed a tinder-box, it would have been easy to kindle a fire, by
which they might have dried and warmed themselves; but our traveller,
like Sir Abel Handy in “Speed the Plough,” whose inventions were
never completed by the hour of need, had left his tinder-box behind
him. He endeavoured to remedy this evil by rubbing together two small
pieces of wood; but the rain had damped the seeds of fire which they
contained, and he rubbed in vain. Relinquishing at length all attempts
to inveigle Vulcan into their company, they erected a small tent with
the branches of trees and their cloaks, and throwing themselves, wet
as they were, upon the felt of their saddles, in this manner quietly
passed the night, though the rain fell in torrents on all sides.
Next morning, after drinking a little water, which served them for
breakfast, they pushed on through the woods; but as the rain still
continued, they were for a considerable time unable, with all their
exertions, to restore warmth to their limbs. In the afternoon, however,
they discovered an iron-foundry, where they dried their garments, and
then set forward on their return to their quarters. This was destined
to be a day of adventures for Pallas. The river Aï, which they had
crossed without difficulty the day before, was now swelled to a furious
torrent by the rains; so that a ferry-boat was indispensable. A horde
of Chouvashes, who inhabited the banks of the stream, undertook to
construct a boat; but when it was launched, and the traveller embarked
in it, the mariners discovered that the cords by which it was to be
pulled along were so awkwardly arranged that they were every moment
in danger of being capsized and hurled into the water. Fortunately,
the rapidity of the current was so great, that they darted along like
an arrow, clinging to their carriage, which they had had the prudence
to fasten with strong cords to the boat; and in a moment they were on
the opposite shore, where the sharp angles of their raft, for it was
little better, struck in the earth, and prevented all possibility of a
refluence into the river. They then dragged their vehicle on shore, and
continued their journey.
Proceeding eastward from this place, they arrived on the 20th of June
at the Asbestos Mountain, which traverses a marshy region covered with
moss. The asbestos is found on the summit of the loftiest hill in the
whole chain, in a kind of coarse slate. It is brittle, like decayed
wood, while in the stone, but upon being exposed to the air becomes
soft and pliable as flax, and is easily spun and woven into cloth.
Pallas himself, who carefully examined its nature and qualities, as
well as the mine, if it may be so termed, from which it is drawn,
saw it manufactured into paper. From this place he proceeded to the
iron-forges of Sisertskoï, in the neighbourhood of which gold is
found in a matrix of quartz and ochre; and, indeed, all the country
immediately north of this point abounds in an auriferous ochre, from
which much pure metal might be extracted. He then visited various
other forges, mines, and quarries, and arrived at Ekaterinburg on the
23d of June.
Our traveller’s life, like the peaceful periods of history complained
of by Plutarch, was too uniform to furnish many interesting events to
his biographer. He travelled, he examined many things, he wrote; but
dangers, difficulties, and all the fierce play of the passions, which
render the life of a bold adventurer who relies on his own resources
a series of romantic achievements, have no existence in his travels’
history, and both the reader’s patience and mine are, therefore,
somewhat irritated. This, no doubt, may appear unphilosophical to many.
It may be said, that when we behold the picture of a life, whether
individual or national, which flowed along in a calm tide, unruffled
by misfortune or vicissitude, our feelings should be lulled into the
same tranquil motion, and be productive of a happiness similar to
that, the representation of which we contemplate. I have faith in the
wisdom of nature, which has ordered things otherwise. The mind, when
in a healthy and vigorous state, abhors an uninterrupted calm; and
storms, hurricanes, and thunders are not more conducive to the general
good of the physical world than vicissitudes, transitions, dangers,
escapes, which are the storms and sunshine of life, are conducive to
happiness in the individual who undergoes them, and to sympathy and
pleasure in those who contemplate his career. For this reason, persons
who travel with authority never inspire us with the same respect as
those whose movements are spontaneous and independent; nor can such
travellers ever penetrate like the latter into the core of manners
and national character, since most of those who approach them put
on, in deference to their very authority, an artificial, deceptive
appearance. In the same manner, a nation which should begin and end in
peace would have no history; none, at least, which could interest any
one beyond its borders. Human virtues are plants which never strike a
deep root unless shaken by misfortune. Virtue consists in the directing
of our intellectual and physical energies to a praiseworthy end;
but if our energies be naturally feeble, or dwindle and wither away
through lack of exercise, our virtue, by a necessary consequence, must
become dwarfish and insignificant, and utterly incapable of exciting
enthusiastic sympathy in those who behold its meek and timid bearing.
