Gondolas, with peaked prows and variegated
canopies, lay floating upon the still water, that lovers might quench
their flames in the contemplation of its crystal depths, or draw fresh
inspiration from the blaze of artificial fires. Soon a wild outburst
of music was heard; then from the opposite shore the whole heavens
were lighted up with a flood of rockets, and the ears were stunned by
their explosions. Down through the depths of ether came showers of
colored balls, illuminating the waters of the lake with inverted
streams of light scarcely less bright and glowing. Anon all was dark;
then from out the darkness flashed whirling and seething fires,
gradually assuming the grotesque forms of monsters and genii, till
with a deafening explosion they were scattered to the winds. From the
blackened mass of ruins stood forth illuminated statues of the
imperial family, in all the paraphernalia of royalty, their crowns
glittering with jewels, their robes of light resplendent with precious
gems and tracery of gold. A murmur of admiration ran through the
crowd. The imperial figures vanished as if by magic, and suddenly a
stream of fire flashed from a mass of dark undefined objects on the
opposite shore, and lo! the waters were covered with fiery swans,
sailing majestically among the gondolas, their necks moving slowly as
if inspired by life. Hither and thither they swept, propelled by
streams of fire, till, wearied with their sport, they gradually lay
motionless, yet glowing with an augmented brilliancy. While the eyes
of all were fixed in amazement and admiration upon these beautiful
swans, they exploded with a series of deafening reports, and were
scattered in confused volumes of smoke. Out of the chaos swept
innumerable hosts of whirling little monsters, whizzing and boring
through the water like infernal spirits of the deep. These again burst
with a rattle of explosions like an irregular fire of musketry, and
shot high into the air in a perfect maze of scintillating stars of
every imaginable color. When the shower of stars was over, and silence
and darkness once more reigned, a magnificent barge, that might well
have represented that of the Egyptian queen--its gay canopies
resplendent with the glow of many-colored lamps--swept out into the
middle of the lake, and

"Like a burnished throne
Burn'd on the water."

[Illustration: THE PETERSKOI GARDENS.]

And when the rowers had ceased, and the barge lay moti