It is true that in many places the land along the banks of the river was

low and marshy, but this difficulty could be remedied by the driving of

piles for the foundation of the buildings, which had been done so

extensively in Holland.

There was no town on the spot at the time of Peter's visit to it, but

only a few fishermen's huts near the outlet of the river, and the ruins

of an old fort a few miles above. Peter examined the whole region with

great care, and came decidedly to the conclusion that he would make the

spot the site of a great city.

He matured his plans during the winter, and in the following spring he

commenced the execution of them. The first building that was erected was

a low one-story structure, made of wood, to be used as a sort of office

and place of shelter for himself while superintending the commencement of

the works that he had projected. This building was afterward preserved a

long time with great care, as a precious relic and souvenir of the

foundation of the city.

The Czar had sent out orders to the governments of the different

provinces of the empire requiring each of them to send his quota of

artificers and laborers to assist in building the city. This they could

easily do, for in those days all the laboring classes of the people were

little better than slaves, and were almost entirely at the disposal of

the nobles, their masters. In the same manner he sent out agents to all

the chief cities in western Europe, with orders to advertise there for

carpenters, masons, engineers, ship-builders, and persons of all the

other trades likely to be useful in the work of building the city. These

men were to be promised good wages and kind treatment, and were to be at

liberty at any time to return to their respective homes.

The agents also, at the same time, invited the merchants of the countries

that they visited to send vessels to the new port, laden with food for

the people that were to be assembled there, and implements for work, and

other merchandise suitable for the wants of such a community. The

merchants were promised good prices for their goods, and full liberty to

come and go at their pleasure.

The Czar also sent orders to a great many leading boyars or nobles,

requiring them to come and build houses for themselves in the new town.

They were to bring with them a sufficient number of their serfs and

retainers to do all the rough work which would be required, and money to

pay the foreign mechanics for the skilled labor. The boyars were not at

all pleased with this summons. They already possessed their town houses

in Moscow, with gardens and pleasure-grounds in the environs. The site

for the new city was very far to the northward, in a comparatively cold

and inhospitable climate; and they knew very well that, even if Peter

should succeed, in the end, in establishing his new city, several years

must elapse before they could live there in comfort. Still, they did not

dare to do otherwise than to obey the emperor's summons.

In consequence of all these arrangements and preparations, immense

numbers of people came in to the site of the new city in the course of

the following spring and summer. The numbers were swelled by the

addition of the populations of many towns and villages along the coast

that had been ravaged or destroyed by the Swedes in the course of the

war. The works were immediately commenced on a vast scale, and they were

carried on during the summer with great energy. The first thing to be

secured was, of course, the construction of the fortress which was to

defend the town. There were wharves and piers to be built too, in order

that the vessels bringing stores and provisions might land their goods.

The land was surveyed, streets laid out, building lots assigned to

merchants for warehouses and shops, and to the boyars for palaces and

gardens. The boyars commenced the building of their houses, and the Czar

himself laid the foundation of an imperial palace.

But, notwithstanding all the precautions which Peter had taken to secure

supplies of every thing required for such an undertaking, and to regulate

the work by systematic plans and arrangements, the operations were for a

time attended with a great deal of disorder and confusion, and a vast

amount of personal suffering. For a long time there was no proper

shelter for the laborers. Men came to the ground much faster than huts

could be built to cover them, and they were obliged to lie on the marshy

ground without any protection from the weather. There was also a great

scarcity of tools and implements suitable for the work that was required,