These reflections have been extorted from me by the insipid mode of
travelling adopted by Pallas. Nothing can be further from my intention
than to recommend or require foolhardiness in a traveller; but it
seems not irrational to expect, that when a man undertakes the task of
examining a remote country, he should be willing to incur some risk
and fatigue in the execution of his plan. Of fatigue Pallas, perhaps,
endured his share; but he seems to have shrunk rather too timidly from
coming in contact with barbarous nations; and I therefore greatly
distrust the completeness of his moral pictures. On the other hand, his
descriptions of plants, minerals, and the processes of Russian industry
are exceedingly minute, and enjoy, I believe, among scientific men the
reputation of being exact; but these, unfortunately, the very nature
of biography compels me to reject, or introduce into the narrative but
sparingly. Among the curious things observed in the western districts
of Siberia was the method of preparing Russia leather, which, though
tanned in the ordinary manner, acquired the fine scent which renders
it so valuable from the oil extracted from the bark of the birch-tree.
In traversing the forests which surround the marble quarries on the
banks of the Toura, with Vogoul guides, they were overtaken by the
night. Excepting the small spot on which they halted, all around was
a marshy swamp encumbered with wood, and affording neither road nor
pathway. They therefore considered themselves fortunate in having found
a dry resting-place; and the Vogouls, to whom such accidents were
familiar, immediately occupied themselves in kindling a fire at once,
in order to procure warmth and keep off the bears. Next morning his
guides undertook to conduct him, by a short path across the forest,
to the banks of the Liala, and accordingly struck off boldly into the
wilderness. The sombre pine-trees, intermingling their branches above,
rendered the way exceedingly obscure; a bog or a fallen tree every
moment intercepted their route; the branches of prickly shrubs tore
their hands and faces; and not a step could be taken without carefully
observing whether it might not precipitate them into some impassable
morass. Not a plant met the eye but the _mœringia_ and the _linnea_,
two plants which our traveller, in general a patient forbearing man,
often saluted with Tristram Shandy’s whole chapter of curses, as they
were in those northern regions the never-failing forerunners of a swamp
or an impervious pine-forest. After much toil they reached an open
space, from which the trees had been cleared away by a conflagration,
which Pallas attributed to lightning, and his guides to the frolics
of the devil, who, they imagined, during some long winter night had
kindled a whole forest to light up his gambols. Shortly afterward, his
guides, who had probably bestowed too many of their thoughts upon the
devil, entirely lost their way, and, after floundering about in bogs
and woods for several hours, were compelled to confess their utter
ignorance of the way; upon which, at the command of our traveller,
they turned back, and regained the point from which he had started.
The Vogouls, with whom he performed this unsuccessful journey, are a
people of primitive and peculiar manners, living in separate families
scattered through the woods, with each its domain and enclosure of
several miles, containing elks and other large game. Though surrounded
by marshes, they are said to enjoy excellent health. Their lives,
however, are not of long duration. Short in stature, and effeminate in
form, they in some measure resemble the Kalmucs, but their complexion
is fairer. Their women are handsome, and of exceedingly amorous
temperament. They profess Christianity, but merely for peace’ sake; for
in secret they continue the worship of idols, which are daily invoked
with prayer and sacrifice.
About the end of August Pallas arrived at Cheliabinsk, where he was
for a considerable time confined to his chamber by an affection of the
eyes. Here, therefore, he resolved to remain during the winter; but,
in order that no time might be lost, he despatched a number of his
attendants in various directions, with orders to collect information.
