above their summits.

Again, some of the domes were of red and green stripes, and some of
bright yellow, and pale yellow, and red; and some towers were surmounted
by gigantic crowns, open and outspreading, as well as globe-like. The
roofs and walls also exhibited a strange difference in their tints,
though green, and red, and black, and grey, and brown predominated among
the first; while the latter were white, and buff, and green, and blue,
and deep red, and pink. Truly it was a strange scene, such as they had
never before beheld, and could scarcely hope to behold elsewhere.

They returned to the top of the tower again in the evening, just as the
setting sun was throwing his glory giving rays across this
richly-jewelled expanse, which shone forth in a perfect blaze of light,
coloured by every hue of which the rainbow can boast.

It is difficult to imagine the vast number of domes and cupolas which
meet the eye in this strange city. There are said to be a thousand
churches, though probably there are not so many. Few of these churches
have less than five domes, and some have ten. Each tower also has a
dome on its top, surmounted by a golden cross and chains. A large
proportion of these domes are covered with gold, and some with sheets of
silver; the others are either black and white, or of the various hues
already described. Moscow may, indeed, most properly be called the
Golden City. The only rule which the church architect here appears to
observe is, to endeavour to make every new church as dissimilar as
possible to every other existing in the city, in colour, shape, and
size; yet they all evidently belong to the same style.

Altogether the venerable Kremlin and the buildings it contains, with the
mass of coloured edifices which surround it, form one of the strangest
architectural jumbles in the universe.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

Visit to the Imperial Palace in the Kremlin--The Granovitaya.
Palata--The Terema, or Ancient Palace of the Czars--Cathedral of
Uspensky Sabor--Rarity of Good Paintings in the Russian Churches--
Public Discussions on Religion--Traps for the Unwary--Procession of
Russian Monks--New Church of Saint Saviour--Preparations for the
Coronation--Cathedral of Saint Basil--Sealing up Doors of Shops at
Night--Shopmen bowing to Saints--Bazaar--Chinese City--Russian
Vehicles.

Our friends got a good general idea of the city during the first day of
their residence in it. The next