was not even willing to
begin his work on the high ground of the mainland, but chose the Island
of Hares, the nearest of the islands to the gulf. It was a seaport, not
a capital, that he at first had in view. Legend tells us that he
snatched a halberd from one of his soldiers, cut with it two strips of
turf, and laid them crosswise, saying, "Here there shall be a town."
Then, dropping the halberd, he seized a spade and began the first
embankment. As he dug, an eagle appeared and hovered above his head.
Shot by one of the men, it fluttered to his feet. Picking up the wounded
bird, he set out in a boat to explore the waters around. To this event
is given the date of May 16, 1703.

The city began in a fortress, for the building of which carpenters and
masons were brought from distant towns. The soldiers served as laborers.
In this labor tools were notable chiefly for their absence. Wheelbarrows
were unknown; they are still but little used in Russia. Spades and
baskets were equally lacking, and the czar's impatience could not wait
for them to be procured. The men scraped up the earth with their hands
or with sticks and carried it in the skirts of their caftans to the
ramparts. The czar sent orders to Moscow that two thousand of the
thieves and outlaws destined for Siberia should be despatched the next
summer to the Neva.

The fort was at first built of wood, which was replaced by stone some
years afterwards. Logs served for all other structures, for no stone was
to be had. Afterwards every boat coming to the town was required to
bring a certain number of stones, and, to attract masons to the new
city, the building of stone houses in Moscow or elsewhere was forbidden.
As for the fortress, which was erected at no small cost in life and
money, it soon became useless, and to-day it only protects the mint and
cathedral of St. Petersburg.

The new city, named Petersburg from its founder, has long been known as
St. Petersburg. While the fort was in process of erection a church was
also built, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. The site of this wooden
edifice is now occupied by the cathedral, begun in 1714, ten years
later. As regarded a home for himself, Peter was easily satisfied. A hut
of logs--his palace he called it--was built near the fortress,
fifty-five feet long by twenty-five wide, and containing but three
rooms. At a later date, to preserve this his first place of residence in
his new city, he enclosed it within ano