Growing tired of this town about the middle of December, however,
he set out for Tobolsk, where he remained but a few days, and then
returned by Ekaterinburg to Cheliabinsk, where he continued during the
remainder of the winter.
Pallas remained at Cheliabinsk until the 16th of April, 1771, when,
having commissioned a number of the young men who accompanied the
expedition to examine the more northern portions of Siberia, he
departed towards the east. The day before he set out, the long grass
on the extensive downs to the north of the city were set on fire; the
flames swept rapidly along the plains, and the wind blowing towards
the town, there was some danger that this irresistible conflagration,
which already embraced the whole extent of the horizon, might reach the
place, and consume it to ashes. A timely shower of rain, however, put
an end to their apprehensions.
In proceeding towards the Tobol, our traveller was alarmed by a report
that the Kirghees were making an incursion into the interjacent
territory, and prudently turned out of his way to avoid an encounter
with these rude barbarians. At Kaminskaia several of his companions
fell sick, some with fever, some with scorbutic rheumatism, while
others became a prey to melancholy. His movements, for these reasons,
were slow. The weather, meanwhile, was exceedingly severe; the snow
falling heavily, accompanied by cold wind. The last days of April were
marked by a terrible hurricane, and May was commenced with hard frost;
notwithstanding which, neither the young flowers nor the buds suffered
any particular injury. On the 2d of May one of his attendants died of
scurvy, which had afflicted him for five months, and was accompanied
by symptoms no less violent than those which attend the same disorder
at sea. This event, which would have cost some men a tear, seems to
have given no particular uneasiness to Pallas, who, leaving some of his
people to inter the dead, coolly continued his journey.
On reaching the stepp of Ischimi, he found an immense plain watered by
extensive lakes, and abounding in aquatic game, among which the most
remarkable was a large species of white heron. To study the manners of
this bird he remained here a few days. But his mode of procuring game
was somewhat different from that of Le Vaillant, who pursued the birds
into the woods, observed them in their native haunts, and shot them
himself. Pallas despatched a number of subaltern naturalists, who shot
the game for him, and furnished him with an account of their manners;
and this was what he termed studying natural history.
On arriving at Omsk, he applied to the temporary governor of the
town for permission to examine the collection of maps of Siberia, as
divided into provinces and districts, which had been made by the late
Governor Springer; but the new functionary, “dressed in a little brief
authority,” had the ambition to play the politician and statesman,
and, notwithstanding that he knew Pallas to be travelling for the
government upon a public mission, refused him the favour he demanded
without an express order from court. Nay, when he desired to depart,
this new great man, with the prudence of an owl, denied him a proper
passport, though without this it would be difficult for him to obtain
horses on the way. Pallas, however, with the caution of a courtier,
rather than with the honest indignation of a man of letters, instead
of stigmatizing this gross misconduct as it deserved, merely observes,
that he attributed it to the military spirit naturally inimical to the
sciences.
Our traveller at length departed from Omsk, and commenced his
examination of the productions found on the banks of the Irtish, where,
on digging in the sandy downs, the bones of elephants and of many large
fishes were discovered. Though it was now drawing near the end of May,
he experienced continual storms, sometimes accompanied by black clouds,
at others by a clear sky. From the inhabitants, however, he learned
that tempests succeed each other almost unceasingly in those regions,
where a week of fine weather is seldom or never known. He here learned
from the fur-merchants a secret which deserves to be generally known:
in order to preserve their furs from the worms, they tied up in each
bale several calamus roots, which, they asserted, were an unfailing
defence of their merchandise. A few shreds of Russia leather, which
preserves books and papers from the moth even in Hindostan, would no
doubt have answered the same purpose.
On the 11th of June, while travelling through a country thickly
intersected with salt-lakes and birch forests, and peopled by myriads
of wild bees, he encountered an enormous wolf, which was chasing a duck
upon the heath. This animal, he says, is generally remarkable for its
timidity in summer; but on the present occasion seemed disposed, like
one of La Fontaine’s wolves; to enter into a debate with the strangers;
for, instead of flying, he coolly stood still to look at them, without
being in the least disturbed by their shouting. At length, however,
despairing of entering into any thing like rational conversation with
persons who seemed resolved to monopolize all the privilege of good
company for themselves, he turned round upon his heel, and with a
disdainful and careless bound, continued his journey.
