During September, the weather remained scorching.
As Horn landed at the new dock of the Holy Mechanism Court, he could see bustling crowds.
Along the lake, the birch and poplar trees already had a touch of yellow at the tips of their leaves.
Sitting in the carriage, Horn lifted a corner of the curtain and observed the town's appearance.
The new town where the new dock was originally located surprisingly had a population of over ten thousand, with shipping, ship repairs, warehousing, and timber processing as its pillar industries.
Such industries were mostly private, and the Holy Alliance mostly supervised, with little direct intervention from Catherine.
On the cobblestone-paved ground, rows of two or three-story small buildings and semi-open workshops lined both sides.
The streets sprouted with a tavern street, specifically catering to the sailors, merchants, and crew passing through.
