s a naval depot for Russian vessels of war, and is much frequented in
summer by the citizens of St. Petersburg as a bathing-place and
general resort of pleasure. A steamer leaves daily for Revel and
Helsingfors, which, during the bathing season, is crowded with
passengers, as in the case of my own trip, of which I have already
given you a sketch. The approach to the harbor, in the bright morning
sun, is exceedingly picturesque. Beyond the forest of masts and spars,
with gayly-colored flags and streamers spread to the breeze, rises a
group of ancient buildings on the rocky eminence called the Domberg,
comprising the castle, the residences of the governor and commandant,
and various palaces and quarters of the nobility, surrounded by Gothic
walls and strong fortifications. This ancient and picturesque pile has
been termed the Acropolis of Revel, though beyond the fact that it
overlooks the lower town and forms a prominent feature in the scenic
beauties of the place, it is difficult to determine in what respect it
can bear a comparison with the famous Acropolis of Athens. However, I
have observed that travelers find it convenient to discover
resemblances of this kind where none exist, as a means of rounding off
their descriptions; and since the Kremlin is styled the Acropolis of
Moscow, I see no reason why Revel should not enjoy the same sort of
classic association. It is to be hoped that when Russian travelers
visit San Francisco, they will, upon the principle adopted by tourists
in their country, do us the justice to designate Russian Hill as the
Acropolis of San Francisco; and should they visit Sacramento during
the existence of a flood, I have no doubt they can find a pile of
bricks or a whisky barrel sufficiently elevated above the general
level to merit the distinctive appellation of an Acropolis. Revel has
suffered more frequent changes of government, and passed through the
hands of a greater variety of rulers, than any city, perhaps, in the
whole of Northern Europe. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries it
was a province of Denmark; subsequently it fell into the hands of the
Swedes, and in 1347 became a possession of the Livonian Knights, a
chivalrous and warlike order, who built castles, lived in a style of
great luxuriance, killed, robbed, and plundered the people of the
surrounding countries, and otherwise distinguished themselves as
gentlemen of the first families, not one of them having ever been
known to per