At the foot of the small mountains which branch northward of the Altaïc
chain, Pallas discovered a prodigious number of excavations and pits,
made at some remote period by a people now unknown, who understood the
art of smelting metals, but who have left no trace of their existence
save these mines, and the ornaments of copper and gold which are found
in their tombs. Here, at the small town of Shoulba, our traveller was
attacked with dysentery; but it was necessary to push forward, though
his weakness was such that he could scarcely step into his carriage.
While in this state he passed by, but could not visit, a tomb of
prodigious magnitude, situated on the summit of a lofty mountain,
which, according to tradition, had formerly been opened by a band of
one hundred and fifty armed peasantry, who had been rewarded for their
labour by the discovery of fifty pounds weight of solid gold. A few
days afterward his dysentery became so violent that he was compelled to
discontinue his journey, and confine himself, during several weeks, to
his bed.
As soon as his health was a little improved, he set out with M.
Sokoloff, in order to visit the Altaïc mountains. The whole of the
neighbouring districts are diversified with hill and dale, and watered
by numerous streams, which come down from the mountains, foaming and
thundering over their rocky beds. On some of these eminences were found
extensive copses of raspberry-bushes, around which Pallas observed
the fresh tracks of bears, which are very fond of this fruit, and
not unfrequently carry off women and children who resort thither to
gather it. Apparently this is done merely as a frolic, or by way of
terrifying interlopers from meddling with their property; for our
traveller gravely observes that they do them no manner of injury.
At length they discovered the summits of the Altaï, covered with snow,
and towering far above everything around them. Pallas had no eye for
the picturesque. What in the eyes of another man would have been
sublime was to him merely fearful and horrible; but he was struck with
these cones, and pyramids, and precipices, and prodigious pinnacles
of rock, which, when he beheld them, appeared to support a black roof
of clouds, which stretched over the whole hemisphere, and menaced the
country with a second deluge. No marine petrifactions, or any sign of
their ever having been submerged in the ocean, were here discoverable;
but it is probable that more careful researches would have been
productive of a different result.
From the Altaïc mountains Pallas directed his course towards the north,
crossed the Obi, traversed the governments of Kolyran, visited Tomsk,
and on the 10th of October arrived at Krasnoiarsk, a city situated
on the Yeniseï, in the 66th degree of north latitude. Here he set up
his quarters for the winter. The autumn, he observes, is generally
mild in the southern parts of Siberia; but with the winter storms and
hurricanes come on, and sometimes blow during a whole month without
intermission. The cold is intense. Nevertheless, about the middle of
February the sun begins to exert considerable power, and sensibly
diminishes the snow on the mountains.
On the 7th of March, 1772, Pallas departed from Krasnoiarsk for
the eastern part of Siberia, accompanied by a painter, and three
naturalists. Their route, as far as the Angora, lay through a country
partly covered with forests, where there falls, during winter, large
quantities of snow. From time to time they observed the encampments of
the idolatrous tribes who inhabit those regions, and roam about like
wild animals in the woods. They reached Irkutsk on the 14th, and having
remained a week in that capital, continued their journey along the
shores of Lake Baikal. The weather had now grown warm, and they saw the
last flocks of alpine larks and black sparrows, flying round the city,
and then departing for the north; these were followed by a species
of striped crow, which had passed the winter in the warm regions of
Mongolia, or China, and was now pursuing the same route towards the
arctic circle.
As our traveller was desirous of crossing Lake Baikal on sledges, he
hurried his departure from Irkutsk, lest the warm weather should melt
the ice, and obstruct his passage. The scenery on the shores of this
immense lake is exceedingly rugged and sublime. Rocks of vast elevation
form the shores of the Angara, by which you descend from Irkutsk to
the sea; and on arriving at the mouth of the river you discover,
as through an arcade, the vast basin of the Baikal, and the lofty
mountains which confine its waters on the east. They directed their
course in a straight line from a small post on the bank of the frozen
stream, towards the borders of the lake, pursuing their way in sledges
on the ice. When they had proceeded about half-way, they were overtaken
by a tremendous storm from the north-west, which entirely cooled the
atmosphere. The wind swept along the ice with such prodigious violence,
that the sledge-drivers, who ran along by the side of the vehicles,
were sometimes blown away to the distance of many fathoms from the
road, and were compelled to stick their knives in the ice, to prevent
their being carried away, and hurled into some chasm. To avoid the risk
of such accidents, the party halted until the tempest was over.
At Zimovia on the Baikal, they found several persons setting out
to hunt the sea-dog on the lake. This kind of chase takes place
principally in April. The sea-dogs, assembling on those parts of the
shore where rapid streams or warm springs keep up an opening in the
ice, then ascend from the water, in order to lie down upon the ice,
and sleep in the sun. The hunters fix up in their little sledges a
small white flag, which the dogs take for ice, and accordingly are not
frightened until they draw near and fire upon them.
Pallas now descended in his sledge upon the Baikal, and commenced
this singular portion of his journey. The ice had this winter been as
smooth as a mirror, on the whole surface of the lake; but when they had
advanced to a certain distance from the shore, they found a fissure of
several feet in breadth, which intercepted their passage, and forced
them to make a circuit of considerable length. However, this obstacle
having been surmounted, they encountered no other, and quickly found
themselves on the opposite shore. The road now assumed a different
character, running over rugged mountains, or sandy flats, where the
snow was entirely melted, until, cutting the Selinga, as it were, into
two parts, it led them into a milder climate, where the spring, with
all its gay accompaniments, was already far advanced. They arrived,
much fatigued, at Selinginsk, on the 25th of March.
From Selinginsk he proceeded through Mongolia towards the borders of
China, moving among an idolatrous people, the partisans of the Lamaic
hierarchy, until, arriving at Kiakter, he touched the extreme limits
of the empire, where his journey in that direction was to terminate.
Here Pallas made many inquiries respecting the commerce, opinions, and
manners of the Chinese; and having satisfied his curiosity, returned
to Selinginsk. From this point he now directed his course northward,
towards the great tributary streams which fall into the Selinga. His
excursions in this direction, which were carried into execution without
enthusiasm or curiosity, merely as a task imposed on him by authority,
are still more destitute of incidents, if possible, than the former
portion of his travels. He examined the iron-mines, the grain and fur
trade, and the objects of natural history furnished by the district.
Pallas now turned his face towards the east, traversed the desert
regions which lie between the Selinga and the Onon, the principal
branch of the Amoor, and having pushed his researches to within a very
short distance of the Chinese frontier, returned by a different route
to Selinginsk, leaving to M. Sokolof and others the honour of exploring
the frontiers of Mongolia, along the banks of the Argoon and Amoor. His
health, indeed, now began to suffer from constant fatigue, and he was
therefore fully justified in relinquishing this portion of his task;
but I cannot easily pardon him for pretending to have been actuated
by the desire of botanizing on the banks of the Selinga, since, if
botanizing was his object, it was to be presumed that the wild shores
of the Amoor would have afforded a still more ample and extraordinary
field for his researches. During his stay at Selinginsk, he observed,
among other curious animals and birds, the blue crow, which was easily
taken, as its young were hitherto unfledged; and a species of small
white hare, which was found in great numbers in the little islands in
the Selinga. Besides these there was the leaping hare, which, mingling
at night among the sheep, frightened them by its bounding motions. The
Mongols, who are fond of its flesh when roasted, imagine that it sucks
the ewes; as the vulgar in England report of the hedgehog and the cow.
Previous to his finally quitting the country, he made another excursion
to the frontiers of China, principally, it would seem, for the purpose
of studying the botany of those districts, when the flowers were
clothed in all the beauty of summer. The road to Kiakta traverses a
large sandy plain, and afterward a succession of rocky mountains,
entirely destitute of wood. In this latter district our traveller
observed a species of locust, by whose flight the natives could foretel
with certainty whether the weather would be fair or otherwise. They
mounted aloft on the wing previous to rainy weather, and the noise of
their motions resembled that of castanets. After remaining some short
time in the vicinity of Kiakta, he once more returned to Selinginsk,
and began to make the necessary preparations for retracing their
footsteps to Krasnoiarsk, where they again intended to pass the winter.
Accordingly, on the 3d of July, Pallas and a part of his companions
departed from Selinginsk, and proceeded towards the Baikal.
Upon reaching the eastern shore of the lake, they saw a thick cold
mist, which appeared to fill the whole extent of its vast basin, and
hung close upon the surface of the water. This fog exactly resembled
those fogs which are sometimes collected in the hollows of the
mountains, or on the shores of the sea. It was kept in continual
motion, and tossed hither and thither, like the waves of the ocean, by
the wind. This mist was accompanied by strong westerly winds, which
prevented our traveller from proceeding on his way; and he amused
himself during his detention in studying the fishes of the lake,
together with the birds and animals which frequent its shores.
On the 10th of July, he embarked, and set sail with boisterous and
contrary winds. The passage of the lake was long, but, arriving at
length at Zimovia, Pallas proceeded with all possible expedition to
Krasnoiarsk, by way of Irkutsk. He arrived on the 1st of August at
the point of destination, where, to his great satisfaction, he found
that a magnificent collection of the flowers which adorn the banks of
the Yeniseï had been made during the spring and summer, by one of his
pupils, whom he had left behind for that purpose. From Krasnoiarsk,
our traveller made another long excursion, visited several Tartar
hordes, various mines, mountains, and tombs, and returned about the
middle of September, the approach of winter being already visible in
those high latitudes. By December, the cold had reached an intensity
which had never been felt even in Siberia. The air was still, and at
the same time condensed, as it were; so that, although the sky was
exceedingly clear, the sun appeared as if beheld through a cloud.
In the morning of the 6th of December, Pallas found the mercury of
his thermometer frozen, “a thing,” says he, “which had never before
happened during the whole eight years in which I had made use of this
instrument. I then conveyed it from the gallery where it was kept
into an apartment moderately warmed with a stove. Here the column of
mercury, which had been condensed in the tube, immediately sunk into
the bulb, while that in the bulb resumed its activity in the course
of half a minute. I repeated this experiment several times with the
same result, so that sometimes there remained but a very few particles
in the tube, sometimes not above one. In order to follow the progress
of the experiment, I gently warmed the bulb with my fingers, after it
had been exposed to the air, and watching the mounting of the mercury,
distinctly observed that the condensed and frozen columns offered
considerable resistance before they gave way. At the same time I
exposed about a quarter of a pound of mercury to the air, in a saucer.
This mercury had been previously well washed in vinegar, and cleansed
from impurities. The saucer was placed in a gallery on the north side
of my house. In an hour the edges of the surface were frozen, and a
few minutes afterward, the whole superficies was condensed into a
soft mass, exactly resembling pewter. As the interior, however, still
continued fluid, a small portion of the surface presented numerous
wrinkles branching out from each other, but the greater part was
sufficiently smooth. The same thing took place with a still larger
quantity which I placed in the open air. This mass of frozen mercury
was as pliable as lead but if bent suddenly, would break more easily
than pewter; and when flattened into sheets, appeared somewhat knotty.
I tried to beat it out with the hammer, but being quite cold, the
mercury fell from it in drops. The same thing took place when you
touched this mass with the finger, the top of which was instantly
benumbed with cold by the simple contact. I then placed it in a
moderately warm room, and it melted like wax placed over the fire. The
drops separated from the surface, which melted gradually. The intensity
of the cold diminished towards the evening.”
In the month of January, 1773, Pallas began to make preparations for
returning to Petersburg, and departing on the 22d, pushed on with
the utmost rapidity to Tomsk. During this journey, he discovered the
execrable principles upon which it was attempted to people Siberia.
The refuse of the people, the lame, the sick, the infirm, and the
old, had been collected together, and sent thither to die. Men had
been torn, for this purpose, from their wives and families. Women,
for some reason or another, had not been allowed to emigrate from the
west in sufficient numbers, and vice and misery flourished in their
absence. Man, deprived of the society of women, necessarily degenerates
into a ferocious beast, contemning all laws, and every regulation of
morality. “It is not good that man should be alone.” Whenever new
colonies are established, women should be numerous. It is they who are
the grand instruments of civilization.--The cavern, the desert hut,
when inhabited by a woman, already contains the germs of humanity, of
hospitality, of improvement; but without her is a den, a haunt of
ungovernable passions,--a refuge from the storm, but not a home.
In crossing a bridge over the Dooroosh, in the country of the Votiaks,
our traveller was placed in a more perilous condition than he had
experienced during any former period of his travels. His horses had
already reached the shore, when the bridge, which must have been a very
frail structure, gave way under his carriage, and he must infallibly
have been precipitated into the stream, had not the spirited horses
dashed on at the moment, and dragged up the carriage from amid the
falling ruins.
The country between the Jaik and the Volga was at that period a
vast desert, which abounded with wild horses. Pallas, however, was
of opinion that these animals had once been tame, but, during the
emigrations and nomadic movements of the Kalmucs and Kirghees, had
escaped into the wilderness, where they had multiplied exceedingly.
To fly from the heat and the hornets, these horses wandered far into
the north during the summer months, and there, besides a refuge from
their persecutors, found better pasturage, and an abundance of water.
The surface of this great Mesopotamia was sprinkled at intervals with
ruins of Tartar edifices, which swarmed in an extraordinary manner with
serpents.
On the 25th of June our traveller arrived at the Moravian colony of
Sarepta, which in eight years had increased, by immigration, from five
persons to two thousand five hundred; and was at this period in a
highly flourishing state. He here entered into some curious researches
respecting the ancient shores of the Caspian, whose waters, in his
opinion, once covered the greater portion of the Kalmuc country, just
as those of the Black Sea did all the low lands upon its banks, before
the deluge of Deucalion, when they first burst the huge natural mound
which separated them from the Mediterranean.
Pallas passed the autumn at Zarizyn, where he observed the Kalmucs
moving westward in hordes towards the country lying between the Volga
and the Don. From this place he made an excursion through the stepps
which lie up the stream of the Volga; on his return from which he
chiefly employed himself in botanical researches, until the spring of
1774. He then undertook another journey along the banks of the Aktooba,
through a country infested with bands of vagabond Kirghees, and other
wandering nations, and returned to his head-quarters on the 25th of May.
It was now six years since the expedition had set out from Petersburg,
and all its members began to desire repose. Each person, therefore,
hastened to return by the shortest road to the capital. Pallas was
directed to repair to Moscow, and punctually obeyed his orders, without
making the slightest deviation to the right-hand or to the left. He
arrived at this ancient city on the 3d of July, 1774. “Here,” says he,
“I found the orders of the court, by which I was commanded to hasten
without the least delay to Petersburg; and, notwithstanding that I felt
exceedingly desirous of making a short stay at Moscow, for the purpose
of improving my knowledge, by conversing with the learned M. Müller,
one of the most excellent men in Russia, as well as one of the most
celebrated of its historians, _it was necessary to yield and obey_.”
Such is the condition of those who travel by command. He arrived at
Petersburg on the 30th of July, exhausted by fatigue, and with a head
sprinkled with premature gray hairs; for he was then no more than
thirty-three years old.
The companions of Pallas had suffered still more severely; scarcely one
of them lived long enough to draw up an account of his travels; and
it was therefore left to him to render this piece of justice to their
memory. For himself, the splendid objects which he had beheld had made
too profound an impression on his mind to allow of his being satisfied
with the accounts of them which he had hastily traced in his journal.
He therefore determined upon the publication of several separate
works, which should contain the natural history of the most celebrated
quadrupeds of Siberia; and these he actually laid before the public,
together with descriptions of a great number of birds, reptiles, and
fishes. In addition to all these, he even projected a natural history
of all the animals and plants in the Russian empire; in which design,
though it was never completed, he made a very considerable progress.
The empress herself, worthless and profligate as she was, was possessed
by the ambition of being regarded as the patron of the sciences, and
in order to facilitate the execution of our traveller’s project,
communicated to him the herbariums of several other botanists, who
had studied the flora of the empire. To secure the completion of the
undertaking, Catherine moreover engaged to furnish the expense of the
engraving and printing of the work; but the end was not answerable to
this magnificent beginning; projects of more vulgar ambition, or vile
and despicable amours, too fully occupied the imperial mind to allow so
unimportant a thing as the science of botany to command a thought, and
Pallas was constrained to rely upon his own resources for making known
his botanical discoveries to the world. The same fate attended his
works on the natural history of the animals and insects of the empire.
M. Cuvier, whose capacity to appreciate the labours of a scientific man
can scarcely be called in question, observes, that it is seldom that
very laborious men possess sufficient tranquillity of mind to conceive
those root-ideas which produce a revolution in the sciences; but Pallas
formed an exception to this rule. He nearly succeeded in changing the
whole aspect of the science of zoology; and most certainly did operate
a complete change in that of the theory of the earth. An attentive
consideration of the two great chains of mountains of Siberia enabled
him to discover this general rule, which has been everywhere found
to hold good, that there exist three primitive orders of mountains,
the granitic in the centre, the schistous next in succession, and the
calcareous on the outside. It may be said that this great discovery,
distinctly announced in a memoir read before the academy in 1777, gave
birth to the modern science of geology: from this point the Saussures,
the Delues, and the Werners proceeded to the discovery of the real
structure of the earth, which is so exceedingly at variance with the
fantastic ideas of preceding writers.
In addition to his scientific labours, Pallas was engaged by Catherine
in drawing up comparative vocabularies of the languages spoken by all
the various nations in the Russian empire; but was restrained, in
the execution of this plan, to follow exactly in the track pointed
out by his mistress. He was likewise chosen member of the committee
employed, in 1777, in compiling a new topography of the empire; and
had the honour of instructing Alexander, the late despot of Russia,
and his brother Constantine, in natural history. But, notwithstanding
all these marks of distinction, and many others of equal importance,
our traveller experienced the truth, that happiness is incompatible
with dependence of every kind. His travelling habits, too, rendered a
sedentary life irksome to him; but what still further disgusted him
with Petersburg, was the crowd of fashionable but absurd people who
thronged his house, imagining, perhaps, they were doing him an honour
by consuming his time. To escape from this species of persecution, he
took advantage of the invasion of the Crimea, to visit new countries;
and during the years 1793 and 1794, traversed the southern provinces
of the empire at his own expense. He even skirted the frontiers of
Circassia, but, with his usual prudence, avoided the dangers which
would have attended a journey into that country. He then proceeded
into the Crimea, through which Potemkin was leading the empress as a
spectacle of contempt and scorn to all mankind; and was so captivated
by a passing glance at its splendid scenery, that, on his return to
Petersburg, he solicited and obtained permission to retire thither.
Solitude, however, which appeared so desirable at a distance, Pallas
soon found to be an intolerable curse; the climate, also, fell
infinitely short of his expectations, was inconstant and humid, and
liable to be altered by every passing wind. It united, in fact, the
inconveniences of the north and of the south; yet our traveller endured
these evils for fifteen years; but at length, feeling the approaches of
old age, he determined at once to escape from the climate of the Crimea
and from Russian despotism, and selling his estates at an exceedingly
low rate, returned to his native city, after an absence of forty-two
years. His health, however, had been so completely undermined by the
diseases he had contracted during his travels, and, more than all,
by his long residence in the Crimea, that he might be said merely to
have looked upon his native place, and on the face of those friends
or admirers which his knowledge and fame had gathered around him,
before death removed him from the enjoyment of all these things. This
event took place on the 8th of September, 1811. Pallas appears to have
been an able, learned, and upright man, deeply intent on promoting
the interests of science, but indifferent about those great political
rights without the enjoyment of which even the sciences themselves are
of no more dignity or value than the tricks of a juggler.